Adventures in keeping a SPS reef

[Llorgon]

I tested my water tonight. Alk went from 8.1-8.2 so no need to change dosing setting which is good.

 

Mag stayed pretty much the same. I'm trying to being it up to the 1350 range from 1260 it is now.

 

Nitrates are still really high. 25+ppm

 

Phosphates dropped significantly! 0.22 last night to 0.009 tonight. I've dose 3 more capful of phosphate tonight. I'll also add some reef energy as suggested above 

[Llorgon]

Couldn't find anything to up phosphates last night which was super annoying. The joys of living in a smaller town... So I didn't do a water change last night. I did find one place that had some phosphate supplement in the next town over so I'll be rushing over there on my lunch break today.

 

My plan is, to add some of the phosphate supplement to the ATO that way it will add some of it each time it runs. Then I set my auto feeder to 3 times a day. Between those two and if the people checking in on the cats can add some nori I think nutrients should stay above zero.

 

Tested water again last night, Nitrate is down to a clear 25ppm now. Still high, but coming down. Phos was at 0.028, up a bit from yesterday.

 

The effected corals are still unhappy. The elkhorn continues to lose colour and has more and more white/parts taken over by the cyano. Theres a couple small holdouts of green left on it so I am hoping it can make a comeback. The forest fire polyps are still thinning with more and more white at the ends. Not as bad as the elkhorn so I am hoping it can recover. The monti is pretty white. I can see a few polyps with the blues on, but I doubt it will make it. All other SPS seem unaffected so far.

[Llorgon]

Got back from vacation today. Fish are fine, but corals took a hit. LPS are looking fine, but SPS aren't very colourful and I've lost a couple more frags. Really bummed about that.

 

Fish are doing well so at least there's that.

 

To add to it, my skimmer cup overflowed and got gross smelly water all over the bottom of the stand. So that was fun to try and clean up.

 

Also found a few aiptasia so there's that.

 

Tested my water and here's the params

Temp: 78

Salinity: 1.025

Alk: 8.5

Cal: 455

Mag: 1290

Nitrate: 25

Phosphate: 0.09

 

Alk and cal went up from before I left so uptake has gone down. Mag is still going down. It was 1350 when I left. 

 

Nitrate and phosphate is high. Was hoping to see some growth of the macro algae in the refugium, but nothing so far.

 

Prepping water to do a water change tomorrow. Hopefully that will help turn things around a bit.

 

[Llorgon]

Did a water change on Saturday. Sucked out most of the cyano and it hasn't come back yet, at least not to how it was before. I am seeing more gha growth on the rocks though

 

LPS seem to be doing fine, but the SPS still aren't great. Seeing some more dead tissue on some. The Elkhorn and forest fire do seem to be slowly recovering. Pretty bummed about the SPS in general. This really set them back.

 

Tested my water again last night

Temp: 78

Salinity: 1.025

Alk: 8.5

Cal: 470

Mag: 1245

Nitrate: 25

Phosphate: 0.07

 

I don't seem to be getting much use out of the refugium. I would think the caulerpa would be growing like crazy with the nutrients, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[Llorgon]

Current shots of what the tank looks like. Hoping the SPS can make a comeback.

 

I ordered a ICP test to make sure nothing else is out of whack.

[Llorgon]

Well the tank is having some issues lately. I think the cause was nitrates going to 0 then phosphates going to 0.

I've had my nitrates and phosphates at detectable levels for 2 weeks now although my nitrates have been on the high side.

of the 23 SPS frags
4 haven't lost any tissue, but have lost their colour
6 have RTN'd
8 are losing some tissue in places
5 appear to be completely fine other than not having vibrant colours.

All LPS in the tank are doing fine.

Params as of yesterday were:
 

Temp: 78

Salinity: 1.025

Alk: 8.5

Cal: 450

Mag: 1320(dosed to bring up)

Nitrate: 10-20

Phosphate: 0.03

[Llorgon]

Another SPS frag has gone white over night... Hoping the ICP results come back quick!

[Llorgon]

Tested water again today. Used the new Hanna checker for more accurate nitrate readings.

