Some acros just don't do well in my tank...

[Nanook]

Some seem to be thriving, but many small frags just don't make it. They just brown out and die....parameters are very good.

SG=1.026
PH=8.0-8.4
Ca=480
Alk=10
Mag=1440
Nitrate=8.8
Phosphate=0.04
Temp 77-78 F

Been dosing vodka, xenia grows like mad, certain acros growing like weeds.

No pests, no predation by fish noted.

Lighting: 4x400w Radium and 4x110w VHO bulbs are about 4 months old on cube tank.

Lighting: 4x250w Radium and 4x110w VHO bulbs are about 5 months old on long tank.

I had some really nice frags from a guy here on RC and many of them have died, my monti's don't thrive either. Looks like things just look blah and then die over time. Frustrating as I have never experienced this before.

I am beginning to wonder if vodka dosing or 20K bulbs could be the culprits???

[nauticac4]

I tend to think that due to the wide variety of coral and their locations, depth, flow, ect, ect. That some are bound not to make it. I have the same issues in my tank however the difference other than size is that I am running XM 10k's with 460nm actinics as supplementation. I am dosing vodka and even before I began that I had problems with certain corals that did great in a friends tank and died in mine.

As much as I hate to say it I think it is the nature of keeping such a variety of species and the limited knowledge we as hobbiest have of there specific needs.

[Nanook]

Well said! I have often wondered that myself, but I see so many tanks that are wall to wall acros thriving. Heck, I can't even keep digitata or stylos alive

Maybe my system is just not friendly to certain species.

[kaserpick]

Are you running any carbon? It may be a stretch, but it could be toxins from corals.

[Nanook]

Originally posted by kaserpick
Are you running any carbon? It may be a stretch, but it could be toxins from corals.

Yes, quite a bit actually in a MRC 6"x27" media reactor. I change it every 2-3 weeks.

[gavinbree]

Originally posted by Nanook


I am beginning to wonder if vodka dosing or 20K bulbs could be the culprits???

Since switching to Vodka from Zeo I have had nothing but trouble with Acros bleaching and losing tissue and generally not growing. (all water parameters were good and no red bug or flat worm from what i could see)

I have since stopped dosing vodka and switched back to just dosing start2, it's only been 2 weeks since i switched back to start2 but corals seems to be looking better.

Now I'm not saying vodka is the problem for you or me, but it very well could be, might be worth you changing your carbon source to see if it makes a difference.

[DaddyJax]

I have always believed that there are more than a few factors for people having trouble with certain corals. Lighting is one the biggest ime. Another is water quality. Some sps like a more nutrient rich water than others, montis being one of them. Not saying high in nitrates or PO4 but nutrients.

[panic]

Nanook, I am having the same issue: can't keep montis or stylos. At first I solved the problem by not putting them in anymore, but now I am just ticked off that I can't grow them since I can keep everything else. My parameters are ideal as are yours, I wonder if my water is overskimmed, or if my ph wanders too much between light cycles, or if my water changes are too large and too frequent which might cause a system shock. I change 10% or 50g weekly and drop that water into my other mixed reef with an Orca 200 on it. I don't get any skimmate out of the Orca for 4-5 days because the water is already too clean. Some changes I am making will be 2 small water changes weekly instead of one big one, removal of 20% total system volume with a smaller frag tank and sumps, and a constant slow kalk drip to hold my ph more stable since it is on a float switch on evaporation now. We'll see.

Do you dose kalk? Does your ph or alk fluctuate?

[chadfarmer]

what lighting were the corals under that you got ?

its a long shot but worth a try

[kb27973]

With me it's the Oregon Tort. I've tried that coral 3 times and failed all 3. In my last tank it was xenia of all things I couldn't keep, now I can't kill it. Go figure. Not much help I know, just giving you moral support by letting you know we all have our unattainable coral(s). TOTM's just stay away from them.

Ken

[dots]

What are you using to get your parameters, ie: test kits?

I had a BIG TIME problem with my carbon leaching P04 for a few years, I always had bad coloration, slow growth, digis and stylo wouldn't grow. Soak some carbon in RO/DI and test for P04.

It took a long time to flush it all out, and increasing my WC frequency helped progressivly each time.

1000 gallons? How much velocity is in your flow where these pieces are located?

Any pieces in specific you have noticed you can't keep?

[broke1]

I can keep just about anything alive but Efflos and Montis. Although I have an LPS tank which is by design a dirtier tank and Montis seem to love it. Like a few have said above, I think some tanks are just suited for certain corals, not all of them.

[mcliffy2]

Montis are generally not high-light corals....the problem may be the 400w bulbs and too much light, not the 20k spectrum.

