Struggling Corals

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

Hey Everyone,

I am hoping to get some help with some struggling corals. I have been in this hobby for quite a while now and my nuvo 25 has been a perplexing experience to say the least. Lets start with the parameters.

PH 8.15-8.43 daily swing
Alk 8.7
Cal 455
Mag 1425
p04 .04
no3 5-6 ppm

I have numerous corals and they had been doing quite well for some time. Over the past 2 weeks, all LPS (except for 2 acans and two blastos) have been acting up. My two montis have bleached and 2 zoas have begun to show signs of stress. Grow has seemingly stagnated. I simply don't know what to do, nor can I seem to identify any potential causes. I've thrown away my selcon and polyp booster because they were older and I thought maybe they were poisoning my tank. My fish are happy and healthy, so no signs of stress there. My inverts are good too. I sent an ICP test out yesterday. I looked last night after dark to see if I could spot parasites. I saw a ton of pods running everywhere, and one white worm on a zoa (a zoa colony that is actually not struggling). Any thoughts or suggestions would be so appreciated!

Thanks,
Jake

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

Here are some pics

J

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

#reefsquad

Crabs McJones · Aug 15, 2019

Any other changes? Lighting, pumps, chemical?

Katrina71 · Aug 15, 2019

@Rakie any ideas?

Flippers4pups · Aug 15, 2019

Sorry to hear this Jake. The obvious questions come to mind, using RO/DI water? TDS?

Have you made any changes lately?

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

No significant lighting changes. I actually forgot to mention that I rented a par meter to identify potential lighting issues.

Highest par where the montis were = 193
Lowest par in tank was 43

Tank is currently running carbon and I have a fuge that is growing well.

Thanks,
J

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Sorry to hear this Jake. The obvious questions come to mind, using RO/DI water? TDS?

Have you made any changes lately?

TDS hand held device reads 0 TDS on relatively new cartridges. I use fritz pro salt.

J

Flippers4pups · Aug 15, 2019

JakeLikesReefs said:
TDS hand held device reads 0 TDS on relatively new cartridges. I use fritz pro salt.

J

How long have you been using Fritz?

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
How long have you been using Fritz?

Since May of this year ... The corals that are struggling were bought around same time and change was made slowly. The corals we're all growing w the new salt until last 2 weeks or so.

J

Flippers4pups · Aug 15, 2019

JakeLikesReefs said:
Since May of this year ... The corals that are struggling were bought around same time and change was made slowly. The corals we're all growing w the new salt until last 2 weeks or so.

J

Okay. The reason I asked about Fritz, is that I recently had switched over to Fritz blue box and had major issues with my Monty's paling. Definitely not saying that the salt is causing the problem.

Do you dip your corals?

Flippers4pups · Aug 15, 2019

Well your water parameters look spot-on and you're definitely not cooking your corals.

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Okay. The reason I asked about Fritz, is that I recently had switched over to Fritz blue box and had major issues with my Monty's paling. Definitely not saying that the salt is causing the problem.

Do you dip your corals?

Normally I dip, I did not dip some newer pieces. This is obviously problematic, and was a reason why I am looking for parasites during the lights out cycle. I couldn't identify any parasites last night for certain, I saw a ton of pods running everywhere. I did see a small white worm on the stalk of one of my healthy zoa colonies.

J

Flippers4pups · Aug 15, 2019

JakeLikesReefs said:
Normally I dip, I did not dip some newer pieces. This is obviously problematic, and was a reason why I am looking for parasites during the lights out cycle. I couldn't identify any parasites last night for certain, I saw a ton of pods running everywhere. I did see a small white worm on the stalk of one of my healthy zoa colonies.

J

Well as you know and you just stated dipping the corals is important and being consistent.

Other than that, the process of elimination of potential problems eliminate some things.

Most corals do well PAR ranges of 200 to 250. That's with healthy corals, and yours is not at the moment. I would not increase light intensity right now.

A lack of potassium could be an issue, but if you're doing regular water changes, that rules that out because the salt mix should have what you need. What's your water change frequency and how much?

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Well as you know and you just stated dipping the corals is important and being consistent.

Other than that, the process of elimination of potential problems eliminate some things.

Most corals do well PAR ranges of 200 to 250. That's with healthy corals, and yours is not at the moment. I would not increase light intensity right now.

A lack of potassium could be an issue, but if you're doing regular water changes, that rules that out because the salt mix should have what you need. What's your water change frequency and how much?

Do I consider dipping the corals as a precautionary measure? If so, do you recommend a particular dip since I am in need of a new one?

Thanks,
J

Flippers4pups · Aug 15, 2019

JakeLikesReefs said:
Do I consider dipping the corals as a precautionary measure? If so, do you recommend a particular dip since I am in need of a new one?

Thanks,
J

I use two little fishies revive with good results.

It shouldn't hurt them to dip them at this point.

saltyhog · Aug 15, 2019

That is perplexing! How do you measure your PO4 and is it pretty consistent at 0.04? Any algae problems on the substrate or rocks? How often do you change your carbon?

Flippers4pups · Aug 15, 2019

Process of elimination, if other corals are doing well in only a select few or having difficulty, then ruling out salinity, alkalinity swings is needed.

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

saltyhog said:
That is perplexing! How do you measure your PO4 and is it pretty consistent at 0.04? Any algae problems on the substrate or rocks? How often do you change your carbon?

I measure using the low range hanna kit. It fluctuates after feedings, for example it may slowly get down to .02 then up to .05 the next day after a feeding of mysis, then back down over a day or two...

I do have GHA present in the tank, it's slowly been getting under control through manual removal and competition from my refugium (fuge up for a few months now).

I havent been super regimented regarding carbon, but I run it because I don't know what's causing the corals to struggle so I figured it could help to ensure it isnt chemical.

Thanks,
J

JakeLikesReefs · Aug 15, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Process of elimination, if other corals are doing well in only a select few or having difficulty, then ruling out salinity, alkalinity swings is needed.

Alk did swing downward recently, but I should note corals were struggling prior to this. I actually let it swing naturally by taking my doser offline because I was concerned it was a little high for my montis (9.7). Over a week it lowered to 8.2. Since that time is has stayed around 8.7 consistently.

The salinity is check on a refractometer which is calibrated with a calibration solution. I do have an apex, but it's been awhile since i've calibrated the salinity. The salinity on apex reads 34.2PPT while the refractometer readings indicate 1.025/6.

I also sent the ICP in hopes to double check my testing.

Thanks,
J