 

Temp: 78

Salinity: 1.026

Alk: 9

Cal: 470

Mag: 1290

Nitrate: 8.5

Phosphate: 0.015

 

Alk has been creeping up since all the issues started. Dropped my dosing from 15ml/day to 12ml.

 

Still dealing with cyano. It stayed away for a week and a bit after my last water change and now it's back...

[Llorgon]

Tested water before going on vacation again tomorrow. Nitrate and phosphate have dropped which I wasn't expecting since I upped my feeding amount. Some of the corals are looking a bit better. There.is some green again on my one montipora. It's light and only a bit, but it's there!

 

Should I dose some phosphates to try and bring it back up? I am seeing more gha growth in the display and macro algae growth in the sump.

 

Temp: 78

Salinity: 1.026

Alk: 8.9

Cal: 460

Mag: 1260

Nitrate: 6.7

Phosphate: 0

[Llorgon]

Back from vacation... Not by choice mind you. It started off well and then went to shit. The agency my wife was working at lost a big contract and laid everyone off. Then the car died, had to have it towed to the dealership and the 64kw battery is dead and needs to be replaced. That was Wednesday and we are still waiting for them to find us a loaner. So there went the other half of our vacation...

 

Now for the tank. Fish are still alive, so that's good. Still dealing with cyano on the sand on the left side of the tank. Stirring the sand seems to kick some of it up and help remove it into the filter socks. 

 

The LPS corals seem to be doing alright, but most of the SPS are either dead or missing large chunks of tissue. The Elkhorn is looking more green though so I guess that's a plus?

 

Since coming home, there is tons of gha on the rocks. I've been trying to scrub them with a toothbrush and let the filter sock catch the pieces. I'm hoping once I have a car again I can find someone with chaeto since the caulerpa isn't doing much.

 

To add to the fun, apex seems to be refusing to connect to fusion. I unplugged and plugged in the apex, reset it, reset the wifi and still won't connect.

 

It's been a couple weeks and still no results from Triton on the ICP test. I'm hoping it comes soon.

 

Tested my water today

 

Temp: 78

Salinity: 1.026

Alk: 8.9

Cal: 460

Mag: 1230

Nitrate: 11.5

Phosphate: 0.264

 

Really having issues with the mag. I'm dosing more of it than calcium and it still drops each week.

 

I'm thinking I might focus on adding more LPS for awhile and hold off on more SPS until the tank stables out more.

[Llorgon]

Well today I removed a bunch of algae and all the dead frags from the tank. Really got me bummed out. 

 

I've been in this hobby 7 years and I've yet to grow much of anything from a frag to a colony. Seems like I just keep running into issues or things just slowly fade away.

 

I'm really not sure where to go from here. Do I double down on the euphyllia in the tank and move more towards LPS tank, keep trying SPS, give up and find a new hobby?

 

Honestly the thought has crossed my mind to have someone maintain the tank for awhile just to get it going on the right track...but that feels like giving up...

 

[DevilDuck]

I say you're dealing with a lot right now, between life events and tank troubles, and it's time to take a step back and allow yourself to take a breath.

I went through a super busy six months of wedding planning, family drama, and health scares. This kept me away from the tank. The wedding and honeymoon now over and I came back to the tank full of hair algae and vermatid snails. I lost a bunch of sps frags and some really other nice frags that were doing well until the gha choked them out. It was heartbreaking and demoralizing.

 

You're doing the right thing. Prioritize figuring out the life issues and start small on the tank. Remove the unsightly dead stuff and get it back to a healthy place, and sit back and enjoy it for a while before you decided on your next move or add anything new. 

 

PS. That Space Invader is awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Llorgon]

4 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

I say you're dealing with a lot right now, between life events and tank troubles, and it's time to take a step back and allow yourself to take a breath.

I went through a super busy six months of wedding planning, family drama, and health scares. This kept me away from the tank. The wedding and honeymoon now over and I came back to the tank full of hair algae and vermatid snails. I lost a bunch of sps frags and some really other nice frags that were doing well until the gha choked them out. It was heartbreaking and demoralizing.

