Help ... my corals are gradually fading away

[Brew12]

I have a titanium heater,

Most titanium heaters have a 3 prong plug and the ground plug connects to the titanium housing making them act exactly like a ground probe. If this is the case with yours, you may want to try and unplug it and see what your tank voltage does.

 

[Crabs McJones]

What size tank are we working with? And what's your current lighting schedule?

 

[Tim Olson]

Your triton test indicates you have 0 iodine.

This is a necessary element for corals and the recommended way of supplementation is through waterchanges so you don't overdose. Lack of iodine can lead to coral and anemones stressing out and bleaching.


Also high Iron(Fe) what's up with that are you dosing it? Really high phosphate too

With regard to iodine, I've been doing weekly water changes with Tropic Marin Reef-Pro, but the Triton IPC always show it zero. Therefore, I think I'm going to add some Seachem Iodide that I have very cautiously and see if that helps. Although, I'm probably going to wait until I get Nitrates, Phosphates and Lighting intensity figured out.

Also, I'm not sure what's up with Fe. I don't have anything I can think of that's raising Fe and I don't dose it. I guess it might be the heaters, but they're pretty new. So I'll have to look into that further.

 

[vetteguy53081]

With regard to iodine, I've been doing weekly water changes with Tropic Marin Reef-Pro, but the Triton IPC always show it zero. Therefore, I think I'm going to add some Seachem Iodide that I have very cautiously and see if that helps. Although, I'm probably going to wait until I get Nitrates, Phosphates and Lighting intensity figured out.

Also, I'm not sure what's up with Fe. I don't have anything I can think of that's raising Fe and I don't dose it. I guess it might be the heaters, but they're pretty new. So I'll have to look into that further.

With the Fe, do add A LITTLE IRON. BRIGHTWELL imo IS THE SAFEST AND BEST AND I DO THAT 1-2x PER WEEK. NO NEED TO CALCULATE AS ADDING A SQUIRT IS BETTER THAN ADDING NONE
As for iodine- I highly recommend Lugols Iodine which fulfills all your requirements per m/l.

 

[SMSREEF]

With the Fe, do add A LITTLE IRON. BRIGHTWELL imo IS THE SAFEST AND BEST AND I DO THAT 1-2x PER WEEK. NO NEED TO CALCULATE AS ADDING A SQUIRT IS BETTER THAN ADDING NONE
As for iodine- I highly recommend Lugols Iodine which fulfills all your requirements per m/l.

Iron is really high...

 

[Tim Olson]

Soni just measured mine for some s and giggles to see, I used my fluke 88V meter. My sump to ground with everything running I show .5v in my display to ground I show 0.23v I dont have a ground rod. I have a titanium heater, a diablo skimmer with a sicce ac pump, a jaebo dc return pump. My ato doesnt have any electrical parts in the water. In my display o have an mp40 which has no electric in the tank and the nero 5 which does. I also have a chiller hooked up. So your 23v makes me wonder. But I definitly understand what was stated about induced current rather than fault current.

I dont think this will fix your problem but I believe it definilty cany hurt to put some grounds in the tank.

With all that said I there looks to be alot of dark algae on your rocks. Maybe you have a nutrient issue? Or lighting. It's really hard to say 1 thing is causing your problem. It's usually multiple things that compound the concern.

Yeah, I just used a normal multi-meter, by plugging the black lead into the wide prong outlet (white wire) and then dip the red lead into the water and read AC volts. Does that sound ok? I do have a ton of wires in my "control panel" next to the sump/tank, which is probably causing the stray voltage. Although, I really can't move it somewhere else, due to space limitations.

With regard to the algae on the rocks. They're left over from my battle with green hair algae. It's about 90% gone, but some is still holding on. Also, in my recent attempt to raise nitrates (with NeoNitro) some of it came back. So I'm a little cautious about increasing it too much.

 

[Tim Olson]

Do you dose any Aminos or trace elements?

I did dose Brightwell CoralAmino for a little while last month, but the corals receded almost immediately after a dose, so I stopped. I was doing per the directions, but it was probably too much, based the corals response. So that might be worth another try.

 

[motortrendz]

Iron is really high...

This could be your problem too.

 

[motortrendz]

Most titanium heaters have a 3 prong plug and the ground plug connects to the titanium housing making them act exactly like a ground probe. If this is the case with yours, you may want to try and unplug it and see what your tank voltage does.

Never knew that. I'll do that.

