SPS Help!! They’re Dying

[deftonead]

Some lasted a week some lasted a month

That rules out acclimation issues then...
Also symptoms of nutritional deficiencies due to nutrients in sps is normally a gradual fading in color followed by a SLOW... slow tissue necrosis. if you are having rtn (losing tissue within a few hours or a day) its most likely not nutrient issues unless they were too high which isnt the case.
i run my tanks very similar to yours PO4: .02ppm NO3: 2.5-5ppm ALK: 10 dkh with no issues, never lost an acro. always have...

insufficient lighting normally causes a browning out of the tissue and slows grow considerably(almost to the point of no growth) but normally sps can survive like this for very long periods of time.
too intense of light can cause rtn but its normally immediately after being placed in the tank or following a lighting change. (also zoanthids are one of the hardier ones and can handle very heavy light and flow if acclimated. ive had zoanthids at the top of tanks under 700 par with no problem)

i will say that i have had issues with rtn due to insufficient flow though... one time i had a powerhead go out for about a week before i noticed it in my quarantine tank and lost a few acros. lost one by one until i figured out there wasnt very much flow in the tank. one minute they were fine, the next they were skeleton.

is that cyanobacteria or just coralline algae? kind of just looks like coralline to me since im not seeing it on your sand. cyano does release toxins which can cause issues.

as far as the new tank thing. if you are checking your water quality regularly and not letting them get out of whack it shouldnt be an issue. i stocked my current tank with the majority of the acropora colonies i currently have a month after i set the tank up. after the cycling process of course. and i havent lost 1 or had any issues. tanks been up 3 years now.

i cant say much for your carbon dosing though... dont have any experience with it

 

[Filipabp]

Ah so you’re also dosing NoPOx with no phosphates detectable, you also now have a surplus of dissolved organic carbon as well as phosphate starvation. The Nitrates, no phosphates, plus surplus of DOC from the NOPOx is a perfect storm. All of these things are bad singly, let alone all together like you have going on.

What I would do (because I have been right where you are now) would be to stop dosing NOPOx immediately, and start adding phosphates via Brightwell Aquatics NeoPhos (the equivalent of 0.02 ppm) per day. You also need to test your phosphates daily because the left over DOC’s from the nopox will start to get consumed when you add the phosphates. This will result in the phosphates being zero again the next day. If phosphates test 0 the next day dose another .02ppm worth of phosphate. You will have to keep an eye on both your nitrates and phosphates to make sure they don’t go to 0 over the long term. (Your bacteria will be consuming both). Your system is phosphate limited with a surplus of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), it’s going to keep trying to keep consuming all of your phosphates and nitrates until that surplus of DOC is consumed by the bacteria. Once that has happened it will settle down.

Feeding more probably won’t fix this problem since you’ve been carbon dosing on top of zero phosphates, at least not anytime soon. If you dose a measured amount of phosphates you can solve the problem systematically.

Contrary to what people have been told or led to believe by companies that want to sell you phosphate removing media or strategies you REALLY do need some phosphate to keep everything happy in the tank. :) I have been exactly where you are, right now. This one little change of strategy will turn your reef from what you have going on into a thriving environment, but it will take time to heal and effort on your part to be dilligent about not allowing your phosphate to bottom out. (Nitrate either). Once the system is stable (nutrients aren’t dissappearing overnight or in days) and the nutrients start climbing on their own, then you can reintroduce small daily doses of NOPOx, the trick is to dose as little as possible to just keep things from increasing. You are always welcome to PM me with any concerns or questions.

My system has been through exactly what your’s is going through. That was about 2 1/2 years ago. It will work if you follow through. :)
NO3 15 ppm.
PO4 0.24 ppm

Thank you for this very informative post! Im currently experiencing STN on my SPS also, and Im starting to think low nutrients are the reason!

 

[Rick.45cal]

Thank you for this very informative post! Im currently experiencing STN on my SPS also, and Im starting to think low nutrients are the reason!

It’s very common, and the easiest way to find out is to raise your nutrients and see if things recover. :)