Sps dying

[BranchingHammer]

Hi everyone,
I have neglected my 5g frag tank which mostly holds sps, including acropora. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until a few days ago when I realized that the alkalinity had spiked to 15dkh. In addition, the calcium was very low, around 350ppm. The tank has very little nutrients because there are no fish in it. Normally, I would dose nitrate and phosphate to make up for this, but recently I have been distracted by my garden and other things, so I haven’t been dosing nutrients. I performed a water change two days ago and dosed nutrients and amino acids. Most of the corals are dead, and the few left are losing tissue rapidly. I am leaving for a family vacation tomorrow very early, so I need to fix the situation now or they will die. My question is: should I perform another water change and dose nutrients, including putting some in the ato, or should I move the corals to my 65g mixed reef? I know that both options will stress the corals. Any help is much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[wmo168]

move it to 65g mixed reef

 

[fishguy242]

sorry to hear,nothing helps fast,in your situation would move survivors to 65,would recommend drip acclimate ,best wishes

 

[BranchingHammer]

Thank you for the replies. I have montipora in there which I know can survive this. Would you recommend that I just move the acros into the DT?

 

[MelReefer]

Sorry about your losses but how in the heck were you growing acros in a 5 gal??

 

[MelReefer]

Thank you for the replies. I have montipora in there which I know can survive this. Would you recommend that I just move the acros into the DT?

yes

 

[fishguy242]

agree yes

 

[BranchingHammer]

The acros were growing and looked fine Bc I automated the dosing and did water changes frequently. It was a nice little system for a while... anyways, I will put the acros in the DT and leave everything else...

 

[BranchingHammer]

Thanks so much for the help!

 

[fishguy242]

move the monti's

 

[BranchingHammer]

Ok so I should move all of the sps out? I just did a few large water changes on the DT bc it was neglected but to a lesser degree. I’ve only tried an acro once in there, and it died, not sure why. This was like 9 months ago. I think I’m going to try the move anyways bc the tank is pretty stable and I will only be gone 5 or so days. Are there any tips to stop these frags from dying on me? I think it was only a parameter thing that killed them in the other tank, not a disease...
I should add that the tank can support a derasa clam that has been growing since last February. It’s huge now!

 

[fishguy242]

moderate light,moderate flow,yes i think sps and monti's to dt ,but acclimate