What is killing my frags? It is hard like barnacles.

[jvbear]

What is killing my frags? It is hard like barnacles. I dipped the corals in Revive and tried peroxide. I did water change, but these white dots keep multiplying and my mixed reef is dying. Is this barnacles? I don't know what to do. It is in my 100g tanks with fish and invertebrates. I have both sps and lps. What is it and what should I do? Will it harm my fish?

 

[JGT]

Spiorbid worms. Those aren’t killing your corals. Probably something off in water parameters. How olds the tank?

 

[jvbear]

Spiorbid worms. Those aren’t killing your corals. Probably something off in water parameters. How olds the tank?

Tank is a year old. I sent water sample off a few months ago to ICP and they said only thing low was magnesium. I added some but haven't tested with them since. I took a water sample to the local fish store today and they said nitrates were a little high, but that is all. I did a water change this afternoon. What else can I do?

 

[JGT]

Full water params would help plus a full tank pic. Lighting and flow?

 

[KrisReef]

Pictures kind of look like the tank needs better lighting to keep corals growing?

(Agree- Spirorbids are not the source of the problem.)

 

[jvbear]

I tried to post a video but it says file is too large. Here are pics. I removed the overflow and sump and replaced with FX4 and FX2 canisters and HOB skimmer.

 

[Tomb85]

I tried to post a video but it says file is too large. Here are pics. I removed the overflow and sump and replaced with FX4 and FX2 canisters and HOB skimmer.

Could you do a list of your light setting cycle? So we can see what they are running at? I also notice your lights are on a separate cycle aswell.

 

[jvbear]

Could you do a list of your light setting cycle? So we can see what they are running at? I also notice your lights are on a separate cycle aswell.

They were off. I manually turned them on for the picture. I need to call Kessil for help with the cycle in the app. I am currently using a Kasa plug for timer I had with a previous light. Can you show me what a good cycle should look like?

 

[jvbear]

I have it set for 6 hrs per day and manually change light from blue to white at different times. I just haven't taken time to figure out the app. I will make this a priority.

 

[ReefStable Verified Sponsor]

I don't mean to pile on, but I would add a few things...
- Check the actual PAR. Visually you won't be able to tell, you'll need to rent a PAR meter.
- Flow can be tricky. For the euphyllia, I would go with an area of almost no flow to figure out what's going on.
- The current value of many parameters is good to know, but alk and pH you need a trend. Going from 9 to 10 or 11 is enough to kill many coral and they're all "safe" numbers. These require a pH probe and either Trident (Apex), iv (hydros), or some other method like an alkatronic or mastertronic.
- Temperature is a big player. What are you using to check Temperature? Has it been calibrated? My ink bird was off by 5 degrees when I bought it and I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I got a calibrated temp sensor.

Hopefully this helps you dig in. I know it's a lot but remember that coral are sensitive animals where anything shifting in their environment can cause problems.

 

[kevgib67]

Until you figure it out I would do a large water change and just to be safe throw some activated charcoal in the sump.

 

[jvbear]

I have a Hygger heater it has a display of temperature and fluctuates between 79-80°. I also have a floating thermometer. I had another larger fan but my anemone got stuck in it a couple of times so I turned it off. He survived and was not injured bad. I tried the foam cover but it wouldn't stay on.

Until you figure it out I would do a large water change and just to be safe throw some activated charcoal in the sump.

Will charcoal kill my copapods and phyto they eat?

 

[Dom]

I tried to post a video but it says file is too large. Here are pics. I removed the overflow and sump and replaced with FX4 and FX2 canisters and HOB skimmer.

In my experience, people do that the other way around; they go from canister filter to sump and not sump to canister filter.

Understand that canister filters are nitrate factories. They require frequent maintenance.

I started with two canister filters; one on the system and a second as a backup. While one works, I disassembled, cleaned and prepared the other for the next swap.

Lots of work, so, I switched to a sump.

Yes, a complete set of water parameters along with a full tank picture (I understand they are worth a thousand words).

 

[kevgib67]

I have a Hygger heater it has a display of temperature and fluctuates between 79-80°. I also have a floating thermometer. I had another larger fan but my anemone got stuck in it a couple of times so I turned it off. He survived and was not injured bad. I tried the foam cover but it wouldn't stay on.

Will charcoal kill my copapods and phyto they eat?

No, I run my tank with it 24/7 and have pods and dose phyto.

 

[Tnops]

I see a vermetid snail on one of the frags, that could be stressing them out

 

[jvbear]

Is this feather a barnacle? Watch til end you will see it retract. I also started seeing this tiny white starfish on the glass.

 

[Tomb85]

They were off. I manually turned them on for the picture. I need to call Kessil for help with the cycle in the app. I am currently using a Kasa plug for timer I had with a previous light. Can you show me what a good cycle should look like?

I don't have kessil lights but I'm sure you could ask in a separate post for kessil setup as I'm sure I've seen it on here in the past.

 

[Tomb85]

Is this feather a barnacle? Watch til end you will see it retract. I also started seeing this tiny white starfish on the glass.

Vermitted snails are a pain try to remove everyone one by one as I has them in the pass and they do stress corals by little stringy snot they send out to catch food. I ended up resetting my tank because they got so bad yrs back. The star fish I'm sure you can get a wrasse that eats them or hermit crabs. The star fish can turn into a pest also try to remove them where you can aswell.

 

[19Mateo83]

What intensity are you running your lights at? Those Kessil AP9x are really strong at 100%. Figuring out the app isn’t too hard. I run mine at 10” off the surface at max 50%. I also have acrylic lids so it’s probably more in the 45% range.
I have to keep euphyllia low and on the edges and acros, Monti and stylophoras high on top.

 

[jvbear]

What intensity are you running your lights at? Those Kessil AP9x are really strong at 100%. Figuring out the app isn’t too hard. I run mine at 10” off the surface at max 50%. I also have acrylic lids so it’s probably more in the 45% range.
I have to keep euphyllia low and on the edges and acros, Monti and stylophoras high on top.

Thank you!