My Monti and Anacropora are Peeling

[aquaticlog]

Very frustrating - but every few days I lose a couple of random pieces - the skin just peels off.



Any suggestions on what could be causing it? I have several aquariums plumbed in with similar light schedules and while acropora are primarily ok, I did lose a few pieces of red dragon (while needle in the haystack is totally fine). My water parameters are here:

dtum's Farm

dtum's saltwater aquarium: Farm. 1038 days old. 168 Gallons. .

aquaticlog.com

Have you seen this in your experience?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Very frustrating - but every few days I lose a couple of random pieces - the skin just peels off.



Any suggestions on what could be causing it? I have several aquariums plumbed in with similar light schedules and while acropora are primarily ok, I did lose a few pieces of red dragon (while needle in the haystack is totally fine). My water parameters are here:

dtum's Farm

dtum's saltwater aquarium: Farm. 1038 days old. 168 Gallons. .

aquaticlog.com

Have you seen this in your experience?

With the flesh lifting in this manner, some causes are:
High salinity
High temperature
High calcium
High nitrates
Insufficient lighting
Too much flow

check for any nudibranch around them

 

[JGT]

Very frustrating - but every few days I lose a couple of random pieces - the skin just peels off.



Any suggestions on what could be causing it? I have several aquariums plumbed in with similar light schedules and while acropora are primarily ok, I did lose a few pieces of red dragon (while needle in the haystack is totally fine). My water parameters are here:

dtum's Farm

dtum's saltwater aquarium: Farm. 1038 days old. 168 Gallons. .

aquaticlog.com

Have you seen this in your experience?

Is it just that tank where bleaching is occurring or are you seeing it in all? Since params are good, would look at stray voltage, contaminants, metals, rusted magnets, etc.

 

[aquaticlog]

I definitely have strong flow in this tank, like an MP40 blowing over at 80% in reef crest.
Just measured copper - but it is at 0.05, so unlikely.
Temperature is stable at 77. Salinity is at 36.
Nitrates are averaging at 5.
Calcium - will check today.
And lighting is giving them about 120-150 PAR for 10-12 hours per day.

 

[aquaticlog]

Is it just that tank where bleaching is occurring or are you seeing it in all? Since params are good, would look at stray voltage, contaminants, metals, rusted magnets, etc.

I see it in two different tanks that are plumbed into the same water system (4 tanks in total), only seem to happen to some species of corals - if I take my undata monti from another aquarium and place it here - it is guaranteed to peel within a week, sometimes only a day later.
I plan to do an ICP test on Sunday and give it a week until I get results back.

 

[SamMule]

Your parameters looks just fine to me. Have you dosed or used anything to combat algae or to drop Phosphate levels?
Vibrant, LaCl, GFO?

 

[aquaticlog]

Your parameters looks just fine to me. Have you dosed or used anything to combat algae or to drop Phosphate levels?
Vibrant, LaCl, GFO?

No, nothing at all. I usually do not run GFO and use carbon sparingly.

 

[aquaticlog]

One thing I do notice is that my copper has shown 0.05, 0.02, 0.00, and 0.04 on 4 consecutive testings.

 

[RichReef]

The only time I have seen my SPS lose flesh and peel was water temp and ALK too low.

Are these losses localized in the tank?

 

[Miami Reef]

Hannah copper checkers are useless at low levels that can harm corals. Get an ICP test done.

 

[aquaticlog]

The only time I have seen my SPS lose flesh and peel was water temp and ALK too low.

Are these losses localized in the tank?

I get these in another small tank that is plumbed into the system as well. So I'd say it is more species focused and not tanks.

 

[aquaticlog]

Hannah copper checkers are useless at low levels that can harm corals. Get an ICP test done.

I'll do one on Sunday then

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Triple check your salanity and your other parameters and make sure you have a decent level of mag. When I had red dragon it was always a canary coral for me. Maybe double check your temp and make sure there is no stray current as well. It’s normally something very simple and going back to the basics and keeping things simple is always the best approach when something is off.

 

[am3gross]

How old are the test kits? Double check them against a locals tests to see if you get the same thing.

Salinity refractometer got me good, it was brand new and no matter what, it said I was good to go..

Mike

 

[aquaticlog]

How old are the test kits? Double check them against a locals tests to see if you get the same thing.

Salinity refractometer got me good, it was brand new and no matter what, it said I was good to go..

Mike

Test kits are all fresh, I do spend a fair bit of time testing.

 

[aquaticlog]

Triple check your salanity and your other parameters and make sure you have a decent level of mag. When I had red dragon it was always a canary coral for me. Maybe double check your temp and make sure there is no stray current as well. It’s normally something very simple and going back to the basics and keeping things simple is always the best approach when something is off.

Any good way to check for stray current?

 

[aquaticlog]

Here's an update:

 

[aquaticlog]

Tested freshly mixed salt (after I've cleaned the vat, made sure I use an ecotech pump to move water and use 0.00 copper in RO water) - it now reads 0.02 ppm. So looks like some is still present, which does not appear to make a lot of sense.

 

[wareagle]

Tested freshly mixed salt (after I've cleaned the vat, made sure I use an ecotech pump to move water and use 0.00 copper in RO water) - it now reads 0.02 ppm. So looks like some is still present, which does not appear to make a lot of sense.

I think Miami Reef already told you the checker is no good at low levels. There are actually a few threads on this scaring people.
Post #8 is RHF saying the same.

Hanna Copper Checker False Positives??

Hi, I got a Hanna Copper test kit for BRS a week ago and after testing and testing I noticed I'm getting false readings on my QT tank. I also tried testing other waters and this is what I got. QT Tank With Copper power (as per bottle instructions) 3.02 should be 2.0 QT Tank test next day...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Pod_01]

Just quick observation, your phosphate is quite low at 0.03. I made observation some time ago that I kept loosing monti and anacropora when phosphate was that low or I had sudden decreased in phosphate. Level between 0.05-0.1 works better for me. Just a suggestion. Good luck.