 

You're doing the right thing. Prioritize figuring out the life issues and start small on the tank. Remove the unsightly dead stuff and get it back to a healthy place, and sit back and enjoy it for a while before you decided on your next move or add anything new. 

 

PS. That Space Invader is awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is good advice. We did finally get our car situation sorted. We still can't get anything until wednesday, but at least it's coming. All it took was a few bad reviews online...

I agree things with the tank have been demoralizing. I'm really hoping that ICP test comes back and tells me something. I sent it off on July 20th.

Thanks, I like the space invader too! It seems to be the only unhappy LPS since it's losing tissue too so I hope it survives.

 

Honestly, I'm wondering if it's something to do with the salt that caused the issue. All this started after a water change and I've noticed the same thing start with my smaller tank after a water change as well.

[DevilDuck]

What salt are you using? Might be a good time to switch temporarily to something else in case you got a bad batch. Check your RODI too.

 

Glad to hear things getting sorted with the car. Buying a car now is a nightmare, one on order for months now and I work at a major car manufacturer.

 

[Llorgon]

22 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

What salt are you using? Might be a good time to switch temporarily to something else in case you got a bad batch. Check your RODI too.

 

Glad to hear things getting sorted with the car. Buying a car now is a nightmare, one on order for months now and I work at a major car manufacturer.

 

I'm using red sea blue bucket. I was thinking of trying a different salt as well. On the plus side, I finally got my ICP test back. Doesn't seem like anything is terribly out of sorts with my water. A few trace elements are at 0. Would that be it?

[Llorgon]

I have the red sea coral colours that I haven't used yet. I might order the coral colours test kit as well just so I can make sure I don't overdose. 

 

Or is it better to just get those individual trace elements I'm low on and dose them individually?

[DevilDuck]

If you are doing regular water changes, I wouldn't worry much about them. The water changes should replenish the trace elements. Since you already have the Red Sea coral colors, you can dose it at the minimum recommended levels and see if things improve. 

 

In generally, everything looks good. Personally, I notice that my tank runs a little better with higher Magnesium levels, I keep mine at around 1500 ppm.

 

You might try to increase flow in the corner of the tank where the cyano is appearing.

[Llorgon]

On 8/12/2022 at 10:14 AM, DevilDuck said:

If you are doing regular water changes, I wouldn't worry much about them. The water changes should replenish the trace elements. Since you already have the Red Sea coral colors, you can dose it at the minimum recommended levels and see if things improve. 

 

In generally, everything looks good. Personally, I notice that my tank runs a little better with higher Magnesium levels, I keep mine at around 1500 ppm.

 

You might try to increase flow in the corner of the tank where the cyano is appearing.

I've been cutting back on water changes since it was becoming hard to keep nutrients up. I was doing weekly 10g water changes and seeing significant drops in nutrients. So I decided to do more infrequent water changes. I ordered a bucket of tropic marin reef salt so I will probably do one when that comes though.

 

I did add 1ml of all the coral colour bottles on Saturday. I'm still trying to work out the exact dosage I need. The instructions are 1ml per 25gal based on 20g of calcium consumption... I wish I was better at math!

 

I have been trying to raise Mag with little to no luck. I'm currently dosing 5ml/day and my mag went from 1230-1260 over the last week. I never used to have to dose any mag so it's weird. I only need to dose 3ml calcium/day.

 

I bumped up my powerheads to increase flow a bit. I might order a gyre and put it on the back wall or something like that. I was reading up on the red sea salt and it sounds like lots of people experienced cyano with it. Could be part of the problem.

 

I tested my water on sat. Nutrients are a bit high and haven't moved much in a week. I am hoping to pickup some chaeto when I have a car again.

 

Temp: 78
Salinity: 1.026
Alk: 8.9
Cal: 470
Mag: 1260
Nitrate: 11.7
Phosphate: 0.205

[Llorgon]

Got a bucket of tropic marin reef pro salt. Going to do a 10g water change. Euphyllia have been unhappy the last couple of days so I will see if a water change perks things up.

