Please help im still losing corals. Lost near 600$ in corals so far

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SaltISlife

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I took the left over lemon lime off the rock theyve veen glued too.. cut out the dead parts. I could snell it rotting from the puddy i put over the dying coral. Whoever came upl with that idea shouldnt be suggesting that. Because i think that made it wirse.

Anyway i dipped them for 5 min APi general cure and api fin rot its all i had.

General cure has prazi pro and metronidazole and the other one is doxycycline. Which is a strong antibiotic. Ive taken it before myself lol.

Ima keep dipping every day and see what happens.

At this point i have nothing to lose.. theyre gonna die anyway

Cross your fingers.
 

Spieg

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What is the background on the lace rock? I personally would only use this in fresh water tanks, but I know some have it in salt water. Was it new, used, unknown? Wondering if maybe it had been in a previous tank that was dosed with copper or something like that?
 
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SaltISlife

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What is the background on the lace rock? I personally would only use this in fresh water tanks, but I know some have it in salt water. Was it new, used, unknown? Wondering if maybe it had been in a previous tank that was dosed with copper or something like that?
Was ina a pile of rocks at the store.. it had lichen on it so it was never used.. lichen is like a mold or fungus that grows on rocks.

I did clesn it before hand. And was only in for 20 min befofe i took it out but i reaaaaly thinm it was that rock.
 

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Lichen is actually an algae/cyano-bacteria conglomerate. The main reason I don't use lace rock in a reef tank is that it's often very high in mineral content. Even if you wash it very well, there are still a lot of particles in the small pockets that can be released into the water column pretty quickly. I think you've probably done about all that can be done to remove anything that may have been released by the rock. Sorry I don't have any helpful suggestions, I think you just have to wait for this to run it's course. Maybe collect some healthy frags and place them in your other tank as an insurance policy?
 

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Did you say the damage only happens once the lights go out?

What happens if you keep the lights on?

You should probably try to frag off some healthy sections of coral. I wouldn't put them in another tank, in case whatever this is could be spread that way, unless you can get a quarantine tank set up fast.
 

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I don’t think testing phosphates is “chasing phosphates”. I’m not saying this is you problem, but you won’t know unless you test. The hannah Checker in my experience is the most reliable tester. Take it from me, zero or too much phosphates could certainly result in coral death.
 
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SaltISlife

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It happens at all hours.. but seems way worse at night.. like i can watch the coral all day for 11 hours and nothing changes.. then ligjts go off and the next morning it lost big chunks of itself and they look all striny or patchy flowing in the flow.. then when the lights are on it stops.

I already eliminated possible pests on the rocks or sand though as i put the affected chalices on a frag rack i made out of ggcrate far away from everything. And it still progressed at night.. yet they were away from the sand and rock.. it is weird how its faster at night

I think youre right i do remember dust cloud coming outa the lace rock eveb though i washed it.. i bet those particles iritated the chalices and stuff.. thank god it didnt affect ny 800$ green splatter bubble its like the size of a pizza box. Or the 500$ in gonioporas i have. But this still doesnt explain why my new platygyra brain melted last night on a head.. i saw those dang amphipods eating a section of it.

Im still gonna try dipping the corals though in antibiotics and metronidazole that i have. I really want to put them all in my 60g hexagon.. but in the hex i have my last chunk of the tile sized lemon lime favia. It was like bathroom tile hand sized and i cut it in quarter sections and sold two and kept two. That one in the 60g is unaffected. And id hate to spread it to that if it some kinda pathogen.

Good news is my dragon soul favia has healed. You can see before and after.

20201228_160342.jpg 20210101_131546.jpg
 
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SaltISlife

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I don’t think testing phosphates is “chasing phosphates”. I’m not saying this is you problem, but you won’t know unless you test. The hannah Checker in my experience is the most reliable tester. Take it from me, zero or too much phosphates could certainly result in coral death.
Maybe the lace rock released a plume of phosphates in the tank when the dust cloud happened ? I dunno.. still wouldnt explain why its still happening a week after a 120% water change though.. but ill call that guy i know and see if he has a hanna checker for phosphates so i can get them checked properly
 

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No re-read what i said.. The corals were all melting and in a last bid effort i did 85 gallons then 55 gallons 4 days later, and added carbon and that special poly fil for heavy metals.. I also put puddy over the dying sections of my lemon lime favia.. and NONE of this is helping..

It isnt the water changes doing this because this started before that.. i did the HUGE water changes in case i had something in the water that was hurting the corals. But it seems changing 140 gallons, did nothing. As a brand new platygyra i got like 3-4 days ago.. Which is AFTER i did the water changes and carbon and poly fill ect.. This platygyra brain coral is melting now too.

There has to be a parasite doing this.. It makes no sense..

