SPS dying but only some

[Mr. Leemr]

So I'm no stranger to reefing and have been at it for some time and have seen my share of crashes due to equipment failures, overdosing etc.. growing pains I guess. My latest issue is quite strange and is the reason for the post, hoping for some input here. I currently have a 40 breeder mixed reef with some established SPS colonies some going on 5+ years. I noticed last Friday that some corals were not looking as sharp and appeared to be irritated, i thought ill test water tomorrow and see what's up. Saturday morning all of my Birds nest, Pocillipora, Birds of paradise and montipora colonies were completely bone white without a single polyp to be had anywhere. Other colonies are completely fine and look decent showing no signs of stress. Water tests out ok and as follows:
Calcium a little high @ 480 ppm
Alkalinity 9 DKH
PH 8.1 ( always low)
Salinity 1.026
Temp rock steady @ 77-78 degrees
I'm stumped... I've done a couple partial water changes and have lowered my calcium dose a couple ml's to bring it down slow but other than that i have no ideas as to the cause of this and I'm starting to get a little irritated.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[mpsteve]

I just had an issue with my monti caps dying but there bouncing back now and I didn't change anything. Glad I couldn't of been more help but I'm in to see what the issue is

 

[thomb]

Weird... I am having a very same - thing die off of 3 select SPS colonies. But LPS and others doing very well. Restricted to corals in the upper regions.
Similar params to you but my pH is runs a bit higher... I ran salinity lower for a while than it is now - creeped up in me to 1.026 - I am slowly dropping it back to the 1.023 it was before...

Skimmer is producing more than normal I will say - and a bit more watery...

Maybe cosmic rays?

I did just think of something ... maybe I need to change my RODI filters? they got hammered since this is a reasonably new setup - well north of 200g needed to be created, then fair number of water changes... they are maybe 6 months old...

 

[reefstarter]

have you checked Nitrates ? phosphates ?

 

[delta]

PH 8.1 ( always low)

Is that the current or the low reading? low would be under 8.0.

Tanks ebb and flow could be a few thing. I would start with flow, water changes and some carbon and see if that stops it. You want to make sure the corals are getting what they need. And as the tank grows out that can be hard as the corals defuse the flow and make new dead or slow spots. Sometimes shading or coral warfare come into play.

As mentioned before do a full test array and see if anything sticks out.

If that turns up nothing and it continues look at rests

 

[this is me]

SPS can do that. Especially the Seriatopora species(Birdsnest). I've lost my bird of paradise and ponape birdsnest colony in roughly less than 48hrs. It was nothing I can do. Tried to fragged it but the frags also melt. Since everything else looked great, I didn't bother do anything.
After a month or so, I got 1" frags of the two types and growing them out again. At least they grow fast.

 

[dz6t]

What type of lighting are you using?
Birdsnest and monti can't tolerate high par.
When you do a water change, the tint of tank water can significantly cleared up (may not visible to eyes).
If monti and birdsnest were exposed to high light, they might already stressed and their photosynthesis machine might already damaged.
It is like the last straw on the camel's back (or whatever it is), they go RTN on you.

 

[Mr. Leemr]

What type of lighting are you using?
Birdsnest and monti can't tolerate high par.
When you do a water change, the tint of tank water can significantly cleared up (may not visible to eyes).
If monti and birdsnest were exposed to high light, they might already stressed and their photosynthesis machine might already damaged.
It is like the last straw on the camel's back (or whatever it is), they go RTN on you.

They're under gen3 Radion XR30 pro. Switched from a MH/ T5 combo last April so it's been almost a year. I ran the acclimation period when I switched to led and everything seemed to be doing fine and adjusted accordingly. Up until last week all of the affected corals had new growth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[thomb]

Ah... I am going with lighting issue here. What went south was a birdsnest and a monti's. I had done a program change increasing the power settings on my LED arrays.... Curse you modern technology

 

[mpsteve]

Funny that you mention lighting because mine didn't have an issue till I added the 4 t5 to my tank to supplement my radions. As per dongs advice I raised my lights, got rid of the green and red leds, and and lowered there intensity and it seems like growth on my sps is taking off and the monti's I still have are recovering.

 

[Mr. Leemr]

Is that the current or the low reading? low would be under 8.0.

Tanks ebb and flow could be a few thing. I would start with flow, water changes and some carbon and see if that stops it. You want to make sure the corals are getting what they need. And as the tank grows out that can be hard as the corals defuse the flow and make new dead or slow spots. Sometimes shading or coral warfare come into play.

As mentioned before do a full test array and see if anything sticks out.

If that turns up nothing and it continues look at rests

8.1 is at the top end usually swings day/night between 7.8 and 8.1.

 

[Mr. Leemr]

Chalking this up as an " i dunno " There is however a thick coat of green slime developing on the glass and some of the lower flow areas which i can only assume is because of all the recent die off. I cranked up the skimmer to skim a little more wet than usual and have done a few partial water changes. I also have ordered all new replacement filters for my RO unit even though they're pretty recent just in case that was somehow the culprit. Running carbon as well, hopefully things clear up.

 

[thomb]

When it rain it pours here.
Do a round of testing - Alk/CA in range. Mag a bit below spec. Salinity at 1.026.

Decide on a water change. I've got a tank+pump+drain system all you gotta do is press switches and turn valves... but I'd mismixed it (I don't have a way to pump new water directly down the drain (going to add that...)- too salty...So I was going to pump a bit, add RODI, etc. I shut off the return like I always do, but this time when I turn it back on...uh... it starts acting wak - cycling on and off... Turn it off, and back on - and then... nothing. Software glitch most likely in the Vectra's controller...

thought eh I'll give it some time maybe after capacitors drain off etc... Nope... so middle of the night rig a temporary heat source by relocating one of the in sump heaters (don't ever get rid of equipment, no matter how small your house is).

Now today, going to machine a bushing so I can use an old skimmer pump as a temporary return - jamb its output into the bulkhead.

I run my return external so its not a simple matter of swapping out a pump ... and of course the Vectra uses british unions not standard (WHY do these companies do this?!?!)... That's next item on the list to buy. Oh well, so much for the last of my sps I guess. I'm sure this will tip things over the edge.

 

[thomb]

Temporary pump in place. EcoTech replied - shipping me a new pump w/ paid return. Gotta love when a company stands behind their stuff! Sure wish I could use their powerheads in my setup....

 

[this is me]

Stated 1" and 3/4" union.
http://ecotechmarine.com/products/vectra/vectra-m1

If you need an M1 to temporary run your tank, give me a call.

 

[thomb]

Thanks! I ended up having some fun with the lathe and turning down a bushing. I've got my old skimmer pump running. I suspect I'll have the replacement pump in a few days.