uwharrie Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Well I have tried everything. reduced light. reduced flow and am still loosing my LPS . I have lost my Hammer, Lost 1/2 of my Trumpet and and now lost a head on my Duncan. They were doing great for months until I added a controller to my Steve's LEDs and an additional powerhead. I assumed I had too much light and too much flow so reduced light to less than 12% and took the power head offline. I am STILL loosing them. Heads are just shrinking and bailing. water parameters Sal 1.026 Phosphate 0 Cal 420 Nitrate- between 5 and 10 but thinking 10 ( API) Nitrites 0 pH 8 Dkh 12 using Red Sea Reef Crystals RO/DI water Biocube 28 with Steve's LED kit I am so at a loss. what is thriving is the GSP and the Kenya tree ( the KT is taking over with its self fragging and is about to get flushed) I have two fish a Emerald Crab and several Hermits two RFA and two carpet Nems Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 What do you have for flow in the tank? Are you still running an RW8? And where are they placed in the tank? Is alk consistently 12 or does it fluctuate? Also what are you feeding your lps? Ok one more question: have any of your nems moved and/or are they in close proximity to the lps? Link to comment
uwharrie Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 The RW8 is now off. I turned it off for about 6 weeks to see if that was it. No Change. turned it back on and lost one head on my Duncan. ( it is on the far right side 1/2 down. lowest setting and a rock blocking some of the flow. Nems are no where near the LSPs Everything is where it has been since Oct of last year. All water parameters have been rock steady I have tried spot feeding the lps with bits of shrimp. also add phyto liquid nothing seems to help. I will admit I have not been spot feeding the last few weeks as it did not seem to make any difference Am I starving them? Link to comment
Mariaface Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Lower your alk. Your nutrients would need to be sky high for euphyllia and other LPS to not be pissed off. Maybe you need a different salt, but you'll want to aim for 9dKH, then target feed at least twice a week. Link to comment
uwharrie Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 Can you recommend another salt mix? what do you suggest to target feed? ( shrimp? Mysis?) Link to comment
Mariaface Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Go for the Red Sea in the blue bucket (not RSCP in the black bucket). Alk should mix to around 8-9dKH. You can make small water changes with this (or regular water changes, since alk drop is less dangerous than alk rise), and monitor it as it comes down. For target feeding, I recommend PE mysis shrimp (this brand specifically). They're generally whole pieces, and they're small enough for corals to latch on well. I'm sure everything in your tank will love this stuff. If you have live black worms, even my LPS go nuts for those (but generally they're for fish). Edit: Of course, variety is good! Calanus, bloodworms, LRS nano, chopped clam, scallop, shrimp, etc. And an amino acid supplement 15min before feeding might not go amiss. Link to comment
uwharrie Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 Thanks I do feed Mysis but it's Omega One ( only thing I can get locally) Looks like I need to make a trip to the "big city" Link to comment
Mariaface Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Thanks I do feed Mysis but it's Omega One ( only thing I can get locally) Looks like I need to make a trip to the "big city" Omega one is pretty good; I wouldn't worry about it too much right now. Try to suck up the more whole-looking pieces, since the 'husk' is less appetizing. Link to comment
Clown79 Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Have you tested your magnesium? All my lps took a nose dive, lost 1 head of frogspawn, lost a goniapora, and my brain receded so badly it had very little flesh. My magnesium was very low. As soon as I started dosing mag, not only did my ca and alk stay in mormal ranges but my frogspawn is coming back and my brain grew back and is gorgeous Link to comment
Clown79 Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 The first pic is the brain starting to grow back, it was worse than that. My mag was below 1100 The second pic is after dosing mag for 3 weeks Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 salinity at 1.026 - how are you testing? at 1.026, you are not leaving much room for error. Link to comment
uwharrie Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 salinity at 1.026 - how are you testing? at 1.026, you are not leaving much room for error. Using a refractor ( red sea) Have you tested your magnesium? All my lps took a nose dive, lost 1 head of frogspawn, lost a goniapora, and my brain receded so badly it had very little flesh. My magnesium was very low. As soon as I started dosing mag, not only did my ca and alk stay in mormal ranges but my frogspawn is coming back and my brain grew back and is gorgeous I have not tested Magnesium I would not think with the low bio load and the salt mix I was using I would need to Link to comment