[29reef]

Do you keep fish in the tank? Lots or just a few? I've found with more regular feeding corals and fish will do better as long as your not creating no2 or no3. Why are you using vodka? Is there sand in the tank?

[Nanook]

Thanks for all the replies, I will get back to this thread when I have more time. For now, my test kits are Salifert for calcium and magnesium, Lamotte for alkalinity and nitrate, refractometer for SG and Hanna meter for phosphate.

My flow in the cube tank is two 6100s and two 6200s on sequential mode on lowest setting so I don't burn acros with too much flow. My Tunze are up higher in the tank as well to avoid direct flow, but my corals still get some direct flow.

[Retzius]

Originally posted by DaddyJax
I have always believed that there are more than a few factors for people having trouble with certain corals. Lighting is one the biggest ime. Another is water quality. Some sps like a more nutrient rich water than others, montis being one of them. Not saying high in nitrates or PO4 but nutrients.

I have to agree with this statement. When I was running zeo I could never keep an orange monti cap alive. Then I stopped zeo and it began taking off.

[91yota]

ive had the same issues... kept 2 tanks at one time and xenia thrived in one and shriveled in the other... my biggest issue with acros is milles/prostratas... i can keep them alive and super fuzzy but they will not grow- at all... in other tanks ive had, i couldnt keep montis... luck of the draw IMO with no rhyme or reason

[flyyyguy]

quote: Some acros just don't do well in my tank...


me too. Ive come to accept it is just how it is.

there are a few that come to mind, but the most notable for me is this what I believe is a red tort. I have been trying to kill it for 2 years now. I keep bleaching it. then I get it to darken up and finally show that rebound green color we all know and want to see sometimes...then it starts to turn red and I will either bleach it again somehow, or something will tick it off and either the base or the tips will start to die, I do what I need to to save it...repeat.......

its almost funny if it wasnt so frustrating. the thing is currently about 5" with a few branches and good encrustment and starting to turn red on me again....... I want to see what this thing really is so so badly...

it incidentally hates light which is really weird if it is indeed a tort. I have it currently low in the back corner of my tank where it has always done its best before it starts to die again.......

[originalozzyo]

I seem to have this problem as well. But i noticed that its usually the wild colonies and frags that have problems. I started vodka a month ago and some corals started growing like mad and other imediately started to recede. What gives? My water parameters are almost bang on

[graveyardworm]

I start having trouble with montipora if I've gone too long without a big water change. Nothing out of the ordinary dtectable on test kits. Several large ( 20% or so ) water changes always turns them around. I tried doing more frequent small water changes and what ever is wrong isnt being replenished or diluted fast enough. so back to large weekly water changes. Of course the other theories here probably play a role as well. You probably wont find an exact cause becasuse its likely more than one single thing.

[kev apsley]

Originally posted by mcliffy2
Montis are generally not high-light corals....the problem may be the 400w bulbs and too much light, not the 20k spectrum.

This was the first thing that popped into my head

[Dejavu]

Have you tried stopping vodka? I have never dosed it, but I do read more and more threads where people dosing vodka are having problems. It might be the easiest thing to do to try to find a solution.

[hyperfocal]

I agree, it's just the way of things. I can't keep stylos to save my life. I've tried pinks, greens, yellows, frags, colonies... none have lasted. There is still a lot of FM in this hobby (cf. xenia)

One thing I have noticed is that frags that are encrusting their base have a much higher survival rate in my tank -- so no more fresh frags for me. I'm considering getting a PAR meter (someday!) and measuring the light intensity new corals come from so I can better place them... maybe that'd help. I could have bought a truckload of meters for what I've blown on now dead frags

[Nanook]

Some of the frags corals I have lost and can't seem to keep are hydnophora, digitata, certain monti's, stylophora and some of the deepwater acros. There have also been many frags that did good for a while and then went south.

I never had these issues in my old 120g tank heavily fed with DSB. I am debating stopping the vodka dosing altogether and try a more natural approach with the addition of a large refugium and considering adding a DSB to the tanks as well.

[DaddyJax]

Originally posted by Nanook
Some of the frags corals I have lost and can't seem to keep are hydnophora, digitata, certain monti's, stylophora and some of the deepwater acros. There have also been many frags that did good for a while and then went south.

I never had these issues in my old 120g tank heavily fed with DSB. I am debating stopping the vodka dosing altogether and try a more natural approach with the addition of a large refugium and considering adding a DSB to the tanks as well.

I have never had a problem any sps of any kind in my tanks and one thing that I have always believed in was that nutrients are not the enemy. As long as you have great export to prevent PO4 and nitrate buildup and breakdown.
For the record, my monti caps and digi's were under 10k 400w bulbs near the bottom but my superman and rainbow and all the encrusting montis were near the top.