Coral health in a steady decline???

[Kaporeef]

Hello everybody,

As the title indicates, I am having some problem with the general health of my LPS and SPS in my tank. After reading other threads and looking at pictures, it seems to me like my SPS are facing either STN or bleaching, or both. Some details about my tank are:

90 gallon DT, approx 25g DIY sump
Salinity: 1.025 (refractometer)
Temperature: 78.2 (Profilux probe)
pH:8.17 (Profilux Probe)
Ammonia:0 (API)
Nitrite:0 (API)
Nitrate:4 (Red Sea)
PO4:0.02 (Red Sea)
Calcium:470 (Red Sea)
Alkalinity:8.5 (Red Sea)
Magnesium:1400 (Red Sea)

The tank was setup in August of this year and allowed to cycle for approximately 5 weeks until parameters remained stable at 0. All salt water and top off water is and always has been with RO/DI water via a 5 stage plus unit from BRS (always 0 TDS). I use a JBJ auto top off to keep salinity in check and a profilux controller to monitor pH and Temp. Flow is produced via 2 Koralia 1400s and 1 Koralia 550 as well as a Mag 9 return pump. For lighting I use a Pacific Sun Metis Hyperion R2 unit, set on the Natural BALI program (for anyone with a background on these LEDS). Protein skimmer is an SWC 180 cone. I have been running GFO and Carbon in a dual DRS reactor until just last week when a member recommended pausing the reactor to see any positive/negative results. The only parameter that has been unstable was my alkalinity, which dropped to 7.0 several weeks ago. The alk was brought back up using 2-part over the course of 2 weeks to 8.5.

Inhabitants include:
2x snowflake clowns
1 Kole tang
2 firefish
3 Maldives Lyretail Anthias
Inverts/corals:
1 RBTA (doing great and growing very nicely)
Zoa colony (also doing great)
Ricordia mushroom (Healthy but very little growth)
Multiple SPS frags (This is where we run into the problems)
Frogspawn (Healthy but little growth)
Hammer coral (Slowly dying off)

I am having a hard time pin pointing exactly what is causing my corals to have a hard time thriving in my tank, and some help shedding the light on the problem would be appreciated. I am always open to constructive criticism on how I maintain my tank and the parameters/equipment I use. I thank you all in advance for any help you may offer :spin1:

Best Regards,
Nick :beer:

[Anemone]

I've found that LED lighting can be "tricky" to get right, and although I don't have any experience with your specific brand of LEDs, I know that in my case LEDS have taken several weeks to well over a month to cause bleaching and recession of SPS. You might try moving one or two of your problem SPS corals lower in your tank and see if there is any affect.

Kevin

[CHSUB]

i have had some problems w/ stn and bleaching with sps. i also have PS leds but i don't blame the lights. Early on i had great growth and color, then a steady decline that I attribute to "early tank" events. i think my tank was too young to fill with sps's. Hobby grade test kits can't read what is happening in young tanks. i believe after 6 months now i'm ready to fill the tank with sps's.

what % are you running the bali program, i felt i had better color with 80-85% rather than 100% and my tank is 30" deep....

[Kaporeef]

Thanks for the response Anemone, I will try to move the sps around a bit and see if there is any response. CHSUB, I had the same experience with color and growth for roughly 3 weeks. I am running the Bali program at 80%. I have also thought that the tank may not be old enough and have enough microfauna and phytoplankton to support sps. Would this have the same effect on a lesser demanding coral such as my Hammer? The best way I can describe my hammer's recession is by saying that it started in the bottom left of the colony and has slowly followed the skeleton to the right. As I look at the coral, the right most side of my hammer has great extension and color, however the left most "edge" of recession looks deflated. Any ideas?

Nick

[CHSUB]

that seems a little worrisome that we experenced the same issues!! i had a no3 spike to about 10 ppm and felt that was my problem. i have been trying to lower it to <1, which is where i think it should be for sps. some will disagree but you must evaulate the source. those with no3 higher than 1-2 ppm seldom have great growth and color. i too removed gfo but still use carbon as my po4 was always unreadable. my suggesting to you is lower your no3, maintain a stable alk, and give it another go. i'm doing the same and hoping for better results. if i get the same results maybe the lights are the problem, but i hope not...i would expect the hammer to thrive when sps fail, maybe it is an isolated event?

[sporto0]

Considering your tank is only 3 months old, there could be a host of reasons that your SPS aren't thriving, wait at least 8-12 months before you dive into the tough corals, it willl allow your tank to stabilize. Good luck.

[aquanooby]

I am new to reefs and threads like this really help me learn through others troubles, when I am ready for coral what is the best way to introduce them / what kind first?
I wanna start simple.Is it better to introduce fish or coral first ?

[Meshmez]

stability is key, and could very easily be the issue with such a new tank.

Also, im not familiar with that particular LED, but LED's are frequently run too high. I have a DIY 48 cree fixture on my 90 gallon. I had been running them at around 80% dimming and frags would look great for about 3-4 weeks with growth and good color, and then they would slowly bleach out. luckily most of them didnt fully die, but look pretty white. I had the lights up that high because people kept saying 48 leds is low for a 90g tank. I finally dropped the percentages to 60% and my corals are slowly starting to regain color and growth. the percentages will vary greatly from fixture to fixture, but in general, you should probably be running them lower than you probably think you should...

especially if your frags are coming from different lighting, even if its intense, moving to LED is different. i think light acclimation is more important when putting frags into an LED tank.

[sporto0]

I am new to reefs and threads like this really help me learn through others troubles, when I am ready for coral what is the best way to introduce them / what kind first?
I wanna start simple.Is it better to introduce fish or coral first ?


Depending on the size of your tank, starting with a "few" smaller fish is always a good idea, also easy corals such as soft corals, Mushrooms, Zoanthids, Colts & Kenya Trees, are very hardy & usually thrive in most home reefs. I suggest you start slow, which is also cost effective & read up on the corals you want to eventually have, keeping in mind that some corals, including the "easy" ones may spread rapidly & overtake other corals, Sprung & Debeek have written some great books on corals, I could not have had the success I enjoy without their work.

[Kaporeef]

Thank you for the responses everyone. I will wait until the tank has become more stable and able to support such beautiful creatures. I have also heard that about the LED intensity and will bring mine down to about 60% as well.