SPS receding FAST. Help !

[BSej]

Hi all, I don't know what kind of coral this is (the red one). It has been growing fine for the last few months without issues. I haven't changed the lights or flow recently. I just tested the alkalinity again, thinking it could be a swing issue. It has increased from 7.8-8.4 in 5 days. Not sure if that would cause this. I've attached a picture - this happened in one day, and it's still going.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

That's not a bad alk swing. Do you have a rogue hermit crab munching polyps? I had one that I caught going to town on my digitata which this looks like.

 

[BSej]

That's not a bad alk swing. Do you have a rogue hermit crab munching polyps? I had one that I caught going to town on my digitata which this looks like.

I will look for this. But why now? i've had this coral for so long. Also, what do I do if I catch him? haha

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

My rogue's go straight into the sump/fuge.

 

[Lavey29]

How old is the tank? What par is it in? What are complete parameters? Corals decline from the inside so can take weeks or months before problem appears.

 

[ptrusk]

Looks like montipora setosa. They are pretty hardy and that alk swing would not bother it. I would look for a predator.

 

[BSej]

I see a hermit eating it, but I also heard they might just be eating the dead tissue? The tissue didn’t look dead though so idk

 

[BSej]

How old is the tank? What par is it in? What are complete parameters? Corals decline from the inside so can take weeks or months before problem appears.

It’s about a year old. I can check the par tomorrow, I think it was around 150.

Alk - 8.4 dKh
Calc - 420ppm
Salinity - 35.8ppt
Nitrates - 20ppm

 

[Lavey29]

It’s about a year old. I can check the par tomorrow, I think it was around 150.

Alk - 8.4 dKh
Calc - 420ppm
Salinity - 35.8ppt
Nitrates - 20ppm

Numbers are ok but par is to low. Need at least 200 or 250 minimum for SPS with 350 to 400 ideal. My tank would not really sustain SPS until it hit a year then everything became predictable and stable and SPS grew like weeds. Yes, a rogue crab or fish can inflict spotty damage to but you should par check your whole tank. I was shocked how low my par was after I rented a par meter. Fixing my lights was the best thing I have done for my coral growth.

 

[BSej]

Numbers are ok but par is to low. Need at least 200 or 250 minimum for SPS with 350 to 400 ideal. My tank would not really sustain SPS until it hit a year then everything became predictable and stable and SPS grew like weeds. Yes, a rogue crab or fish can inflict spotty damage to but you should par check your whole tank. I was shocked how low my par was after I rented a par meter. Fixing my lights was the best thing I have done for my coral growth.

the guy I bought them from keeps them under 200 PAR and that’s what he suggested. The surrounding SPS seem to be doing fine as well. Doesn’t seem like a low PAR issue but I am no expert.

 

[Lavey29]

the guy I bought them from keeps them under 200 PAR and that’s what he suggested. The surrounding SPS seem to be doing fine as well. Doesn’t seem like a low PAR issue but I am no expert.

Have you actually measured your tank with a par meter?

 

[Reefering1]

Imo, none of them look to be doing great. How about more pics, some in white light...(?)

 

[BSej]

Have you actually measured your tank with a par meter?

Yes, I have a lower end one that tends to measure a bit under actual levels, but I’ve cross referenced this with a higher end one and accounted for this.

 

[BSej]

Imo, none of them look to be doing great. How about more pics, some in white light...(?)

Will send tomorrow. I had a couple that didn’t make it, but it looked more like they got bleached? Idk. I thought in low PAR they would brown out.

 

[Pod_01]

Out of curiosity what is your PO4 value?
What filtration methods are you using on this tank? Do you perform water changes? What system do you use to supplement?

 

[BSej]

Out of curiosity what is your PO4 value?
What filtration methods are you using on this tank? Do you perform water changes? What system do you use to supplement?

I'll check the PO4 for you later today.
I've got a couple filter socks, sump, protein skimmer, refugium, and UV sterilizer (I think the lamp is dead though).
I was not performing water changes much at all with my 4 fish at the time because my nitrates were <3ppm. After adding more fish (12 now) and begun feeding more along with more variety (I also have ich so trying to keep them fat and alive), I've done a couple small water changes. I'd say I do them every few weeks maybe 10% or so. Since this stage is newer, I haven't dialed in this frequency yet.
I use APEX DOS to supplement Seachem fusion - About 2mL fusion 1 every day, and 5mL fusion 2. This is just about dialed in, making minor adjustments.

 

[BSej]

Will send tomorrow. I had a couple that didn’t make it, but it looked more like they got bleached? Idk. I thought in low PAR they would brown out.

So the guys in the back are getting around 200+ actually. The red guy with the receding tissue is getting just a tad lower, maybe 180-200. The purple one in front is getting like 90-100 though. Couple notes I will add

- the "red" one all the way in the back left used to be up front with the purple when it started looking bad. Its polyps would never open. I moved it to the back and it seems to be doing better there, some polyps are opening up now.
- the purple one up front seems good and probably looked the best along with the small red ones until now.
- the green one in the back left but in front of the "red" one seems to do well wherever I put it lol.

sorry if this is confusing I don't know the names of the corals.

