Acropora tissue recession

[Syntax]

Hi,

I’ve been dealing with acro tissue recession for months and can’t seem to figure out the cause. I have treated my tank with interceptor and oxolinic to no effect.

I really could use some help troubleshooting and fixing the issue. My tank is built for acropora and I lost over 95% of over 40 frags. Lps and Derasa clam have been fine throughout this entire ordeal.

My tank has seemed to recover over the past month and most of the new frags are doing well. There are two that are showing the same degenerative recession from the base that I witnessed months ago. I dragged one of the corals and am waiting to see if the other will improve. The recovery seemed to be centered around a series of large water changes. I have since backed off to one 20% water change a week and I’m starting to see the recession.

When I first started my tank I ran an Icp test a couple months in that showed a very high 250ug/l of aluminum. That level now sits around 40ug/l according to the test I ran two weeks ago. A month before that my aluminum was 25ug/l, so the level almost doubled in a month. I’ve also been managing high phosphate with a little bit of gfo, (the tank is currently a mess with algae but it is slowly working itself out) as I understand it removes aluminum so maybe the level would be higher?

I’ve taken all my power heads apart and can’t find any rust in the system. The only thing I can think of is that there may have been a few aluminum shards from drilling aluminum square bar when building a light rack. It’s possible some shards got mixed in with sand I used to cover mortar I used to construct my scape. I built the rock structure near where I drilled the bar, not my greatest moment.

I’m at a loss and could really use some guidance. I can’t go through losing another round of acros.


Here are some details:

60x24x25 tank
(2) 250 watt 14k metal halide/xho for 6 hours
(1) 250 watt 10k metal halide/xho for 2 hours
Xho’s on for about 12 hours including an hour ramp up and down.
Ro/di system that is well maintained producing 0 tds.
Dosing kalk at the moment at night via a dosing pump.
Alk/CA/Mag tested via a trident and verified via salifert.Ph: 8.0-8.2
Alk: 7.5
Calcium: 450
Mag: 1300
Nitrate: 10-12 Hanna
Phosphate: .08 (has been as high as .27) Hanna
Lots of water movement with 2 mp40’s, gyre xf280, 2 Nero 7, and a Wav.


Attached is the latest icp and a picture of the frag that is receding. The Icp shows some arsenic, which has always been 0. The only thing I have done differently in the month between two tests is start using a homemade frozen food with seafood from the grocery store: scallops, clams, and shrimp, nori, mysis, and coral frenzy.

Latest Icp

Shared Results · Reef Labs Portal

Previous Icp:

Shared Results · Reef Labs Portal

Tank is currently a mess with algae, but it is slowly improving.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the length, but thank you for reading.

 

[Chris A.]

your icp looks pretty good bedsides a few traces being low.
How old is the tank and did you start with dry live rock?
Have you looked into “ Witch Hazel Treatment “ yet? Possibly could help you.

 

[Syntax]

your icp looks pretty good bedsides a few traces being low.
How old is the tank and did you start with dry live rock?
Have you looked into “ Witch Hazel Treatment “ yet? Possibly could help you.

Tank is about 14 months old and was started with dry rock. I did add about 40 lbs of tbsw rock 6 or so months ago. No, I have not tried witch hazel and I’m hesitant to do so due to many conflicting reviews of the treatment.

Dong helped me troubleshoot a couple months ago and thought it was water quality. The water changes seemed to help, but I can’t change that much water weekly, it’s not sustainable.

 

[Chris A.]

I know my tank killed all sps until about the 1-1/2 year mark and then was fine. Just slow down on sps and get your nutrients stable. Acros really don’t like any swings on anything. Sometimes just heading back to basic is the best solution

 

[SteveDola]

Brother, I feel your pain. I had a similar occurrence where the same thing happened. Almost pulled all my hair out trying to figure it out. After ICP and full Sherlock Holmes mode, I found the issues (i think). It was mostly (3 probs): unstable dosing that was causing swings, dirty top-off containers from CAT, low strontium and manganese. I resolved the issues by basically cleaning and resetting all dosing. Cleaned and reset the top off and then started dosing the low micronutrients. Stabilized the tank levels and things are getting better. Water changes are always a help as well as short durations of carbon filtering.

Im still sad I lost 2 cantaloupe-sized colonies of a blue tort and bill murray along with many many nice mini-colonies. I have some frags that are rebounding but it was disheartening to say the least. The LPS and softies all seem to be completely fine if not better! so strange how one species reacts to another. So much money and time gone ;-(

 

[dz6t]

Can you check the UV shields of the metal halides if they are DE bulbs? If they are SE bulbs, do you experienced the issue after changing bulbs?

