Mochi's Sushi Tank 750XXL - Updated FTS

[DreC80]

10 minutes ago, pokerdobe said:

I dunno, my tank is kinda ugly right now lol. I went off the rails and tried too many things at once. 

I doubt the tank is ugly...based on your previous humbleness.  What kind of stuff did you try?  I saw where you stopped nopox cold turkey and it didn't work out...but then it seemed like you started it again and things were good.  What other changes?

[DreC80]

2 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Why would you do such things such as tinkering with your tank? Still share us the pics, you know we can handle the good, and the bad. 😬. Plus it’d force you to take the photos of this “kinda ugly” phase for visual record. 

Yeah, what mittens said...visual record...very important 😁

[pokerdobe]

@mitten_reef @DreC80 lol yall asked for it. I'll grab a shot this weekend. 

 

I'm honestly not sure what's wrong - the best I can venture is that my tank is feeling long term effects from several things leading up to the cold turkey NOPOX. 

 

Timeline of specific events:

• Started zeovit additives aggressively, quickly ramping from every other day to everyday at full dose (possible overdose quantities)
• Started GFO, turned off NOPOX. 
• PO4 crash, nitrate spike, alk spike
• Stopped GFO, turned NOPOX back on
• Massive influx of bacterial dosing to combat cyano
• STN losses of Fox Flame, PB, Mille. Burnt tips across PC rainbow. 

Currently, my SC OP has this weird, bumpy texture to it, almost like a rash or something. It looks really weird and it's freaking me out. A few of the other acros look off... not sure how to explain it other than they don't seem right to me. The gonis have also been somewhat temperamental, though not as much as my acros. The cyano still remains. 

 

However, whatever happened, my torches seem to be loving it. 

 

Readings as of Friday:

 

Alk: 6.85

Ca: 420

Mg: 1375

NO3: 7

PO4: .05

S.G.: 1.027

 

Right now, I've basically reverted back to doing 2 water changes weekly in order to try and combat whatever is going on. I did run some poly filter to see if there might be any contaminants, but no dice - just came back with a bunch of organic gunk. My plan is to ride it out and see what happens. 

[DreC80]

Maybe time for an ICP test to see if it's something you can't test for?  Has it been a while since the alk spike?  I know some corals take much longer to react to these events.  From my understanding there are a lot of folks who have reported cyano issues with nopox/ethanol based dosing.  What about trying a different carbon source?  Or maybe just slowly weaning the tank off of it altogether.

 

Just throwing out some ideas.  Doing the water changes should definitely help if it's a contaminant or low trace element issue...just don't drive your nutrients too low.  I'm sure you'll get it worked out.

[pokerdobe]

47 minutes ago, DreC80 said:

Maybe time for an ICP test to see if it's something you can't test for?  Has it been a while since the alk spike?  I know some corals take much longer to react to these events.  From my understanding there are a lot of folks who have reported cyano issues with nopox/ethanol based dosing.  What about trying a different carbon source?  Or maybe just slowly weaning the tank off of it altogether.

 

Just throwing out some ideas.  Doing the water changes should definitely help if it's a contaminant or low trace element issue...just don't drive your nutrients too low.  I'm sure you'll get it worked out.

If I don't see improvement by the time this QT is over, then I'll consider it. I don't think it's specifically a water parameter issue - rather a stability issue. My reasoning is because a water parameter issue would lead to widespread STN or RTN, not to a few select acropora (at least that's what I'm theorizing). My observation is actually that the older, more established colonies seem to be taking the hits and newer, smaller colonies or newer frags are unphased. 

I spent some time speaking with FarmerTy on the matter and he theorized that changes, especially the sudden stoppage of NOPOX dramatically shifted the microbial composition of my tank ecology and that is why the damage seems to be centered around my oldest pieces. Essentially, it boiled down to the fact that the more mature a colony is, the more sensitive they'll be to changes. 

 

As for NOPOX, I am on the path to weaning the tank off - but this time, I'm doing it very slowly. 

[pokerdobe]

For anyone that is curious, the CSBs were rescued this morning. #operationsuccess #missioncomplete

[duncantse]

+1 on the stability issue also 

 

IME when I bumped mg from 1320-1450 and cal from 370-450 over the course of a week I've noticed alk drop from 8,5-7 dkh 

 

A lot of my sps started RTNing which I think is due to the fluctuations in water parameters. 

