SPS Experts: Can you figure it out?

[RedSea500MaxS]

Sorry. Nothing I do to help! Incredible tank! So sorry for the issue, paying you get it fixed fast!

 

[gig 'em]

Wish I had better advice. I think Ty was jealous of your tank and cursed it.

Don't let him know we're on to him!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ive been there and nothing like dream to frustration. I am sick to see this.
For me, it was change in lighting, improper dosage and too lazy to use the ro unit.

 

[gig 'em]

Does this only happens to one colony at the time, and a few days/week it shows up on a different colony?

It seems quite random. And unfortunately I travel a lot for work, so I'll come home after a couple days of being gone and a colony will be gone. Sometimes I come home and everything looks great, there doesn't appear to be a pattern, but maybe I'm not recording deaths with enough frequency to determine a pattern.

 

[gig 'em]

Ive been there and nothing like dream to frustration. I am sick to see this.
For me, it was change in lighting, improper dosage and too lazy to use the ro unit.

If you don't mind me asking, what change in lighting and improper dosage caused similar results?

 

[vetteguy53081]

If you don't mind me asking, what change in lighting and improper dosage caused similar results?

went from Radions as they never remained on schedule to SB reefs and T5 lighting.
I was adding mag, alk and other supplements without testing or monitoring. We have well system but pretty pure, and I trusted softener and whole house filter to make small water additions.

 

[Fishywoo]

Your Triton test shows High Li could this be the problem?

 

[Potatohead]

Your Triton test shows High Li could this be the problem?

Doubtful. I’m going to assume he uses IO and just about every IO ICP test is very high lithium.

 

[volcano1]

Doubtful. I’m going to assume he uses IO and just about every IO ICP test is very high lithium.

 

[volcano1]

I would double check any magnets also. It caused similar issues for me in the past.

 

[gig 'em]

Your Triton test shows High Li could this be the problem?

Like @Potatohead said, I was using IO then. I should send another test in now that I’m using Fritz

 

[gig 'em]

I would double check any magnets also. It caused similar issues for me in the past.

I did find a magnet that was bowing a little a few months ago and removed it. All other magnets seem fine, but I could be missing one

 

[sixty_reefer]

It seems quite random. And unfortunately I travel a lot for work, so I'll come home after a couple days of being gone and a colony will be gone. Sometimes I come home and everything looks great, there doesn't appear to be a pattern, but maybe I'm not recording deaths with enough frequency to determine a pattern.

I had something similar happening to me last year after I’ve introduced a wild small colony. First the wild colony started STN den randomly in the opposite side of the tank other coral started STN and so on, this affect also LPS not just SPS but for some reason it only did one coral at the time. I only was able to stop it wend I removed a coral that was half affected. Never really understood what really happened. My guess is would be worth for you to carefully remove the next coral affected wend the STN is half way on the coral, if it is a bacteria/parasite they communicate in a way that they only prey on one coral at the time. Just a thought

 

[TexasTodd]

Frustrating! Have you checked for stray current? Very strange on the sponges. Tyree seems to be a huge advocate of lots of sponges for system health these days.
Sounds a bit like the old, "Old Tank Syndrome" but, from what I remember, those cases usually involved a DSB.
Have you seen the posts about using Witchhazel? Some groups on FB are swearing by it stopping RTN, might be worth a try if another starts to go down. I'm not sure if we can post a link here but PM if you want.

I remember your post losing your Confetti and was sick to my stomach!

Todd

 

[gig 'em]

Frustrating! Have you checked for stray current? Very strange on the sponges. Tyree seems to be a huge advocate of lots of sponges for system health these days.
Sounds a bit like the old, "Old Tank Syndrome" but, from what I remember, those cases usually involved a DSB.
Have you seen the posts about using Witchhazel? Some groups on FB are swearing by it stopping RTN, might be worth a try if another starts to go down. I'm not sure if we can post a link here but PM if you want.

I remember your post losing your Confetti and was sick to my stomach!

