And just like that it has been six months since my last tank update haha… this will be a long one and I apologize in advance. Tank has gone through a lot of changes since June. After seeing amazing growth through probably August, I started losing frags and in some case mini SPS colonies and my tank went into a major tail spin and CRASHED hard. I lost pretty much all of my acros. It was absolutely heat breaking to see them melt away. I never experienced something like this before in the hobby. It was mostly RTN / STN starting at the tips of the corals and working its way down to the bases but some were the opposite as well. I didn't see any sign of pests whatsoever but over the next two months, pretty much everything died minus a select few monti’s, euphyllia and a few across. See the tank before the crash below:
After doing multiple ICP tests from different companies (Triton / ICP Analysis) and double checking all testing (Hanna, Salifert, NYOS, Red Sea), calibration, etc,, I couldn’t find anything wrong. All levels stayed in the ideal ranges and there were no tank / equipment changes. Only thing I could come up with was slightly dirty RODI filters. I do 10% weekly auto water changes and always have and religiously fill my mixing tanks at the same time and monitor TDS during / after to confirm everything is good. I ended up getting a 1 TDS reading when I went to go mix up a new batch after a few weeks into the first signs of problems occurring in the tank. The only other things I could come up with was maybe my city water was treated with something that got through to the system somehow or someone in my house (kids, dog, cleaning lady, etc) dumped something into the tank accidentally. I highly doubt any of these were the issue either because all them know better, my cleaning lady uses no chemicals in the basement where the tank is and we do not burn candles, etc.
With that said, I don't give up easily so I proceeded to change all my RODI filters, cleaned and sterilized mixing bins, replaced incoming RODI tubing, ran carbon more frequently and did a few larger water changes and restarted my 10% AWC process with fresh salt. I started adding Brightwell bacteria and amino's back into the system and continued to feed heavily. I eventually switched to the KZ flatworm stop and coral booster program for the (3) months following and stayed the path. I let the tank run its path and tank recovered very nicely and started growing coralline algae by the sheet. All parameters have stayed super consistent and I’m having a much easier time keeping nitrates and phosphates at a manageable level compared to having to dose previously. In early December, I added the first new batch of tester corals from WWC and all has gone really well. See some pictures below of WWC testers and some additional TSA corals added in:
I added a male Blue Jaw Trigger Fish (my favorite fish) and will be looking to add a few new tank mates now that the tank has settled out again. My Walt Disney is popping new heads constantly, green anacropora growing great and monti’s have recovered nicely. I have some additional corals coming in from Fraghouse this week and am happy to get back to growing acros finally. This hobby has a great way of humbling you but that is why I love it. Happy New Year and happy reefing! I hope 2021 brings huge coral growth and healthy fish to all!
After doing multiple ICP tests from different companies (Triton / ICP Analysis) and double checking all testing (Hanna, Salifert, NYOS, Red Sea), calibration, etc,, I couldn’t find anything wrong. All levels stayed in the ideal ranges and there were no tank / equipment changes. Only thing I could come up with was slightly dirty RODI filters. I do 10% weekly auto water changes and always have and religiously fill my mixing tanks at the same time and monitor TDS during / after to confirm everything is good. I ended up getting a 1 TDS reading when I went to go mix up a new batch after a few weeks into the first signs of problems occurring in the tank. The only other things I could come up with was maybe my city water was treated with something that got through to the system somehow or someone in my house (kids, dog, cleaning lady, etc) dumped something into the tank accidentally. I highly doubt any of these were the issue either because all them know better, my cleaning lady uses no chemicals in the basement where the tank is and we do not burn candles, etc.
With that said, I don't give up easily so I proceeded to change all my RODI filters, cleaned and sterilized mixing bins, replaced incoming RODI tubing, ran carbon more frequently and did a few larger water changes and restarted my 10% AWC process with fresh salt. I started adding Brightwell bacteria and amino's back into the system and continued to feed heavily. I eventually switched to the KZ flatworm stop and coral booster program for the (3) months following and stayed the path. I let the tank run its path and tank recovered very nicely and started growing coralline algae by the sheet. All parameters have stayed super consistent and I’m having a much easier time keeping nitrates and phosphates at a manageable level compared to having to dose previously. In early December, I added the first new batch of tester corals from WWC and all has gone really well. See some pictures below of WWC testers and some additional TSA corals added in:
I added a male Blue Jaw Trigger Fish (my favorite fish) and will be looking to add a few new tank mates now that the tank has settled out again. My Walt Disney is popping new heads constantly, green anacropora growing great and monti’s have recovered nicely. I have some additional corals coming in from Fraghouse this week and am happy to get back to growing acros finally. This hobby has a great way of humbling you but that is why I love it. Happy New Year and happy reefing! I hope 2021 brings huge coral growth and healthy fish to all!