 

[Tim Olson]

Focus on several things.
I just fell victim to False salinity reading. Thought I was too low according to probe but I was already too high.
See as mentioned about stray voltage as I never had it in my cube tank until I installed additional power hread. I added a ground probe and everything bounced back.
Feed 2-3X per week as daily not necessary and may even raise your Phos and Nitrate levels.
Do add Iodine 2-3X per week and Potassium 2X per week and Aminos 3X per week. These get depleted quickly based on number of coral.

I personally regarding salinity, Phos, Calcium and Alk would grab a nice sample of water from your tank and take it to a trusted LFS and have them test it for you to compare with your reading and see what levels they come up with.

Thanks ... So it looks like I'm feeding to much? I'll have to dial it back. On the double-check of the parameters, I recently took a sample to the LFS and they were pretty close, except for salinity. I found out I was running too high, while using my PinPoint salinity meter, so now I check with a calibrated refractometer. Also, the Triton ICP test correlated well with my testing. I'll looking into the dosing some more, I just don't want to do everything at once.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks ... So it looks like I'm feeding to much? I'll have to dial it back. On the double-check of the parameters, I recently took a sample to the LFS and they were pretty close, except for salinity. I found out I was running too high, while using my PinPoint salinity meter, so now I check with a calibrated refractometer. Also, the Triton ICP test correlated well with my testing. I'll looking into the dosing some more, I just don't want to do everything at once.

I mentioned salinity as I suffered the same due to salinity. I now very salinity via 3 different instruments. Not going that route again

 

[Tim Olson]

I think there is value in trying to understand the concept behind the Redfield ratio but there is no way to use it in a practical manner. The Redfield ratio is the total of all nitrogen and phosphorus sources, not just nitrate and phosphate. It includes all the DOC's that test kits won't measure along with N2 gas and plenty of other items.

A par meter would be ideal but that isn't always an option. The next best thing to do is try and find other users who happen to use that same light and try to match their intensity settings and mounting height. I know @Crabs McJones knows a lot about Kessils, he may be able to offer some setting advice.

Thank you

 

[Tim Olson]

Most titanium heaters have a 3 prong plug and the ground plug connects to the titanium housing making them act exactly like a ground probe. If this is the case with yours, you may want to try and unplug it and see what your tank voltage does.

Thanks ... I'll give that a try.

 

[Tim Olson]

What size tank are we working with? And what's your current lighting schedule?

The display tank is 40 gallons, the sump is 10 gallons and the fuge is also 10 gallons.

My display tank lighting schedule (with a Kessil A360X) is from 8am to 8pm at 8% intensity, since I've been worried that the light might be too powerful for my tank. Also, the fuge has a Kessil H380 on for 21 hours a day.

 

[Crabs McJones]

The display tank is 40 gallons, the sump is 10 gallons and the fuge is also 10 gallons.

My display tank lighting schedule (with a Kessil A360X) is from 8am to 8pm at 8% intensity, since I've been worried that the light might be too powerful for my tank. Also, the fuge has a Kessil H380 on for 21 hours a day.

8% intensity???

 

[Tim Olson]

With the Fe, do add A LITTLE IRON. BRIGHTWELL imo IS THE SAFEST AND BEST AND I DO THAT 1-2x PER WEEK. NO NEED TO CALCULATE AS ADDING A SQUIRT IS BETTER THAN ADDING NONE
As for iodine- I highly recommend Lugols Iodine which fulfills all your requirements per m/l.

Thanks ... I will get some Brightwell Iron supplement at my LFS, as well as the Lugols Iodine.

 

[Tim Olson]

Iron is really high...

Yes, the Triton ICP says it's high relative to their target, but I've heard that might be too low.

 

[SMSREEF]

Yes, the Triton ICP says it's high relative to their target, but I've heard that might be too low.

I am googling like crazy trying to find an upper threshold, or toxic level... I just can’t find the right info... hopefully @Randy Holmes-Farley logs and and gives us all one of his famous chemistry lessons

 

[Tim Olson]

I mentioned salinity as I suffered the same due to salinity. I now very salinity via 3 different instruments. Not going that route again

What 3 instruments do you use?

I used my Pinpoint Salinity meter for a few years, but I think my calibration solution was off, since it read too high. Now I use a calibrated refractometer and the Hanna pocket Salinity Tester, but I'm still not 100% confident they're correct.

 

[motortrendz]

I use a refractometer and the milwakee digital unit