STN questions

astreck827 · Feb 7, 2022

Having some issues with STN in my frag tank. What is confusing me the most is that almost all the corals look happy and healthy besides losing tissue. One frag had lost all tissue except around polyps - and all polyps were completely extended like they always had been. Shouldn’t sick coral show poor PE? I’m also getting good growth. So far I have lost 2 monti frags and 2 acro. Millis and stylo seem unaffected. LPS on the lower racks also seem fine… acans are hungry and multiplying.
Tank is a 20L plumbed into my total ~200g system. 56 display, 75 fuge, 75 Rubbermaid tub with LR.
Lighting is Hydra32 running around 60%
Parameters:
Salinity 35 ppt
pH 8.0
Calcium 450
Mg 1350
Alk 9
Nitrates 20
Phos 0.30
I know phos and nitrates are on the high side but I don’t think they are high enough to cause issues beyond some algae… I did recently stop running GFO while working on a new reactor manifold and waiting on some supplies to come in so I spiked from around .06 to .30 in the course of ~2 weeks
I have a skimmer but honestly have not been running it since I’m seeding the sump with pods and my chaeto reactor helps a lot with my nutrient export. I do feed heavy.

Other notes I recently was battling some Dinos and was dosing SpongExcel and I tapered off when they went away. Also had been dosing reef iodide to help with the pod population but stopped when I noticed issues starting. Fuel and reef roids twice per week. Lastly - I about 3 weeks ago I brought home a LOT of frags from a local frag swap. But everything was dipped in Dip-X and seemed to be thriving.

Sorry for the long post. Any input would be appreciated.

MamaMolo · Feb 7, 2022

I have tried fuel and that caused dino in my tank. I stopped dosing it.
Have you added any new fish in the last two months? In the past I added a fish that was suppose to be reef safe and it tore my corals apart for months before I realized he was the problem.

Drendo · Feb 8, 2022

.30 phosphate for an extended period of time would do it every time. I would get that skimmer going, cut back on feeding and run Rowaphos if that does not do it. I wouldn’t worry too much about pods until your P04 is in check. A lot of people do well with high nitrates (not me), but I don’t know anyone who is successful with high po4.

coralbeauties · Feb 8, 2022

Get that skimmer going! Not only for nutrient export but think about how much oxygen it adds to the tank. My guess is with having an outbreak of Dino’s your tank was possibly depleted of o2, compounded by not running your skimmer. For pho’s removal look into using lanthanum chloride. I’ve used it for years and it works wonders and is dirt cheap. Gfo is so expensive and in my experience can be harmful. I’ve killed corals back in the day when I used gfo. I run a higher nutrient tank with good results. My nitrates run around 25 and pho’s of .15
Good luck and get that skimmer back up and going!!
Jeff