Ok so newb mistake I made, broke one of the rules. I have a 30 gal sps system (~26-27 gals) my system had been stable for the past 6 mos (big 5 alk ~9.3, ca ~440s, mg~1500, po4 ~ .05, no3 ~10 using RS PRO salt) I added 15 small frags and bigger frags (5 almost colony size) in a span of 3 -4 months slowly which probably was still too fast (now I know.) So here’s the kicker, I was checking alk once a month with weekly water changes ~10-20% depending on nutrients everything remained stable then I dosed recommended dosage of brightwells reef snow for ~25 gals to feed some sponges I have in there and to see if any effect on my sps. This is where things went downhill. Since I was only checking alk once per month I failed to notice the uptake of alk had increased dramatically and after dosing reef snow the next day I tested. Alk had gone from 9.2 ish to 7.7 in I don’t know how many days. Major alk swing regardless. Before this I had ordered some frags in the mail which quite a few had ended up bleaching over night(which I’m thinking brought the infection in) in my tank do to stress from shipping and heat (west Texas) I tested all my parameters the day after reef snow do to noticing some bleaching on my pocillopora colony on the shaded part… that’s when I found out my ca had gone to 510s and my alk to high 7s. I’m slowly bringing down calcium (currently high 470s) and raising alk (currently low 8s) via kalk but switching to soda ash ( to help boost ph currently 7.7-8 as well, raise alk and keep calcium from dropping too fast along w weekly 20% WC.) I started noticing a major bleaching event especially on my larger frags. I took immediate action and for the past week have dipped my coral in seachem iodine at full concentration for 30 mins 3 times already and have noticed the bleaching has slowed but not ceased. Here are my questions for the experts:
1. I’m thinking of an erythromycin/prazi/ iodine dip for 30 mins, anyone had success using such method?
2: I’m starting to dose via pump soda ash in the next couple of weeks I’m currently using the kalk/ ato method, should I cut the kalk (using 1/3 tsp/ gal currently) outright as soon as I start soda ash? Calcium sits in the high 470s alk in the low 8s hoping this will help bring down calcium
3. anything else besides fragging my bigger coral I can do to save them? Any success in dealing with a situation like mine is greatly appreciated
***I understand stability is key and that’s what I’m shooting for but as far as saving my coral any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Currently running UV and skimmer 24/7. TIA
1. I’m thinking of an erythromycin/prazi/ iodine dip for 30 mins, anyone had success using such method?
2: I’m starting to dose via pump soda ash in the next couple of weeks I’m currently using the kalk/ ato method, should I cut the kalk (using 1/3 tsp/ gal currently) outright as soon as I start soda ash? Calcium sits in the high 470s alk in the low 8s hoping this will help bring down calcium
3. anything else besides fragging my bigger coral I can do to save them? Any success in dealing with a situation like mine is greatly appreciated
***I understand stability is key and that’s what I’m shooting for but as far as saving my coral any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Currently running UV and skimmer 24/7. TIA