sps dying slowly
- Thread starter da5speed
- Start date
Evil buggers!
I just inspected each monti and found no monti eating nudis. I even flipped over the green cap and the rock that holds the on monti and tree leather and saw nothing at all. I think what i saw this morning were just pods cleaning off any dead tissue cause they look nothing like a nudis. Im still not going to rule nubis out just yet, i will check again tonight after the lights have been off. But if i find no sign of any nubis does anyone believe that this all could have been just because the salt level was dropped to 1.021 for a unknown period of time. Also i forgot to add that last week I lost my powder blue tang to a parisite even after dipping. Dont know if that means anything for the corals but i thought i would just add that in. Thanks everyone I'll update in the morning.
In my honest opinion, I don't think it is anything specific other than the fact that the tank is fairly new and that you might be slightly inexperienced.
SPS is are very hard. Your water parameters not only need to be spot on, but many of the parameters need to be kept stable. Miss your dosing one day, or even forget to do it in the morning but make it up later that night, you could very well see tissue necrosis. Your PH swings too much, and you get tissue necrosis. The temp swings outside of acceptable parameters (Which in my opinion is larger temp range than most will tell you) you get tissue necrosis. Corals get to close together, you get tissue necrosis. You don't have enough water movement, you get tissue necrosis. Too much dissolved organics, you can get tissue necrosis. See a pattern here?
Add in the fact that you have a mix of SPS, LPS and softies and it gets even harder as a certain amount of chemical warfare starts to take place (and you get tissue necrosis). In order to deal with the chemical warfare, I would start aggressively running carbon (changed out fairly often) and keep a very strict water change routine (once a week).
I would start testing everyday, or at the least every other day so you know exactly how your parameters change. You will want to test PH twice a day for a few days as the PH will swing from the time that your lights come on, to the time the go off, and back again until the lights come back on.
After a while, it all becomes second nature.
SPS is are very hard. Your water parameters not only need to be spot on, but many of the parameters need to be kept stable. Miss your dosing one day, or even forget to do it in the morning but make it up later that night, you could very well see tissue necrosis. Your PH swings too much, and you get tissue necrosis. The temp swings outside of acceptable parameters (Which in my opinion is larger temp range than most will tell you) you get tissue necrosis. Corals get to close together, you get tissue necrosis. You don't have enough water movement, you get tissue necrosis. Too much dissolved organics, you can get tissue necrosis. See a pattern here?
Add in the fact that you have a mix of SPS, LPS and softies and it gets even harder as a certain amount of chemical warfare starts to take place (and you get tissue necrosis). In order to deal with the chemical warfare, I would start aggressively running carbon (changed out fairly often) and keep a very strict water change routine (once a week).
I would start testing everyday, or at the least every other day so you know exactly how your parameters change. You will want to test PH twice a day for a few days as the PH will swing from the time that your lights come on, to the time the go off, and back again until the lights come back on.
After a while, it all becomes second nature.
i agree with Matt. It sounds like growing pains many SPS keepers go through as they learn. Often, it is hard to pinpoint an SPS problem with just a snapshot of tank parameters, because fluctuation in any parameter can cause problems.
The colony in the first pic wasn't purchased as a frag and grown out i am guessing? Colonies and wild collected SPS are even more difficult to keep than aquacultured frags.
Focus on keeping every parameter as stable as possible.
The colony in the first pic wasn't purchased as a frag and grown out i am guessing? Colonies and wild collected SPS are even more difficult to keep than aquacultured frags.
Focus on keeping every parameter as stable as possible.
It is a new set up and i am new to salt. ive done fresh water for 20 years now and i knew coming into this there would be a lot of ups and downs. So im just going to keep my spirit high and fingers crossed. Also ill start check my watr daily and for any swings. I also will start the carbon 2. Now should i just put the carbon in a sock and drop it in my sump or should i but it in the phosphate reactor?
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Carbon will work much better in a reactor, a phosphate reactor works great.
Keep your spirit highs, it takes awhile to get a feel for it. As much science as there is behind these things, there is still an "art" to this and an ability to react to what is going on in your tank based upon past experience.
ok so i checked all my levels in the morning before the lights turned on. The salt. 1.023 ph 7.9 alk 8.4 am 0 nitrates 0 nitrites 0 calcium 470. I checked the ph again 6 hours after the lights had been on and its up to 8.3.
Is that to much of a swing? If so how can i regulate it??
Ill check the level again tonight after the light have turned off.
planning on adding the carbon monday.
Is that to much of a swing? If so how can i regulate it??
Ill check the level again tonight after the light have turned off.
planning on adding the carbon monday.
- Location
- Flushing, NY
What phosphate test kit brand are you using? And what is "low"
Most test kits will say zero when its low, and if you detect something, that might be already too much.
.2 is very high, I aim for .05. For what it is worth, most phosphate test kits are horrible. I hear that the Elos and Hatch kits are good, while a number of people on this board use a Hana Meter (a colorimeter). Without speniding a good chunk of change, it is easier to just assume that your phosphates are high and work from there.
That being said. I don't think high phosphates is necessarily causing your problem but rather swings in any number of readings, including phosphate if you just started using GFO, Alk, PH, Temp....etc.... etc.
one way to help control ph swings is to use an alternate lighting cycle on your refugium if you have one. You will still have a swing in ph, as your fuge is likely much smaller than your display tank, but it should help.
and fwiw, i have about a .3 swing in ph, which never caused me any problems.
and fwiw, i have about a .3 swing in ph, which never caused me any problems.
i didnt mean off as in not turned on, obviously.
i mean make sure its correct.
how do you read your temp?
from your sump?
its not impossible that there are areas of your tank that run warmer, depending on if you use powerheads, where the lights are etc
i mean make sure its correct.
how do you read your temp?
from your sump?
its not impossible that there are areas of your tank that run warmer, depending on if you use powerheads, where the lights are etc
i have one of the $10 digital thermometers. I have it placed in the middle of my sump, not near the heater or any of the pumps. And again i will try to get the parameters ups today with a pic.
One thing that i think is weird is its been going on for around a month now. So the red monti cap gets about 20 little white spots on it which i think is dying tissue. But there is no die off so far. Ill get the pic up this afternoon which will give a good comparison to the one on the first page of this post.
One thing that i think is weird is its been going on for around a month now. So the red monti cap gets about 20 little white spots on it which i think is dying tissue. But there is no die off so far. Ill get the pic up this afternoon which will give a good comparison to the one on the first page of this post.
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