Can't keep SPS alive - ICP Water results

[Steverd]

I can't keep SPS alive in my 90g tank (over 5 years old).
Soft corals, Zoas, seem happy and growing
PAR is between 200 - 300 at SPS locations

I just got my ICP water results back.
Does anything stand out to you that could be the issue.
Everything was normal except these:

KH 9.7 dKH (Above Normal) - (I've lowered my dosing)
CA 490mg/l (Critcally high) - (I've lowered my dosing)
Fluorine 0.73 mg/l (Below Normal)
Iodine 16 ug/l (Critically Low)
Manganese ---- (Below Normal)
Iron ----- (Below Normal)
Zinc 140 ug/l (Critically Low)
P(phos) 0.73 ug/l (Critically Low)
PO4 0.00 (Critically Low)
Alum 140 ug/l (Above Normal)

RO Water has High Silicon (already replaced the resin)

Thank you for any help/suggestions you have.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Phosphate stands out.

Where’s your nitrate at?

Flow and lighting?

What sps are we talking about?

 

[Michael Hughes]

What salt mix are you using?

 

[Project1004]

I’m going to give an extreme advice. So take it with a grain of salt.

Since much of all your element is critically low….while something’s are high…. I would suggest you do a 80-90% water change. Using good salt…. But your salt that you been using… I think your tank can handle this since it’s 5yrs old?!?

Bring in a fresh batch of new saltwater (which should have normal range of elements). Giving you a proper baseline to work with. However…. Your phosphate is very low. Idk your nitrate but this means you have to feed your tank…. Properly and consistently…. Or you might have more issues….

#1 Get your parameters in range and keep it stable (alk,calc,mag).
#2 Get your nutrients in a range and keep it stable (Nitrate and Phosphate).
#3 Get other things stable. ICP maybe good way to see what you are lacking or have too much of….

 

[DaJMasta]

Too little phosphate, there is some correlation between low phosphate proportion when compared to nitrate (not listed) can have some significant negative effects, so I'd get detectable phosphate, at least, as a starting point.

Much harder to quantify, but flow os also critical, and what's appropriate for softies and zoas is often too little for sps. While some of the low trace elements are probably worth more water changes or some kind of dosing, I wouldn't put alkalinity or calcium in the problem region, they're just a bit elevated.

 

[slingfox]

I can't keep SPS alive in my 90g tank (over 5 years old).
Soft corals, Zoas, seem happy and growing
PAR is between 200 - 300 at SPS locations

I just got my ICP water results back.
Does anything stand out to you that could be the issue.
Everything was normal except these:

KH 9.7 dKH (Above Normal) - (I've lowered my dosing)
CA 490mg/l (Critcally high) - (I've lowered my dosing)
Fluorine 0.73 mg/l (Below Normal)
Iodine 16 ug/l (Critically Low)
Manganese ---- (Below Normal)
Iron ----- (Below Normal)
Zinc 140 ug/l (Critically Low)
P(phos) 0.73 ug/l (Critically Low)
PO4 0.00 (Critically Low)
Alum 140 ug/l (Above Normal)

RO Water has High Silicon (already replaced the resin)

Thank you for any help/suggestions you have.

You should post a link to your full ICP report.

What was your salinity at?

You should also post more about your system setup: what lights do you use, what do you have for flow, what do you dose and how often, water change schedule, etc. Picture of full tank shot would also be helpful.

If you have things set up to ensure high stability then you should be able to grow SPS in a tank that size and age. You likely just need to tweak your husbandry.

 

[Steverd]

Phosphate stands out.

Where’s your nitrate at?

Flow and lighting?

What sps are we talking about?

Nitrates at 10.53 mg/l
Lights are Four ATi T5 and Radion XR15w G4 Pro Marine LED (Par 200 - 300)
Flow is Gyre on one end and a Vortech MP 40 on the other side lower

I can't say what the SPS are expect my friend said that these where "Easy" ones.

 

[Steverd]

What salt mix are you using?

I've been using Tropic Marin Pro Reef for the last two years.

