All SPS unhappy...I'm lost

[ReefChef27]

Here is my opinion. Trash the salifert phosphate test kit. If you want to know what your phosphates truly are then get yourself a Hanna meter. My guess is, by looking at your tank that you definitely have phosphate, but you need to know for sure. If you've been running GFO for 5 weeks then it is probably spent, especially if it was the first time you used it. No telling what your phosphate levels were before you put it online. Phosphate levels at 0 are fine for sps you just have to feed more often. Silicates may be coming from the IO, cheaper salts tend to have silicates. Think about switching to maybe a tropic Marin or AquaVitro Salinity. If you notice diatoms after a water change then that could clue you in on the cause. Look into the true spectrum of your lighting. If there are a lot of red diodes then this could help induce cyano. I run mine at a max of 5% for only 3 hours. Too much and too intense red will photo inhibit corals and stunt growth/ cause stn. As for the Kalk, vinegar is a carbon source and 1 drop to top off won't hurt the system. Adding vinegar is commonly done to make more of the caoh available thus maximizing the Kalk. However, if your sand is clumping then your solution is too saturated and precipitating out and reacting with the aragonite based sand. I would do 2 things. Stop using vinegar, this will make the solution less saturated and make sure you are using 1/2 tsp per gallon. If clumping still occurs then you may need to lower the amount of Kalk per gallon of RO. Lastly, look at your source water. What is the TDS, are you using RO or RO coupled with DI as well?

 

[hatfielj]

If you haven't done this yet check ALL of your equipment carefully. Inspect your heaters and make sure they're not broken, your pumps, everything that is in the water. My brother in law's tank just suffered a crash that happened very similarly to whats happening with your tank. All of the sudden a bunch of previously healthy corals started closing up some stuff started rtn'ing. It wasn't until after all the damage was done that I discovered one of his heaters had basically exploded in the sump and was leaking electricity and copper into the water. We fixed it and did a ton of water changes and now things are back to normal.

 

[ps2cho]

With the GFO, I ran it at half dose since I read you shouldn't do a full dose first time around. Its been about 3 weeks with it now.

I just checked all equipment and its fine.
I just fiddled with the second Jebao pump and managed to get it to work again! I plugged it back in and I can instantly see a difference in flow. In a matter of 30mins the cyano was blown off the sand. Problem solved there.

Also -- I ordered the Red Sea Nitrate and Phosphate test kit (yesterday so too late for the Hanna kit) but this should be way more accurate than the Salifert kit.

My source water is fine. I have a Spectrapure 75gpd with an additional DI cartridge. I have the HM COM-80 TDS reader and I have 0 tds. I replace the sediment and carbon every 6 months and the DI as soon as I see 1ppm on the first DI (Silicabuster + Maxcap is what I have).

I believe the rocks are the issue now that I think about it. I don't see any difference in the diatoms after a water change. On my old tank I had only a few pieces of dry rock from reefcleaners and it had the same diatoms for about 3months then it vanished in a week. I have 10x as much rock in this tank, so maybe it will just vanish as well once its all eaten up.

Will putting Reef Roids and aminos in the tank twice weekly cause phosphates to spike?

 

[ps2cho]

Also I am using 1 teaspoon per gallon of RODI for the kalk. I am going through about 1 gallon per day evaporation.
Is that ok?

 

[ps2cho]

I got my Red Sea Algae Pro kit today and tested everything.

Phosphates were either 0, or 0.02ppm....extremely low then!
Nitrates came out between 3-4ppm. I haven't done a water change in almost 2 weeks and I have been feeding heavily. Not going crazy, but I am now feeding greater quantities, and then a larger feeding with one day break in between. I do one frozen cube of Formula 1 and let the whole thing circulate to everything with the pumps off for 15mins.

At what point should I worry about the nitrates though?

 

[Frostyfish]

Most of what I have read and heard from other reefers is nitrates below 10 ppm is ok. Some even go as high as 20. If the majority or your corals are sps, then under 10 is preferred. Tanks that have a lot of zoas, palys, and other softies will tolerate higher nitrate for the most part. Keeping them low (below 10) will also reduce the impact of a sudden spike. What some people have done is let the nitrates rise slowly until they notice negative effects on their corals. Once the corals react negatively to the nitrate, they know what ppm to keep below. I don't have the balls to do that, but it's one way to find out what the threshold is for your tank!

