SPS are Dying and not certain why

RobertP · Jun 16, 2017

Got an issue and not certain what the problem is. Everything was going well last month. 130 gallon tank and doing 30 gal water changes every 2 weeks with Red Sea salt. Was keeping my Alk at 11 and everything was running great. Noticed that WWC and many others keep there alkalinity at 8.5 so I started letting it drop all by itself. All the other levels were perfect.

Two week ago my 2 birdnests and other acros just started shedding skin. I checked the levels and everything was on target except for the alk which was 8.8. You can see I raised it but things are not getting better. Was very surprised that today it is back 8.8. I am wondering if I should just keep it low but since I use Red Sea it has an Alk of 12.5. Initially I blamed the problem on the low alk but now I am not so sure....

I rechecked everything again today:
Alk 8.8
Ca 410
Mg 1450
nitrate 8
phosphate 0 - was .02 two weeks ago down from .04 - using GFO to keep it down.
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
ph 8.1

All my sps frags are either still shedding skin or have shed it all like my birdnests. My new frags are not doing well. Have a couple wwc sps frags that still have a little polyp extension but not great. All the LPS are doing great.

I have about 15 fish in the tank and feed a pinch of flakes in the morning and a frozen cube of various foods in the evening.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

RobertP · Jun 16, 2017

Forgot to mention the tank is about 8 months old. Thanks.

pirate2876 · Jun 16, 2017

I dont see temp or salinity. Could either of those have swung? Where do you get top-off/WC water from?

RobertP · Jun 16, 2017

Temp is controlled by my apex and set at 78. Graphs shows steady.
I check salinity a couple times a week because it is so simple. and keep it at 35 ppm . My apex doesnt match the refractometer which is generally at 34ppm.

Ato is from my rodi water and uses about 10 gal per week. I have never changed the filters on my rodi unit but the gauge is saying it is just 004 on the output. Was planning to order the replacement filters.

Cory · Jun 16, 2017

Id double check everything and get an icp report by triton. Could be high aluminum or something. Salt mix. Check for rusting parts, splits in electric wires for copper.

Make an alkalinity standard, 1.135g of baking soda in 1 gallon of distilled water = 10dkh. Check your test alk test kit, a few of mine have been way off years ago. May or may not work for hanna checker. Works for acid based tests like salifert.

RobertP · Jun 16, 2017

Hmm the rust could be the problem. On my hose I use to pump water from my rodi bucket into the salt bucket I found some rust. It was on the hose attachment and apparently it used two screws that were rusting. I replaced the whole hose clamp with a plastic one after cleaning it. I cant remember if that was 2 weeks ago or 4 weeks ago during those water changes. I think it might have been 4 weeks. I am guessing that some might have gotten into the tank that way. Water changes to help flush it out?!? I am running carbon but not sure if that will help with rust.

As for Alkalinity testing I normally use my hanna tester but have also been using my Red Sea test kit to confirm the numbers are correct.

aquariumspecialtyDane · Jun 17, 2017

I would also add a grounding probe in the tank. There is always stray voltage in the tank and that will definitely help. Good rule of thumb is if your nitrates are high (>8) you can run a high kh while on a 0 nitrate tank a lover kh like 8 does better with sps. There is a thread on here that proves this I just can't find it on my phone. Good luck!

Www.aquariumspecity.com

Jason mack · Jun 17, 2017

Im going too say you have metals in the water , would-be my guess ! Get a Triton test !! And if you do have metals in Your water you Will need too get the Triton detox and put that in 3 days before Your water Changes .. i have the same problem..

Bacon505 · Jun 18, 2017

Photo?

cmcoker · Jun 18, 2017

Your tds is 4 before or after DI? Shoot for 0 after the di. Remember that if you are using that water to replace evaporation that TDS of 4 is being added, and left in the tank, as your ATO tops off the tank everyday. So it adds up. .

Bacon505 · Jun 18, 2017

I read that you try to match your alk to WWC. Every tanks is its own. Chasing number will end in disaster. That's just my 2cent.

RobertP · Jun 19, 2017

Well this weekend I spent time moving my RODI and mixing station in the garage. Had it on the back porch since November (when it didnt get too cold) but now the sun is causing algae inside the canisters. It was mostly shaded but it was getting just a little sunlight. Ordered a filter replacement so will clean everything out of the canisters and make sure I am back to TDS of 0 after the DI. When moving I found some rust in the hose outlet but since that is on the intake I would assume the filters are catching that.

