Corals dying

[Dustin813]

Hey folks, need some help. My reef tank is 7 months old, never had any problems. All of the sudden, I’ve noticed that a large colony of zoas and my biggest blasto are starting to look like they are dying. I did a water test today to ensure params are in line. Here are the readings:
PH 7.9
Salinity 1.022
Phosphate- .4 (been battling this for a couple of months, it has shown significant improvement in the last 2 weeks, down from a high reading of .61)
Alk 9.07
Cal 385
Mag 1340
Nitrate 16ppm

The only thing I can think of is that yesterday I noticed my water temp sensor was completely out of the water, and when I placed it back the temp was 88 degrees. Temp is back down to 79 now.

Any suggestions what I might be missing? All fish and most corals are doing fine. Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hey folks, need some help. My reef tank is 7 months old, never had any problems. All of the sudden, I’ve noticed that a large colony of zoas and my biggest blasto are starting to look like they are dying. I did a water test today to ensure params are in line. Here are the readings:
PH 7.9
Salinity 1.022
Phosphate- .4 (been battling this for a couple of months, it has shown significant improvement in the last 2 weeks, down from a high reading of .61)
Alk 9.07
Cal 385
Mag 1340
Nitrate 16ppm

The only thing I can think of is that yesterday I noticed my water temp sensor was completely out of the water, and when I placed it back the temp was 88 degrees. Temp is back down to 79 now.

Any suggestions what I might be missing? All fish and most corals are doing fine. Thanks in advance for the advice.

Only issue I see is your salinity is rather low. Corals tend to like it closer to 1.026 I'd slowly increase your salinity and see if that helps. What are you using to test your salinity?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Only issue I see is your salinity is rather low. Corals tend to like it closer to 1.026 I'd slowly increase your salinity and see if that helps. What are you using to test your salinity?

This^. Also what lights are you using ?

 

[Dustin813]

Only issue I see is your salinity is rather low. Corals tend to like it closer to 1.026 I'd slowly increase your salinity and see if that helps. What are you using to test your salinity?

I’m using a refractometer to test.

 

[Dustin813]

This^. Also what lights are you using ?

I’m running a pair of AI Prime HDs. Everything has been thriving for months now.

 

[Oso]

I'd be more inclined to believe the temp spike is what stressed out those corals. I lost about 75% of one of my hardiest chalice colonies (120+ eye bubblegum monster) in a day, due to a heater malfunction. Do try to raise your salinity slowly, though. Ideally you'll want to try to keep it in the 1.024-1.026 range when keeping corals. Best way is to just top off with premixed saltwater at 1.026 until you get to where you want it.

 

[S&SReef]

Temp did it they may pull through. I do agree though your salinity is a bit low. 1.024 to 1.026

 

[RobZilla04]

What method are you using to bring down the Po4? Temp spike could have been the catalyst, time will tell. Zoas are very hardy so I wouldn't mess with them. Especially if everything else in the tank is doing well.

If time continues to pass and they don't show signs of recovery you could be looking an imbalance between Nitrates and Phosphates. Also using chemical filtration such as GFO can irritate many corals. IME Zoas and other softies were least effected by these methods, but it is possible.

 

[OriginalUserName]

Likely the temp. When I had a tank crash due to high temp there wasn't much of an in between. My corals died extremely fast. It was much higher than 88 though.

 

[Dustin813]

What method are you using to bring down the Po4? Temp spike could have been the catalyst, time will tell. Zoas are very hardy so I wouldn't mess with them. Especially if everything else in the tank is doing well.

If time continues to pass and they don't show signs of recovery you could be looking an imbalance between Nitrates and Phosphates. Also using chemical filtration such as GFO can irritate many corals. IME Zoas and other softies were least effected by these methods, but it is possible.

I am running a cycle of phosguard right now. I’ve tried a number of other things and this is the only thing I’ve found that is actually effective.

 

[RobZilla04]

Provided you aren't adding any via feeding, top offs, or water changes, WC's should assist in dropping phosphates. Not sure of your system size or whether a 30%-50% change is doable. Also cutting back on feeding, particularly frozen, will stabilize the phosphate input. I know I've got to make an effort to thaw, feed only the chunks, and toss the remaining water from the feeding cup to prevent all those excessive nutrients from getting into my system.

 

[HB AL]

I keep a bag of phosgaurd in my sump 24/7.