RTN?

[BTimms]

Hello.

I believe I may have overdosed acropower. I woke up to all fish on the sand gasping. I the. Did a %50 water change and things seemed to go back to normal for a day.
I then woke up this morning to this.....see picture. The acro looks like it’s melting away.
All other corals seem fine.

All of my parameters are reading in normal ranges. I do not visually see any pests.

I appreciate your assistance and advice!

 

[T-J]

Can you post the actual parameters? Also, how much Acropower did you dose? How big is the tank? How old is it? Lights? Flow?
I see you have a GHA problem, that tells me you may not have as good of parameters as you think.

 

[BTimms]

Can you post the actual parameters? Also, how much Acropower did you dose? How big is the tank? How old is it? Lights? Flow?
I see you have a GHA problem, that tells me you may not have as good of parameters as you think.

Temp:25.6

Salinity: 1.026

Mg: 1360

Ca:390

KH: 4.0/11.2

PO4:0.03

32.5 gallon.

1 year old

Par at that coral is 275

Flow: nero 5 x 2 opposing . The dying coral is in higher flow spot.

I have been battling with GHA for a couple of months.

I accidentally overdose about 75ml of acropower.

 

[T-J]

Yikes! Yeah, should be about 7ml a week for a tank that size. I think you did the best thing, which is waterchange. Run skimmer and carbon as well.
What are you nitrates?
I'm guessing your P & N are actually higher than what your kits are showing, since the algae is sucking them up. I've never used Acropower, but if it's anything like AB+, it can make your nutrients go really high, causing algae issues.

 

[jda]

What you likely did was cause a bacterial bloom that used up all of the oxygen, which is why the fish were gasping. This can harm coral too. You could have an ammonia spike when they all die, so watch out for stinky and cloudy water. I would keep the skimmer running full speed and maybe even a bit of GAC.

This is not too much different from an overdose of vinegar, vokda or other organic carbon.

 

[BTimms]

What you likely did was cause a bacterial bloom that used up all of the oxygen, which is why the fish were gasping. This can harm coral too. You could have an ammonia spike when they all die, so watch out for stinky and cloudy water. I would keep the skimmer running full speed and maybe even a bit of GAC.

This is not too much different from an overdose of vinegar, vokda or other organic carbon.

This makes absolute sense.
I have only lost the one coral so far. Fish seem to be recovering fine.
You comment seems to assume that everything will die?
How can I prevent this from happening?

 

[RedReefer]

This makes absolute sense.
I have only lost the one coral so far. Fish seem to be recovering fine.
You comment seems to assume that everything will die?
How can I prevent this from happening?

I don’t think everything will die. Keep everything stable. Don’t over do it more than the needed with carbon/Gfo . Might strip the water too quick and cause more issues. Leave it where it’s at and ride it out.

 

[jda]

Even if you end up losing another coral or two, not everything should die. You might not lose anything else at all. Water change likely helped by mechanically removing some of them. Another water change might be OK too. Just keep an eye on stuff and be prepared to change some water or take other actions of that ammonia spikes. You might not have an ammonia spike at all. Just be prepared if you do. Skimmer will remove those bacteria alive and after the start to die. A bit of GAC will remove them too, but don't go crazy.

This should go to show you where that acro power goes when you dose it. While it does not hurt anything when dosed appropriately, your corals lose a math and surface area battle to the waterborne bacteria and single cell organisms both in the water and in the sand/rock. Very little, if any probably gets to them, but some of them can catch bacteria in their slime coats which can feed them indirectly, if you have those kinds. If you don't have any residual N or P issues, then dosing is probably fine, but if you do, you can cut back and the corals won't likely even notice.

 

[BTimms]

I don’t think everything will die. Keep everything stable. Don’t over do it more than the needed with carbon/Gfo . Might strip the water too quick and cause more issues. Leave it where it’s at and ride it out.

Even if you end up losing another coral or two, not everything should die. You might not lose anything else at all. Water change likely helped by mechanically removing some of them. Another water change might be OK too. Just keep an eye on stuff and be prepared to change some water or take other actions of that ammonia spikes. You might not have an ammonia spike at all. Just be prepared if you do. Skimmer will remove those bacteria alive and after the start to die. A bit of GAC will remove them too, but don't go crazy.

This should go to show you where that acro power goes when you dose it. While it does not hurt anything when dosed appropriately, your corals lose a math and surface area battle to the waterborne bacteria and single cell organisms both in the water and in the sand/rock. Very little, if any probably gets to them, but some of them can catch bacteria in their slime coats which can feed them indirectly, if you have those kinds. If you don't have any residual N or P issues, then dosing is probably fine, but if you do, you can cut back and the corals won't likely even notice.

Should I do daily water changes over the next couple of days? Or just let it ride for the moment?

Thank you for your help!

 

[RedReefer]

I would let it ride out for 2-3 days and then do your normal water change 10-20%. After the 2-3 day water change resume your normal weekly/bi-weekly maintenance.