Have you double checked the test?
Have you tested no3 in the fresh mixed water ?
Have you tested no3 in the fresh mixed water ?
Most of my SPS is dying
- Thread starter Roggio
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Roggio
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I check my ALK daily and No3/Po4 every other day. I'm using Hanna for ALK and Po4, I've double checked with Red Sea's test kit. I just checked the water from my RODI (0 tds) and there's no No3 or Po4. I've even calibrated my refractometer and use a Milwaukee Digital. I must be doing something fundamentally wrong. I oversized my skimmer thinking that could be why. I know I have some large fish but I cant find a balance. Before I stopped carbon dosing I was only dosing 20ml a day into 600 gallon total water volume.
Maybe I can upload a short video of my set up?
It’s just the oddly high and constant no3 readings. That’s the test to check.
This would indicate to me , something is rotting. Usual stuff is the sand bed , bio balls , dirty sump, canister filter not being cleaned etc.
I did one have the fabled unicorn , the bad rock.
In a fresh bucket of salt water it leached Po4 and no3. It was rotting from the inside.
Why this would effect coral I don’t know. It shouldn’t. I’ve seen worse here.
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Roggio
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After I had mangroves crack the PVC that was holding up my previous rock structure I decided to change out all of the rock and sand in both tanks. I'm using the same sump but I even removed all of the rock that was in it prior. I have a triton test, maybe that will provide some insight. Everything I can think of has been replaced, even the RODI reservoir. I'll record a video of my filtration system. I really appreciate the help in trying to figure this out. I really want to be successful at this. I've tried to take all the right steps as far as buying the right equipment and testing/waterchanges. Everything I've learned has just been years of reading.
Ime, when things keep seeming to go wrong , it means it’s time to learn something new.
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My lights (same type) are on longer and at 100% and peak at 100/100. Alk is at 8.7 or so. I think many things cause these issues - not just high alk and low nutrients and high light. Perhaps the best would be to let your nutrients rise and keep the light the same. (or decrease it for a couple days on the acclimation mode as Salty said). Sometimes rapid changes in anything can cause corals to do this.
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Roggio
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Alk today was at 7.9 but has been under 8.3 for the most part. I think I’m going to change it to 9.5 in the near future because that’s what all the salt mix I just bought mixes up to. I know 9.5 is too high with low nutrients.
So after having such high levels of nutrients I went back to dosing 16 ml a day of vodka. I checked this morning and I’m at 0 No3 (Red Sea) and 0 PO4 (Hanna). I’m makibg a mistake somewhere. Maybe im too proactive. I test with Red Sea and Hanna to make sure it’s not a bad kit and test multiple times when the results are weird. I dose live phytoplankton daily and feed a mix of reef frenzy, mysis and New Life flakes. There’s a variable I’m not getting. Maybe I should just leave my tank alive awhile. I’ve lost a lot of my SPS anyway. I don’t have much to lose at this point. Then in 2-4 months see how it stabilizes. When the results of that test ran high it was believable because I had a decent amount of algae on the glass.
Merry Christmas!
Saul jasso
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Mag
Alk seems low especially for an sps system. 9.5 is not low at all. Mine was run around 9 or so and was great. What is your calcium demand and magnesium numbers?
I am not a fan of the dosing things until the system is stable and you know exactly what you are dosing, how much and why. Then again, I never go for what is the newest trend. I go with what works for me. I hope you find that stability and sweet spot soon. It can take a while.
I am not a fan of the dosing things until the system is stable and you know exactly what you are dosing, how much and why. Then again, I never go for what is the newest trend. I go with what works for me. I hope you find that stability and sweet spot soon. It can take a while.
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Roggio
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I’m going to take a break from this hobby for awhile.
I have been doing weekly water changes. All of my Parameters are good. I’ve managed to keep the nitrates right at 2 to 5 and the phosphates anywhere from .03 to 05 The recession and a lot of the coral stopped and some of it actually started growing back. I woke up this morning and looked in my tank and for no reason the squirrel is shedding its tissue. I honestly can’t get my head around what the issue is. I’m heading to Australia for a few months and I’m just going to let the tank sit. At this point if anything dies it dies. I’ve poured countless hours and tons of money into this just to watch things melt away over and over.
I have been doing weekly water changes. All of my Parameters are good. I’ve managed to keep the nitrates right at 2 to 5 and the phosphates anywhere from .03 to 05 The recession and a lot of the coral stopped and some of it actually started growing back. I woke up this morning and looked in my tank and for no reason the squirrel is shedding its tissue. I honestly can’t get my head around what the issue is. I’m heading to Australia for a few months and I’m just going to let the tank sit. At this point if anything dies it dies. I’ve poured countless hours and tons of money into this just to watch things melt away over and over.
zoasaholic
Well-Known Member
Yea it happened to me tooI’m going to take a break from this hobby for awhile.
I have been doing weekly water changes. All of my Parameters are good. I’ve managed to keep the nitrates right at 2 to 5 and the phosphates anywhere from .03 to 05 The recession and a lot of the coral stopped and some of it actually started growing back. I woke up this morning and looked in my tank and for no reason the squirrel is shedding its tissue. I honestly can’t get my head around what the issue is. I’m heading to Australia for a few months and I’m just going to let the tank sit. At this point if anything dies it dies. I’ve poured countless hours and tons of money into this just to watch things melt away over and over.
Now I’m stop purchasing sps for white and go back to lps
Charterreefer
Active Member
I would say that you are seeing the effects of deleterious event that happened to the coral from when your dkh was high. There is a lag between the event and effect it has on the coral. Your dkh is at a safer level now.Almost every coral has white tips. There was a little variation when o added a calcium reactor but I have been professional and tested my alkalinity daily. I never had a swing of over one point. My ALK was at 9.3 before the reactor but I’ve brought it down because I carbon dose. It’s been consistently at 8.3 for the last two weeks. I test my tank daily. I had 3-4 days where my nitrate hit 0 (Red Sea) and my phosphate has been running at 0.03 (Hanna and Red Sea) there was two days where it hit 0 but the Chaeto in my fuge has been growing faster than I’ve ever seen. I ran the effluent line from the calcium reactor into the fuge. I lowered my vodka dosing to 10ml a day on a 600g system.
ALK 8.3
CAL 420
pH 7.8-8.1 (no swings more than 2 a day)
Phosphate 0-0.04
Nitrate 0-5 usually (2-5)
What could be causing this? I haven’t changed the lighting. All SPS is in 280-400 par.
I’ve already lost hundreds of dollars in coral
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Roggio
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At the highest my DKH was 9.4 but it’s stayed stable at 7.9-8.5 for months. I guess it’s frustrating because I don’t know what I could have done different. Hopefully it can age and I’ll try again in months.
BigJohnny
2500 Club Member
Sorry to hear that bud. It's possible you have a bacterial infection or virus or something weird that we don't understand and the stress of fluctuating parameters allowed it to take over. STN and RTN are not even close to being completely understood, and sometimes this stuff happens, I feel your pain brotha. Sanjay joshi had pretty widespread rtn/stn in his tank at one point and never figured out why, happens to the best of us. Enjoy your break and come back and start fresh, maybe on a smaller scale or just lps/zoas/softies if you'd prefer.
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Roggio
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I received my Triton test results back today. The only thing that sticks out to me is the elevated AI which I'm sure is from the large amount of Marine Pure in my sump. I have 6 gallons of spheres and a block. Maybe its because my PO4 is so low?
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