SPS Issue

[skyscraper2290]

This past week I noticed most of my acros and millis were showing some recession. I have dipped everything that goes in my tank in ReVive and the last thing added was a turbo snail. Before that I had last added some new frags on 1/28. I have attached some photos and I'm guessing it could be AEFW but I'm not positive so was hoping to get everyones opinion. Thanks!

 

Water Parameters

Alk - 6.4 (consumption increased and slowing going back up to around 8

Nitrates - 2

Salinity - 1.025

 

PC Rainbow 3/3

 

PC Rainbow 3/9

 

Green Acro Top Down 3/9

 

Green Acro Front 3/9

 

Diablo Milli Top Down 3/9

 

Diablo Milli Front 3/9

 

Birdsnest 3/9

 

Unknown Milli Top Down 3/9

 

Unknown Milli Front 3/9

 

Sunset Milli Top Down 3/9 (not a great picture)

 

[Asureef]

Maybe your alk is too low.  There’s really no benefit to running alk that low unless you’re running low nutrients. 

[pokerdobe]

Any additional parameter info we could have?

 

Ca, Mg, Po4 would be of interest and possible help. Any other swings, other than alk?

[skyscraper2290]

I didn’t mean to let alk drop that much, I’m guessing my consumption doubled at least. I have gotten it back to a little over 7 and am slowly getting it back to the 8 range. I’ll get tests of the other parameters tonight and post them.

 

I did do a freshwater dip on the birds nest and am took a photo of what came off of it. The thing in the center looks like it’s possibky a flatworm.

 

[skyscraper2290]

So just finished testing everything:

Nitrate - 2

Alk - 7.6 (possibly raised it back up a bit fast)

Calcium - 450

Magnesium - 1320

Phosphate - 0 (multiple tests gave me 0 each time) 

[Asureef]

30 minutes ago, skyscraper2290 said:

I didn’t mean to let alk drop that much, I’m guessing my consumption doubled at least. I have gotten it back to a little over 7 and am slowly getting it back to the 8 range. I’ll get tests of the other parameters tonight and post them.

 

I did do a freshwater dip on the birds nest and am took a photo of what came off of it. The thing in the center looks like it’s possibky a flatworm.

 

 

Ouch... you likely did more harm than good, never freshwater dip a sps coral.   

 

As for the flatworms, I wouldn’t worry about those, they’re called AEFW (acropora-eating flatworm) for a reason.  

[skyscraper2290]

2 minutes ago, Asureef said:

 

Ouch... you likely did more harm than good, never freshwater dip a sps coral.   

 

As for the flatworms, I wouldn’t worry about those, they’re called AEFW (acropora-eating flatworm) for a reason.  

Ya that’s why I only did the dip on one $10 frag just to see what came off. AEFW is what I have been worried about. The coral I dipped is doing ok, definitely was tough on it though but I knew that going into it. 

[pokerdobe]

1 hour ago, skyscraper2290 said:

So just finished testing everything:

Nitrate - 2

Alk - 7.6 (possibly raised it back up a bit fast)

Calcium - 450

Magnesium - 1320

Phosphate - 0 (multiple tests gave me 0 each time) 

What's done is done. I prefer to raise alk over weeks. Stability and consistency is king when it comes to reefing. 

 

Do you have any algae issues? If not and your PO4 is reading 0, then that could be a contributing factor. 

[skyscraper2290]

Ya I have been chasing a stable alk of 8 and was there for a while before consumption jumped. I am just manually dosing now. I do have a bit of hair algae in my display and some more in the AIO refugium section which may be eating up the little phosphate I used to have.

[mcarroll]

Many, or even most, stony corals will be unhappy or even die with alk swings like that.

 

If you aren't dosing every day, you should maintain a higher alkalinity level of between 8 and 12 dKH... whatever is required to keep alkalinity from dipping below 7 before your next dose.   A fair amount of testing can be required for you to determine this ideal amount...sometimes over a timeframe of a week or two...more if the system is unstable for any reason.  (eg. more corals added, inconsistent dosing, etc)

 

Although I did it successfully for several years, dosing manually like this can be a very difficult strategy to maintain.

 

If possible I would use a doser or consider keeping fewer (or no) stony corals. 

 

By the way, I would stop worrying about hypothetical worst-case scenarios like aefw or fads like low nutrients... at best they are distractions from your reef, at worst pursuing them can actually cause problems for you.  

 

BTW, it's not hypothetical if you have actually seen a pest on one of your corals, and then it wouldn't be worrying either… You need to do some observing to know that, however.  

 

In the mean time, get that alk stabilized! 🙂

 

If conditions improve and stabilize, most of these corals should pull through but they may look not too great for a few months.

[Tamberav]

I manually dose.... And test alk at least twice a week...more if I notice any pattern change. Stability is key!