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Coral Vue Hydros

LPS Dying. Looking for some help.


cbandotho

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Two days ago I woke up and my gold frogspawn was shedding its flesh. It wasn't shrinking into it's skeleton, the flesh was separating from the skeleton. I checked all of my parameters and everything seemed fine. I moved it to lower light but it was gone.

 

Today I woke up to see the same thing happening to my golden torch coral. It still has some flesh on it, but it is completely deflated and separating.

 

I checked my water again:

 

Phosphates: .04

Calcium: 436

Magnesium: 1350

Alkalinity: 6.1 (I know this could be higher but I don't have any SPS and it has stayed level)

Nitrates / Nitrites / Ammonia: 0

SG: 1.025

 

I have had both of these corals in the same spot for over a year. I added some carbon just in case something had died in the tank but all the fish and all of my other corals seem fine.

 

Any ideas? I am about to do a water change but I am not even sure what else this could be?

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perplexing to say the least, is this only happening to lps? Could it be stray voltage?

 

It is only the LPS at this point. My clams, anemones, zoas all look fine. Even my other LPS is still opening up and looks good.

 

How do I check for stray voltage?

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I say it every day on here at least once. LPS will slowly decline and then die because of calcium and alk swings. You have to find a way to keep these 2 from swinging. Every system is different. Do a water change then test the tank every day for 1 week. See how your levels swing then figure out the dosing regimen.

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Lawnman, thanks for the reply. I will do the water change and tests as you suggest. I was expecting my alk to have dropped significantly when I saw the problem but they have been steady.

 

I have done as you suggest in the past and I have not witnessed any swings. My alk has been between 6.1 and 6.5 on every test for 6+ months???

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Do you have too much flow hitting them? And stray voltage forget testing for it just get a probe and be done. Could be carbon burn too, I've seen fish with it though, not sure how corals handle it...

 

Do you own the coco worm in your avatar? That thing is gorgeous, would like to see more pics of that

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I haven't changed the flow and they have been in my tank for over a year so I don't think it is flow.

I will get a probe. That seems like a good investment either way.

 

Is there a disease that affects euphylia only? I have several others in the tank and that is what I am concerned about.

 

No, I don't have the coco worm anymore. I had it for a while and traded it...I wished I had kept it though because I haven't seen those colors again since.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update. Still need help.

 

Since I last posted, I have tracked the alkalinity and calcium as suggested after a water change. Here are the results from tonight:

 

Alkalinity: 6.2

Calcium: 442

 

They have been steady all week long.

 

Since the original post, I lost another LPS, a purple tip frogspawn. It looked a little deflated yesterday and was basically gone by this morning.

 

I have no idea what i even need to check. Acans, plate coral, brain, zoas, anemones, clams all look fine.

 

Any suggestions?

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Update. Still need help.

 

Since I last posted, I have tracked the alkalinity and calcium as suggested after a water change. Here are the results from tonight:

 

Alkalinity: 6.2

Calcium: 442

 

They have been steady all week long.

 

Since the original post, I lost another LPS, a purple tip frogspawn. It looked a little deflated yesterday and was basically gone by this morning.

 

I have no idea what i even need to check. Acans, plate coral, brain, zoas, anemones, clams all look fine.

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

um, is yr alk really 6.2? what is yr ph? yr alk is super low and is probably affecting yr ph. i wouldn't be suprised if yr ph was 8.5+

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um, is yr alk really 6.2? what is yr ph? yr alk is super low and is probably affecting yr ph. i wouldn't be suprised if yr ph was 8.5+

 

my pH is 8.07 right now and is usually around 8.15 - 8.2 during the day.

 

Is 6.2 really that low for a tank with no SPS?

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I had the same problem. What I found was stray voltage from a bad pump. You can use a volt meter to check.

 

My LFS didn't have a ground probe. Someone else had suggested that as a possibility. I will try and track one down tomorrow.

 

ala, I have read that article but it sure couldn't hurt to read it again. I don't think the problem is the Alk. I have several friends who keep SPS tanks with lower Alk than mine. I think the concern is more about swings. I plan on dosing this week to get it over 7 just to see if it helps.

 

I have had all of the pieces I have lost in the last two weeks in my tank for a long time. At least a year and 2 of them for about 3 years.

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