 

[Pod_01]

I'll check the PO4 for you later today.
I've got a couple filter socks, sump, protein skimmer, refugium, and UV sterilizer (I think the lamp is dead though).
I was not performing water changes much at all with my 4 fish at the time because my nitrates were <3ppm. After adding more fish (12 now) and begun feeding more along with more variety (I also have ich so trying to keep them fat and alive), I've done a couple small water changes. I'd say I do them every few weeks maybe 10% or so. Since this stage is newer, I haven't dialed in this frequency yet.
I use APEX DOS to supplement Seachem fusion - About 2mL fusion 1 every day, and 5mL fusion 2. This is just about dialed in, making minor adjustments.

Just my opinion, I used to have Setosa but lost it when I turned my reef into brackish water (when I was on vacation).
That is what it looked like just before I lost it:

From my experience Setosa and other montiporas do not like fluctuating PO4 especially sinking PO4. Going from 0.1 to 0.02 is really detrimental, again from my observation. Looking at your picture there may be PO4 instability.

For filtration I only use skimmer and bit of GAC (2 teaspoons on 65gal system changed every 4 weeks). I prefer for the nutrients especially fish poop to stay in the water column as long as possible so corals can feed. Idea being the corals are the main filter and I just supplement.

Using socks, skimmer, refugium etc… can make the water column too clean…

Some pictures of my corals for reference:

Also your salinity is bit elevated and your choice of Seachem Fusion 1/2 may be contributing, it is not balanced system. My suggestion would be to switch to TM AFR at some point, when I used it I had lot of luck with it and in addition to providing Ballance Alk/calcium it also adds trace elements.

Good luck,

 

[BSej]

Just my opinion, I used to have Setosa but lost it when I turned my reef into brackish water (when I was on vacation).
That is what it looked like just before I lost it:

From my experience Setosa and other montiporas do not like fluctuating PO4 especially sinking PO4. Going from 0.1 to 0.02 is really detrimental, again from my observation. Looking at your picture there may be PO4 instability.

For filtration I only use skimmer and bit of GAC (2 teaspoons on 65gal system changed every 4 weeks). I prefer for the nutrients especially fish poop to stay in the water column as long as possible so corals can feed. Idea being the corals are the main filter and I just supplement.

Using socks, skimmer, refugium etc… can make the water column too clean…

Some pictures of my corals for reference:

Also your salinity is bit elevated and your choice of Seachem Fusion 1/2 may be contributing, it is not balanced system. My suggestion would be to switch to TM AFR at some point, when I used it I had lot of luck with it and in addition to providing Ballance Alk/calcium it also adds trace elements.

Good luck,

PO4 looks to be about .75ppm. Hard to tell on the seachem color test. Between .5-1 I'd say. Is this too high? It started to rise after I started feeding frozen again. I read this on another post:
"if you feed frozen foods and not straining the product before adding it to the tank you could just be adding po4 slowly to the tank and it builds up after a while."

I am not straining the food first. Should I start doing this? Should I dose anything to get the level down? NoPox? Water change? I can't really change more than 10-15% of the water at a time.

 

[Pod_01]

PO4 looks to be about .75ppm. Hard to tell on the seachem color test. Between .5-1 I'd say. Is this too high? It started to rise after I started feeding frozen again. I read this on another post:
"if you feed frozen foods and not straining the product before adding it to the tank you could just be adding po4 slowly to the tank and it builds up after a while."

I am not straining the food first. Should I start doing this? Should I dose anything to get the level down? NoPox? Water change? I can't really change more than 10-15% of the water at a time.

I had lot more issues at low PO4 (below 0.1ppm) compared to elevated levels (0.5-1 ppm). But it may be good idea to try to gradually reduce the levels. I don’t believe elevated levels of PO4 can cause problems.

You can try to measure PO4 before any food is added or late in the evening after food is added. The food addition can provide elevated reading. Also I had no luck with Seachem test kit. I use saltwater dedicated test kits.

I have no experience with frozen, I tend to feed pellets Fauna Marin Soft Multi Mix. I do feed 3 to 4 times a day, fish look fat and happy.

Best way to reduce PO4 is with GFO, but that can remove other things and corals can suffer. If you decide to use it, use small amount and change it often so you do not shock your corals.
I let my PO4 do it’s thing and I just monitor it and my tank runs at 0.1-0.25ppm.

NOPOX may reduce your PO4 levels a bit, but my suggestion is to use bit of carbon source (for example vinegar) to feed bacteria. In turn corals can feed on the bacteria so they have another food source.
I use 0.5ml of Tropic Marin Bacto Ballance for this purpose.