 

Maybe try to keep things steady for now without changing anything and wait for your corals to recover. In the end I have had a few lps/acros not make it but most of them healed back up. 

[pokerdobe]

@duncantse Yup, that's pretty much where I'm at right now. Just regular water changes for the next few months. 

[Spencer7]

Hope you're able to settle things down and get back to growing. 

Nice equipment and macro shots. Might hit you up for a frag pack in the fall!

[pokerdobe]

On 5/12/2020 at 9:49 PM, Spencer7 said:

Hope you're able to settle things down and get back to growing. 

Nice equipment and macro shots. Might hit you up for a frag pack in the fall!

Fingers crossed! Time will tell. Hopefully I'll have something to make a frag pack with lol. 

[DreC80]

@pokerdobe. Is this in your future?

 

https://reefbuilders.com/2020/05/15/nexus-burst-anemones-from-eye-catching-coral/

 

Any tank updates?

[pokerdobe]

4 hours ago, DreC80 said:

@pokerdobe. Is this in your future?

 

https://reefbuilders.com/2020/05/15/nexus-burst-anemones-from-eye-catching-coral/

 

Any tank updates?

Ah - I actually remember when that first picture from the coral connect came out - I wonder if it's still like that. Never seen the one from eye catching - but they definitely look interesting... Hmm...

 

The tank is crashing? At least from an acro perspective. I sent in an ICP because I'm baffled. I've lost about 4 colonies so far. 

[DreC80]

2 minutes ago, pokerdobe said:

Ah - I actually remember when that first picture from the coral connect came out - I wonder if it's still like that. Never seen the one from eye catching - but they definitely look interesting... Hmm...

 

The tank is crashing? At least from an acro perspective. I sent in an ICP because I'm baffled. I've lost about 4 colonies so far. 

Damn dude, that really sucks.  Are they STNing or RTNing?  I hope the ICP test will reveal something. 

[pokerdobe]

2 minutes ago, DreC80 said:

Damn dude, that really sucks.  Are they STNing or RTNing?  I hope the ICP test will reveal something. 

STN - the process seems to occur over a period of several weeks - until it reaches a tipping point and it RTNs. I'll see necrosis from both the tips and the base. The precursor to the necrosis is the daily extension of mesentarials. 

 

I know something is wrong, but I can't seem to diagnose it from my standard testing. It really sucked in the beginning, but I've had time to get over it. At this point, I'll be ok even if all the acros die. My main goal is to diagnose the tank since I need to know what caused it - otherwise I'll be stuck in the same spot later on. 

[DreC80]

1 minute ago, pokerdobe said:

STN - the process seems to occur over a period of several weeks - until it reaches a tipping point and it RTNs. I'll see necrosis from both the tips and the base. The precursor to the necrosis is the daily extension of mesentarials. 

 

I know something is wrong, but I can't seem to diagnose it from my standard testing. It really sucked in the beginning, but I've had time to get over it. At this point, I'll be ok even if all the acros die. My main goal is to diagnose the tank since I need to know what caused it - otherwise I'll be stuck in the same spot later on. 

Can you clip some frags and have someone local hold them for you until you get it figured out?  It sounds like some type of bacterial issue.  Possibly dose some good bacteria in to outcompete the bad guys?  

[pokerdobe]

3 minutes ago, DreC80 said:

Can you clip some frags and have someone local hold them for you until you get it figured out?  It sounds like some type of bacterial issue.  Possibly dose some good bacteria in to outcompete the bad guys?  

Luckily most of my pieces are backed up by locals - so I'm covered there. 

 

I thought it could have been bacterial too - based on conversations with others - so I spent the last couple of weeks dosing Dr. Tim's. Hasn't seem to have made an impact. 😞 

[pokerdobe]

One idea I have been contemplating is 100% water change. I'd basically get my LFS to lug 200 gallons of salt water, turn off my lights and do a near 100% swap. 

[spectra]

1 minute ago, pokerdobe said:

One idea I have been contemplating is 100% water change. I'd basically get my LFS to lug 200 gallons of salt water, turn off my lights and do a near 100% swap. 

I had issues with my tank and just did about 120 gallons last weekend. 
 

The total swap might be worth it. Are you making your own water now or buying from LFS ? 

[pokerdobe]

5 minutes ago, spectra said:

I had issues with my tank and just did about 120 gallons last weekend. 
 

The total swap might be worth it. Are you making your own water now or buying from LFS ? 

