SPS Corals Losing Color and Dying

aquaticlog

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Messages
221
Reaction score
203
Location
Toronto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So, been at it for a while. And as many of us know - it never is stable in this hobby.

My aquarium is going through some strange phase in the last couple of weeks - I've lost a few colonies and am seeing about 70% of my acros are a lot less vibrant than before. Their color is dull grey and they do not look saturated.

Was hoping that SPS folks here can pitch in with some advice. The only thing I can think of is higher phosphates, but that never used to be an issue before.

You can see my aquarium parameters on this page:

and here is the corals themselves
 

Charlie’s Frags

Follow me on Instagram @Charlies Frags
View Badges
Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Messages
6,129
Reaction score
9,449
Location
Houston
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
You mentioned you started using rowaphos to bring your po4 down. Did the color issues start before or after you ran rowaphos?
 
OP
OP
aquaticlog

aquaticlog

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Messages
221
Reaction score
203
Location
Toronto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Good question and I did think a little more about it since I posted this post.

I did start using rowaphos about 2 months ago when my phosphates started to read 0.48.

I think that since then corals started on a downward spiral. That's when phosphates dropped from 0.48 to 0.18 and hovered around 0.18 for a bit. Water changes did not help.

Now my orange passion never exhibited the vibrancy that other corals had.
 

Pistondog

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 28, 2020
Messages
5,267
Reaction score
9,405
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Some believe gfo is detrimental to sps due to effects other than po4 reduction.
If the po4 is still high, I think using lanthanum chloride is pretty defined as to what specifically it does.
 

Crustaceon

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 15, 2019
Messages
2,444
Reaction score
3,357
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It’s not a high phosphate problem because your numbers are far from that. 1ppm (not .1) is still fine and I’ve never see adverse results at that level. My system sits at .08ppm and that’s probably riding too low. Personally, I see issues when my system creeps past 8.5 dkh with nitrates under 10ppm. This usually causes corals to go “pastel”.
 

Reefahholic

Acropora Farmer
View Badges
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
7,425
Reaction score
6,222
Location
Houston, TX
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Either way, that tank was looking very nice. It’s such a bummer. Now you’ll have to get in there and frag all the dead branches or remove some of those colonies.

The way that tank was growing it shouldn’t take too long to grow some new frags out. Maybe you can add some things you’ve been wanting to add. Stay positive and enjoy some new space.
 

Tamberav

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
9,550
Reaction score
14,629
Location
Wauwatosa, WI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I tend to agree with you - this big drop may have bugged the sps.
I had high phosphates all year and my colours were always great.

As they say... don't chase numbers. If it's not broken, don't fix it!

Good luck in the recovery, your tank was beautiful!
 

Perry

Follow me on IG- perrys_reef
View Badges
Joined
Mar 20, 2016
Messages
4,094
Reaction score
10,887
Location
Lake Helen, FL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
GFO strkies again, in my humble opinion. I hope things are recovering for you, because that is one outstanding aquarium, and those colonies are amazing!
 
OP
OP
aquaticlog

aquaticlog

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Messages
221
Reaction score
203
Location
Toronto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thank you all! Yes, they are recovering quite nicely. Some have taken a bigger hit than others.

What puzzles me the most is that my phosphates are now hovering at 0.26 all the time - does not matter whether I feed more or less, I've been feeding half the amount in the last 3 weeks and I don't see the number dropping at all.
 

Capitol Reef Corals

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 16, 2018
Messages
551
Reaction score
505
Location
Arlington, VA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My SPS started to lose colors and die when I had heavy metals in my tank. Highly recommend an ICP test. There's just so many elements that hobby test kits can't test for or aren't accurate enough.
 

ScottB

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 5, 2018
Messages
7,873
Reaction score
12,155
Location
Fairfield County, CT
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just posted a thread in the Reef Chemistry forum about measuring PO4. My Hanna ULR measures about .1 higher than any of my 8 ICP results.

My Hanna consistently comes in around .13 to .15 while ICP always shows .03 to .04.

So while I believe I am running a dirty system, in fact, I am not. Have you run an ICP?
 

Charlie’s Frags

Follow me on Instagram @Charlies Frags
View Badges
Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Messages
6,129
Reaction score
9,449
Location
Houston
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just posted a thread in the Reef Chemistry forum about measuring PO4. My Hanna ULR measures about .1 higher than any of my 8 ICP results.

My Hanna consistently comes in around .13 to .15 while ICP always shows .03 to .04.

So while I believe I am running a dirty system, in fact, I am not. Have you run an ICP?
Which Icp testing brand do you use?
 

Mixing lighting technologies: Do you use multiple types of lighting for your reef?

  • I currently use multiple types of lighting for my reef.

    Votes: 12 50.0%
  • I have used multiple types of lighting for my reef in the past.

    Votes: 2 8.3%
  • I haven’t used multiple types of lighting for my reef, but I plan to in the future.

    Votes: 5 20.8%
  • I have no plans to use multiple types of lighting for my reef.

    Votes: 5 20.8%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top