hey guys I got my 24 gal jbj nano cube and im having trouble with it. My SPS corals have been melting from the bottom up until they are fully dead so i tested my levels and have done 2 waterchanges today already. My hammers are all receeded and not opening but my zoes and acan look alright. I tested levcels and Im getting .25-.5 ammonia NI 0 NA 0 Cal 500 and ph 8.4 idk what to do everywhere is closed now so all i can do is another water change but I just did one two hours ago any ideas??
corals are melting??
- Thread starter calvertc425
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When did it start? Any major changes? Did it start after a water change? Did it start after regenerating purigen or stirring sand bed? Moving rock?
Dose prime if you have it.
Dose prime if you have it.
hyprc
Well-Known Member
Temp swing? Alk swing? Did you match parameters before performing the water changes? I'd expect something to be dying in there (snail maybe?) to cause ammonia to be an issue. Ammonia is toxic so first priority would be to find the source. When's the last time you tested alk or mag?
Its a common problem for all of a sudden all gous to melting UNLESS its a well established tank .Check your magnesium and pics would help to. Amonia is pretty dang high do a constant every day 15% water change and check your calcium,kh,magnesium and post it here
vetteguy53081
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two questions:
Are you dosing, and what are you dosing at what quantities?
How bright is your light and what type of light and also water movement.
Are you dosing, and what are you dosing at what quantities?
How bright is your light and what type of light and also water movement.
High ammonia and no No4 seems like a cycle to me. I would also check your ALK id venture to say in a 24g your alk is swinging as well. its very difficult to keep parameters stable in a small body of water like that. it can be done, but even the most season "sticks" guys have issues with small tanks and sps. everything you do/add has a BIG impact on stability.
hyprc
Well-Known Member
Uuuh I beg to differ on the last point. My system had a nitrate deficiency from month 2 (right after cycle completed) all the way until YEAR 2 when I started manually dosing no3 daily. It took me 2 months of dosing to get detectable levels. Absolutely zero carbon dosing or other material added to the tank (just cycled dry rock and occasionally GFO as phosphates were always steadily climbing and still do). If i stop dosing no3, I'll have complete deficiency in less than 2 weeks and serious problems to this day. Tank is now over 3 years old.
SDK
Reef Diver
And were corals and fish rapidly dying off in your tank after 4 months and still leaving no trace of nitrate in your system?
Taken within the context of the circumstances of this particular situation, zero nitrates does not seem correct. If I ever make a blanket statement that no aquarium ever has zero nitrates, then feel free to correct me...
My system hovers close to zero as well, with no carbon dosing, but I'm not having the issues that the OP is...
Taken within the context of the circumstances of this particular situation, zero nitrates does not seem correct. If I ever make a blanket statement that no aquarium ever has zero nitrates, then feel free to correct me...
My system hovers close to zero as well, with no carbon dosing, but I'm not having the issues that the OP is...
calvertc425
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ok well my salinity is 1.026 ph 8.6 calcium 500 i dont have tests for anything else really except what i popsteed before i have dosed prime and done a water change the corals that were melting all died but i have two acros that show zero ill affect and are ok my acan is doing alright as well. my zoes and hammers are still closed up. This all started this p[ast sunday morning. the day before I added 3 new corals to my tank and those are the ones that all died. I drip acclimated for 1 hour saturday morning. All i did since then was my regular weeklwy water change which i do on the same day every week. After seeing everything starting to look bad i put a carbon pad in the filter but did not dose anything. I usually dose once every other week with calcium and alkalinity booster but had not done so this week. Any ideas my hammeres and zoes still wont open and I dosed with prime 3 hours ago
hyprc
Well-Known Member
I had STN issues with any SPS I added until I started dosing no3, as well as almost zero growth and lack of color with other corals.
Why does zero nitrate not seem correct in this situation without the presence of carbon dosing? He could simply be underfeeding. Never accused you of making a blanket statement, just saying zero nitrates could have an easy explanation in this situation... but we don't know until we get more info from OP
Silverfish
Valuable Member
Did you use dry life rock? I had the same problem. I used dry life rock and I believe My tank went through many minicycles. Finally at around 9 months I felt i turned the corner. Live rock will give you a true text book cycle bc of the die off. This will cause large amounts of bacteria to grow. The nitrification process does not work nearly as well with dry rock. Also I’m finding that formation of pink coralline algae is also taking much longer.
SDK
Reef Diver
It does not seem correct due to the combination of the age of the tank, ammonia spikes reaching .25 to .5 ppm and rapid coral deaths in a short time. Those are not symptoms of a nutrient starved tank. If your tank truly had no detectable nitrates from two months on with zero carbon dosing, it’s a very rare outlier.
I’m thinking something else is going on with the OP's tank...
Last edited:
SDK
Reef Diver
I think you are possibly suffering from some combination of adding livestock too quickly to a new tank, and an interrupted cycle. In order, I would do the following:
Good luck and also make sure you have enough flow...
- Stop adding things
- Get a bottle of Biospira at your local Petco and begin using it. I think you will then see the ammonia disappear and start getting nitrate readings shorty thereafter.
- Get a PO4 test kit which is a must have if you want to keep SPS.
- Keep up with the water changes and let everything stabilize. Then get your parameters dialed in to reef specs and keep them stable for a month or two before slowly starting to add coral again.
Good luck and also make sure you have enough flow...
Last edited:
calvertc425
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ok so should i take all my coral out and have my LFS hold em for me until it stabilizes? also would plumbing this nano into a larger 55 gallon display help even though I have not cycled the 55 yet?
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