Favia die off help needed

[Boj4k]

Have had this favia for about 6 months it's done wonderful regular tentacle extension and feeding. Recently moved it from a fluval Evo 13.5 with stock lighting to a jbj 28 nano cube under ai prime 16hd lighting, no new additions that could've carried anything in harmful but I have been battling some sort of bacterial bloom which is why I changed tanks to allow a better section for UV sterilization. I just noticed on the far side from the light it's dying at the bottom like it's not getting enough light but this light is much higher power then the original 18w fluval maybe it's because I have this light on a gradual curve instead of being full bore for it's whole day, if anyone thinks that's the case I can try running it nearly full power all day and just have a short ramp up and down. Pictures included show light height over tank and placement in relation to coral, favia from the left side of the tank and then from the right where it's dying off, any advice is appreciated thank you.

 

[Poseidon03]

You check your parameters? Alk, cal, mg, nitrates, phosphates, salinity, temp

Favias don't need that much light, so I am not set on that. Just a tip, more rock will definitely help with tank stability.

 

[Boj4k]

Same rocks from previous tank, and it's essentially freshly mixed red sea coral pro salt (that I thoroughly mix before using to avoid it having unmixed in shipping), I can double check alk, cal nitrates and phosphates. Salinity is always 1.024 and a much more stable 1.024 in the 28 instead of the 13.5 temperature however has never been something I check I live in South Florida and run the ac year round at 78 no heaters in most of my tanks

You check your parameters? Alk, cal, mg, nitrates, phosphates, salinity, temp

Favias don't need that much light, so I am not set on that. Just a tip, more rock will definitely help with tank stability.

I say freshly mixed because it's been getting some regular 5 gallon water changes trying to combat the bloom and I used to never do any water changes in the fluval 13.5 just top offs with rodi generated from my own system

 

[Boj4k]

You check your parameters? Alk, cal, mg, nitrates, phosphates, salinity, temp

Favias don't need that much light, so I am not set on that. Just a tip, more rock will definitely help with tank stability.

Also idk how much good me testing those parameters will do I'm still running api test kits but I will test them nonetheless!

 

[Boj4k]

You check your parameters? Alk, cal, mg, nitrates, phosphates, salinity, temp

Favias don't need that much light, so I am not set on that. Just a tip, more rock will definitely help with tank stability.

75.8°f lights off nighttime, pH ~7.9, no detectable ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates calcium at 420-440ppm, dkh 9-10

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

No nitrates or phosphates? The coral is starving...

 

[Boj4k]

No nitrates or phosphates? The coral is starving...

This is a recurring theme in all of my salt tanks no matter how much I feed/stock tanks I never have detectable nitrates or phosphates

 

[Poseidon03]

This is a recurring theme in all of my salt tanks no matter how much I feed/stock tanks I never have detectable nitrates or phosphates

I thought it would be alk burn, which it definitely is. The nutrients are too low for the coral, especially for that alk level. Do you have any reef roids? You can target feed those or broadcast to get your phosphates up.

Also more rock will help with the bloom. I would also just let the bloom run its course. Water changes cam cause bacterial blooms to last longer. An easier way is to get a UV filter and run a faster flow rate through it.

 

[Boj4k]

I thought it would be alk burn, which it definitely is. The nutrients are too low for the coral, especially for that alk level. Do you have any reef roids? You can target feed those or broadcast to get your phosphates up.

Also more rock will help with the bloom. I would also just let the bloom run its course. Water changes cam cause bacterial blooms to last longer. An easier way is to get a UV filter and run a faster flow rate through it.

The water changes were too save the live stock while I acquired a UV sterilizer and alk burn at 10-11? Think I should switch salts? I don't dose anything. Also I feed very heavy frozen, pellets and yes reef roids although this tank doesn't get as much as others because nothing gets spot fed with that in there I think I need to start dosing nitrate and phosphate because I've never been able to detect it in any of my tanks

 

[fodsod]

The water changes were too save the live stock while I acquired a UV sterilizer and alk burn at 10-11? Think I should switch salts? I don't dose anything. Also I feed very heavy frozen, pellets and yes reef roids although this tank doesn't get as much as others because nothing gets spot fed with that in there I think I need to start dosing nitrate and phosphate because I've never been able to detect it in any of my tanks

Alk burn can easily happen with Alk up in the high 9's to 10+ range and ULN or zeros on Phos and Nit. If you're going to run ULN down to zero you'll need to get that Alk down to the 7's.