 

[ps2cho]

Should I do monthly water changes of a larger quantity, or do water changes on a schedule based around my nitrate build up?

FWIW, the diatoms seem to have subsided slightly. It could be the increase in flow again though...I still feel like I have dead spots. Maybe I need to re-aquascape everything.

 

[Frostyfish]

I would do weekly changes of 10-20% for a month, then go to bi monthly water changes. Before you do the changes get a turkey baster and blast the rocks and sand bed, not too hard on the sand. It's amazing how much crap comes off your rocks and sand bed. As far as the aquascaping goes, have the rocks 4" away from the glass and consider taking one of the flat rocks in the front of your pic out, or make it vertical

 

[Frostyfish]

The more proactive you are now getting the diatoms to subside the faster they will go away and save you even more work. I do 10-20% changes weekly and blast my rocks/sand with a turkey baster and I am amazed at how much comes off each time. I have been using the baster for about a month now and have noticed that algae is receding, the glass stays cleaner, the water clarity is crystal, and nitrate/phosphate stays down constantly

 

[Frostyfish]

Should I do monthly water changes of a larger quantity, or do water changes on a schedule based around my nitrate build up?

FWIW, the diatoms seem to have subsided slightly. It could be the increase in flow again though...I still feel like I have dead spots. Maybe I need to re-aquascape everything.

How's your tank doing?

 

[ps2cho]

I totally rescaped the tank on Friday morning, and with that it allowed me to put my Vortech MP10 in the tank as well. So I now have 2 WP-25's and an MP10. There are much less dead spots and the STN has halted. I have been feeding more and with time I expect that I can start to get everything happy.

Polyps are still not out on a few of the SPS, but its only been about a week since I've been feeding more.

 

[fishroomlady]

out of curiosity, did you stop running the GFO?

 

[ps2cho]

Yes. I stopped almost everything. Activated Carbon, GFO and Vinegar.

The fish were pretty ****** after the rescape. The clowns didn't give two hoots, but the royal gramma and kole tang hid in a new hole for 2 days. Today is the first day they are all out together and happy again.

My yellow tang is almost done with QT and will join the fray and help clean the algae.

 

[ethridge78]

Glad to hear keep us undated

 

[fishroomlady]

yes, glad to hear that you got positive results. I know it can be hard to sort through all the varying opinions out there.

 

[Frostyfish]

That's great, post a pic of the new rock layout

 

[ps2cho]

I will take a new photo tomorrow.

I have noticed over the past few days that my frogspawns green color is far more pronounced. I am sure my issue was entirely around starving the corals. The diatoms have also entirely subsided too! Amazing...

I am questioning if I should do a water change now or let it be since everything seems to be reacting well.

 

[SleepEatCorals]

Hey Just reading the post and just wanted to help you out since i have a sps dominant tank and hate to see people go through these problems... So im gonna help you out!



I saw that you stopped running gfo, carbon, and vinegar which is a great! Should run unless needed and if you do run use half then recommended in anything! using gfo can cause sps to lose color and turn white. Now another thing i saw was the cyano and possibly diatoms i wish i can see a closer pic! With the cyano its a sign of low flow!, using 2 wp25 that should be enough just ramp it up more. More flow wont hurt sps! Also with cyano u can siphon it out, siphoning diatoms not gonna do nothing it will come right back i recommend get cleanup crew get a little bit of each snails and hermits, a cuc will be great but might wanna bring him to LFS when finish or will die from starvation and kill your tank... i dont feel u need it for your tank.. basic snails and hermits will be fin, best bet live aquaria! No i would like to know if u dose at all calcium/Mg/ ALK if so how are u doing?and you times? Also i notice with leds corals loses colors and have more problem then under halides and t5, i recommend switch but that all up to you! Another thing i was reading is your tank starving, i dont believe your tank was starving i think its from the media! For example i dont run any media unless needed! and do water changes its your best friend with your tank size definitely once a week, which also bring me to ask what salt are u using?

 

[ps2cho]

I keep ca and alk in line with kalk in my ato. I use one leveled teaspoon per gallon and it seems to hold my numbers.

I use instant ocean salt.

 

[Frostyfish]

I use instant ocean salt.[/QUOTE]

I switched from instant ocean to fritz and saw a big difference. Some people love instant ocean, but a reef specific salt would be best for SPS.