HELP! MY SPS ARE PALING AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO

[mcarroll]

Sorry to say that I've lost most my acroporas. Seems to be some sort of a trend here. Dosing nitrates, getting phosphates detectable again, keeping alkalinity lower, acropora improved, then rtn or stn months later. (No swings)

That stinks.

Dosing nutrients can seem like a cure, but it's not...it's simply a correction to tank conditions.

The animal still has to recover. Sometimes the effects of stress on corals do take weeks to show up. If it was literally months later, as in 8+ weeks, then I guess it could still be related to the earlier stress, but I'd have to go looking for other causes including something exceptional about your case that might have been missed before.

@125mph this more or less applies to your birdsnest too....they are some of the most susceptible to changes and will lose tissue seemingly at the drop of a hat sometimes. If he isn't a brand-new frag and conditions remain favorable, he'll outgrow the algae. (That's how birdsnests do it – they GROW!!!) Keep your doser stoked up!

 

[teller]

I believe the best route to increase nutrients is to cut in you filtration.
I was also 0 nitrates with chaeto in sump. I cut it to just a small portion and reduced the sump lights to just 4 hours. After two weeks I reached the 2.5 / 5 ppm on nitrates.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I believe the best route to increase nutrients is to cut in you filtration.
I was also 0 nitrates with chaeto in sump. I cut it to just a small portion and reduced the sump lights to just 4 hours. After two weeks I reached the 2.5 / 5 ppm on nitrates.

I finally started cutting the power on the skimmer for 8-12 hours. My nutrients are too low because I grow chaeto, use marinepure block, and have large skimmer and flow. I cut the power on the skimmer at night and throw in some reef chilli and reef roids, at least this way even with just detectable nutrients (NO 0.2 and PH .01-0.03) I know the tank will have sufficient food. I do have some nitrates and may dose as needed basis but had a bad experience with it (my fault for not going slow)!

 

[Ashish Patel]

I used to run 24-7 hr chaeto but now runn it for 12 hours on a reverse photoperiod. I like to leave the skimmer off when the cheato is lit but might consider reducing the run time.

 

[bif24701]

I finally started cutting the power on the skimmer for 8-12 hours. My nutrients are too low because I grow chaeto, use marinepure block, and have large skimmer and flow. I cut the power on the skimmer at night and throw in some reef chilli and reef roids, at least this way even with just detectable nutrients (NO 0.2 and PH .01-0.03) I know the tank will have sufficient food. I do have some nitrates and may dose as needed basis but had a bad experience with it (my fault for not going slow)!

I have all that going on too. I have begun to use Two Little Fishes Acropower and so far very good results with low nutrients.

 

[teller]

I finally started cutting the power on the skimmer for 8-12 hours. My nutrients are too low because I grow chaeto, use marinepure block, and have large skimmer and flow. I cut the power on the skimmer at night and throw in some reef chilli and reef roids, at least this way even with just detectable nutrients (NO 0.2 and PH .01-0.03) I know the tank will have sufficient food. I do have some nitrates and may dose as needed basis but had a bad experience with it (my fault for not going slow)!

I just see one possible problem related to starting/stopping the skimmer everyday and that is the AC pump.
Some people say is not good for long term reliability on AC pumps. Supposed DC pump handle better this.
But I don't know if this is true or not.

 

[mcarroll]

I think with repeated on off cycles close together there can be heat issues.

Outside of that I think there should be minimal wear just turning the pump on and off as needed.

 

[Ashish Patel]

This is how much skimmate I got from just having the skimmer on for 8 hours. It would have probably gotten the same amount had I left it on the entire day so not sure if this is working. I did however test my phosphates last night and they where around 0.02 and Nitrates where under 0.05. I also noticed some chaeto browning but this could have been from reduced flow (which i've since increase).. Dumping alot of food into the tank has its downside - more food = more bristle worms and other pest and less hungry fish to eat them!

 

[mcarroll]

The reason skimming part time works is because the skimmer can catch up so quickly like that.

Bristle worms are not a pest.

My nutrients are too low because I grow chaeto, use marinepure block, and have large skimmer and flow.

Remove the marinepure ASAP. Totally unnecessary. Definitely contributing to the problem.

Reduce the amount of chaeto you keep in the system or remove it until it's really needed. There's no need to grow it "just in case" and put up with this situation.

Skimmer and flow are required...maintaining good oxygenation is critical 24/7 so keep in mind this is one of the main things a skimmer does. Not running 24/7 might hamper oxygenation to a signifiant degree. (It's possible.)

Aeration by Skimmers
And see some of the discussion in this thread: Light, Alkalinity, Nutrients.