Struggling For No Apparent Reason

[Nano10]

Hi, my tank is having some issues and I just can't seem to figure it out. So, I thought I'd reach out and see if anyone might have some thoughts as to what's going on. My tank was set up a year and a few months ago with dry rock. It is a nuvo 10 mixed reef with an AI Prime HD at 10 inches above the waterline running WWCs prime schedule. Which is 100% blues and violets with red, green and white at 10% for 4 hours followed by 7 hours of just the blues and violets. For flow I have an upgraded return(mighty jet 326gph) with a Random Flow Generator attached to the outlet and I also have an Aquami KPS running random mode 100%. Together they seem to create a good amount of indirect random current throughout the tank. Livestock other than corals consists of a clown pair and a small clean up crew. I feed the fish pellets once or twice a day as well as feed reef roids and rods food once or twice a week depending on nutrient levels. I started running a small amount of GAC passively in a media rack recently, just is case of a contaminant, though it hasn't seemed to help, and I also run filter floss which is changed twice a week. I do a 15% waterchange weekly. Lps(lords and chalices)and softies(zoas and mushrooms) seem to be doing better though random zoas will melt and the occasional lps will struggle. But sps are really struggling. They lose color and begin to stn at the tips and/or base. Sometimes theyll straight up rtn. The skin will often be loose on the skeleton and the corals will throw out filaments. But the tips will also look weird with a blotchy stringy texture. And often algea starts growing on the coral. These are my parameters, which are stable with alkalinity tested daily and the rest weekly. I dose a little bionic 2 part as needed to keep alk as stable as possible. Alk 8.4 target(hasnt tested outside of 8.3 to 8.7 with no more than 0.2 swing within 24 hours) Cal 460-475 Mag 1400 No3 16-24 Po4 0.04-0.08 Salinity 1.026 Temp 78-80 PH 7.8-8.0 peak All the struggling sps are in the top half of tank and out of reach of any stinging. I'm at a loss and can find no apparent reason for the tank not to be thriving. I also have a few montis which are in bad shape losing color and flesh. There is no evidence of pests on either acros or montis. Sorry for the long winded message, but I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thank you for your time.

 

[reef lover]

Temps a lil high...but nothing else jumps out at me.

 

[Infidel]

Very intense lighting (PAR levels) can bleach SPS and melt certain Zoanthids.

Are the affected corals new? Is the lighting new?

Can you turn down your lighting intensity to see if there is a noticeable effect on the corals?

 

[Mykawl]

Everything you described sounds really good, I would do a big water change though and keep nitrates at least under 10 ppm. And my only other thought, is your ro/di water 0 tds?

also list your entire clean up crew

 

[Nano10]

The lighting is not new. If anything I was worried I'm not providing enough light. But that wouldn't cause my current issues.

Anyway, the Lps and softies are in the lower half of the tank. In fact I have a small twizzler colony on the bare bottom that's suddenly starting to melt. I have no idea what's going on.

Those zoas have been in the tank for months. The struggling acros a few weeks. I did have other sps that did fine for months, but then things just started going down hill and despite everything seeming to be in line the tanks struggling.

And yes, I make my own rodi water and its tests for 0tds. But I did just order an icp test that I'll send out just to see if that points to anything.

Oh, and cuc is a couple hermits, a few nerites and nassarius, and some ceriths.

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

Hi, it is frustrating in this hobby to get to the bottom of what’s causing some of your corals to suddenly struggle looking at your setup everything you are doing looks right, the only thing like someone else as mentioned is getting your lighting right maybe you have got you blues on to long and not enough whites on, I’m sure someone on R2R who knows more on lighting can help you there. Hope you get sorted.

 

[SPR1968]

Assuming the lighting is ok, I would try and lower the nitrates down to around 5-10ppm and see if that helps

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with the levels you have, infact my system runs around 20ppm nitrate and the corals glow with life, but it’s now very mature.

And welcome to R2R as well!

 

[Nano10]

Nutrient levels just kind of naturally settled in this range. If I feed less po4 tends to get closer to 0 than I like. I worry more about low nutrients more than slightly elevated.