Todd

Yes I checked for voltage. There was a very small amount, which I’m sure is probably normal for all the pumps in there.

I have seen someone post about witchhazel before, and it’s certainly worth looking into. It might be a good option for dipping the corals if I want to tear everything out and restart the tank. Good suggestion!

 

[gig 'em]

I had something similar happening to me last year after I’ve introduced a wild small colony. First the wild colony started STN den randomly in the opposite side of the tank other coral started STN and so on, this affect also LPS not just SPS but for some reason it only did one coral at the time. I only was able to stop it wend I removed a coral that was half affected. Never really understood what really happened. My guess is would be worth for you to carefully remove the next coral affected wend the STN is half way on the coral, if it is a bacteria/parasite they communicate in a way that they only prey on one coral at the time. Just a thought

Sure seems to support the biological hypothesis that’s causing deaths. The more people who add similar stories, the more I think it’s the right move to tear the tank down and dip everything and start with new water.

 

[jda]

I have seen this patchy, slow death when salinity gets too low. I imagine that you have calibrated your refractometer, but can you borrow one to double check it? I fought bad growth and tip recession once when I had a refractometer that was bad... read 35 ppt when it was really 26 or 27.

If you are constantly getting over 81, then get a chiller.

 

[gig 'em]

I have seen this patchy, slow death when salinity gets too low. I imagine that you have calibrated your refractometer, but can you borrow one to double check it? I fought bad growth and tip recession once when I had a refractometer that was bad... read 35 ppt when it was really 26 or 27.

If you are constantly getting over 81, then get a chiller.

I have calibrated my refractometer, but my buddy up the road has a digital one, so I might bring some water over to his place and test it against his to double check mine doesn't have any issues.

My temperature in the summer months currently does not rise above 80.5. It's warm, but nothing too stressful for the corals. The fact that this happens in cooler months suggests to me that it's not temperature dependent.

 

[Ike]

I have seen filaments in the past. It’s always a bad sign for me when I see that, especially when they’re coming out of the sides of branches away from the polyps. I haven’t seen any in a while, maybe all those corals that did that have already died. But I was always worried when that would pop up in colonies. I haven’t seen it in a while though.

If I had to guess I would bet your tank has gone dangerously low on phosporous for periods of time and that's the majority of your issue. As soon as I saw pics and the random RTN I suspected it. Looking at your fish load, seeing you have nitrates that are a little elevated, then learning you use GFO and a little carbon dosing (even if mild). Between those things and some instability and dangerous lows for alkalinity I'm not surpised at all with what you're experiencing. It seems to be a very thin line between "everything is great" and you're doing damage when it comes to low levels of nitrogen and phosphorous as well as alkalinity and GFO use. Mess with any of those four things too much and you will nuke some corals that looked amazing the day prior. I've also had some nasty effects in low nutrient tanks when using ROX and high quality GAC.

Also, I disagree with your thoughts on drops to 4-5 dKH. I find them to have deleterious effects and it's often STN and RTN in acropora. The tricky part sometimes is that they don't always RTN right away. It can also be quite deceiving because the corals that die from these evens will often look great, even better than usual, before they die.

Simply put, RTN and STN is not something I experience when I'm not using GFO and make sure I have a proper fish load. Red dragon doesn't count!

My advice, ditch the GFO, ditch the biopellets, do a couple good size water changes, get some more fish, feed them well with some high protein flakes or pellets, and get ready to stock up on grazing fish, red leg hermits, and your snails of choice. Also, ditch the GAC except for a few days (or a week) a month. If your nitrates continue to creep up or stay elevated, get a better protein skimmer.

I've been in your position too many times and I truly feel for the situation. I've almost walked away a few times as well. Try a different approach as I've outlined above, you may even enjoy the hobby more than ever because you're not worrying about nutrient levels and messing with GFO. You if you want to go a step or two further, you can also start skipping a lot of water changes and don't dose anything.

Good luck!

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Had you been testing your phosphates this whole time op? Triton got a reading that’s decent enough.