SPS problems

[Nordic Reef]

Hello =)

Im new to this Forum, and i live i the Northest part of Sweden.

I have been in this hobby for the last 11 years.

I have a 50 gallon SPS tank and it has been running for the last 2 years, a couple of months ago i changed salt from Red Sea Coral Pro to Aquaforrest probiotic salt, after that i have got some problems that i cant figure out. My NO3 is a little high now and it got that high after i changed salt mix, befor the new salt i had No3 2-5 (salifert test)

It all started when my rare green montipora lost its green color, after that my acropora valida lost color and got STN, that STN spread to my birdsnest and my big Stylophora Milka and they died off. The Growth has stopped and i cant get my mind around what the problem is.

My Water parameters are

Salinity: 1,026
Temp : 25,2 celcius
PH 8,2
KH: 9-9,3
No3: 20-25
Po4: 0
Magnesium: 1420
Calcium: 435

In sump i run a Aquaexcel AE-301c Cone skimmer capable for 300 liters system.
Return pump: Jebao Dc 4000
2 Ecotech Vortech mp10
Lighting: Ecotech Radion G2

I use Activated Carbon and dose Faunamarine Balling Light + aminoacid

i feed my fish and corals 2 times a week.

 

[1fstnsx]

What's your nitrates at

 

[Nordic Reef]

I tested my Nitrates yesterday and they are still at 20-22 with Salifert test kit, i do 60 liters of water change every week.

 

[ctsps]

Get your po4 to.02 acros aren't a big fan of 0

 

[Tahoe61]

I agree up the phos.

Have you considered changing back to the Red Sea Pro?

Welcome.

 

[Nordic Reef]

Hello and thanks :-D

Yes im going to change back to the red sea coral pro salt, the only problem i had with that salt was that my corals was starving and lost color,otherwise its a great salt.

When i was using red sea salt i had 0 po4 and 0 nitrate so that i understand why corals lost color, but they still grow like crazy . Other then that i just run my radion light at 60% 28 centimeters of water surface

 

[Tahoe61]

I would think about adding some foods that target sps like sponge power, acropower.....

 

[Nordic Reef]

i feed the corals with both H2ocean Pro +sps and H2ocean Pro +lps 2 times a week. I ordered Red Sea coral pro salt mix today and i hope that its going to change back like i had the tank before.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

So heres my take. In both cases I feel like you are using the wrong salt for your parameters. You are running your system at 9-9.3dkh alkalinity. Red Sea Coral Pro has an alkalinity of 12.3-12.7dkh for 35ppt salinity and Aquaforest has an alkalinity of 6.5-7.5dkh for 35ppt salinity. In both cases you are producing a large alkalinity swing during a water change, either up or down depending on the salt you are using. Neither is a good situation. The reason your corals were growing so well with the Red Sea Coral Pro is because of that high alkalinity. as for your nitrate this is my theory. You are doing water changes with a probiotic reef salt. Every water change you are adding a population of bacteria to your already nutrient poor system. The salt contains amino acids and vitamins for the bacteria to grow. My guess is that by dumping a bunch of bacteria into your system without the proper food to sustain them they died off, raising your nitrates. Thats my stab at this at least

 

[Nordic Reef]

Yes thanks Brandon thats kind of what iv been also thinking of =) Iv been using the aqua forest salt for about 2-3 months now, The Aquaforest salt bucket is soon empty so. any tips on how or what i should feed with och what to do? iv always used the Red sea salt so thats what im used to, and when i used the red sea salt i dosed Kno3 and po4 and that worked well.

 

[Nordic Reef]

]Yes thanks Brandon thats kind of what iv been also thinking of =) Iv been using the aqua forest salt for about 2-3 months now, The Aquaforest salt bucket is soon empty so. any tips on how or what i should feed with och what to do? iv always used the Red sea salt so thats what im used to, and when i used the red sea salt i dosed Kno3 and po4 and that worked well.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Yes thanks Brandon thats kind of what iv been also thinking of =) Iv been using the aqua forest salt for about 2-3 months now, The Aquaforest salt bucket is soon empty so. any tips on how or what i should feed with och what to do? iv always used the Red sea salt so thats what im used to, and when i used the red sea salt i dosed Kno3 and po4 and that worked well.

I guess it depends on which method you are looking to employ. If you do not want to do a probiotic method Id say stray away from a probiotic salt. They also make a regular reef salt that might work. Regardless Id say pick a salt that best matches the al;salinity that you run so that water changes are a stressful experience for your corals. A swing that large every water change can't be good.

 

[Nordic Reef]

Okey, well with the probiotic salt i got better colors and that was what i was looking for, because with the red sea salt i got good growth but not so good colors, so thats why i tryed the aquaforest brand. But i have little knowledge of what probiotic bacteria does and so on. But the help i allready got here from u guys is super, cant get this much help or info from any swedish reef forum so thumbs up for all of u here :-D

 

[Nordic Reef]

This far up north i cold snowy sweden it dang hard to get a hold of corals and fish and im the only one in this town doing this hobby, and the specimens of corals that i have now was really hard to get and cost me much money ;-) especially my aussie acros. ill post som pictures later today of the tank

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Okey, well with the probiotic salt i got better colors and that was what i was looking for, because with the red sea salt i got good growth but not so good colors, so thats why i tryed the aquaforest brand. But i have little knowledge of what probiotic bacteria does and so on. But the help i allready got here from u guys is super, cant get this much help or info from any swedish reef forum so thumbs up for all of u here :-D

The thought is that with lower nutrients, the lower calcium and alkalinity levels will help produce better colors (or at least prevent any burning of tissue). The aquaforest salt has parameters much closer to natural seawater. Check out their regular reef salt if you don't want to get involved with the probiotics. I haven't used their salt yet but so far I'm hearing some good things. They just got here to the US so it's all very new with not a lot of information. And this is a great forum. This is where I go any time I have a question. We all help each other here

 

[Brandon McHenry]

This far up north i cold snowy sweden it **** hard to get a hold of corals and fish and im the only one in this town doing this hobby, and the specimens of corals that i have now was really hard to get and cost me much money ;-) especially my aussie acros. ill post som pictures later today of the tank

And yeah let's see it!

 

[Nordic Reef]

Aaa okey, well the same here about that aquaforest salt not much information at all. so if i want to go with this salt in the future, i guess i shouldent change water for a while and just let the high nitrates i have now to consume it self?

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Aaa okey, well the same here about that aquaforest salt not much information at all. so if i want to go with this salt in the future, i guess i shouldent change water for a while and just let the high nitrates i have now to consume it self?

Not necessarily. You could certainly get the aquaforest salt that does not contain probiotics. Then you can keep up with your regular water changes without worrying about the whole bacteria deal. The water changes will lower your nitrates anyway.

 

[Nordic Reef]

Yea thats true its always something new to learn in this hobby :-D but what does the probiotic bacteria do? What iv understood is that many that run zeovit and such then this aquaforest salt should be great, but i ran with the red sea salt ultra low nutrients with out zeovit method. I just cant get a grip on what the bacterias do thats so good besides giving nutrients back if i dont missumderstood what i have been reading

 

[Nordic Reef]

Anyways pictures are coming in a few minutes