Making my own. Total swap would be hard on my own because I don't have the right storage containers to hold 200 gallons of mixed SW. (In the works for the future)

 

See any improvement after the massive wc?

[DreC80]

17 minutes ago, pokerdobe said:

One idea I have been contemplating is 100% water change. I'd basically get my LFS to lug 200 gallons of salt water, turn off my lights and do a near 100% swap. 

It's worth a shot.  Do you know if they use the same salt as you?  Obviously the alk would need to be close to what you run...especially with such a large water change.

 

What about other types of bacteria just to make sure there is a variety.  MB7, Stability, Fritz, Biospira.  I'm just wondering if bad bacteria took hold and the carbon dosing is making them grow at a faster rate.

[pokerdobe]

17 minutes ago, DreC80 said:

It's worth a shot.  Do you know if they use the same salt as you?  Obviously the alk would need to be close to what you run...especially with such a large water change.

 

What about other types of bacteria just to make sure there is a variety.  MB7, Stability, Fritz, Biospira.  I'm just wondering if bad bacteria took hold and the carbon dosing is making them grow at a faster rate.

Same salt - red sea blue bucket. 

 

I tried a couple - Dr. Tim's one and only, Dr. Tim's refresh, MB7. 

 

I think it's entirely feasible that I'm bacterially off - but that kind of leaves me at a quandary of how do I fix that?

[spectra]

1 hour ago, pokerdobe said:

Making my own. Total swap would be hard on my own because I don't have the right storage containers to hold 200 gallons of mixed SW. (In the works for the future)

 

See any improvement after the massive wc?

Well the water issue was on my end..............filkters were toast and TDS was high............replaced all filters and also added 2 more DI chambers to the system...........

 

I can hold 65 gallons of SW at a time..........all I ever really need as I swap out 50 gallons or so at a time.......

 

as for tank looking better some things are and others not...........funny thing is acros are a weird thing like you didnt know that one.......... my green slimmer is looking like shit.............but then my battle corals shiznopalous or how ever its spelled is doing great........... hell all LPS is happy...........other acros not so well and others are great and basing out.............insert head bang against wall emoji.............

[mitten_reef]

Could it be metal contamination? Some screws came off and/or equipment part rusting?  I know I dropped a splashguard screw in the tank just a month ago. It just happened to fall right when I was nearby, I didn’t touch the fixture or anything that I recall. Glad I was there otherwise that screw would have sat in the tank til it starts rusting. 

[pokerdobe]

1 minute ago, spectra said:

Well the water issue was on my end..............filkters were toast and TDS was high............replaced all filters and also added 2 more DI chambers to the system...........

 

I can hold 65 gallons of SW at a time..........all I ever really need as I swap out 50 gallons or so at a time.......

 

as for tank looking better some things are and others not...........funny thing is acros are a weird thing like you didnt know that one.......... my green slimmer is looking like shit.............but then my battle corals shiznopalous or how ever its spelled is doing great........... hell all LPS is happy...........other acros not so well and others are great and basing out.............insert head bang against wall emoji.............

Yeah, sometimes there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason as to which acros do well and which ones don't. My LPS are finicky too - sometimes out of the blue, one will brown jelly? I'm just like, wtf bro. 

 

2 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Could it be metal contamination? Some screws came off and/or equipment part rusting?  I know I dropped a splashguard screw in the tank just a month ago. It just happened to fall right when I was nearby, I didn’t touch the fixture or anything that I recall. Glad I was there otherwise that screw would have sat in the tank til it starts rusting. 

Possibly - I can go through all my equipment this weekend. If it's a lost screw... well... I have a lot of tank to scour through lol. 

[spectra]

4 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Could it be metal contamination? Some screws came off and/or equipment part rusting?  I know I dropped a splashguard screw in the tank just a month ago. It just happened to fall right when I was nearby, I didn’t touch the fixture or anything that I recall. Glad I was there otherwise that screw would have sat in the tank til it starts rusting. 

Had a local who had issues and come to find out it was metal in the tank..............

Just now, pokerdobe said:

Yeah, sometimes there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason as to which acros do well and which ones don't. My LPS are finicky too - sometimes out of the blue, one will brown jelly? I'm just like, wtf bro. 

 

Possibly - I can go through all my equipment this weekend. If it's a lost screw... well... I have a lot of tank to scour through lol. 

Yeah I did have a gold torch croak................but the other 4 torch corals are doing fine............... 🤷‍♀️