Tank has been declining slowly last few weeks

Flippers4pups · Aug 5, 2019

I feel like I'm showing off, not intended, believe me.

IO, for me has been a great salt. It's been very consistent for me for decades. Once again, not saying Fritz is a bad salt. Quite the contrary, many hobbyist swear by it. Just made my corals very unhappy. Your mileage may vary.

Flippers4pups · Aug 5, 2019

Jason Collins said:
Bottom picture you can see how the whole bottom is coated in the brown stuff. I slide that little square plug to the left and you can see the clean square spot it was sitting on. I dont really have any all white pictures... I guess I could mess with my Kessil settings and try to get it on white for the pictures if you think it will really help. I just dont like trying to mess with the settings alot.

Hard to tell, but could be diatoms.

ScottB · Aug 5, 2019

I have a crap camera for blue photos too so get it. Still, that system looks really clean to me. Maybe it is just the pictures. Thus my previous questions about nutrients.

That tank is a beautiful canvas ready for paint, slowly. Don't give up on it.

Jason Collins · Aug 6, 2019

Well I just got my ATI lab results back... The water doesnt look too bad :/ Now i'm more confused. The lowest thing was Iodine which I wouldnt think would be wiping out my tank. But i'm going to try and dose i little like ATI suggests.

//lab.atiaquaristik.com/share/8f4049fe705d29d614c8

BeejReef · Aug 7, 2019

Your livestock has all transitioned from a tank with sand to a bare-bottom system, correct?

Just thinking out loud.. I mean, it could be new salt. It could be a mild temp swing. Couldn't it also be bacterial or microbial given that its a really new ecosystem?

Jason Collins · Aug 8, 2019

My livestock did come from a tank with sand. But technically sand is usually worse for corals.

I wouldn't call the system really new... I mean I did start it in December which was only 9 months ago but I transferred over 2 year old rock. A small cycle was expected but I didn't have any problems until about a month ago It was also growing for probably 4+ months, Then it started to go bad. The mystic monti was encrusting onto the bare bottom of the tank.

BeejReef · Aug 8, 2019

Jason Collins said:
My livestock did come from a tank with sand. But technically sand is usually worse for corals.

I wouldn't call the system really new... I mean I did start it in December which was only 9 months ago but I transferred over 2 year old rock. A small cycle was expected but I didn't have any problems until about a month ago It was also growing for probably 4+ months, Then it started to go bad. The mystic monti was encrusting onto the bare bottom of the tank.

I'd imagine you're right. I recently watched the BRS vid on barebottom and how volatile they can be for the first year. I also stayed at a Holiday Inn Express ;Hilarious

How is your flow? Have you cleaned up your powerheads recently? Has coral growth reduced or obstructed your flow patterns?

Jason Collins · Aug 8, 2019

I feel like my flow is pretty decent. I have 2 of the new maxaspect gyre 350s. 2 Mp40s and 1 random Jabeo power head in the middle back of the tank. I probably dont clean them all as often as they need to be like most people. But every few weeks I do soak them in vinegar water and scrub them down. They do get coated in algae in a week or 2. I know I realistically could clean them more often. But I dont let them go for like 2 months with all kinda of crap growing on them.

As far as coral growth stoping flow pattern Id say no to that. I have a full tank shot posted there isnt alot of corals. The biggest coral is the big red monti cap that is now basically dead.... White now with brown fuzz that blows in the Gyre flow.

Would adding bacteria mess with the tank? Now that I think about it I added a little bit of Dr. Tims like a month or 2 ago after reading about adding different kinds of bacteria to have diversity. I even added the smallest bottle they sell thats only made for like 30 gallons not 220+gallons. The tank is never cloudy or anything that shows a bacterial bloom.

BeejReef · Aug 8, 2019

sorry, it's beyond me... especially with a solid ICP test. Hate it when you can't figure out what the cause was!!
New salt, heater scare, bottled bac, brown algae

It's crazy. You allow yourself maybe one tinker or change, then a little issue pops up. Maybe you try to address it. Before you know it, there's suddenly a handful of variables in play.

Myst3ry_sea · Aug 9, 2019

Following

sixty_reefer · Aug 9, 2019

Hi I’ve read that you have gone true most of the obvious reasons, probably a shot in the dark but have you tested for stray voltage in the tank? A inexpensive multimeter should work to test for it. The algae that I see looks like caused by necrosis did it only started after some corals start dying?

Jason Collins · Aug 12, 2019

sixty_reefer said:
Hi I’ve read that you have gone true most of the obvious reasons, probably a shot in the dark but have you tested for stray voltage in the tank? A inexpensive multimeter should work to test for it. The algae that I see looks like caused by necrosis did it only started after some corals start dying?

I do have a cheap multimeter but honestly not a clue on how to use it... theres like 20 different things on it and I have no idea what the switch should be on. Any way you could tell me what I need to do to check for stray voltage? Or how I can fix it? I've heard about running some kind of grounding line in the tank but I dont have that. Unfortunately I don't know anything about electricity. Wouldn't i feel stray voltage with my hand in the tank? Or would I not feel anything because im standing on the ground/grounded? I really have no clue how that all works.