Corals Not Happy

Giordano · Oct 20, 2020

Alkalinity is 11.1 after a 20% water change today was 12.5
Calcium 420
Nitrate .5
PH 8.1
Ammonia 0

Everything was perfect last week then started noticing the mushrooms shrink, Kenya trees wilt, and the Leather closed and start shedding again. Not sure what else it could be.

The only thing I did was add a UV Sterilizer last week.

Daddy-o · Oct 20, 2020

High alk and low nutrients?

Super Fly · Oct 20, 2020

Daddy-o said:
High alk and low nutrients?

I would agree with this. Corals closing after adding UV would lead me to believe water is too clean. Softies like dirty water.

KyRo · Oct 20, 2020

Is your flow high enough? I had a Kenya tree that looked bad when it didn't have enough flow around it.

Uncle99 · Oct 20, 2020

I run UV 24/7, years, no problem for any corals.
Softies, especially leathers will lie down with high alkalinity.

Smite · Oct 20, 2020

Is that a normal alk bump for you after a water change? If not, is it possible the salinity was too high in the fresh batch of water? I dont have a lot of experience with softies but for a 20% water change that seems like a large increase in alk, so the alk level of the new water was way higher than your tank which seems borderline high already. Makes me wonder if the SG was off.

Giordano · Oct 20, 2020

Turned the UV off for now,.

Alkalinity from when I got the tank was between 9 and 10 it was over 12 and Nitrates were high which is why I did a 20% water change. Salinity is 1.025

Flow is the same as it has been when everything was fine.

Giordano · Oct 24, 2020

It looks like most of my corals are not going to make it the leather i am not sure about but I figured out I think what caused the crash.

last weekthe hygger heater I had over heated and melted the casing while in the refugium . This was brand new. I am guessing the melted plastics caused it.

really frustrating as the tank was perfect A week ago.

the fish all seem fine so far.

Mooses · Oct 24, 2020

Yeah I would feel safe assuming the melted plastic released some VOCs that the coral didn’t like. Sorry for your loss

Mooses · Oct 24, 2020

You could always try another heavy handed water change if you want to try & save them. #reefsquad may have other ideas.

SPR1968 · Oct 24, 2020

The UV won’t be causing any issues with corals so don’t worry about that, just run it 24/7

Stability is the key and your alkalinity is changing from 9, 10 and at 12 is right at the top end of acceptable.

You need to decide on an alkalinity target, a good guide is around 8-8.5 dKH and then keep it there by dosing etc

If your using a salt like Red Sea Coral Pro that sometimes mixes to around 12 so if you are maybe change to the standard version

You don’t say what your phosphate or magnesium are, the later is vital in the interaction of the other elements. Good general targets here are less than 0.03 phosphate and around 1300-1350
magnesium.

I would also increase nitrate to around 5-10 and in the meantime add some coral food

Daddy-o · Oct 24, 2020

You can run some GAC after heater melting.

ScottR · Oct 24, 2020

@SPR1968 is on point. Know your PO4. Sometimes when water is too “clean” corals don’t respond well, especially softies. I’d bring down alkalinity, I’m assuming your salt is high and your tank isn’t consuming it.

Lasse · Oct 24, 2020

Are you using Red Sea Pro - I agree with @SPR1968 - it looks like that. Switch to their standard instead - it is better for softies. WC is an option because it is not only plastics that will be released if a heater burns - it is a huge risk that copper can be released to. Have it affect your snails, shrimps or hermits? I would make 20 - 50 % WC every or second day for a week or two and using a low alk salt as Red Sea blue bucket. And take the lesson - in saltwater - only titan heaters with external temp control.

Sincerely Lasse

Flippers4pups · Oct 24, 2020

Giordano said:
It looks like most of my corals are not going to make it the leather i am not sure about but I figured out I think what caused the crash.

last weekthe hygger heater I had over heated and melted the casing while in the refugium . This was brand new. I am guessing the melted plastics caused it.

really frustrating as the tank was perfect A week ago.

the fish all seem fine so far.

Sorry this happened to you! In emergency events like this you should do a large water change to dilute the toxins released by the heater malfunction and run some GAC. If you can, run a Poly filter:

Poly Filter Aquarium Filter

The POLY-FILTER is for filtering and purifying both fresh and salt water aquariums. It is a formulation of a special patented material bonded to a synthetic matrix. By means of a unique proprietary process, the POLY-FILTER is made impervious to salt and is also organic loving to certain...

www.marinedepot.com

The corals look stressed, but still look okay. After the water change and addition of GAC, with the leathers, they can release some defense toxins due to the stress, so keep a eye out for any tissue turning dark as in black or gray. This could be tissue necrosis. If this does happen, you can cut away the dying tissue with a clean razor blade and dip the remaining healthy tissue in lugols solution to aid in the healing process.

Best of luck with them.

MERKEY · Oct 24, 2020

Hello and welcome to R2R

Sorry to see you dealing with this. A lot of good advice above. I agree that things are not a loss yet and doing another big change and running a chemical remover of your choice will help.

Good luck!