 

[Syntax]

Can you check the UV shields of the metal halides if they are DE bulbs? If they are SE bulbs, do you experienced the issue after changing bulbs?

They are moguls Dong. Lights are mounted about 17 inches above the tank. I have not had to change bulbs yet.

 

[dz6t]

What heaters are you using?

 

[Syntax]

What heaters are you using?

I’m using a finnex titanium heater 500 watt.

 

[dz6t]

Ha! Seen these issues many times.
Try to replace it with a glass heater to see if the issue still exists.

 

[Syntax]

Ha! Seen these issues many times.
Try to replace it with a glass heater to see if the issue still exists.

I have not checked the heater, that’s the one thing I have not considered. What brand would you suggest?

 

[dz6t]

After trying out many, I am currently using these:
I do not have any relationship with this manufacturer, nor I know anyone there, just from my experience.
hygger Aquarium Heater 300W/500W/800W/1000W, Submersible Fish Tank Heater with Digital LED Controller and Intelligent Leaving Water Automatically Stop Heating System, for Freshwater and Saltwater https://a.co/d/hw8j6Kn

 

[Liam]

I had a problem with polyp extension, sps loss. High aluminum was found in an Icp test, traced source to be marine pure ceramic media. Removed the media Ran cuprisorb and polyp extension returned to normal within 2 weeks.

 

[dz6t]

Waoo, see who is back.

 

[Syntax]

I have no idea why I have not pulled my avast ATO before now…. The owner assured me that the stainless steel in the ATO hardware would not rust…. Just saw this. Could this be enough to cause issues with stn?

 

[Syntax]

Brother, I feel your pain. I had a similar occurrence where the same thing happened. Almost pulled all my hair out trying to figure it out. After ICP and full Sherlock Holmes mode, I found the issues (i think). It was mostly (3 probs): unstable dosing that was causing swings, dirty top-off containers from CAT, low strontium and manganese. I resolved the issues by basically cleaning and resetting all dosing. Cleaned and reset the top off and then started dosing the low micronutrients. Stabilized the tank levels and things are getting better. Water changes are always a help as well as short durations of carbon filtering.

Im still sad I lost 2 cantaloupe-sized colonies of a blue tort and bill murray along with many many nice mini-colonies. I have some frags that are rebounding but it was disheartening to say the least. The LPS and softies all seem to be completely fine if not better! so strange how one species reacts to another. So much money and time gone ;-(

Thanks for taking the time to post Steve. I do understand how heartbreaking and frustrating losing corals can be, especially when you are working hard at doing all the right things.

I bought several mini colonies from Dong months ago and I only have a Spongodes left. It was agony watching these amazing acropora colonies slowly die. I almost lost the spongodes, but it has recovered and is healing well.

 

[Syntax]

I know my tank killed all sps until about the 1-1/2 year mark and then was fine. Just slow down on sps and get your nutrients stable. Acros really don’t like any swings on anything. Sometimes just heading back to basic is the best solution

Thanks for the advice. It’s easy to complicate this hobby. Stability is key.

 

[SteveDola]

The top off container with rusty parts isnt part of the perfect reef setup BUT I dont know if it would cause a melt down...that being said, I had my grubby little cat put his dirty cat liter paws in my top off container and deposit some granules which may or maynot helped cause issues in my tank so its a guessing game. I would clean everything you can and try to stabilize the tank's levels. 10-20% water changes, carbon for a few days, skim wet, and keep it simple (;-)). That approach seemed to finally work for me after about 5-6 weeks of punching holes in walls.

 

[Liam]

Waoo, see who is back.

Do you mean me
If you do,I log on now and again,It's great to see some familiar people still active in BRS.
Although I am no longer in MA I have great memories from back in the day and enjoy seeing you guys still posting.
I saw on Facebook another blast from the past is thinking of setting up a tank again in Boston maybe he will be logging back in too.

Hope you will be back on rappin with reefbum soon you are my favorite guest

Sorry for the hijack Syntax

 

[dz6t]

Do you mean me
If you do,I log on now and again,It's great to see some familiar people still active in BRS.
Although I am no longer in MA I have great memories from back in the day and enjoy seeing you guys still posting.
I saw on Facebook another blast from the past is thinking of setting up a tank again in Boston maybe he will be logging back in too.

Hope you will be back on rappin with reefbum soon you are my favorite guest

Sorry for the hijack Syntax

Yes, great to see you posting again. I still have your clove polyps and now the colony is over a thousand polyps.