LOCAL ONLY - I GIVE UP, SOMEONE PLEASE SAVE THESE CORALS

[SilverCityReef]

I have tried just about everything I can think of and what everyone has suggested but nothing is working so I'm done. My tank just kills coral. The tissue will just start falling off no matter what I do so I would like to sell everything I have left before it dies as well. Asking $250 for all coral no shipping. Local to South Shore of MA. I paid $200 for just the 3 acros on the rock.

Corals Include:
Large Tri-Color Bonsai
Poletta Pink Tip
Apache Chief
Blasto
Rainbow Acan (not so rainbow right now)
Ultimate Sunset Milli
Nightmare Zoa
Blow Pop Zoa
Green Torch
GSP
3 or 4 Cyphastreas if they make it and maybe the purple stylo but that's fading fast.

Will trade for an IM 30L or similar sized AIO in good condition. No Bio-Cubes Sorry.

 

[reeffreak911]

This sucks I'm purty sure you had advice pulling you in different directions

 

[SilverCityReef]

This sucks I'm purty sure you had advice pulling you in different directions

I've gotten all kinds of advice and tons of people trying to help but nothing has worked and I'm just tired of watching my hard work, time, & money die. I may keep tank running but if so, I'm gunna restart it with all new water, cut off the sump, and switch to black boxes.

 

[reeffreak911]

I've gotten all kinds of advice and tons of people trying to help but nothing has worked and I'm just tired of watching my hard work, time, & money die. I may keep tank running but if so, I'm gunna restart it with all new water, cut off the sump, and switch to black boxes.

I was gonna give you the simplest advise possible but then I'd probly be just be someone pulling you in another direction

 

[SilverCityReef]

I was gonna give you the simplest advise possible but then I'd probly be just be someone pulling you in another direction

Send it. Until someone buys these I'm gunna keep trying to turn things around.

 

[reeffreak911]

Send it. Until someone buys these I'm gunna keep trying to turn things around.

If you are using any carbon reactor or carbon get rid of it or turn it off the only filter I use is filter floss no skimmer either get two part dose for alk calcium I use Kent's two part don't use kalk or auto dose manual dose daily minimum test when you have a good number you barely have to test after that dont chase phosphate nitrate numbers they will balance out. when you use carbon it takes things out of wack bring the tank to simple mode its up to you but I would suggest removing leds and going with t5 the only tech I use is auto top of and good circulating pump

 

[SilverCityReef]

If you are using any carbon reactor or carbon get rid of it or turn it off the only filter I use is filter floss no skimmer either get two part dose for alk calcium I use Kent's two part don't use kalk or auto dose manual dose daily minimum test when you have a good number you barely have to test after that dont chase phosphate nitrate numbers they will balance out. when you use carbon it takes things out of wack bring the tank to simple mode its up to you but I would suggest removing leds and going with t5 the only tech I use is auto top of and good circulating pump

So I've been running carbon for the past week and a half because I found rusted powerhead magnets and wanted to remove as much of that damage as possible. I actually just took my whole sump offline in an attempt to rule out any problems with anything in there. I took skimmer off when I took pumps off which was about 2 weeks ago. Skimmer was a small Tunze 9004 and barely skimmed at all because I wanted a dry skim. Part of me just wants to get a non-drilled 40 and just go real simple with it. Hydras are most likely going up for sale soon but was thinking black boxes only because T5 fixtures seem to be very pricey. I dont really chase any numbers honestly, aside from Alkalinity just because I've had problems with swings before that took out the whole tank. Doser was just taken offline though for now too. Gunna try dosing by hand. I'm also working on making 35g of RO so I can mix up a big batch of fresh saltwater to change out as much water as I can. I honestly dont usually use filter socks or anything like that because I suck at changing them out and cleaning them but have been using them recently.

I know there has to be something causing this because everything was fine before. I just can't seem to pin point what it is. When I did last big WC, about 75%, it seemed like things were okay for about a week which makes me thing something in the tank is causing contamination. I dont know. I'm still new to this. I've only got a year under my belt.

Any recommendations on powerheads? I have to buy new ones and will be getting a $170 credit from BRS to do so. I was thinking an icecap gyre but reviews are 50/50. Obviously not trying to dump anymore money into the tank.

 

[reeffreak911]

[/QUOTE]
Looks like you tried almost everything that's rough I'm not expert on pumps tell you the truth my pumps are cheapos except for mp10 I just got about 3weeks ago on a trade

 

[Braves Fan]

Its looks like you had things doing good for awhile at least ,, some of those corals have been encrusting for some time ,, I am not a SPS pro ,, I have my own problems lol if you want to stay in the hobby ,, go into the SPS section and make a post ,, there will be some smart people to help you ,,

If it was just a matter of getting your numbers and seeing what you have going on ,, and give you some direction ,, thats one thing ,, but if you have a major problem ,, like you think ,, a smart person needs to be involved ,,, don't give up unless you just want to ,,, there are some smart people in here ,, give them a chance

 

[Braves Fan]

 

[biecacka]

Maybe someone local will “babysit” your pieces until you get it solved.


corey

 

[JMM744]

I run icecap gyres and other then cleaning when they get buildup on them they function very well. Great flow. The ati sunpower seems to be a more modest cost light and does a great job of growing corals. I think in the end people will end up using a combo of T5 and LEDs for best results. Only downside of t5 lights is when they need the bulbs to be replaced.
Hope you can get things figured out.

