I am at my wits’ end and getting very discouraged so I am reaching out for help. To sum it up, there is something killing my SPS corals in an nine month old system and I cannot figure out what. I successfully grew acros in my last tank, but have been failing miserably in this one. So I am going to lay out as much info about the conditions as possible in hopes that a reef detective out there can figure out the culprit.
Symptoms: Montis are the first to go. They get “burnt” edges within a week of going into the system and then lose all colour. They retain their polyps until they die. Acros take a bit longer to show signs of stress. They have good polyp extension and look good for about a week, then they will get burnt tips which turn white and then grow a bit of brown algae on them (see below photo). Sometimes they look fine otherwise but any new growing tips will burn. Other times they will slowly STN after getting the burned tips. I will also occasionally see across sliming heavily for no reason and some have just decided to peel completely overnight. I killed a birdsnest frag within a few days – who does that? What is unusual is that most retain good polyp extension and otherwise look happy. A frag might be 80% white but the last 20% has full PE and looks good. This issue first presented on October 19, 2020. Before that there was at least two months where all the frags I added looked great. LPS corals all look fine.
System: The tank is a Redsea Reefer XL425 (112 total volume) which was set up in April/May this year. It is bare bottom and there is a ¼” sheet of ABS on the bottom. The rock is Caribsea Liferock. There is a current FTS below.
Lighting: 2 x Radion XR30 G4 pros running a WWC template for 10.5 hours per day. I reduced to 40% from 50% overall intensity because I thought that maybe the issue was too much light. See below photo of schedule.
Flow: There is 500gph going through the return and 3 MP40s running Reef Crest at 40% 24/7
Filtration: I replaced the stock filter socks with a Clarisea filter roller. This keeps the water very clear. There are 3 brightwell bricks in the sump and I am running one 11oz pouch of Chemipure Blue. The skimmer is a Nyos 160 and there is a 55w UV sterilizer plumbed in line with the return.
Dosing: The only thing I dose is ESV 2 part. It is dosed via the Apex and DOS. Alk is dosed at night and Ca is dosed during the day. The system is only consuming 15ml of each per day, which I find strange given that there are a number of frags and there is coralline growing.
Salt: Tropic Marin Pro.
Source water: BRS 7 stage RODI. New when I set up this tank 9 months ago. Shows 0 TDS.
Livestock: 5 tangs (yellow x 2, whitetail, achilles, hippo), 2 clowns, hawkfish, starry blenny, cleaner wrasse, 3 bimaculatus anthias and a damsel. Two cleaner shrimp and a bunch of snails. Several acros frags, 2 maricultured acro colonies, a couple torches, trachys, blastos, duncans, gonis. Only the hard corals seem to be affected by whatever the issue is.
Feeding: LRS Reef Frenzy or Fish Frenzy twice per day. Nori every few days.
Parameters:
Temp: 77-79 (temp regularly swings between these numbers. I do not think my heater ever comes on)
Salinity: 1.026
Ph: 8.2-8.3
Alk: 8.1
Ca: 430
Mg: 1290
No3: 20
Po4: 0.08
When this issue started, nitrates were stable at 10 and phosphates were stable at 0.04. They recently climbed up and I am working on getting them back down.
Other observations:
There is pretty good coralline growth in the tank and there is good sponge growth on the underside of the rocks. There was an outbreak of pineapple sponges in the sump early on, but they have greatly reduced and the remaining ones have turned from white to brown. There are many fan worms in the sump and there are tons of spiorbid worms in the display covering the rocks and bottom. There has never been a speck of algae and I am not sure whether this is just because the tangs are working hard or the UV. I really do not think the issue is with my husbandry.
Thoughts and steps taken:
From my searches, burnt tips are usually caused by issues with high Alk, either sustained where nutrients are low or a spike. I usually test Alk daily with a Hanna checker and have never seen it outside of 7.6 to 8.4. It has been very stable at 8.1 for a while now.
My next theory was lighting. I was initially running AB+ at 50 or 60%. When I saw the burnt tips I went to the WWC schedule (see photo) at 50% and then reduced further to 40%. My thought was that the water was so clear from the clarisea and UV that there was too much light penetration. However, I measured PAR before reducing and the numbers seemed fine (~400 at top to ~150 at bottom). I have not measured again since reducing as I borrowed a PAR meter to measure before.
I then thought there must be some contaminant in the water. I sent an ICP test to ICPAnalysis.com on November 2nd. I did not get those results until December because of internal issues they had. My experience with them did not leave me confident about the accuracy of the results, but the results did not show anything too scary. But here are the readings out of range:
Al = 0.31ppm
Ba = 0.03ppm
Ce = 0.01ppm
Rb = 0.05ppm
Si = 1.18ppm
U = 0.02ppm
RODI water showed all zeros.
I have done a number of 20% water changes and have been running carbon. If it was a one time contaminant, I am pretty sure it would have been removed entirely through water changes and/or carbon. I even made my girlfriend start only spraying her hair garbage in a room at the other end of the house from the tank with the door closed. I rarely put my hands in the tank and if I do, I wash meticulously first.
Could the ABS on the bottom be leaching something? It’s the same stuff BRS used for their 750. If so, is there any way to test for it?
I took apart and inspected the MP40 wetsides and skimmer pump and they looked fine. I then took apart the pump I use to mix and move saltwater and found these weird bubbles in the plastic they pour to seal the internal components (see below photo). I do not know if it was always like this or if it happened during use. The bubbles are soft and crunchy to the touch. I tossed the pump and all the water it had touched. Could this be an issue?
