SPS will not survive

TheSheff · Jul 11, 2022

Aquanaut WA said:
Could be overdosing Amino additive. Some have Iodide and other elements that may be building up on this immature system. I would stop the dosings and just do 20% weekly water changes--allow mix to age a day or two-- dilute the buildup. With a tank this small and doing weekly water changes things should resolve themselves. Also small frags are notorious for being tempermental and short lived in a immature tank. Perhaps begin with Monti cap pieces and related durable SPS. Spongeodis, Digita types, birdnest, Hydnopora to start with. Porcilapora can melt.

Is stylaphora one that you think I could try?

KIKe · Jul 11, 2022

Well I have a 43gallon mixed sps dominant, i didnt even care about that much things, i barely test water and no big issues happened. My rock is 6 month old but everythign else is new, I transferred them from a smaller AIO 40gal, some acros' color lost a bit but some are coming back quick. my suggestion is do more water changes, or do a big one. phosphate is pretty important so def test that. except the rock, my sand and water is 1 month old.

MoreReef · Jul 11, 2022

kksheff said:
Ok, i am totally fine with waiting that long, I just was curious why it could be happening because coralline is growing.

Idk. I guess all projects and outcomes are different... but I'm currently cycling a new tank with a toxic digi as test frag and well... so far so good. Lol it's even started to grow after almost 2 weeks.

Reefahholic · Jul 12, 2022

kksheff said:
Ok, I can do that lol. What corals do you recommend when the tank reaches one year old?

I’d start with easy SPS like stylo, birdsnest, digi, etc.

Lavey29 · Jul 12, 2022

kksheff said:
Ok, i am totally fine with waiting that long, I just was curious why it could be happening because coralline is growing.

Coralline is a good indicator of tank progress but there are still many other variables involved. You tank is going through bacterial warfare right now as it works through its various phases into maturity. I tried a tester stylo at 7 months when I had some Coralline in the tank and it did not survive. But about 11 months to one year my tank just seemed to evolve to a much more stable and predictable environment. I began adding SPS frags and have over 20 now in my tank at 15 months. All have survive and flourished except one that struggled with shipping. Actually everything in the tank is thriving now and I attribute it a lot due to the tank maturing process.

vetteguy53081 · Jul 12, 2022

kksheff said:
Tuna blue lol Im not that new

Light may be insufficient

jfoahs04 · Jul 12, 2022

Have you checked the tank with a PAR meter? How far above the water is the light? Settings? That light should be able to grow SPS but if for some reason (mounted too high, weak settings) you’re not getting enough light where you mount your coral, that’ll cause them all to die on you.

The one year rule is a safe play, but lots of people can grow SPS sooner than that (my digi was added at 3 months and is thriving). Even if they started with dry rock. I’d rule out other issues before I just threw my hands up and decided to wait another 6 months. If you do that and the issue wasn’t tank maturity, it’ll likely still be a problem once you hit the one year mark.

Also, are you getting all of your coral from the same place? If so, how do their parameters compare to yours? The bigger the differences, the harder it will be for a new coral to adapt.

Bpb · Jul 12, 2022

Without reading the whole thread I would bet the farm your issue is simply the young tank age. Parameters posted are acceptable. Yes….people on occasion are able to have a thriving sps tank right out of the gate, but the average hobbyist will struggle with sps within the first year or so of a tanks life

TwentyfiveCents · Jul 12, 2022

6 month is doable but the 15g tank makes it annoying imo. Everything seems good, if I was having an issue with the across and nothing was coming up with params+other stuff, I would increase my water changes to 3 times a week prob 50%-75% and if the across do better then id scale back the w/c until I see signs of polyps receding

CoralB · Jul 12, 2022

Phosphates and or lighting is my educated guess

forestsofkelp · Jul 12, 2022

kksheff said:
is that something that carbon could fix?

No. It would require either a massive water change or a metal binding resin, as well as (and most importantly) finding the source. Contaminated salt, rusting impeller shaft/magnet, etc. It is a PITA.