 

[Boj4k]

Alk burn can easily happen with Alk up in the high 9's to 10+ range and ULN or zeros on Phos and Nit. If you're going to run ULN down to zero you'll need to get that Alk down to the 7's.

Again I normally over feed, don't do water changes, the 13.5 didn't have a skimmer and I could still never detect nitrates or phosphates, the favia is the only Stony coral in the system I have some pulsing xenia in there with it but that's it. Should I start dosing nitrate and phosphate?

 

[Poseidon03]

Honestly, I'd invest in reliable test kits. If you get something like the Hanna checkers, they will last you a long time, and per test is pretty cheap. I personally don't dose anything I can't reliably measure.

 

[fodsod]

Again I normally over feed, don't do water changes, the 13.5 didn't have a skimmer and I could still never detect nitrates or phosphates, the favia is the only Stony coral in the system I have some pulsing xenia in there with it but that's it. Should I start dosing nitrate and phosphate?

I'd start with what @Poseidon03 suggested and get some more reliable testing equipment (if you don't already have it).

While expensive up front, the Hanna checkers for Nitrate High range and Phosphate Ultra Low Range give you a number to work with that is far more accurate and easier to work with than color matching especially against the API kits.

You may think you have no Phos or Nit because the API shows you that but in reality it could easily be .10 Phos and 15 Nit and if you start dosing thinking you're at zero you'll be over run with another issue very quickly and won't realize the actual "why" it happened.

Barring getting better testing data, I'd wouldn't suggest dosing anything because you really don't know what's happening in your tank. There's a real reason why every question of this type posted on R2R gets the initial question of what's your parameters and how are you testing to get those parameters.

I think someone earlier suggested using Reef Roids to bump your nutrient levels. If you mix up 1 tsp of Reef Roids and feed it to your tank and still show no Phos or Nitrates by the next day then my money is on bad test results. Reef Roids is very good at pushing those number up temporarily. I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Boj4k]

I'd start with what @Poseidon03 suggested and get some more reliable testing equipment (if you don't already have it).

While expensive up front, the Hanna checkers for Nitrate High range and Phosphate Ultra Low Range give you a number to work with that is far more accurate and easier to work with than color matching especially against the API kits.

You may think you have no Phos or Nit because the API shows you that but in reality it could easily be .10 Phos and 15 Nit and if you start dosing thinking you're at zero you'll be over run with another issue very quickly and won't realize the actual "why" it happened.

Barring getting better testing data, I'd wouldn't suggest dosing anything because you really don't know what's happening in your tank. There's a real reason why every question of this type posted on R2R gets the initial question of what's your parameters and how are you testing to get those parameters.

I think someone earlier suggested using Reef Roids to bump your nutrient levels. If you mix up 1 tsp of Reef Roids and feed it to your tank and still show no Phos or Nitrates by the next day then my money is on bad test results. Reef Roids is very good at pushing those number up temporarily. I hope this helps. Good luck.

1 tsp to the 28 gallons? I'll try that as soon as I'm back at my house then test nutrient levels the next day and I'm just flustered trying to save my beloved favia. I can look into getting Hanna checkers but I've just avoided it so far as a full set of Hanna checkers is pretty dang expensive. Unfortunately none of the lfs's in my area test with anything more accurate unless I want to drive over an hour one way, which short term is definitely cheaper then buying the Hanna checkers but I'd rather do my own testing either way. Also I know just how inaccurate the api tests can be on the low and high end but I've got nearly 20 tanks mostly fresh water and they've always been good enough for what I do I know reef keeping is a little more nuanced though so it might be time to upgrade

