Lost many SPS. Please help identify RTN, bacterial infection or something else?

[radicaltour]

everyone's been so helpful.

I have another question regarding nutrient.
Everyone seems to be on the side that I have low nutrient.
But could that be true even if my nitrate is always around 10ppm + i see some algae growing + i don't use gfo/bio-pellets/skimmer for export?
This one really confuses me.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

The trick to all of this is to minimize changes, and what changes you are making occur very slowly and gradually.

Again. Nice.
That is the secret to success.

You can also think about it like growin a tree. Let it grow.
The discipline of bonsai is applicable.

Don't let the numbers rule you look at them as a guide. Eventually you won't even look at most of those as you'll just look at the tank and know where it is.

You should test what your dosing. But you a ways from that.

If your going to do constant WC as part of the experiment then do so. You may never have to dose. Bio pellets with little live rock. That works too. Just watch the numbers.
Your tank. Love to help no matter what you decide.

Trick then becomes being families with or understanding what different corals want as far as chemistry goes. . Easy :confused:


I spend a lot more time looking at the tank than anything else. Looks pretty good I think

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

everyone's been so helpful.

I have another question regarding nutrient.
Everyone seems to be on the side that I have low nutrient.
But could that be true even if my nitrate is always around 10ppm + i see some algae growing + i don't use gfo/bio-pellets/skimmer for export?
This one really confuses me.

Part of knowing what a coral wants. And alge just is. Keep scrubbing.

You tank hasn't balanced yet. So I don't know why. Prob not enough food. Food is prob the hardest thing to dose.

But again if it runs low that's ok to. Just adjust other parameters.

If for some reason it balances low you can def grow sps in high light and low nutrients.
Ya just have figure out why and maintain it by calculated guesses.

It's chess too.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Fwiw I'd look at instant ocean for salt.

Seems to be what scientists use. And some of the best sps tanks I've ever seen in person.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Again. Nice.
That is the secret to success.

You can also think about it like growin a tree. Let it grow.
The discipline of bonsai is applicable.

Don't let the numbers rule you look at them as a guide. Eventually you won't even look at most of those as you'll just look at the tank and know where it is.

You should test what your dosing. But you a ways from that.

If your going to do constant WC as part of the experiment then do so. You may never have to dose. Bio pellets with little live rock. That works too. Just watch the numbers.
Your tank. Love to help no matter what you decide.

Trick then becomes being families with or understanding what different corals want as far as chemistry goes. . Easy :confused:


I spend a lot more time looking at the tank than anything else. Looks pretty good I think

Bonsai is very good comparison, there's the discipline of the routine, the science of botany, understanding what the tree needs by appearance and the Art of it all. Taking the wild, rugged, forms twisted and warped by the ravages of nature and time. Then artfully recreating that essence in a highly stylized formal structure that is small.

I've had a few (lost a few too I really wish I hadn't). But I also have a ficus I have grown from a seedling that is an informal upright style, it's promising and will probably start trimming it next year.

Nearly identical metaphors. Growing all my sticks from frags! :D

 

[radicaltour]

so I've lost 90% of all the SPS in the tank.
Since it couldn't get any worst, yesterday I cut a frag from a granulosa colony that looks completely healthy throughout this ordeal.
I placed the frag into a separate container with coralife salt mix just to see what would happen.
24 hours later that frag's tissue completely peeled off (just like the other 90% of the SPSs).

Could it be that I have a bad salt mix?
Has anyone had bad experience with a bad batch?

 

[markalot]

My opinions after 2 failed starts and finally success.

It's the lack of stability that is killing your acros combined with elevated KH which will exaggerate bad effects due to lack of stability. Raising KH quickly from 6.5 to 7.5 might brown some acros but usually not kill them. Raising KH from 10 to 11 in the same time period can kill all of them. It may take days to over a week for an acro to show damage, making this extra fun to try and figure out what went wrong.

IMO if you want to keep acros make it easier on yourself by dropping KH down to 7, a range where they will tolerate more mistakes.

Stop measuring PH, it's not important right now and the products to adjust PH will spike KH and kill acros. Normal daily PH swings will be 7.8 in the morning to 8.3 at the end fo the light cycle. Just don't test and be happy, PH is rarely an issue.

Don't expect to be able to change any parameters quickly and have good results. Acros need flow, stable params (including stable PO4, stable KH, and stable lighting).

As mentioned above, the higher the KH the more sensitive acros are to change AND the more food they require to stay healthy. A surefire way to start succeeding is to let KH drop to around 7, reduce lighting to 250 is the max PAR, find a way to maintain low and stable nutrients. .03 to .08 PO4, 1 to 5 nitrates work best in my experience. Once things are happy and growing then experiment with slowly increasing the lights to gain more color.

Make all future changes slowly, acros are annoyingly sensitive to change.

As far as salt mixes go, I've never had a bad batch but I've seen bad batches blamed for all kinds of losses. Whatever salt you use make sure to test KH before and after a water change and avoid swinging KH. You may have to reduce the WC quantity or switch to a salt with a lower KH.

 

[dgrigor02]

I'm a firm believer in two things when it comes to SPS/acropora.

1. Make triple sure your salinity is what you think it is. If its off and you think your at 1.026 when in reality your at 1.029-1.030 for an extended period of time ( ie: months ) the greater risk of slow rtn.
2. Be conservative with ALK levels. You will have less problems the closer you stay to 7.0dkh. The further away you get from 7.0dkh the more risk of rtn you have. Not to say you can't have a successful tank at 9+dkh while there may be a reward of more calcification the greater risk of rtn far exceeds the reward ( IMO ).

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

so I've lost 90% of all the SPS in the tank.
Since it couldn't get any worst, yesterday I cut a frag from a granulosa colony that looks completely healthy throughout this ordeal.
I placed the frag into a separate container with coralife salt mix just to see what would happen.
24 hours later that frag's tissue completely peeled off (just like the other 90% of the SPSs).

Could it be that I have a bad salt mix?
Has anyone had bad experience with a bad batch?

in a fresh mix batch of salt the alk is so high, and it was likely not in the best health.
You can't, or shouldn't put a fish in raw fresh mixed saltwater. A possibly sick sps, or any really, Id guess would have the same outcome as the fish.

 

[SUS]

I think swapping the sand could have reeked havoc on the system. Stirring up a bunch of “crap”, gas, etc...

Happened to a buddy of mine when he removed the sand from his tank, it crashed and ended up being broken down.