[Llorgon]

The losses continue. Woke up today to yet another frag has RTN'd. It was looking fine yesterday and today when the lights came on I noticed it was completely white. I am at a loss as to what is happening here.

[Reefkid88]

There has to be something,I mean a loss in sps like this there has to be an underlying issue. This sucks though and I am sorry,hopefully you get it figured out. 

[Llorgon]

50 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

There has to be something,I mean a loss in sps like this there has to be an underlying issue. This sucks though and I am sorry,hopefully you get it figured out. 

Right?! I must be missing something.

What I have gone through:

ICP test - nothing jumps out as being the cause of SPS death. Some low trace elements, but from talking to water chemistry people on r2r nothing that should be causing these issues.

 

At home water testing - minus some nutrients bottoming out at the start of this, no major swings, everything controlled by dosing and has been stable. Nutrients are staying consistent going on 3 weeks now.

Stray voltage - Checked with my multimeter and my neighbours, no stray voltage.

 

Temp - controlled by Apex, checked by 2 floating thermometers and the temp gauge on hanna checker, it's right where the apex was programmed to keep it which is around 78.

 

Salinity - Checked by hanna checker and refractometer. Calibrated both and checked again. 1.025-1.026

Flow - no change to return pump settings or wavemakers, bumped the octopulse 2's up to 90% max from 85.

Lighting - Maybe this is the issue? 2 radion xr30 blue, 40% brightness, 100% intensity. I can't remember par readings, but I got these frags in Jan or earlier and I was seeing growth in them.

 

RO/DI - 0 TDS, checked as of last week. Filters replaced in june.

 

ATO - No issues with it, I did change my ATO reservoir from plastic home depot storage container to food safe dog food container. Washed with vinegar and hot water before use. That was in early June.

 

Water changes - 10-15g weekly using red sea salt. Issues started after a water change and also saw similar STN in my 25g after a water change. The red sea salt is halfway through the bucket. Recently tried tropic marin pro reef on Monday and saw a dead coral on Thursday(today).

 

Salt mix station - brute plastic garbage can, cleaned out every few months when stuff builds up.

 

Dosing - red sea doser and red sea foundations powder for Alk, cal and Mag. I have found that I have been having to dose a lot of mag and having a hard time raising it. Currently dosing 5ml/day of mag. Where as when things were growing I was dosing 3ml cal. I only dose those 3 things.

 

Feeding - frozen mysis, calanus and one other I am blanking on the name. I also through in some pellets from time to time. Feed this tank the same as the 25g and hasn't changed for a couple years. I feed once or twice a day, add nori for the tangs.

 

Filtration - liverock in the tank, carbon in the sump, protein skimmer, poorly growing caulerpa in the refugium. Refugium is on reverse light schedule from the display lights. Filter floss is changed as needed.

 

Fish - all seem fine, 2 clowns, longnose hawkfish, yellow tang, blue eye kole tang. All happy and healthy. No new additions since May.

 

Invertebrates - various snails, no noticeable deaths, lots of eggs on the glass, all seem healthy and happy.

 

Pests - Nothing I can see on the corals, there are Aiptasia though.

 

Coral and placement - SPS are on the rocks, euphyllia on the sand in the corner of the tank, space invaders on the other side. Never seen any stinging from either going on at night. Both are far enough away from the SPS. Whatever is causing issues is hitting the SPS, the space invaders has lost tissue as well, but it doesn't seem to be getting worse. That was more back in July when all this started.

 

General equipment check - All seems to be in good working order. No rusting or exposed magnets that I can tell.

 

That is all the stuff I have checked. What would I be missing or overlooked?

[Llorgon]

I did another 10g water change last night. Also scrubbed the rocks and removed some more dead corals. 

 

Since most of what is left in the tank is euphyllia I'm seriously considering doubling down on that and turning this into a euphyllia dominant tank. 

 

Also going to test the water again tonight and make sure nutrients haven't gone to zero or anything like that again.

[Reefkid88]

I think and euphyllia tabk would be super dope !!! 

[Llorgon]

Euphyllia tank would be pretty cool. I'll see how things go. 

 

Nitrate is still at 6ppm

Phosphate at 0.107ppm