At my wits end

[Skujio]

First off I'll go ahead and give parameters.

Cal- 475 ppm
Alk- 8.0 dKH
Mag- 1400 ppm
Nitrate- 25
Phos- .20 (both elevated through dosing)
Temp- 77-78 daily
Salinity- 1.025

Over the course of the last 6 or so months I've seen my sps degrading terribly. Every new piece introduced begins fine for about a week and then develops dryness throughout and brown algae then takes over. I've ran into acro flatworms however that battle has been fought and this affliction is not caused by them as no bites have been observed for months. Also I have recently began to change my T5s as it's that time of the year but this problem had been ongoing and if anything I would have seen bleaching occur rather than stn. If anyone has any pointers I would be very grateful as I'm close to just breaking down and restarting. Pics show the state of the sps.


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[dubmaneh]

Do an ICP water test. I had very similar symptoms and it was low iodine and low potassium. Now I know when my corals look “dry” it’s low iodine.

Not saying that iodine is necessarily your culprit, but an ICP test would be money well spent.


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[Skujio]

Originally Posted by dubmaneh

Do an ICP water test. I had very similar symptoms and it was low iodine and low potassium. Now I know when my corals look “dry” it’s low iodine.

Not saying that iodine is necessarily your culprit, but an ICP test would be money well spent.


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Actually I recently sent in an ICP test. All levels normal other than sodium which was a little low.


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[Fishinbob]

I've had a very similar problem couldn't keep nutrients up.. so I started dosing nitrates and phos. Growth was great then most corals started to diminish .

Question have you been doing regular water changes?

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[Skujio]

Originally Posted by Fishinbob

I've had a very similar problem couldn't keep nutrients up.. so I started dosing nitrates and phos. Growth was great then most corals started to diminish .

Question have you been doing regular water changes?

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Yes! 5 gal per week but recently now 10. 90 gal full volume.

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[Fishinbob]

Some friends and I have been having the conversation about bio diversity and dosing of these independent solutions such as nitrates phosphates and aminos. Just a theory that with these dosing regimens we are stimulating different bacterial populations which may interact with tank chemisty/uptake differently then the typical bacterial populations.
This is a new problem for me aswell(within the past year)
Previously I had high fish bioload, and regular waterchanges to minimize the nutrients.
Now my bioload is somewhat low and not nearly enough input into the system. Even with heavying feeding and dosing.
I have only been doing 5-10% biweekly water changes due to them lowering nutrients and causing a cyano outbreak.
Since then I've upped the water changes 15-20% weekly added a significant bioload increase and began dosing bacterial supplements microblaster, microblift, fritz and thing are coming around slowly albeit.
I was dosing 350+ ml cal and alk daily so that with minimal water changes (for element replacement and nutrient dillution) and extremely low no3 and p04(additives) was the culprit in my case, and looks very similar to what was happening for me.


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[Skujio]

Originally Posted by Fishinbob

Some friends and I have been having the conversation about bio diversity and dosing of these independent solutions such as nitrates phosphates and aminos. Just a theory that with these dosing regimens we are stimulating different bacterial populations which may interact with tank chemisty/uptake differently then the typical bacterial populations.
This is a new problem for me aswell(within the past year)
Previously I had high fish bioload, and regular waterchanges to minimize the nutrients.
Now my bioload is somewhat low and not nearly enough input into the system. Even with heavying feeding and dosing.
I have only been doing 5-10% biweekly water changes due to them lowering nutrients and causing a cyano outbreak.
Since then I've upped the water changes 15-20% weekly added a significant bioload increase and began dosing bacterial supplements microblaster, microblift, fritz and thing are coming around slowly albeit.
I was dosing 350+ ml cal and alk daily so that with minimal water changes (for element replacement and nutrient dillution) and extremely low no3 and p04(additives) was the culprit in my case, and looks very similar to what was happening for me.


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What you're saying is the increase in bio load and water changes is a better way to go than dosing no3 and po4? That's the route I'm taking now. I've added a few fish about a month ago and took the dosers offline.

