Need help

[z0mbie10]

Hello all. First post here and I’m sorry if this isn’t the correct forum.

I have had fish tanks for 20 years but new to saltwater. It’s my first reef tank and it’s been going well for about 10 months but had my first crash.

Total tank volume is about 125 gallons. No fish death or inverts but my coral is all brown and withdrawing for the past month.

Parameters:
PH 8.0
Salt: 34.5
Temp 77
Alk 8.5
Cal 490
Mg 1450
Nitrate 30
Pho .2

I did my first ICP test and everything came back good except potassium was 368. Aluminum 68, vanadium 7, phosphate .2

I removed ceramic media as ICP test suggested it and even added Metasorb however I am still seeing browning and increased withdrawal of coral.

Any suggestions on what else to test or do?

Thanks

 

[Fish Fan]

I'm sorry you're having some difficulty here. I'm not seeing anything unusual in the numbers you've posted. Have you added anything new to the tank very recently?

#reefsquad

 

[z0mbie10]

I am trying to think back of changes I made a few months ago. My nitrates were zero so I dosed neo nitrate. Phosphate has been .2 for 6+ months. I have most things automated with Apex and haven’t seen any drastic swings. Since the crash I have lowered my Red Sea lights from 100% down to 70% intensity and I changed carbon out once a week.

 

[Uncle99]

To blue, can you do that under white?

What exactly is a “crash” to you.

Carbon is good short term to mop up meds and other stuff, but it will strip trace elements from the water over time as well.

 

[z0mbie10]

I’ll try to upload more pics with white lights but here is another oic showing coral browning/receding.

When I say crash I mean specifically the coral is no longer fluorescent or brown. In the case of hammers and torches they fully withdrawn.

Traces elements are fine because I dose them and ICP test confirmed everything was good except potassium being slight under range.

My other parameters seem alright to me


You can see only the tips here are fluorescent but today the entire coral is lackluster. Many other corals are dull or dark brown.

About a week ago I started dosing acropower and reef roids.

 

[Rocks reef]

Ok…this isn’t a crash.
Next, do you have a PAR meter?
Are you sure your nutrient readings are correct? Excessive nutrients cause SPS to brown out

 

[z0mbie10]

Ok…this isn’t a crash.
Next, do you have a PAR meter?
Are you sure your nutrient readings are correct? Excessive nutrients cause SPS to brown out

Well I’m glad this isn’t as big a deal as I thought it was. Does this mean the coral is alive if it’s been brown for over a month?

I don’t have a par meter but the SPS were growing fine for the past 6 months.

Nitrate has been 20-30ppm for a solid month
Phosphate has been .2 for at least 6 months

Do you think this is due to nitrates?