Tank age and SPS sucess.

[ihavecrabs]

If my lights were too strong wouldn't it bleach from the top down?

Not in my experience. Bleaching typically happens across the entirety of the affected frag. RTN or STN is believed to have many causes and is typically from base up or tips down. I would consider those different. Tissue Necrosis is when the tissue itself is no longer present on the coral. Bleaching is when the tissue loses its coloration.

 

[Casey Gore]

that is a light bioload if you're trying to get your levels to detectable. How hard do you run your refugium. I'd think 7-9 hours should be plenty, if not more than enough.

Oh geez I run mine for 24 hours

 

[Casey Gore]

As repeatedly suggested, more nutrient and more Ca. But something else is going on if they are dying quickly.

How many wrasses do you have and what type? I ask because tissue loss from the base I often associate with AEFW.

Where are you sourcing these sticks? Do you know the parameters of the grow out tank roughly?
What is your dipping and acclimation method?

Once my SPS tank was big and old, I attributed most losses to poor acclimation method and resulting stress. Here is how I minimize that:

1) drop the bag in my dark sump to temp acclimate. 30-60 minutes.
2) quick visual inspection under magnification, then into my LPS tank with PAR 150ish
3) give them a days to a week to settle down then dip. (Bayer 25%, basted 10 minutes.) Back into LPS. Repeat a week later.
4) If the dip reveals anything I will repeat again, otherwize into a lower light section (250 PAR) of SPS tank.

This has helped immensely.

Anytime I see tissue loss on the base of anything, it goes back through the process again.

Oh, and wrasses galore. Coris, melanurus, 4-6-12 lines.

I have 1 melinarous wrass and I put the bag in my sump for about 30 mins and then dip. They are from a very reputable store.

 

[BeejReef]

Oh geez I run mine for 24 hours

Fuges are WAY more powerful than I think they get credit for. A lot of peeps look at them as just a tool for ph or the finishing touches on their filtration. If you have a moderately sized fuge, it can likely zero you all by itself. My tank is young, and I'm not suggesting this... it's just my experiment on my tank, but I have a 65g dt, 7 fish, and dozens and dozens of snails and crabs and my fuge alone hold me to under 5N and I have to dose P. That's with the fuge running only 8 hours. No skimmer, no socks, just chaeto.

 

[Casey Gore]

Fuges are WAY more powerful than I think they get credit for. A lot of peeps look at them as just a tool for ph or the finishing touches on their filtration. If you have a moderately sized fuge, it can likely zero you all by itself. My tank is young, and I'm not suggesting this... it's just my experiment on my tank, but I have a 65g dt, 7 fish, and dozens and dozens of snails and crabs and my fuge alone hold me to under 5N and I have to dose P. That's with the fuge running only 8 hours. No skimmer, no socks, just chaeto.

My fuge is mostly hair algae, chaeto, and rock. It’s about 10 gallons. I will definitely dial it back.

 

[jeffww]

I put acros andother sps in my 7g cube at 1.5 months. 0 losses. Only recently started to get good growth at the 2 months in the tank mark.

 

[MissyTwitch]

Hi there. I am not new but not super experienced either. I have a 120 gallon mixed reef that is about 6 months old. I have lots of soft corls and hard corals that seem to be doing great. However every time I put an SPS in my tank it will bleach within about a week or two. I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I do water changes and dose alk and calcium. I test my water ever time they are bleaching and my results are listed below. They always seem to bleach from the base up and never the tips so I don't think it is my lighting schedule. All of my fish are reef safe too. Do you think it could be my flow or maybe the tank is just to young for me to try sps. Also I feed frozen food. Or maybe I need more lighting. I have killed like 3 so far and it is really starting to bum me out.

Phosphates 0
Nitrates 0
Alk 9
Calcium - 350ppm

Temp 79
2-hydor Koralia Evolution 1050/1150
1- Current USA 1900GPH Sump to tank main pump
1- large refugium
1- Protein Skimmer

2- RedSea LED 90s that ramp to 100% for 5 hours on an 11 hour cycle

You can run an ultra low nutrient tank.....that being said sps is a different ball game then LPS. It’s not just about alk/Ca++. They are sensitive to flow/par levels/potassium/swings in alkalinity....:the adage of old establish tanks being better is multifaceted......personally the longer you’ve had the tank the more mistakes you’ve made, you learned and become more wise.