 

[farmhand]

Total newbie here; I had a manager at a LFS tell me of a similar story with one of his store tanks. He ended up breaking it down only to find that someone had thrown a copper penny into the tank which he believed caused all his problems.

 

[Bretth282]

I bought 6 ballasts and a small bucket of end caps and a 12 reflectors off here for 120. I only needed 2 ballasts and enough misc stuff for 4 bulbs. I think I might be a 2x4 for another 3 bucks and I made my own fixture. It ain’t purdy, but I works! Lol!! You can do t5’s cheap! And 20 bucks a bulb that lasts a year ain’t all too bad... I literally just installed the ice cap 1k gyre Friday in my nuvo 20 gal peninsula and it moves a serious amount of water on 30%. I have a ATO, a heater, 2 measuring cups for my 2 part, and a timer for my lights. No skimmer, no dosers, no reef keeper. 20% water change 1x a month. I fear automation brings out the lazy in me! The more I have to do to my investments the more I pay attention to them. My tank ain’t great but a work in progress and a lesson learned every time I look at this site! I have lost hundreds in corals do to my own lack of knowledge or my own error, But learning why and how they died prevents the next one from going. And you may not know what killed it for weeks! This hobby is not one learned over night. I have had tanks on and off for 10 years. The first being a 180 with over 10k invested in a 2 year period. All lost to a tiny little snail that stuck in the float valve for my ato when it opened. It held it open for 2 days while I was out on a work trip. .
Keep it simple. Check your salinity, use RO water when mixing, alk, cal, and mg. Let it sit for a bit without adjusting anything maybe?? These are always hard, I ain’t no pro myself. But my current tank with the bare minimum has been my best tank yet! Best wishes and hang in there!!!

 

[Bretth282]

After reading your first post again, I seen some additional info in there. Maybe your alk is creeping up a week or so after your WC? Next WC test your alk b4 you do it. Then test it an hour after you do your WC Or test it now and test it 2 weeks from know, if your dosers were dosing to much alk it would creep up explaining the reason y everything did better after the water change... the WC lowered your alk. Had this issue my self too but with kalk.

 

[zachtyd]

I’m only going to say the only 3 things you need in this hobby and don’t let anyone tell you anything else, anything else is considered “advanced”
1)Stability, regardless of parameters, just keep them the same
2)Basic filtration (if sump just look at what should be there to work)
3)Proper flow,lighting and husbandry to the corals you have
It’s easy to run a tank, it’s hard not to listen to the advice people have in this hobby if there’s one thing I learned is that, everything is right and wrong in this hobby! Don’t give up!

 

[SilverCityReef]

I dont know why I didnt receive notifications for all of these responses but I want to thank all of you for trying to help. I am currently in the process of making 35gal of fresh saltwater to do another massive water change and am removing all unnecessary equipment and deep cleaning/checking all necessary equipment.

At this point in time, its unclear what the future holds for this setup, either something will give or I will officially give up on it and possibly do a restart with a smaller tank or preferably an AIO.

In response to some or most of your responses, I will be ordering the Gyre 1k, or 2k if BRS gets in soon, once my return & account credit is processed. As for lighting, I am 90% sure the 2 Hydra 26HDs are going to be up for sale very soon and will most likely be replaced with either Inkbird black boxes, cheap T5 setup, or a combination of the two.

I know one of you stated Alk swing caused by WC but my Alk is consistent 100% of the time. I have had a lot of problems previously with Alk swings so I watch it very closely and have it dialed in 100% using doser. Tank uses 3ml of BRS soda ash per day. I am currently running it at 8.5dkh.

For those interested in the rest of my parameters:
¤Alk - 8.5 (prefer to keep it at 9 but just keeping it stable for now)
¤Cal - 490
¤Mag - 1480
¤Nitrate & Phos - 0 (Mostly likely false 0 due to algae)
¤Temp - 77.8-78.1
¤Light - Using 26w on 50% AB+ (lower UV & White, Slightly Higher Royal) 8hr On w/ 2hr ramps

 

[James w Lewis]

Change the water. Dont run anything but a circulation pump and dont add anything. I learned a long time ago that simple works.

 

[James w Lewis]

Feed your stuff

 

[Braves Fan]

I am wondering why you are replacing the Hydra 26HDs ,, I use Radions ,, I really don't know a lot about the Hydras ,, I kinda always thought they were good lights though ,,