Help SPS corals dying slowly

[Staisman]

Originally Posted by anthonys51

Not too bad. But when was the last time you calibrated your ph probe. Should be done once a month with ph 7 and ph 10 solutions


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I do it some times. But Like I said I have second controller which shows the same number. So it is not the probe.

I had my corals growing nicely and then it went downhill

[anthonys51]

Just because you got 2 reading with 2 different probes doesn't make them correct. In this hobby I learned one thing. Never assume you are doing it correctly. Know that you are. I lost so many corals thinking I was doing it right. Saying I got them to live a year. Must be just bad luck. Living and succeeding is 2 different ballparks.

Also I wouldn't of purchased and ephons protein skimmer. Who advised you to get that one


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[Staisman]

Originally Posted by anthonys51

Just because you got 2 reading with 2 different probes doesn't make them correct. In this hobby I learned one thing. Never assume you are doing it correctly. Know that you are. I lost so many corals thinking I was doing it right. Saying I got them to live a year. Must be just bad luck. Living and succeeding is 2 different ballparks.

Also I wouldn't of purchased and ephons protein skimmer. Who advised you to get that one


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That was long time ago. Why what's wrong with Eshopps?

[anthonys51]

Witch one do you have.

When it comes to skimmers they aren't the best Few better brands to get


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[Staisman]

Originally Posted by anthonys51

Witch one do you have.

When it comes to skimmers they aren't the best Few better brands to get


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Eshopps S-200 Cone Protein Skimmer, I bought this one for my old 75g tank

[Staisman]

That's how my corals look now, and on the beginning of this topic you can see how they looked before

[Staisman]

I dosed NO3 up to 8 ppm and my PO4 dropped now to 0.03 so i gonna keep in this range for now and see if anything will improve.

[bertoni]

That's interesting. Did you happen to measure the nitrate drop that corresponded to your phosphate drop?

[anthonys51]

Are you running Gfo. Phosphates drop of that much isn't possible with nopox unless you had much higher nitrates

The bacteria that breaks down nitrates uses phosphates at a much lower level than nitrates.


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[Staisman]

Originally Posted by bertoni

That's interesting. Did you happen to measure the nitrate drop that corresponded to your phosphate drop?

MY NO3 didn't drop I rise it. I dosed KNO3. So I rised NO3 from 2 ppm to 8 ppm and my PO4 dropped from 0.14 to 0.03

[Staisman]

Originally Posted by anthonys51

Are you running Gfo. Phosphates drop of that much isn't possible with nopox unless you had much higher nitrates

The bacteria that breaks down nitrates uses phosphates at a much lower level than nitrates.


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I do not run GFO nor using NoPox anymore

[anthonys51]

Why are you doing kno3


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[anthonys51]

Little confused you dosed nopox to lower nitrates, then you dosed kno3 to raise them. Is that correct


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[Staisman]

Originally Posted by anthonys51

Little confused you dosed nopox to lower nitrates, then you dosed kno3 to raise them. Is that correct


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Well I was using NoPox to lower NO3 and PO4 in my old tank until it become undetectable (overdosed) Maybe that's why I start having issues ?

Now in the new system I wanted to rise my Nitrates a little so I dosed KNO3

[anthonys51]

My advice is stop being a chemist. Don't chase numbers. Corals like stable environments. Unless you see your corals dying I wouldn't be dosing or adding nitrates Anytime you dose anything you run the risk of over dosing. Stop dosing kno3. If your nitrates rise. Step you your water changes. You want to do things slow and natural first. Only thing I ever do to my tank besides dose 2 part is run Gfo. But I run one cup of Gfo and change it once a week in my 575 gallons system. I don't want phosphates that go up and down quickly Your corals won't die if your phosphates go up to .15. But they will die if it goes up to .15 down to .03 then back to .16. Same with nitrates. The swing will kill them faster then 25ppm will

Also when you dose 2 part you are dosing the same amount everyday right. You don't skip 3 days then dose 100ml do you ?


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[Staisman]

Originally Posted by anthonys51

My advice is stop being a chemist. Don't chase numbers. Corals like stable environments. Unless you see your corals dying I wouldn't be dosing or adding nitrates Anytime you dose anything you run the risk of over dosing. Stop dosing kno3. If your nitrates rise. Step you your water changes. You want to do things slow and natural first. Only thing I ever do to my tank besides dose 2 part is run Gfo. But I run one cup of Gfo and change it once a week in my 575 gallons system. I don't want phosphates that go up and down quickly Your corals won't die if your phosphates go up to .15. But they will die if it goes up to .15 down to .03 then back to .16. Same with nitrates. The swing will kill them faster then 25ppm will

Also when you dose 2 part you are dosing the same amount everyday right. You don't skip 3 days then dose 100ml do you ?


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2 part is on doser, so no.

[anthonys51]

Ok good. Hopefully you will stop dosing kno3 too and never dose nopox again. Nopox should only be dosed as a last resort. If 20 percent water changes once a week can't lower nitrates. Then try nopox. But start with good old fashion water changes first


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[UTCReefer]

Are you dosing sugar, vodka or vinegar at all?
How about iodine?
If you are I would stop dosing anything but ALK and CA and see if anything improves also have someone else check your salinity with another refractometer or floating hydrometer.

My monti's looked like your pics on page one once when my salinity hit 1.028-1.030. My calibration fluid was off.

[Staisman]

Originally Posted by UTCReefer

Are you dosing sugar, vodka or vinegar at all?
How about iodine?
If you are I would stop dosing anything but ALK and CA and see if anything improves also have someone else check your salinity with another refractometer or floating hydrometer.

My monti's looked like your pics on page one once when my salinity hit 1.028-1.030. My calibration fluid was off.

I do not dose any of that stuff except CA and ALK and NoPox but I stopped dose nopox.
I have two refractometers, and I have calibration solution. So i am sure salinity is not the issue but I guess I can check it anyway.

Right now I don't dose anything except CA and ALK and corals are still dying. I have left just a handful.

[Staisman]

OK So far nothing changed. Corals keep dying slowly.

Here is what I noticed. The corals always start dying from a bottom up. So the skeleton turns black, then gets covered with algae and then tissue just separates from the skeleton.

Here is I also noticed some fuzz on my hummerhead skeleton. It will be also dead in a month.

[Staisman]

Notice how skeleton gets darker. It was white before.

[UTCReefer]

That just looks like algae / bacteria growing on the dead spot.

[chevegan]

Ok read the whole thread lol whew. I'm surprised not a single person has had you check the doser. Check that it's dosing what you think it is for the time you think it is. I would never put nopox on a dosing pump. I agree with the stable environment. Stop dosing anything. Like nothing, back to basics. In a noob tank nothing grows sure, but nothing dies.

Also it has been mentioned a couple of times but I don't think you addressed it. Did you check for rust? All your magnets, every one of them. From pumps to motors. Let us know

If it followed your move and you used all fresh new water it's gotta be something physical (if you stopped dosing everything that is).

[Randy27]

I'm thinking it's either your dosing crashing your tank, or it's an issue with your rodi. Just a hunch, but I've been around long enough to have good ones every now and then lol. Good luck.

[Randy27]

...or like someone above mentioned...you're leeching something into your tank (I.e. Magnet cleaner cover busted, etc).