About to throw in the towel...

[LovestheReefer]

Don’t throw in the towel bro. I’m just getting started again for the 1st in 15 years. My tank is here. Your gonna be alright my brother. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-reefer-waterbox-mini-penn-25-loves-to-see-what-y’all-think.806223/page-2#post-8647364

 

[LovestheReefer]

I will do a 10 percent WC tomorrow and dose phosphate to bring my levels up from 0 after the change.

Vibrant hasn't been used in over a month. Won't be using that again if it is the culprit.

I will grab a new bottle of calibration fluid tomorrow to double check my refractometer is properly calibrated too

Refractometer is really imo I just picked up a Hanna digital checker and it works super awesome so far.

 

[LovestheReefer]

Is really wack*

 

[davidcalgary29]

Agree with vibrant. It killed multiple corals on my tank. Stop it asap

I can't disagree. Vibrant is working really well in my FOWLR at the appropriate dosage, but my gorgonian closed for three days when I put in .3 mL in my 4g jarquarium, and the rest of the corals sulked. I did a quick water change after I noticed that, I can tell you, and put another snail in the jar.

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

Wc is the only thing that will really get rid of chemiclean, vibrant will dissipate after a week if you were following the appropriate dosage for it, it’s essentially a bacteria that doesn’t multiply and vinegar

It has been over a month since I used vibrant so I would think it's out if the system by now...

Refractometer is really imo I just picked up a Hanna digital checker and it works super awesome so far.

Im going to grab a hanna salinity tester to confirm my salt levels just to be sure

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

Just another observation I forgot to share. My chaeto is very dense and dark. When I pick it up it feels brittle. It's also not that free feeling look chaeto, it's hard and is very tightly coiled curls. Not sure if that's of any help by chance?

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

Refractometer is really imo I just picked up a Hanna digital checker and it works super awesome so far.

So I just picked up a hanna salinity tester. I was hoping my SG was off and finally started to find answers... Unfortunately ( but good) it is perfectly at 1.025

So SG is eliminated too. My only guess is the chemiclean at this point since the vibrant has been out of the system for over a month now. If it's bacterial, what can I do to treat it?

 

[Thaxxx]

Just because the Vibrant has been out a bit over a month doesn't mean it's not the cause.
You said this has been going on for a few weeks. That would be right after you ended Vibrant. Just because things didn't start going bad right away, I wouldn't discount Vibrant being the culprit.

 

[DonTavo27]

It has been over a month since I used vibrant so I would think it's out if the system by now...

Im going to grab a hanna salinity tester to confirm my salt levels just to be sure

I agree with @Thaxxx just because it was a month ago doesn’t mean it still isn’t in the system, or the effects of it are gone completely,
Water change, and spot feeding The coral might help. Back to Basics like the other Reefers mentioned is the name of Game lol
Good luck and don’t give up, just take it slow.

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

Okay I will go back to basics and do water changes. I will just have to dose flourish phosphate to the new water in order to keep the levels up

 

[ZoWhat]

Leaving? Throwing in the towel?

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

Leaving? Throwing in the towel?

???

 

[DucatiGtr]

Doesn't vibrant drive nutrients down fast ? Just wondering I used it one time and I noticed Phosphates was down to 0 like really fast.

I’m not sure to be honest.

 

[schuby]

I suspect your very low levels of phosphate, 0 - 0.03, are starving your corals to death. I've killed far more corals with low phosphate than with high phosphate.

Also, I've never been able to lower phosphates with wc. Do you have much rock in your tank?

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

My phosphates have been pretty steady between .05 and .08. I dose about half an ml per day of flourish phosphate to keep levels from bottoming out. I have about 100 lbs of rock total in the tank

 

[Thaxxx]

Leaving? Throwing in the towel?

???

Haha
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

 

[Laddair]

I would agree that since you have stopped doing WC that trace elements are getting used up and not replenished. I know you have started doing WC again. I would give it a few months of WC to see results.

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

UPDATE:
I still don't get it... I have been doing bi weekly water changes. Things started to turn around a bit and growing like a weed for a week or two. Then all of the sudden, went back to looking dull and some of my lps (Duncan's.. yes the easy as crap, Duncan's) started to die. Another water change today. Again, some things look great (75 percent of sps, all my euphyllia, all chalices). Most of the zoas look like crap. Would asterna stars or turf algae cause issues? I am battling a little bit of turf algae right now which I hope my new urchin and turbos take care of....
Things are still bleaker than bleak

 

[Jilly92]

I have an IM 100 reef tank with reefbreeders photon v2 with 2 supplemental led strips, which I have not adjusted In many months. The tank is an upgrade from a 60 gallon. Moved over all the rock from the previous setup so it cycled in no time and began to flourish within months.

I first noticed some of my zoas closing up and eventually melting but the majority of them were fine.
For a few weeks now I have been battling issues with sps starting to lose color, then STN. It has been getting worse as of lately. Most of my sps are doing great, but it seems like one by one they are starting to lose PE then STN. I even had one acro randomly RTN overnight on me.

Recently a few of my favias began to lose tissue and a cyphastrea would lose polyp extension then start to bleach.

I am at my end with trying to figure out what is going on. I have run carbon, done a water change, testing, everything! I even had a sample sent out for an icp test which I will attach to the post. My levels are as follows

Po4- .05-.08 hanna
Nitrate- 16 red sea
Alk- 8.4 red sea
Mag- 1440 red sea
Calcium 440 red sea
S/g- 1.025 refractometer

I dose acro power once a week and finished vibrant treatment a little over a month ago. All corals looked great during the vibrant treatment so I'm thinking that is not the factor. I have searched diligently for pest but the issue is affecting lps too so that eliminated red/black bugs.

I also notice alot of the sps that end up dying start to lose color at the base and work their way up to the top. The tissue looks a bit streaky if that makes sense. My one acro is losing tissue where the polyps come out of. Could it be bacterial?

Someone else posted something like this and started vibrant back up and everything went back to normal. I will never use vibrant or aquavitro again though. I'm not sure what's in it but it only caused me problems

 

[150 Gallon Reef]

Someone else posted something like this and started vibrant back up and everything went back to normal. I will never use vibrant or aquavitro again though. I'm not sure what's in it but it only caused me problems

So they had problems after using vibrant, stopped using it, then used it again which then made everything go back to normal?