I very much appreciate whoever reads all of this and offers any advice or ideas they may have. PLEASE HELP!
Symptoms: Montis are the first to go. They get “burnt” edges within a week of going into the system and then lose all colour. They retain their polyps until they die. Acros take a bit longer to show signs of stress. They have good polyp extension and look good for about a week, then they will get burnt tips which turn white and then grow a bit of brown algae on them (see below photo). Sometimes they look fine otherwise but any new growing tips will burn. Other times they will slowly STN after getting the burned tips. I will also occasionally see across sliming heavily for no reason and some have just decided to peel completely overnight. I killed a birdsnest frag within a few days – who does that? What is unusual is that most retain good polyp extension and otherwise look happy. A frag might be 80% white but the last 20% has full PE and looks good. This issue first presented on October 19, 2020. Before that there was at least two months where all the frags I added looked great. LPS corals all look fine.
System: The tank is a Redsea Reefer XL425 (112 total volume) which was set up in April/May this year. It is bare bottom and there is a ¼” sheet of ABS on the bottom. The rock is Caribsea Liferock. There is a current FTS below.
Lighting: 2 x Radion XR30 G4 pros running a WWC template for 10.5 hours per day. I reduced to 40% from 50% overall intensity because I thought that maybe the issue was too much light. See below photo of schedule.
Flow: There is 500gph going through the return and 3 MP40s running Reef Crest at 40% 24/7
Filtration: I replaced the stock filter socks with a Clarisea filter roller. This keeps the water very clear. There are 3 brightwell bricks in the sump and I am running one 11oz pouch of Chemipure Blue. The skimmer is a Nyos 160 and there is a 55w UV sterilizer plumbed in line with the return.
Dosing: The only thing I dose is ESV 2 part. It is dosed via the Apex and DOS. Alk is dosed at night and Ca is dosed during the day. The system is only consuming 15ml of each per day, which I find strange given that there are a number of frags and there is coralline growing.
Salt: Tropic Marin Pro.
Source water: BRS 7 stage RODI. New when I set up this tank 9 months ago. Shows 0 TDS.
Livestock: 5 tangs (yellow x 2, whitetail, achilles, hippo), 2 clowns, hawkfish, starry blenny, cleaner wrasse, 3 bimaculatus anthias and a damsel. Two cleaner shrimp and a bunch of snails. Several acros frags, 2 maricultured acro colonies, a couple torches, trachys, blastos, duncans, gonis. Only the hard corals seem to be affected by whatever the issue is.
Feeding: LRS Reef Frenzy or Fish Frenzy twice per day. Nori every few days.
Parameters:
Temp: 77-79 (temp regularly swings between these numbers. I do not think my heater ever comes on)
Salinity: 1.026
Ph: 8.2-8.3
Alk: 8.1
Ca: 430
Mg: 1290
No3: 20
Po4: 0.08
When this issue started, nitrates were stable at 10 and phosphates were stable at 0.04. They recently climbed up and I am working on getting them back down.
Other observations:
There is pretty good coralline growth in the tank and there is good sponge growth on the underside of the rocks. There was an outbreak of pineapple sponges in the sump early on, but they have greatly reduced and the remaining ones have turned from white to brown. There are many fan worms in the sump and there are tons of spiorbid worms in the display covering the rocks and bottom. There has never been a speck of algae and I am not sure whether this is just because the tangs are working hard or the UV. I really do not think the issue is with my husbandry.
Thoughts and steps taken:
From my searches, burnt tips are usually caused by issues with high Alk, either sustained where nutrients are low or a spike. I usually test Alk daily with a Hanna checker and have never seen it outside of 7.6 to 8.4. It has been very stable at 8.1 for a while now.
My next theory was lighting. I was initially running AB+ at 50 or 60%. When I saw the burnt tips I went to the WWC schedule (see photo) at 50% and then reduced further to 40%. My thought was that the water was so clear from the clarisea and UV that there was too much light penetration. However, I measured PAR before reducing and the numbers seemed fine (~400 at top to ~150 at bottom). I have not measured again since reducing as I borrowed a PAR meter to measure before.
I then thought there must be some contaminant in the water. I sent an ICP test to ICPAnalysis.com on November 2nd. I did not get those results until December because of internal issues they had. My experience with them did not leave me confident about the accuracy of the results, but the results did not show anything too scary. But here are the readings out of range:
Al = 0.31ppm
Ba = 0.03ppm
Ce = 0.01ppm
Rb = 0.05ppm
Si = 1.18ppm
U = 0.02ppm
RODI water showed all zeros.
I have done a number of 20% water changes and have been running carbon. If it was a one time contaminant, I am pretty sure it would have been removed entirely through water changes and/or carbon. I even made my girlfriend start only spraying her hair garbage in a room at the other end of the house from the tank with the door closed. I rarely put my hands in the tank and if I do, I wash meticulously first.
Could the ABS on the bottom be leaching something? It’s the same stuff BRS used for their 750. If so, is there any way to test for it?
I took apart and inspected the MP40 wetsides and skimmer pump and they looked fine. I then took apart the pump I use to mix and move saltwater and found these weird bubbles in the plastic they pour to seal the internal components (see below photo). I do not know if it was always like this or if it happened during use. The bubbles are soft and crunchy to the touch. I tossed the pump and all the water it had touched. Could this be an issue?
I very much appreciate whoever reads all of this and offers any advice or ideas they may have. PLEASE HELP!
