I've had a rough last few months and am finally at the point where I feel that I can share my story. I was really embarrassed for a long time and finally am at the point that I feel comfortable asking for help.
I have a 150g mixed reef that has been up since Dec 14. I added my first SPS 4 months later. Right around that time I got hit with Red Turf Algae. It was awful and nearly wiped my tank out during the next 8 months. I tried everything in the book to get rid of algae and everything seemed to make it worse. I never had measurable Nitrates or Phosphates. I started to read a lot about people with algae problems but not having any measurable nutrients in the water column because the algae was consuming it too quickly. I had a giant red blob in my tank so could definitely see this. This led me to peroxide. Within a couple of weeks I was able to dip enough of my rock in peroxide that my herbivores were able to keep it clean.
Enter two months of bliss. My tank was looking good, my SPS all survived this and started to have vastly improved growth and color. I broke down my QT tank and moved my light to my main tank to increase the PAR on the ends. Unexpectedly, my wife bought my a clam for Christmas. Probably the first thing she ever got me that I REALLY wanted, but I wasn't prepared at all. I couldn't QT it as I didn't have a skimmer or the setup ready to go since I didn't know it was coming. Looking back at it, I make a major mistake and acclimate it the best I can and add it to my DT.
I had been wanting to expand my SPS for months... hell, years! I was looking at different sticks and deciding what I wanted. I spoke to a couple of different people and decided to buy some Battle Corals. The winter was horrible so Adam decided to hold them a bit longer until we got a better shipping window, which I was ok with. During this time I made my 2nd big mistake and went in with a friend to buy some DFS DD SPS. Again, not able to QT anything.. I figured DD and BC was 100% safe. (and for the record, i still believe that) I put my lights (AI Hydra 52 LEDs) in acclimation mode by 50% and my downward spiral begins a week later. Almost exactly a week after I dim the lights the BC order comes in. Now I have 22 brand new sticks. The DD SPS starts to fade, I talk to some people and get advised never to dim lights as you can shock your system.
Mass RTN/STN ensues for the next 3 months. I try to be calm and make slow adjustments. Params look great. Alk is stable, Ca is stable, no nitrates/phosphates. I start to panic. I ramp lights back up over the next 2 weeks, I read non-stop about RTN/STN and go through everything I can think of that may start this. My original SPS that have been in the tank for nearly a year RTN/STN. I dose interceptor spektrum. More RTN/STN. I look for pests but can't see very well. Dip a few frags and don't see any issues.
Depression ensues. I start to blame my lights. Everything seems to of happened immediately after I dimmed them. I switch to MH. I'm now down to 7 SPS so lost about 23 or so and over $1000. My zoanthids colorup immediately under MH and coraline algae starts growing like mad. I have hope... then I lose 2 more STN over this weekend...
I remove all of my dead SPS frags, I had a hard time throwing them away hoping they would recover and I dip everything left in my tank. Red Bugs! I've never been so happy to see them. I also see a crab I didn't know about the size of silver dollar near my SPS. Read about crabs eating SPS while picking red bugs off of them. I interceptor spektrum again.
Could it of been the Clam that introduced a pest? The SPS not being QT'd for reputable sources? Maybe the mass algae problems was keeping the red bugs in check? I did have a lot of copepods living in it.
So that is where I'm at. I'm going to interceptor spektrum again at 7 days and 14 days from the first dose. I'm at the point I can pretty much fallow my tank from SPS as I don't think i'm going to have anything left (down to 5 but they all have some tissue missing) and may start over in a couple of months.
It's amazing how one bad decision can lead to another to another... and I'm not even sure if I'm out of this downward spiral yet.... but I have hope.
Any advice appreciated.
I have a 150g mixed reef that has been up since Dec 14. I added my first SPS 4 months later. Right around that time I got hit with Red Turf Algae. It was awful and nearly wiped my tank out during the next 8 months. I tried everything in the book to get rid of algae and everything seemed to make it worse. I never had measurable Nitrates or Phosphates. I started to read a lot about people with algae problems but not having any measurable nutrients in the water column because the algae was consuming it too quickly. I had a giant red blob in my tank so could definitely see this. This led me to peroxide. Within a couple of weeks I was able to dip enough of my rock in peroxide that my herbivores were able to keep it clean.
Enter two months of bliss. My tank was looking good, my SPS all survived this and started to have vastly improved growth and color. I broke down my QT tank and moved my light to my main tank to increase the PAR on the ends. Unexpectedly, my wife bought my a clam for Christmas. Probably the first thing she ever got me that I REALLY wanted, but I wasn't prepared at all. I couldn't QT it as I didn't have a skimmer or the setup ready to go since I didn't know it was coming. Looking back at it, I make a major mistake and acclimate it the best I can and add it to my DT.
I had been wanting to expand my SPS for months... hell, years! I was looking at different sticks and deciding what I wanted. I spoke to a couple of different people and decided to buy some Battle Corals. The winter was horrible so Adam decided to hold them a bit longer until we got a better shipping window, which I was ok with. During this time I made my 2nd big mistake and went in with a friend to buy some DFS DD SPS. Again, not able to QT anything.. I figured DD and BC was 100% safe. (and for the record, i still believe that) I put my lights (AI Hydra 52 LEDs) in acclimation mode by 50% and my downward spiral begins a week later. Almost exactly a week after I dim the lights the BC order comes in. Now I have 22 brand new sticks. The DD SPS starts to fade, I talk to some people and get advised never to dim lights as you can shock your system.
Mass RTN/STN ensues for the next 3 months. I try to be calm and make slow adjustments. Params look great. Alk is stable, Ca is stable, no nitrates/phosphates. I start to panic. I ramp lights back up over the next 2 weeks, I read non-stop about RTN/STN and go through everything I can think of that may start this. My original SPS that have been in the tank for nearly a year RTN/STN. I dose interceptor spektrum. More RTN/STN. I look for pests but can't see very well. Dip a few frags and don't see any issues.
Depression ensues. I start to blame my lights. Everything seems to of happened immediately after I dimmed them. I switch to MH. I'm now down to 7 SPS so lost about 23 or so and over $1000. My zoanthids colorup immediately under MH and coraline algae starts growing like mad. I have hope... then I lose 2 more STN over this weekend...
I remove all of my dead SPS frags, I had a hard time throwing them away hoping they would recover and I dip everything left in my tank. Red Bugs! I've never been so happy to see them. I also see a crab I didn't know about the size of silver dollar near my SPS. Read about crabs eating SPS while picking red bugs off of them. I interceptor spektrum again.
Could it of been the Clam that introduced a pest? The SPS not being QT'd for reputable sources? Maybe the mass algae problems was keeping the red bugs in check? I did have a lot of copepods living in it.
So that is where I'm at. I'm going to interceptor spektrum again at 7 days and 14 days from the first dose. I'm at the point I can pretty much fallow my tank from SPS as I don't think i'm going to have anything left (down to 5 but they all have some tissue missing) and may start over in a couple of months.
It's amazing how one bad decision can lead to another to another... and I'm not even sure if I'm out of this downward spiral yet.... but I have hope.
Any advice appreciated.