Well, now I'm completely bummed. I just lost the vast majority of my SPS (we are talking completely white and 100% tissue loss), almost all in less than 24 hours. Worst thing is, I have no idea of the culprit. In almost a decade of reefing, I have NEVER had such a severe loss without a very clear reason (e.g. the electricity went out when I was away for the weekend once...).
Here's the story, perhaps someone can clue me in. I came back home from picking up a number of very nice SPS frags from Dong, and followed normal procedure of adding them to the tank (34G with 3G sump). Hands washed, brief acclimation, and into the tank one by one. Glued down just like always, which includes a small amount of epoxy, and then super glue between epoxy and frag, as well as between epoxy and base rock to make sure everything sticks. Everything looked great on the outset and parameters were stable as always (8.5dkh, 430 cal, ph 8.2-8.4)
Next morning, awoke to find the tank in a terrible state, severe tissue loss on most SPS, as well as hammer and bubble coral. Interestingly, neither birds nest look too terrible. Also, parameters were all still spot on (other than PH, which was a little low), and nitrates were 0. Immediately did a water change and replaced carbon. Did another water change the following day, but at that point, it was very clear the degree of loss. Now in day 3, the LPS are starting to look up again, but it's a graveyard for the SPS (both previously existing SPS and new frags). Some possible culprits:
-- Didn't wash hands well enough? Possible, but seems very unlikely given the severity of the loss. No idea what would be so incredibly toxic.
-- I opened and used a new BRS gel super glue that I hadn't used before. Again, seem unlikely...
-- I moved one paly frag, but didn't do any fragging. So, I wouldn't think any significant toxins would to be released. Alternatively, I supposed I could have added too many frags (6 or 7 in total, I think) at once, and generally pissed off some coral that released a strong enough toxin to nuke the tank?
-- The epoxy, like always, caused the skimmer to go nuts and create a massive amount of microbubbles. I often turn the skimmer off for a day or so, but this time I didn't figuring it would calm down quicker if I just let it do its job. Could this have been the cause? Something toxic on the microbubble's surface that adhered to the corals killing them? Did the microbubbles or epoxy create a significant change in the O2 levels?
-- The skimmer (or something else) caused a rapid, albeit temporary drop in PH (per my ACIII, PH went from 8.25 to 8 over the course of a few hours), but returned to normal levels by the following day.
--Others?
Anyway, just venting makes me fell a bit better, I just wish I knew what I did so I don't ever do it again! I've certainly had my share of coral loss, RTN, bleaching, etc. but never ever have I seen such rapid coral extinction, other than from a complete power failure (i.e., no pumps or heater for 24hrs). Anyone else have some ideas or also experience such a rapid SPS deterioration?
Thanks,
Josh
Here's the story, perhaps someone can clue me in. I came back home from picking up a number of very nice SPS frags from Dong, and followed normal procedure of adding them to the tank (34G with 3G sump). Hands washed, brief acclimation, and into the tank one by one. Glued down just like always, which includes a small amount of epoxy, and then super glue between epoxy and frag, as well as between epoxy and base rock to make sure everything sticks. Everything looked great on the outset and parameters were stable as always (8.5dkh, 430 cal, ph 8.2-8.4)
Next morning, awoke to find the tank in a terrible state, severe tissue loss on most SPS, as well as hammer and bubble coral. Interestingly, neither birds nest look too terrible. Also, parameters were all still spot on (other than PH, which was a little low), and nitrates were 0. Immediately did a water change and replaced carbon. Did another water change the following day, but at that point, it was very clear the degree of loss. Now in day 3, the LPS are starting to look up again, but it's a graveyard for the SPS (both previously existing SPS and new frags). Some possible culprits:
-- Didn't wash hands well enough? Possible, but seems very unlikely given the severity of the loss. No idea what would be so incredibly toxic.
-- I opened and used a new BRS gel super glue that I hadn't used before. Again, seem unlikely...
-- I moved one paly frag, but didn't do any fragging. So, I wouldn't think any significant toxins would to be released. Alternatively, I supposed I could have added too many frags (6 or 7 in total, I think) at once, and generally pissed off some coral that released a strong enough toxin to nuke the tank?
-- The epoxy, like always, caused the skimmer to go nuts and create a massive amount of microbubbles. I often turn the skimmer off for a day or so, but this time I didn't figuring it would calm down quicker if I just let it do its job. Could this have been the cause? Something toxic on the microbubble's surface that adhered to the corals killing them? Did the microbubbles or epoxy create a significant change in the O2 levels?
-- The skimmer (or something else) caused a rapid, albeit temporary drop in PH (per my ACIII, PH went from 8.25 to 8 over the course of a few hours), but returned to normal levels by the following day.
--Others?
Anyway, just venting makes me fell a bit better, I just wish I knew what I did so I don't ever do it again! I've certainly had my share of coral loss, RTN, bleaching, etc. but never ever have I seen such rapid coral extinction, other than from a complete power failure (i.e., no pumps or heater for 24hrs). Anyone else have some ideas or also experience such a rapid SPS deterioration?
Thanks,
Josh