Help needed

[Chase_C13]

Hey everyone, I have a 185 gallon reef tank with a 35 gallon sump that is about 6 months old now. Tank has been running pretty well and all of a sudden my coral is not doing great and I’m having a hard time coming up with a solution/cause. Salinity is 1.025, alk 8.6, cal 440, mag-1400, nitrates 24.6, PO4 0.08 etc. I haven’t had any swings lately, I have been testing almost daily for the last 2 weeks since I added some coral I got locally.

I am by no means a newbie to the hobby, I like to think I know what I’m doing for the most part but this is stumping me. I sent in an ICP and didn’t see anything alarming- have some of the results below. Had some montis and slimer that are bleaching out and slowly dying. I did a 20% WC, but it doesn’t seem to be helping. Added some carbon this afternoon to see if that helps any… any ideas on what could be going on? Have a UV running, haven’t noticed any stray voltage, the tank has adequate flow, 3 XR30’s so lighting should be good… really at a loss

 

[PokeFish]

Your params are all fine... nothing is too off so it shouldn't be hats bothering them especially if you haven't had a swing...
have you added any new fish?
Possibly some new coral that you didn't dip?

 

[Chase_C13]

Your params are all fine... nothing is too off so it shouldn't be hats bothering them especially if you haven't had a swing...
have you added any new fish?
Possibly some new coral that you didn't dip?

Nope, that’s why I’m stumped with this one. Haven’t added fish in a few months. All the corals I’ve recently added have been dipped and acclimated accordingly. Even the ones I dipped, I didn’t notice anything bad come off/out of them. Only thing I saw was a Stomatella and brittle star.

 

[PokeFish]

did you change your lights?

 

[Chase_C13]

did you change your lights?

No light schedule changes on the radions or flow changes. All of m equipment has been on the same schedule too.

 

[bushdoc]

Your tank looks nice, there are few things though. Personally I think that Nitrates of 24.6 are on rather high end and some corals may not adjust to that.
I have an impression that you used dry rock? If so, many regards tank ready for SPS in 6-12 months if it's established with a dry rock.
Do you have coralline algae growing?
Also, I gave up on growing all what I want, naturally some corals were not doing well in my tank, so I switched to others, which eventually adapted. I would give it a time, stop testing daily and take it easy.

 

[Cincyreefer513]

Any scented candles, aerosols etc near the tank recently?
How about hand soap or something else potentially on your hands when messing with your tank?

 

[Chase_C13]

Your tank looks nice, there are few things though. Personally I think that Nitrates of 24.6 are on rather high end and some corals may not adjust to that.
I have an impression that you used dry rock? If so, many regards tank ready for SPS in 6-12 months if it's established with a dry rock.
Do you have coralline algae growing?
Also, I gave up on growing all what I want, naturally some corals were not doing well in my tank, so I switched to others, which eventually adapted. I would give it a time, stop testing daily and take it easy.

Thanks, I agree with most all you have said. Nitrates are a little high for my liking, I’ve been trying to bring them down slowly. I did start with dry rock/turbostart and had a few rocks from my old tank to help seed a little. Coralline is growing quickly in the tank. My corals were doing fine and it seems like within the last week they are suffering. Regardless of the few SPS pieces I added, I had some soft coral in the tank, some of which are showing polyp retraction. That’s the plan, I’m not going to add anything until whatever’s going on calms down, I’m just trying not to lose anything else at this point.

 

[Chase_C13]

Any scented candles, aerosols etc near the tank recently?
How about hand soap or something else potentially on your hands when messing with your tank?

There’s an air freshener across the room, but it has been there for the entirety the tank has been up and running. Haven’t seen any effect yet. The tank also has a closed in stand and canopy on it, so I wouldn’t think any sort of mist would get in it. The intensity on the freshener is low too. I have thought about it, but haven’t really considered it to be a factor since this problem is happening all of a sudden. It’s a good 20’ or more away from the tank too. As for soap I don’t think so, I’m careful about that sort of thing. I have been skimming heavily and added some carbon just in case though

 

[FlowGod]

There’s an air freshener across the room, but it has been there for the entirety the tank has been up and running. Haven’t seen any effect yet. The tank also has a closed in stand and canopy on it, so I wouldn’t think any sort of mist would get in it. The intensity on the freshener is low too. I have thought about it, but haven’t really considered it to be a factor since this problem is happening all of a sudden. It’s a good 20’ or more away from the tank too. As for soap I don’t think so, I’m careful about that sort of thing. I have been skimming heavily and added some carbon just in case though

How are your corals doing?

 

[Chase_C13]

How are your corals doing?

Everything is looking a lot better! Most everything is pretty happy. I’ve just been letting it mellow out and trying to keep everything as stable as possible. Definitely on the ups now. Thanks everyone