It Hurts so Bad....

[AJreefs]

We all obsess over our tank so I was a little hurt today when I came home to a table that had RTN'd and I would like you saltwater professionals to give me some feedback on what might have occured. I wish I had pictures of my setup but wouldn;t you know I spent all my money on the tank and nothing on a camera. The tank was setup Jan. 5th 2012 and Is a forty breeder with a 20 L sump. I have a pretty strict regiment I follow which is:

Maintenance:
6 gallon water change every saturday with D&D salt
Test parameters weekly
alk, mag and calc which have remained stable for around 2 months
empty skimmer three times a week
clean glass about once a week
change skimmer socks every 3-4 days
stir my very shallow sand bed twice a week
change 3tbsp BRS High Capacity GFO in a reactor/ rox carbon passively every two weeks
Dose Kalk 1/2 TBSP per gallon via top off in sealed Home depot bucket

equipment is :
2 vortechs
2 radions Max 20%; 6 hours Reduced from 9 hours
BK mini 180
10 lbs BRS Pukani rock (not stacked)
< 1 inch fiji pink sand
Spectrapure 5 stage RO/DI system

Parameters are:
Alk 150ppm or 8.5 dkh hanna checker
Calc 440 Elos/API
mag 1350 Elos
nitrate 0 api
Phosphate 0 Api

I have little to no algae with a light fish load although I was fighting a brown layer covering my sand until I reduced my photo period

Purple Fire fish
4 spot wrasse
Bartlett anthias (baby)
mandarin
fire shrimp
cucumber
sand sifting star
porceline anemone crab

If anyone has anymore questions please feel free to ask!

Thanks for looking and hopefully we can figure this out

 

[Dashiki]

Let me be the first.

A mandarin?

In a 40b with 10lbs of rock? That is not enough rock to maintain pod population.

 

[AJreefs]

He's trained for mysis and pellets but I still have a very substantial pod population as well. They can be seens almost all day raoming my glass, rock and even in my sump.

 

[brannock_16]

Let me be the first.

A mandarin?

In a 40b with 10lbs of rock? That is not enough rock to maintain pod population.

Not in the OP's original question or addressed in this thread.

As for the table, your alk could be bumped up to 9-10 (that's where my sps does best) and mag up to 1500. I would also suggest not disturbing the sand bed, as that can cause issues. Other than that, how long have you had the table in question? Was it wild caught or from another hobbyists tank?

 

[hollback]

My experience with STN is that temperature spikes are usually the culprit. The problem is that RTN is only a after effect of something that happened earlier like days or even weeks. Are you able to track your temperature highs and lows?

Did your colony recede from the tips or the base?

 

[AJreefs]

Not in the OP's original question or addressed in this thread.

As for the table, your alk could be bumped up to 9-10 (that's where my sps does best) and mag up to 1500. I would also suggest not disturbing the sand bed, as that can cause issues. Other than that, how long have you had the table in question? Was it wild caught or from another hobbyists tank?

I think I will follow your advice and try to bump up to nine slowly as your not the only person to mention that I could benefit from a higher Alk. As for the sandbed I am pretty confused since I get feedback both ways. Some says its shallow and needs constant maintnace and now I am hearing I shouldnt touch it!? can you elaborate; thanks.

My experience with STN is that temperature spikes are usually the culprit. The problem is that RTN is only a after effect of something that happened earlier like days or even weeks. Are you able to track your temperature highs and lows?

Did your colony recede from the tips or the base?

I have a Digital thermometer which reads between 79-80; rarely I have seen an 81 in there but the table receded from the base

I have been considering a controller to keep track of these parameters but Iwould like to keep my setup as simple as possible if I can

 

[hollback]

IME, base up usually has to do with an Alk swing but with so many parameters, it's all a guess. The coral could have been stressed over time and just finally couldn't hold on anymore. Was it grown from a frag or a mariculture? How long have you had it?

 

[shred5]

OK Was this a wild table and how big was it? If it was a wild colony it may not have been something you did. Wild Table acro's do not acclimate well to reef tanks and in allot of cases die over time. They grow well from frags. Problem is a table acro grow to take best advantage of flow and light they receive and once they are moved to different conditions they die. They also do not do well if moved period. They also require good flow.

 

[Scoly]

What brand of digital thermometer are u using? I have seen a lot of those that are quite a few degrees off. Have u checked it?

 

[AJreefs]

The table was in a captive environment for around five years the thermometer is a JBJ digital. As with everything in this hobby I guess I will have to buy a back up; hahah, what are you going to do. the table was around the size of a large grapefruit. Another thing I am seeing is my slimer is still green but seems to be getting a pale if not transluscent green which I am sure is an indicator of something but I am still learning those variables. My first guess was too much light; hence the reduction in photoperiod, seems to be going ok but maybe the damage was already done.