Salinity is 1.0264 exactly. I dont check phosphates never have, i dont mess with chasing phosphates or nitrates, i found my tanks do great with high phosphates and nitrates.. at least high for what some people consider.. but i did check with an API kit which only goes to .25 and no lower.. and its .25. So its probably lower than .25


Ill call a guy i met at a local fish store, see if he has hanna checkers and can check my po4.. but im 100% certain it isnt that lol. This all started around when i put that lace rock in the tank, i have pics of the 16th when my chalices were fine, and i bought the rock on the 12th and put it in around the 17-18th but i took it out 20 min after putting it in... Then 2 days later i noticed my chalices melting. But also i got a bunch of a new corals around this time as well, and that local store always has chalices and favias melting on him

Im not certain it was the rock, but i highely doubt it was dosing kents products.. as i was dosing for nearly 3 months. It would be weird for corals to start melting if i added a rock to the tank and blame the dosing but i dunno.. even if it was the dosing 140 gallons is more than my tank holds and it has poly fil and carbon in it, so whatever was in the water should technicly be long gone.. yet that brand new platygyra is melting..

I dunno if i should do this.. but im seriously considering taking my favias out and putting them in my 60g hexagon.. but i worry if its a parasite itll spread to that tank.. But moving them to the 60g would eliminate a water quality issue as that tank isnt having melting favias
When you said, this started after introducing new rock. A wild guess here. The rock was in a tank that was treated with copper. IMO
 
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SaltISlife

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When you said, this started after introducing new rock. A wild guess here. The rock was in a tank that was treated with copper. IMO
Na it was full of lichen. It was never ina tank. It was picked up outside and sold for retail i csn tell. If it was ina tank the lichen woulda disintergrated eventually. My guess is the rock had heavy metals or chemicals on it and the chalices and brain corals were the ones affected.

orrr it could very well be bacterial or parasite or something from that local fish store and that guy cant keep favias or acans or chakices.. they all melt kinda like mine did..

Never know.

I probly eont ever find out. Lemme tell ya losing 600$ in corals sucks. Especially now that they are all more expensive...
 

scardall

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Na it was full of lichen. It was never ina tank. It was picked up outside and sold for retail i csn tell. If it was ina tank the lichen woulda disintergrated eventually. My guess is the rock had heavy metals or chemicals on it and the chalices and brain corals were the ones affected.

orrr it could very well be bacterial or parasite or something from that local fish store and that guy cant keep favias or acans or chakices.. they all melt kinda like mine did..

Never know.

I probly eont ever find out. Lemme tell ya losing 600$ in corals sucks. Especially now that they are all more expensive...
Can relate as I lost $1500 SPS from Dino's. Good luck
 

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I need help. Im still loosing corals.

It started around 20th or so last month. And it started eith a encrusting chalice i had. Forgot the name but it was one from WWC blue with green eyes. Then it spread to my pink ******* next to it. Then my mummy eye chalice next to it. And then my pink berry chalice. I lost all of them in a week or so. They just litterally stn'd into nothing. But it seems to progress worse at night. Which is weird.

My plating chalices are unaffected. My euphilia like hammers frog spawn snd torch are all unaffected. My 4 bubble coral are unaffected. All my sps are unaffected. My cyphastrias are unaffected.

But now its spreading to my brain coral favias. I pretty much lost an entire Jason fox lemon lime favia. It was a giant tile too fully encrusted that i broke up like 5 months ago and glued into various places on a pillar of rock. It was growing great too. Then boom it got whatever this is.

I tried to put puddy over the affected areas. And nope. Once the lights go off it continues to melt.

My dragon soul favia started to melt but it stopped and seens to be healing. My captain american favia seems ok so far. And a Candy apple favia is ok.

But a new platygyra i got the other day. Was fine for 4 days then boom tonight i noticed an entire section was gone.

Another brain coral i think its a Joker favia at least tidal gardens calls it that. It has a few dead spots as well. Although its lrogressing very very slow on thst coral.. but from pictures i took 2 days ago you can see the progression. Ive had this coral for 2 years now and its like 2 fists in size.. and its going down hill now too


Only thing i did to my system was add Lace rock which was around the days this started happening. After research i took the rock out though. It was only in the tank for 20 minutes.

Nothing else changed exceot i have been dosing kents marine products like iodine. Essential elements and cora vites. My nitrates were really high around 70-80ppm due to me iverfeeding my fish too much. Normally its around 20-40ppm. I also didnt do a water change for 2 1.2 months as my dosing actually stopped thr need for it. As i had to do water changes every week or two ( 40% or so to replenish macro nutrient 100+ corals were using up quickly. Sps would bleach or melt if i didnt do huge water changes so i started dosing "not alk or calcium the other stuff" and it stopped.. so it all seemed fine.

Ph is 7.8 and ALWAYS has been so it isnt the ph.
Alk is always 8-9
Calcium is 440 although it did drop to 389 and i used seachems calcium powder to bring it bsck to 440 over 3 days time.
Magnesium is always around 1300-1350

Litterally nothing i can test for changed. Besides nitrates.


