Corals dying like clockwork

[Zbutcher]

Hey everyone, I have made a few posts in the past regarding SPS death and not being sure why.

For the record my tank is 9 months old and I am trying to grow SPS. It would seem anytime I have SPS it will die after 1 month. I mean literally like clockwork. I have had a fantastic pocillipora frag looking amazing for 1 month. The one month mark hit and now from the top down I see bone white branches missing polyps. I have no idea what is causing this.

For the record, my alk is stable at 9.3.

I run a Trident and the hole set up. It's not light burn. It's not nutrient issues either. I've done an ICP test as well and posted it one here and even Randy holmes-farley did not see anything out of the ordinary.

The tank size is 180 gallon 6'x3'x12". Think of a big coral flat. I have 10 fish
2clowns
mandarin
Purple tang
Convict tang
White tail bristletooth
One spot foxface
Starry blenny
Pavo damsel
Sharknose fgoby

See my levels below
Alk:9.3
Mag:1400
Cal:440
Phosphate: .25
Nitrate: 42
For the people that want to say it's my nitrates and phosphates, I have also had my nitrates and phosphates in range and the exact same thing is happening

It's running a hob overflow as well. With skimmer and algae scrubber. And everything uses RODI water measured at 00TDS. The lights are 2 Neptune skies.

I am at an extreme loss for words and I truly don't know if I can continue in this hobby if this keeps happening. I have no clue what's causing all these problems but it's really frustrating.

I just don't know what to do. I am asking for any and all help. Please let me know anything. If you need any info please let me know

Thanks

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Hey everyone, I have made a few posts in the past regarding SPS death and not being sure why.

For the record my tank is 9 months old and I am trying to grow SPS. It would seem anytime I have SPS it will die after 1 month. I mean literally like clockwork. I have had a fantastic pocillipora frag looking amazing for 1 month. The one month mark hit and now from the top down I see bone white branches missing polyps. I have no idea what is causing this.

For the record, my alk is stable at 9.3.

I run a Trident and the hole set up. It's not light burn. It's not nutrient issues either. I've done an ICP test as well and posted it one here and even Randy holmes-farley did not see anything out of the ordinary.

The tank size is 180 gallon 6'x3'x12". Think of a big coral flat. I have 10 fish
2clowns
mandarin
Purple tang
Convict tang
White tail bristletooth
One spot foxface
Starry blenny
Pavo damsel
Sharknose fgoby

See my levels below
Alk:9.3
Mag:1400
Cal:440
Phosphate: .25
Nitrate: 42
For the people that want to say it's my nitrates and phosphates, I have also had my nitrates and phosphates in range and the exact same thing is happening

It's running a hob overflow as well. With skimmer and algae scrubber. And everything uses RODI water measured at 00TDS. The lights are 2 Neptune skies.

I am at an extreme loss for words and I truly don't know if I can continue in this hobby if this keeps happening. I have no clue what's causing all these problems but it's really frustrating.

I just don't know what to do. I am asking for any and all help. Please let me know anything. If you need any info please let me know

Thanks

How are your par readings and are you actually feeding your corals? One month like clockwork sounds like starvation to me.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Are these corals frags from other reefers' tanks or ones that were recently harvested fron the wild and fragged before selling? Have you bought all the coral from the same place?

 

[Zbutcher]

How are your par readings and are you actually feeding your corals? One month like clockwork sounds like starvation to me.

Par readings are good. I tested with a friend who has the same custom build and same lights. Starvation. Would be odd considering my readings don't you think?

 

[Zbutcher]

Are these corals frags from other reefers' tanks or ones that were recently harvested fron the wild and fragged before selling? Have you bought all the coral from the same place?

Bought all coral frags from the same place and it's from a local coral farmer where the frags are grown out for a while

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Par readings are good. I tested with a friend who has the same custom build and same lights. Starvation. Would be odd considering my readings don't you think?

Good as in what numbers specifically.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

It's possible you might have flatworms, redbugs, or nudibranches. Did you very closely inspect the frags out of the water while they were nearly gone but not complete skeletons?

 

[polyppal]

If its an SPS problem, maybe flow issues???

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Do you run activated carbon?

If not, do you have any corals that are good at chemical warfare such as leathers or toadstools?

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Par readings are good. I tested with a friend who has the same custom build and same lights. Starvation. Would be odd considering my readings don't you think?

I didnt see par readings so shooting in the dark here. Just cause you have the same lights, doesnt mean you have the same par.

Given you indicated you have eliminated nutrients as your issue, you are probably down to a few possible causes: 1. contamination (run carbon), 2 starvation (par / reef roids / flow) or ????

 

[blstravler]

Hey everyone, I have made a few posts in the past regarding SPS death and not being sure why.

For the record my tank is 9 months old and I am trying to grow SPS. It would seem anytime I have SPS it will die after 1 month. I mean literally like clockwork. I have had a fantastic pocillipora frag looking amazing for 1 month. The one month mark hit and now from the top down I see bone white branches missing polyps. I have no idea what is causing this.

For the record, my alk is stable at 9.3.

I run a Trident and the hole set up. It's not light burn. It's not nutrient issues either. I've done an ICP test as well and posted it one here and even Randy holmes-farley did not see anything out of the ordinary.

The tank size is 180 gallon 6'x3'x12". Think of a big coral flat. I have 10 fish
2clowns
mandarin
Purple tang
Convict tang
White tail bristletooth
One spot foxface
Starry blenny
Pavo damsel
Sharknose fgoby

See my levels below
Alk:9.3
Mag:1400
Cal:440
Phosphate: .25
Nitrate: 42
For the people that want to say it's my nitrates and phosphates, I have also had my nitrates and phosphates in range and the exact same thing is happening

It's running a hob overflow as well. With skimmer and algae scrubber. And everything uses RODI water measured at 00TDS. The lights are 2 Neptune skies.

I am at an extreme loss for words and I truly don't know if I can continue in this hobby if this keeps happening. I have no clue what's causing all these problems but it's really frustrating.

I just don't know what to do. I am asking for any and all help. Please let me know anything. If you need any info please let me know

Thanks

If your Phosphates and Nitrates where in range and went up that much no coral will be happy especially SPS. Stability is key - they need to stay in range.

 

[wareagle]

Your phosphates were .09 last month, and your nitrates were even higher than they are now. You have light burn because your phosphates are bouncing around.

 

[Zbutcher]

Good as in what numbers specifically.

250

 

[Zbutcher]

It's possible you might have flatworms, redbugs, or nudibranches. Did you very closely inspect the frags out of the water while they were nearly gone but not complete skeletons?

Yup. Nothing of the sort. The only nudis in my tank are berghias and that's if they are still around at this point lol

 

[Zbutcher]

If its an SPS problem, maybe flow issues???

Doubtful I watch the polyps get blown around quite often

 

[ZombieEngineer]

250

That should be adequate for pocillipora, and montis. A touch on the low side for acros, but not low enough to RTN.

 

[Zbutcher]

If its an SPS problem, maybe flow issues???

Doubtful I watch the polyps get blown around often

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Doubtful I watch the polyps get blown around quite often

What is your total flowrate in the tank?

 

[Zbutcher]

Do you run activated carbon?

If not, do you have any corals that are good at chemical warfare such as leathers or toadstools?

Yes I run carbon. And nope I literally at the moment only have 3 frags. A Duncan head which was good for a month. Now it's perma retracted but not dead.

A dipsastrea which is not dead but not growing. Looks normal I guess.

And this pocillipora

I have tried to not buy any corals only tester ones to try and figure out this issue. I don't like killing things.

 

[blstravler]

250

That low for SPS - what kind of lighting?