Clown79 Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Magnesium is very important. If it drops, ca and alk are hard to keep stable. Not all salt is equal in numbers. Have you monitored your params and what the corals use up? Ca, alk, and mag are the top 3 things to test once corals are added. Lps and sps use up alot. Link to comment
Newstead Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 +1 to all above. My alk stays app 9, mag 1200, Ca 450 and my LPS are thriving with Nitrates 10+. I feed the tank heavily 2x day (sun coral and mandarin) and every day or two feed the euphyllia and acans. They love the small Hikari mysis and LRS Reed Frenzy nano. I mix reef roids into the food 2 or 3 times a week. My biocube29 just has the return flow pointed diagonally across the top of the water and a powerhead pointed along the back wall behind the rock work, since I only have softies and LPS. Have you tried an iodine dip? I have used povidone mixed with tank water in a cup ... just enough to look like weak iced tea to dip LPS for 4 to 5 minutes if they are moved, etc. Then rinse well with more tank water before replacing. Seems to perk them up and if it is bacterial, like bjd, will definitely help. Just a thought. Good luck and keep updated. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Have you tested your magnesium? All my lps took a nose dive, lost 1 head of frogspawn, lost a goniapora, and my brain receded so badly it had very little flesh. My magnesium was very low. As soon as I started dosing mag, not only did my ca and alk stay in mormal ranges but my frogspawn is coming back and my brain grew back and is gorgeous Good tip on the mag!! +1 to all above. My alk stays app 9, mag 1200, Ca 450 and my LPS are thriving with Nitrates 10+. I feed the tank heavily 2x day (sun coral and mandarin) and every day or two feed the euphyllia and acans. They love the small Hikari mysis and LRS Reed Frenzy nano. I mix reef roids into the food 2 or 3 times a week. My biocube29 just has the return flow pointed diagonally across the top of the water and a powerhead pointed along the back wall behind the rock work, since I only have softies and LPS. Have you tried an iodine dip? I have used povidone mixed with tank water in a cup ... just enough to look like weak iced tea to dip LPS for 4 to 5 minutes if they are moved, etc. Then rinse well with more tank water before replacing. Seems to perk them up and if it is bacterial, like bjd, will definitely help. Just a thought. Good luck and keep updated. Good info! I notice my LPS are happier with more nitrates too. When they dip below 5, things start to not look as good for sure. Link to comment
ReefSafeSolutions Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 LSP? It's the latest version of LSD Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Aim for 0.03-0.08 phosphates, plus a test kit tuned to that sensitivity. With alk at 12, corals also need lots of light and nutrients. +1 to the red sea blue bucket What's your lighting schedule and/or PAR on them? I do not spot feed any of my LPS (acan, duncan, octospawn, chalice, torch). However they are lighted from 5 am to 10 pm at SPS intensity. Their only nutrients are fish poop and what they get from the water. Link to comment
uwharrie Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 LPS Sorry worked a very long day yesterday. LSP? Link to comment
uwharrie Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 So I need to order a mag test and new salt. I guess I will do water changes with IO until I get the new mix. Darn it I JUST bought a bucket of the black red sea Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 So I need to order a mag test and new salt. I guess I will do water changes with IO until I get the new mix. Darn it I JUST bought a bucket of the black red seaIf you want to save some money muriatic acid can be used to lower the dkh of water before you add if to the tank. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1530419 Randy Holmes explains how to calculate in this post. Link to comment
Mikeymikemike Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Why is your alk 12? NSW is 7, depending on where they came from (the ocean or other peoples tanks) you have put htem into an environment they have not been accustomed to. Something to consider... Link to comment
Clown79 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Test your water that you make up with the salt before changing it. Link to comment
uwharrie Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 Using Red Sea black bucket. The alk had been the same since I started. Never thought to test my RO/ DI water Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.