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[Fishinbob]

Yes, I would do a series of water changes maybe 20% a week for 6 weeks or so. Add some additional fish to increase bioload and feed fish and corals heavily while doing the water changes to make up for the nutrient export from water changes.

Going back to a moderately overstocked tank and heavy feedings of fish and corals and getting a more natural n03 and po4 and whatever else these fish release into the tank.
One I started dosing nitrates, the tank seemed dependant on them and if missed a day or didnt feed Colors started to fade.
Ran out of nitrates for a week and the corals started fading/beginning of stn.
Hope this helps I know I've been battling the issue for a while. It will take the tank a few months to get its stride again.

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[Skujio]

Originally Posted by Fishinbob

Yes, I would do a series of water changes maybe 20% a week for 6 weeks or so. Add some additional fish to increase bioload and feed fish and corals heavily while doing the water changes to make up for the nutrient export from water changes.

Going back to a moderately overstocked tank and heavy feedings of fish and corals and getting a more natural n03 and po4 and whatever else these fish release into the tank.
One I started dosing nitrates, the tank seemed dependant on them and if missed a day or didnt feed Colors started to fade.
Ran out of nitrates for a week and the corals started fading/beginning of stn.
Hope this helps I know I've been battling the issue for a while. It will take the tank a few months to get its stride again.

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I appreciate it man will do. Any other pointers you can think of?


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[reefmutt]

I wouldn’t call 25 n and .2 p anywhere near to low levels.. in fact I’d call them high.. - not that I think that those levels have anything to do with the coral issues..probably doesn’t..
However I do completely agree that the series of bigger water changes. This may just turn things around. Not sure about adding more bioload.. your bio load is already producing plenty of nutrients..

— just noticed you mentioned that n and p are high due to dosing... D’oh.. then yes I agree ditch the dosing and add a couple of fish ..

[five.five-six]

Could be I see redbugs. Photo fuzzy

[acesq]

When corals decline rapidly despite decent tank parameters (which you have), the most likely causes include bad make up water, poisoning (rusting magnets, air born pollutants, etc.), pests or a bacterial disease like white band.

Tap water that is high in chloramines can quickly get through carbon blocks and destroy RO membranes. If you haven't changed your RO filters in a while, try that. If that's the cause, you'll see a quick turnaround. My tap water is treated with so much chloramine I had to add extra carbon blocks and change them out at least once per year or my corals will suffer.


Also look for potential sources of poisoning. After months of dealing with declining SPS I found a badly rusting probe holder magnet in the back corner of my sump. Took that out, did a few large water changes and the corals responded. This showed up on an ICP test as very high tungsten W.

Also look for red bugs or AEFW and treat if you find any.

[Holyreefer]

Originally Posted by acesq

When corals decline rapidly despite decent tank parameters (which you have), the most likely causes include bad make up water, poisoning (rusting magnets, air born pollutants, etc.), pests or a bacterial disease like white band.

Tap water that is high in chloramines can quickly get through carbon blocks and destroy RO membranes. If you haven't changed your RO filters in a while, try that. If that's the cause, you'll see a quick turnaround. My tap water is treated with so much chloramine I had to add extra carbon blocks and change them out at least once per year or my corals will suffer.


Also look for potential sources of poisoning. After months of dealing with declining SPS I found a badly rusting probe holder magnet in the back corner of my sump. Took that out, did a few large water changes and the corals responded. This showed up on an ICP test as very high tungsten W.

Also look for red bugs or AEFW and treat if you find any.

9/10 times every time i go to a reef society meeting its always the RO system filters they forget to keep up with or check.

[Deahttub]

Originally Posted by holyreefer

9/10 times every time i go to a reef society meeting its always the ro system filters they forget to keep up with or check.

+1

[BS#9247]

Burning tips, I usually start adding Kent’s Iodine in my tank a cap full each day. Until they look better. Cut on the feeding of the tank, only feed the fish with pellets.