As for lighting I've gone back and forth on switching it up, but say what you will about WWC... one thing for sure is they know how to reef and grow happy healthy corals. And this long photo period with lots of blue light is what they run on all their tanks. And at one point everything was doing fine under my current settings. So I'm reluctant to change things just to change them.

Oh, and I even tested my ph in the middle of my night period just to see if it was dropping super low, but it was 7.8 so I can probably rule that out.

 

[Nano10]

Well, I'm in the middle of my weekly waterchange routine which includes testing all parameters and theyll all still stable as can be and haven't budged.

I got my icp test and bottled up the samples so I'll get that sent out and one way or another that should help narrow things down.

I've also decided the full spectrum white period of my light schedule could use a bit more white, so I'm going to cut red down to 5% and bump green and white to 20%. I'm not sure it'll make much difference eitherway, but a little more white light won't hurt.

 

[Nano10]

On a side note, while corals are struggling my clowns are apparently happy since I just caught them spawning.

 

[Nano10]

Well, got my ICP results back and only a few things stood out though I'm not sure they'd result in coral death.

Iodine is low @ 22.64 with a listed target of 64.81

Molybdenum is low 5.25

Manganese is low/undetectable

Vanadium is low/undetectable

Tin is high 5.47

And my ro water tested high in copper @ 1.88 yet the display showed none.

Any ideas?

 

[Mykawl]

If there’s tin in your reef rank that’s the problem, I believe cuprisorb or a poly filter will pull it out, also need to figure out how it’s getting into the tank if your ro/di is 0tds.
If I understand correctly...

 

[Mykawl]

Reading through some forums maybe tin isn’t such a big deal interested to see what others say. Can also run a magnet around in the sand see if anything sticks.

 

[Nano10]

I've heard both that tin alone is an issue and that it's not, so there doesn't seem to be a consensus regarding tin. Usually when its an issue there are other metals present suggesting something is corroding. But no other metals were elevated so I have no clue as to what the source could be be.

The only other thing that concerns me really is the copper in the ro, but the tank had undetectable levels so idk...

 

[maksim serebro]

I’m having the same issue but sps are growing and some softies and a setosa are not happy

 

[Nano10]

What are your nutrient levels. Might be too low for the softies? Also how much light and flow are they getting?

 

[Magellan]

The flow you described in your tank seems like a lot. Just with the return you are at 32x turnover per hour, then the wave maker is doing its thing too. My mixed reef grows like mad with 18x turnover and no wave maker. But if that’s not an issue, the low iodine and manganese are. I dose Fuel to take care of both of those and a lot more. (I’ve told the comparative Red Sea product is better, but I know fuel works for me). Also, have you considered a UV sterilizer? Long shot but maybe it’s something bacterial. Could also try running some Purigen too, and/or maybe some bio media? I can’t imagine how frustrating this must be, you seem really on top of things and that tank should absolutely be growing corals!

 

[Nano10]

Even though the flow seems like a lot on paper, nothing gets battered. Even Lps are open and happy. If anything based on sps polyp movement I worry about not enough flow still. It seems hard to provide to much flow for sps unless they are close to a pump getting nailed directly with flesh coming off.

As for iodine and manganese I've seen a number of people say they dont really do anything and they see no difference whether its low or if they dose them. So I'm going to lean towards that not being the issue since theres just too many examples of thriving tanks that dont worry about those elements.

It's very frustrating as I've poured a lot of time and money into the tank and considering ive tried my damnedest to do everything right the winds kind of gone out of the sails. I feel like any move i make from here will just be blind grasping in the dark that'll simply be a waste of more time and money.

I might switch salts to see if that's a source of contaminant and maybe the new salt will possibly bump up the minor and trace elements. But other that I think I might just stick to weekly waterchanges and let time decide. Either the tank turns a corner and improves or it doesnt.

 

[homer1475]

Do you have PVC pipes in your system? Pretty sure I read somewhere that is where the tin comes from and is of no concern to the tank.

 

[Nano10]

No pvc. It's just a little nano.