 

[fodsod]

1 tsp to the 28 gallons? I'll try that as soon as I'm back at my house then test nutrient levels the next day and I'm just flustered trying to save my beloved favia. I can look into getting Hanna checkers but I've just avoided it so far as a full set of Hanna checkers is pretty dang expensive. Unfortunately none of the lfs's in my area test with anything more accurate unless I want to drive over an hour one way, which short term is definitely cheaper then buying the Hanna checkers but I'd rather do my own testing either way. Also I know just how inaccurate the api tests can be on the low and high end but I've got nearly 20 tanks mostly fresh water and they've always been good enough for what I do I know reef keeping is a little more nuanced though so it might be time to upgrade

You can adjust the amount of reef roids if you like but the reason you’re adding a large dose of is to push your phos and nitrates up to balance the high alk.

If you dose 1/2-1 tsp in your 28g tank and still show zero phos and nitrates in a day or two then you know your test results are incorrect.

It seems highly unlikely that a larger dose of reef roids won’t show an increase especially with no skimmer and no water changes in your tank. Either way, you will protect your coral by adding nutrients or you’ll know your testing isn’t reliable.

 

[Boj4k]

I'd start with what @Poseidon03 suggested and get some more reliable testing equipment (if you don't already have it).

While expensive up front, the Hanna checkers for Nitrate High range and Phosphate Ultra Low Range give you a number to work with that is far more accurate and easier to work with than color matching especially against the API kits.

You may think you have no Phos or Nit because the API shows you that but in reality it could easily be .10 Phos and 15 Nit and if you start dosing thinking you're at zero you'll be over run with another issue very quickly and won't realize the actual "why" it happened.

Barring getting better testing data, I'd wouldn't suggest dosing anything because you really don't know what's happening in your tank. There's a real reason why every question of this type posted on R2R gets the initial question of what's your parameters and how are you testing to get those parameters.

I think someone earlier suggested using Reef Roids to bump your nutrient levels. If you mix up 1 tsp of Reef Roids and feed it to your tank and still show no Phos or Nitrates by the next day then my money is on bad test results. Reef Roids is very good at pushing those number up temporarily. I hope this helps. Good luck.

I fed it one tsp, if I buy Hanna checkers which ones should I get ulr phosphate and ulr nitrate, anything else?

 

[Boj4k]

Honestly, I'd invest in reliable test kits. If you get something like the Hanna checkers, they will last you a long time, and per test is pretty cheap. I personally don't dose anything I can't reliably measure.

If I get Hanna checkers which ones should I pick up at the minimum? Just the ulr checkers? Or others as well?

 

[Pod_01]

I recommend these 3, but it is just recommendation:

All 3 are easy to use:

Hopefully you get them to puff up:

good luck,

 

[Boj4k]

I recommend these 3, but it is just recommendation:

All 3 are easy to use:

Hopefully you get them to puff up:

good luck,

I don't think I need a high range nitrate tester though, can't detect it at all on an api kit that I can detect anything over 2.5ppm on, and it's been doing wonderfully for 5+months until this bacterial bloom caused me to move it, maybe it's damage from the bloom maybe it's the new light and tank I'm not sure.

 

[fodsod]

I don't think I need a high range nitrate tester though, can't detect it at all on an api kit that I can detect anything over 2.5ppm on, and it's been doing wonderfully for 5+months until this bacterial bloom caused me to move it, maybe it's damage from the bloom maybe it's the new light and tank I'm not sure.

The previous poster was correct. The Hanna high range nitrate checker shows a larger range of nitrates verses the LR model. If your nitrates ever go beyond 5ppm the low range checker will be useless.

I’d suggest at a minimum you get the HR Nitrate and the Ultra low range phosphate to start. The Alk is important also but if you don’t want to buy 3 then wait on the Alk checker since it appears Nit and Phos are the issue at the moment.

Hanna checkers are an investment in the future of your tank. You don’t have to have them obviously but you do need a better way to test. Testing is the only way to know what’s really going on verses guessing. Good luck.