Not necessarily chasing WWC numbers but it has bothered me running an alk of 11. Since my nitrates are normally around 8 I think that is borderline high alkalinity. I have already set my goal to 10 and might adjust lower later.
I am planning to get the triton test. Very curious what it will say.

pirate2876 · Jun 19, 2017

How long has the tank been running with SPS in it? What size tank? Pictures?

themcnertney · Jun 19, 2017

In my experience, issues with sps typically are related to alk. You say you made that change naturally. Whether it was natural or dosed, its a change and such as swing will have direct relation to your sps struggles.

RobertP · Jun 21, 2017

Have had SPS in the tank for about 3 months.

After testing everything and adjusting Alk back to 9.5 on Saturday, I tested again yesterday and the Alk was 8!!! How in the world did it drop 1.5 dkh in 3 days?!? The Ca was still sitting at 450 so no drop there. Adjusted again to target 9.5 and will test again today to see if it is holding. I am wondering if I have some precipitation but not even sure what would be causing it. Will do some searching on this site and see if I can find a culprit.

Bought a doser so will see if I can get the alk more stable. Planning to dose alk only at night.

Bacon505 · Jun 21, 2017

Make sure you adjust it slowly. Instead of bringing back to 9.5, you might want to do daily testing to see your drop rate and dose acordingly. 1.5 drop for 4 days isnt that bad if you dont dose within those days. And if you can provide some pix of youe corals maybe we can see how they look and help with ghe caused

Donovan Joannes · Jun 21, 2017

I think if your alk is inconsistent, make sure your magnesium level is at least close to NSW or higher a bit. IME, alk test was a headache when Mg is low enough.

RobertP · Jul 5, 2017

Sorry it has been a while and I have been pretty ticked and frustrated with the whole ordeal. There is no doubt in my mind the main issue was inconsistent Alkalinity due to no doser and my corals sucking it down faster than I was aware.

Changes:
Added a doser and currently still getting the setting just right but dosing between 30-40 ml of soda ash per day (at night) with a target of 9.0. It has been a fairly consistent with an average of 9.2 over the past week and 9.1 over the past month. Dosing calcium at the same rate of 30ml per day.
Added a grounding rod to the sump. I didn't find a stray voltage but better safe....
Turned down my GFO/carbon reactor so it is not flowing as much water. Actually had it off the past week. PO4 was zero the past 3 weeks want to get a slightly higher.
Moved my RODI unit into the garage out of the sun. Retested the water and before the DI it was 1 and after it was 0 so the current filters are still good.
Seriously thinking about switching away from RedSea Coral pro salt because the alk is over 11. Makes water changes a little tough when your target is 9 because you have to readjust or turn off the dosing temporarily.

Basically I have a whopping two sps frags still alive (out of 15)and they are barely showing any color. Lost 3 very nice wwc frags (poor slimeball!!!), a nice battlecorals frag pack, and my wife's favorite green birdnest. Lost 1 zoa colony which did have about 25 heads and melted away to 2 but it does seem to have stopped declining. Other zoas, palys, anemine, leathers, and other LPS are all doing wonderful and fish didnt seem to care.
Then last night my apex just lost connection (maybe a power surge) and only the return pump and gfo/carbon reactor was running. Could not connect but was able to reboot it and all is well now. Temp dropped to 72.9 but it wasn't more than 6 hours so dont think it was serious yet. Time to program my power heads to default to on....

Thank you for all your help guys. I am going to run the Triton tests but want to wait till I have the doser perfect.

Bdog4u2 · Jul 5, 2017

Ironically I had my best growth and colors when I didn't test my alk for probably a year and when I decided to start testing again my alk was around 6.5 dkh so I decided to raise my alk to 8 over a few weeks and all was good until I hit 8 then I could see my acro losing color so I let my alk drop to 7 and my colors came back so I tested nutrients and I had none that was detected by my kits so I decided low alk was my best option. I believe days of high alk tanks are coming to a close now that we able to run low nutrient tanks easier and high alk low nutes or the opposite is the reason people are suddenly losing corals that have flourished for months, as the tank starts to process nutes better alk should be adjusted to reflect new numbers....this is just my opinion