Dead Acans

[Cove]

I had purchased Corals from a great local coral shop, Milky Way Palys, Acan Frag and a Ricordia. My Ricordia is doing better than ever, my Palys aren't opening much for some reason, and my Acan instantly died within 3 days. It was slowly turning white but he and I established that it wasn't bleached because it was in a cave in my tank.. my levels= Ammonia-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate-5, PH-8 and thats all I test for. I use distilled water and I keep my salinity at 1.025. Should I try Favias or will those just die too?

[glennr1978]

Do you have a test kit for alkalinity? Acans are generally pretty tough, but if your alk levels drop too low that may have been what did them in. They would go before any of the other corals that you listed.

[Cove]

I need to get kits for alkalinity and magnesium. My palys open up in the morning and close for the rest of the day.. Thats another coral affected by what ever is going on.

[Mojado]

Do you have a test kit for alkalinity? Acans are generally pretty tough, but if your alk levels drop too low that may have been what did them in. They would go before any of the other corals that you listed.

I'm not OP, but what alk levels do they prefer? I keep mine between 7 and 8 degrees dkh.

[Cove]

Im getting my water tested now at my LFS, is there anything I should specifically test? So far Alk, Magnesium, Phosphates, Calcium...

[glennr1978]

I'm not OP, but what alk levels do they prefer? I keep mine between 7 and 8 degrees dkh.

I keep my tanks at 8-9 dkh and everything stays happy in that range. You should be ok too, but I wouldn't let it drop any lower than 7.

 

Im getting my water tested now at my LFS, is there anything I should specifically test? So far Alk, Magnesium, Phosphates, Calcium...

Imo, alk is by far the most important. All the others are important as well, but none will kill a coral overnight if it is to low or to high.

[Cove]

So I got back and my buddy said that my parameters are good. Alk is a bit low (6 I believe). Overall he said there is nothing going on in the water that would be able to kill the Acan. LFS said maybe it was too early to add the Acan... 6 weeks in. I guess that was the case?

[Cove]

Today my polyps and hammer have closed. the hammer literally looks shrivelled... I need serious help!

[TJ_Burton]

If all your testable parameters seem to be in check and over-lighting isn't the cause, start looking for a different source of irritation.
Heavy metals, aerosols being sprayed near the tank, hand lotions being put on and hands going into the aquarium.

When I had a rapid bleaching of LPS that seemed to stem from nowhere, it turned out that there was rusting metal in my Coralife UV Sterilizer causing copper and other metals to leach into the system.

Time to start thinking outside of the box.

 

[Cove]

If all your testable parameters seem to be in check and over-lighting isn't the cause, start looking for a different source of irritation.

Heavy metals, aerosols being sprayed near the tank, hand lotions being put on and hands going into the aquarium.

 

 

When I had a rapid bleaching of LPS that seemed to stem from nowhere, it turned out that there was rusting metal in my Coralife UV Sterilizer causing copper and other metals to leach into the system.

 

Time to start thinking outside of the box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first step today was to buy reef crystals (I was using instant ocean before) and I did a three gallon water change. To be honest you might be right.. Maybe things have come off my hands into the tank.. I want to see what good the reef crystals will do tomorrow.

[Cove]

Hammer started receding. Seriously feeling hopeless right now.

[Cameron6796]

A sky of. 6 is low so that could be why

[afyounie]

When my alk was 6, my favia receded slowly till it died and so did a couple other of my LPS and SPS. I was slowly losing my platygyra until I got my alk back up. Now its expanded and growing once again. I think anything below 7 is a problem.

[TJ_Burton]

My alk is almost always 5.6 dkh and my SPS have all kinds of color and growth. Alk swings are dangerous, but chronically "low" total alkalinity is not always a problem.

(Cal is 480 and Mag is 1350)

[Cove]

I bought some Kent Essential Elements and Coral Revive from TLF. Do you guys recommend these?

[afyounie]

My alk is almost always 5.6 dkh and my SPS have all kinds of color and growth. Alk swings are dangerous, but chronically "low" total alkalinity is not always a problem.

(Cal is 480 and Mag is 1350)

 

 

When my Alk was at 6, my Cal dropped down to about 350. My Mg was about 1200. I noticed during this time that coralline algae stopped growing and my stony corals had stopped growing as well. I think in your case your low Alk value is a sign that the SPS are consuming carbonate and your Cal and Mg are higher because they are naturally buffered. I imagine if you had no fast growing stony corals your Alk would be up around 8-9 dkh. In the case of the OP though, he probably has low values across all three parameters. So in a way, its not really low alk that is the problem. Its low alk, cal, and Mg.

[Cove]

When my Alk was at 6, my Cal dropped down to about 350. My Mg was about 1200. I noticed during this time that coralline algae stopped growing and my stony corals had stopped growing as well. I think in your case your low Alk value is a sign that the SPS are consuming carbonate and your Cal and Mg are higher because they are naturally buffered. I imagine if you had no fast growing stony corals your Alk would be up around 8-9 dkh. In the case of the OP though, he probably has low values across all three parameters. So in a way, its not really low alk that is the problem. Its low alk, cal, and Mg.

Thats what was established! Hopefully the trace elements along with the revive and reef crystals will solve my issue!