I did a 85 gallon water change 1 1.2 weeks ago. Then a 55g changed like 4 days ago. So 140 gallons.. my tank is 135 with sand and rock its about 110 or so.. so i litterally changed 120% of my water.

Nitrates are 10ppm. Everything else is still the same as always..

Yet my dang favias ARE STILL receeding. I put in two giant bags of carbon and two pads of that special poly fil for heavy metals. ... its not doing anything.


This is very upsetting.. i have another half a tile of the lemon lime favia in another tank and its perfectly fine. The only thing different from that tank is i havent put corals in it from stores in the last 2 months where i did with my dying tank. I also didnt put the lace rock in it. Even if it was only 20 min.


Im starting to think this isnt a water issue.. whatever was or if i ever had anything should be gone with 140 gallkn water change you know like if i overdosed with kents products..

Because my new platygyra is after i did all the water changes and carbon and so forth.. and it is melting.


Is there a parasite that eats chalices and favias ???

Im starting to wonder if i got this from a local fish store. Because that guy cant keep favias or chalices or acans.. they all tend to melt the same way... I always thought it was because his par in his tanks is like 90-100 and hechas poor flow and so forth..

Now im wondering if its a disease.. and a disease that coral rx didnt do anything for.. because i always dip my corals.. and rinse them..

Anyway please help... ive lost 600$ in corals.. and its still progressing.
In a previous post, you confirm your using tap water from Northern Virginia.
I have read the 2020 water report. It’s no better than any other, in terms of human consumption, but as most treated water, is NOT acceptable for long term use in tanks with corals, except, maybe softies.

You post a pic of a stunning tank, I mean stunning!
So now I’m mixed up
I’d start with changing to RODI
 

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Wait a second.... all this and your using tap water? I thought I read RODI somewhere in this thread?
Not just tap water, but “the holy grail” of tap water.....however this holy grail of tap water didn’t even make the list of top 10 states with best water in terms of human consumption as recorded by the EPA.

I hope members are not fooled into believing that water from the tap is just as good as RODI.

IMO, it’s not, not even in New Zeland which is listed as #1 in the world.

Use RODI, or eventually, you’ll pay 100x the cost of a simple RODI unit to fix.
 

Willu

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I would try getting that ICP test done. And perhaps look into using RODI water, I know that you have had success with tap water, but you never know when and/or if they add something new, and you really don't know what is in it. If you are willing to spend so much on corals, I really think it is worth it for the sake of the animals.
Anyways I wish you and your tank good luck.
 

vetteguy53081

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I see some lichen and poriferan sponge in some areas.
Lets start with chemistry. I have not read through all the posts but have a general idea.
Water :
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet? If RO, what is your TDS ?
What salt mix are you using?

Tank should be at:

Temp 77-79 - Yours ?
Salinity 1.025 Yours?
ph 8.1 -8.3 Yours ?
nitrate <.04 Yours?
Ammonia < .03 Yours?
Phos < .04 Yours
Alk 8-9 Yours?
Mag 1300 Yours ?
Ca 440 Yours?

What test kit(s) are you using ?
What is your method of nutrient export?
Moderate water flow and lighting is best. what is your lighting schedule?
- If mixed reef, both LPS and SPS do release toxins which become chemical warfare. Are you using a high grade carbon such as ChemiPure blue to alleviate this? This is one cause of mystery coral death in reefing.
- Are you dosing and by what method ( hand or dosing unit) ?
- Has there Ever been copper in the tank?
- False salinity has caused this fr many including myself- Have you calibrated your gage? What do you use to test it?

As a suggestion- I agree on doing an ICP test but in mean time , take a good size water sample to a TRUSTED LFS and have them test as many parameters as they can for you and compare to your readings and see if they find any that are off and differ from yours including salinity.
 

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Agreed with the above, except that nitrate should definitely not be that low for the majority of tanks. 5ppm or more is good. Guessing you meant nitrite?

If this isn't RO water, make it RO water. The issue with tap water isn't just what's in it, it's the changes. The treatment center can start getting water from a different source, they can add something new to it, or there can be issues with it. Hell, some places in the US don't have tap water that's okay to drink, let alone put in a reef. RO units are not that expensive, and they remove all that uncertainty.
 

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What’s the tds of your tap water, since I know you don’t use a rodi? Cause sometimes it abruptly increases and can cause a ton of issues or stuff just builds up to a point where it will cause problems. I think not using rodi is your major issue but an icp test would confirm this is the issue.
 

tehmadreefer

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You use tap water?? Lol. Well there’s your problem. Might want to see if your water company started using cholamine. Unfortunately if you are using tap water you are at the mercy of water chemicals the water company doses...

bragging about the money spent on coral but cheap out by not using an rodi system.
 
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