Thank you

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Nitrates at 10.53 mg/l
Lights are Four ATi T5 and Radion XR15w G4 Pro Marine LED (Par 200 - 300)
Flow is Gyre on one end and a Vortech MP 40 on the other side lower

I can't say what the SPS are expect my friend said that these where "Easy" ones.

I don’t know of any “easy” sps! Ha!

 

[Steverd]

You should post a link to your full ICP report.

What was your salinity at?

You should also post more about your system setup: what lights do you use, what do you have for flow, what do you dose and how often, water change schedule, etc. Picture of full tank shot would also be helpful.

If you have things set up to ensure high stability then you should be able to grow SPS in a tank that size and age. You likely just need to tweak your husbandry.

Oh, I didn't know I could share the full link:

https://lab.atiaquaristik.com/share/668f5e764895afec8335

Salinity 34.83
SALT: Tropic Marin Pro Reef
LIGHTS: Four T-5 and one Radion XR15w G4 Pro Marine LED
FLOW: Gyre pumps on one and and a Vortech MP40 one the other side lower
PAR: 200- 300
DOSING: ESV B-Ionic Alk and Calcium (just lowered)

Thank you,

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

If you have a sand bed with an mp40 at the bottom, and it’s not blowing sand all over in a 90g, then I’m guessing flow could be bumped up.

Mixed can be tricky, it’s kinda a fine line between too much flow for the softies to be happy and too little flow for the sps to be happy.

I doubt that flow alone is the issue though. As mentioned above, pictures are worth a lot for others to help out, as well as some more info.

 

[rtparty]

Back the truck up before doing anything suggested thus far...especially an 80-90% water change. Nothing in your results stands out and absolutely nothing calls for drastic measures.

How are the SPS dying? Do they go super pale then bleach and die? Skin falling off rapidly? Do they darken first and then slowly fade away?

HOW they are dying will actually give us actionable data to work with.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What kind sps? Even weedy montipora's you can't keep? How fast do they die? Have you measured your par or it from the manufacturer? Can we see a tank pic?

 

[Steverd]

Here are a few photos to give you an idea of this tank: 90G Neptunian Cube
Photo 1 is an over view Then the others are the corals that are dying or dead.

 

[Steverd]

Back the truck up before doing anything suggested thus far...especially an 80-90% water change. Nothing in your results stands out and absolutely nothing calls for drastic measures.

How are the SPS dying? Do they go super pale then bleach and die? Skin falling off rapidly? Do they darken first and then slowly fade away?

HOW they are dying will actually give us actionable data to work with.

Thanks rtparty, I just posted some photos.
The coral look ok for a week or two and slowly start to fade, not a rapid skin lost.

 

[Steverd]

What kind sps? Even weedy montipora's you can't keep? How fast do they die? Have you measured your par or it from the manufacturer? Can we see a tank pic?

Just posted a few photos,
My PAR over these corals are 200-300 measured with my Apogee Par Meter MQ-510.

Thank you

 

[Michael Hughes]

Are you acclimating them to those higher light levels? If so, for how long?

 

[rob6405]

My recommendation would be to track as many metrics as you are willing to daily until you find something that is trending out of whack. I had a similar problem with SPS and started to track Salinity and Alkalinity daily for several months. I found my salinity was dropping between water changes. I fixed that and everything started to turn around.

 

[CHSUB]

The coral look ok for a week or two and slowly start to fade, not a rapid skin lost

This imo is starving corals, I would feed the corals directly, not just the entire tank, something like reef Roids and aminos mixed together several times a week. Resist the temptation to elevate po4 alone which only feeds the zooxanthella. You need to feed the animal, not the algae.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Your lps corals look super happy, the flow and lighting and nutrients is perfect for them.

Seeing the sps on the sand right beside the lps, to me it explains why the sps are not happy, they like so much more flow and light than lps. Usually sps are on the top rocks where it is brightest and has the highest flow. But I see zoa's on the top rock, so I wonder if your flow and lighting is turned down too low. Despite what the par meter says, IMO the corals are talking to you, they want more light and flow