Need help with sps polyp extension

[Charlie’s Frags]

3mo now. Shortcake is losing some tissue today and the birdsnest polyps are further retracted. Think this battle is lost.

Alk 10.7 --> 10.3
Ca is now 465 slowly came down from 480.

They were in pretty bad shape. 3 months is pretty young to go sps. Some ppl have no issues but there’s a bunch of “pros” that have lost their entire collection bc they added sps too soon.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Changed the light intensity as you said they maybe also getting blasted. Here are my current trial settings.

I recommended you get a par meter. I’m not familiar with orpheks. Your settings sounded intense but I honestly have no idea if you had too much or too little or perfect par.

 

[t5Nitro]

They were in pretty bad shape. 3 months is pretty young to go sps. Some ppl have no issues but there’s a bunch of “pros” that have lost their entire collection bc they added sps too soon.

Gottcha. I know they looked pretty browned out when I got them. Thought it was all good with full PE and color changing in the first few weeks but then went backwards.

I can definitely look into an apogee meter.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Gottcha. I know they looked pretty browned out when I got them. Thought it was all good with full PE and color changing in the first few weeks but then went backwards.

I can definitely look into an apogee meter.

In my experience brown means stressed/starved. Especially if the polyps are retracted. Knowing what I’ve been through, I think you should A) Get a better handle on your chemistry and B) start adding a bunch more fish before you add anymore sps.

 

[ScottB]

Until the system has matured 6-12 months, you should just expect a fair amount of SPS mortality. Even then, without stable ALK, NO3, PO4 it will take luck and prayer.

Once system is mature and stable, sticks are easy peasy.

 

[t5Nitro]

@Chaswood79
What is the fish you have around 0:19 in your second video?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

@Chaswood79
What is the fish you have around 0:19 in your second video?

Those are chalk bass. Cool little fishes with ferocious appetites . I have 3 of them in there. I’m a big fan of the nano basslets and cardinals. I have those, a royal gramma and 2 McNeillis assessors. The assessors are my favorite fishes but they only come out of the rocks when it’s feeding time.

Live Aquaria - Search Results for Chalk Bass

m.aquarium-fish.liveaquaria.com

 

[t5Nitro]

Skimmer I found is intermittently working as well. Has been tumbling water the past 1.5 days. Little microbubbles and no skimmate. I took it out today to take apart and clean and found this. Does this just need to be replaced? Maybe theres random stray voltage leaked from this?




If this pump is junk, looking for recs on any recommended skimmers. Looked at deltec and lifereef before setting the tank up.

 

[ScottB]

Skimmer I found is intermittently working as well. Has been tumbling water the past 1.5 days. Little microbubbles and no skimmate. I took it out today to take apart and clean and found this. Does this just need to be replaced? Maybe theres random stray voltage leaked from this?




If this pump is junk, looking for recs on any recommended skimmers. Looked at deltec and lifereef before setting the tank up.

That would concern me but I am no electrician.

My goto is Reef Octopus for skimmers

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I would imagine that could be an issue. Get a tester and see if there is any current in the water. Always use a grounding probe as well.

 

[t5Nitro]

Been skimmerless for 1 day now. Phos checker came in the mail. 10 gallon water change last night.

1.025
470
10.4
Phos 0.02

This green something monti always looks good. Birdsnest still interesting. Tank is cloudy.

 

[ScottB]

Thanks I will get some testers for nitrate and phos to see how those are going. Find it odd that PE was full for the first 2 weeks for sure and now diminished minimal to none. In those 2 weeks there was the change in dkh in my own tank as well as more algae growth.

IME, it takes a few weeks for SPS to truly show you how they feel about changes to their environment.

After initially hunkering down from a move/change, they start to come out. Over time, they realize something is "off". Too much light, no available PO4, too much ALK... whatever. They go into survival mode.

 

[ScottB]

Been skimmerless for 1 day now. Phos checker came in the mail. 10 gallon water change last night.

1.025
470
10.4
Phos 0.02

This green something monti always looks good. Birdsnest still interesting. Tank is cloudy.

Birdsnest or is that monti digitata?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Alk is still too high for that low of po4 and limited fish poop. Get your alk down to 8-8.5 if you want to give those corals a better chance to survive.

 

[ScottB]

Alk is still too high for that low of po4 and limited fish poop. Get your alk down to 8-8.5 if you want to give those corals a better chance to survive.

+1 ^

@Chaswood79 send nitro a pic or vid of your sticks and share your ideal nutrient level.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

+1 ^

@Chaswood79 send nitro a pic or vid of your sticks and share your ideal nutrient level.

I already posted a couple videos
I like my alk between 8 and 9
No3 10-25
Po4 0.10-0.20 (30-70 ppb)

 

[t5Nitro]

+1 ^

@Chaswood79 send nitro a pic or vid of your sticks and share your ideal nutrient level.

He's got some on the previous page. Looks amazing.

I did a 10g change last night anticipating the alk would drop into the low 9s, but in fact the dkh has been 10.4 x3 days in a row now, with or without the water change (which had previously mixed up at 9.6). Interesting

 

[t5Nitro]

Birdsnest or is that monti digitata?

I was told this was a blue polyp birdsnest.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

He's got some on the previous page. Looks amazing.

I did a 10g change last night anticipating the alk would drop into the low 9s, but in fact the dkh has been 10.4 x3 days in a row now, with or without the water change (which had previously mixed up at 9.6). Interesting

You need to switch salt brands. Red Sea blue bucket (not the pro version) mixes to about 8. Tropic marin pro and aqua forest mix to 7.5. I believe brightwell mixes to about 8 as well. You should do a 50% water change with 1 of these brands.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

And get more fish