Slow whiting out from base up: light to low (par<200 for most), alkalinity/temperature swings, potassium less than 400. I find that potassium plays a large part in a low nutrient tank that’s stabilized, parameters perfect, but your sps still die off. I run an sps only tank and when they start to have rtn at bases for me it’s usually cause I forgot to check my potassium for a few weeks.

 

[X-37B]

If you run a fuge and you dont feed enough the macro algae will consume it and the corals wont get any.
Whats your mag level?
"Stability" is key in this hobby.
My 120 is 4.5 months old with over 35 corals.
I run a filter sock, skimmer and bare bottom.
I have non measurable no3 and po4 but i have film algae on my glass every other day so its there.
My system is a no water change system but thats another story for another time.
Check out my build thread I just updated tank pics today and you can see the growth from month 2 to present day.
Imo whatever ever method or parameters you chose
"Stability is your answer".

 

[HB AL]

So many variables that contribute to sps health it's really hard sometimes to figure out the different particulars in different situations from tank to tank. In my current tank which has been running for almost 4 years I added sps, acros, caps etc... 2 months in and had great results but some of the sand and most of the rock came from my old tank so I never really went through a cycle of any kind. Fish went in 2 weeks after adding water.

 

[bar|none]

0n and 0p if really the case is not good. There have been numerous threads on not bottoming out those. Try to get in a safer range like >2ppm nitrate and >.03 phos.

I have 1 red sea 90 in a small reefer 170. 34 gal display and it was not enough. I run it now with a 4 bank t5 above it and that is awesome. 2 seems pretty thin in a 120gal. Rent a par meter will tell you.

Also worth doing icp test.

 

[MARK M. DAVIS]

Aside from temp acclimation, what about chemical? I temp for 20 minutes and chemical 2x 10 minutes before the dip.

 

[tomh]

Softie toxins, perhaps. Running any carbon?

 

[Abdullah Al Faruq]

I think you need to map a graph by looking at the fluctuations with the parameters spread over a specific period of time. That could help in interpreting the suitability of the tank environment for the SPS. Please look through if possible the data on the parameters of your water recorded over a few months time. Only the present test result is not enough. You need to know whether you are keeping it stable whatever be the target range.

 

[BradB]

How is your coraline algae? Generally, if I am cursing scraping it off the acrylic, I know sps will do good. If it doesn't grow, sps won't either.

There are exceptions, coraline does better with higher nutrients and lower light, but I find it the best measure of things I can't control or test for.

 

[X-37B]

I think you need to map a graph by looking at the fluctuations with the parameters spread over a specific period of time. That could help in interpreting the suitability of the tank environment for the SPS. Please look through if possible the data on the parameters of your water recorded over a few months time. Only the present test result is not enough. You need to know whether you are keeping it stable whatever be the target range.

Exactly. "Stability".
Get a log book to record parameters and whats going on with your tank. Make a comment at least every 2 days. It keeps you involved with the tank and you can look back instead if trying to remember. Even if you run a controller like apex still run a log book. For me it is another tool that many overlook.

 

[X-37B]

How is your coraline algae? Generally, if I am cursing scraping it off the acrylic, I know sps will do good. If it doesn't grow, sps won't either.

There are exceptions, coraline does better with higher nutrients and lower light, but I find it the best measure of things I can't control or test for.

Excellent point! However, stabilty imo will get coralline and corals to grow even when running low no3 and po4.

 

[Abdullah Al Faruq]

According to him, his soft and hard corals are doing great. Coralline in such circumstances should be thriving. That which is causing the sps to be irritated is a 'soft' issue with which the other two types are very much at ease. The owner needs to respond accordingly. I hope by now he has been enlightened enough.

 

[X-37B]

A picture of the tank always helps everyone thats trying to offer answers to the issue.
Post one up!

 

[DFR]

Instead of chasing nutrient numbers, I’d keep your regimen the same and just incorporate amino acids to your feeding schedule if you are concerned about meeting corals’ nutritional needs.

Do you only have 2 power heads each pushing ~1000gph? If this is the case, when both are running you’re looking at 20x turnover for a 4ft distance with rocks that WILL impede flow. You may want to beef that a little. I personally have 2 power heads that are each push ~2000gph in my 60 cube. This gives me 30-60x turnover throughout the day.

 

[Cheche]

I will said is definitely your nitrate.. bring it up to 5 ppm. I hope this help