Yay..now you need another one too make the close loop and one more for return...

I have some unhappy news to report my tank is still killing SPS, so I am harboring thoughts of killing it after my 180g is up and running.

I added some SPS, and I'm starting to see the beginning of the death pattern. The polyps no longer come out on my new SPS, and I'm seeing bleaching in the tips.

I was also away this past week, and came home to dead clams. Those two tiny clams posted above died. I came home and they were buried in my new sandbed and weren't seen. I dug them out and one was gone, and the other looked like it may make it. Both are now dead.

I feel like a failure because I can't make this tank work for me, only against me. I posted up a request for help thread here. I closed my one on RC because I kept getting suggestions that were not only out to lunch, but showed that the responders hadn't even attempted to look at my tank journal thread.

On the bright side all my fish are doing well, my remaining clams are growing and sucking back the Ca like nobody's business. I've had to bump up the output on my reactors lately. I'm also liking the sandbed I added back in. It brightens up the tank, and it gives the system a whole new look.

I'm really sorry to hear this.

For what it's worth, I saw the same patterns on my 75g for the last 2 years. Everytime I thought I was in the clear, I'd try some new frags, and they'd never make it. Same thing. Start off with less polyp extension, then tip bleaching, then eventual RTN.

For what it's worth, I never really solved it either. I just basically embraced zeovit and hoped for the best, thinking that if I can't solve what ails them, perhaps I can make them so strong that they grow faster than they can die. Does it work? Well, .. maybe. I have still lost frags in the last couple months, same pattern. But at least it doesn't appear to be 100% losses (so far ... touch wood :neutral:), so there may be an improvement.

But embracing zeovit shouldn't be the solution. I just did it to grasp at a final straw and see how it would go.

So I hate to say it but I think whatever it is, may indeed not really be solvable. It's not the usual suspects of parameters, it's not nutrient buildup, it's not red bugs and it's not flatworms. (I think.) .. I believe it to be pathological in nature (ie., bacterial, protozoan or perhaps fungal). Whatever it is, it can remain latent in an otherwise SPS-fallow tank for long periods of time.

If this is the case, then I'm afraid I can only offer the suggestion that I think your idea of throwing in the towel (on the tank at least, not overall in the hobby) is really the only magic bullet solution. Start a new tank, new glass, new sand, new rock, new everything. Sell the rock to someone who wants it for a FOWLR (since clearly fish are not at risk, at least mine don't seem to be).

It is basically my plan. I'm planning on all new rock for my 280g, which is one of the reasons the tank is so delayed in startup. I didn't quite realize when I was planning a 280g that I'd be looking to buy all new rock when the time came to put water in it ... :eek: Oh well, that's neither here nor there. I'm sorry to hear of your continued frustrations. I know what it's like, because I've been there.. The worst part is I'm not really sure that I'm not still there or not, I'm just hoping for the best.

I think you are right, the 180 will have all new rock and sand. I'll get seeder sand rock from trusted sources and go from there. Not really I cost I want to pay, but in the end its probably the best way to go about doing it. Maybe a huge order from Marco rocks or something similar is in order.

I just wonder how to transfer over the livestock without moving over whatever is causing the SPS deaths. Do I QT everything between this tank and the 180? I worry that something will carry it over.

I don't know the call on that one. My intention is to keep my fish so I'm going to hope that they don't bring it over. I'll just try to swap as little water as possible when the time comes and hope for the best. It's probably not the best idea but what else can a person do?

What's Marco rock? I was thinking of ordering some Eco-Rox as it's basically Fiji rock but dry. Stuff looks wicked, and at $2.50ish per pound I'll happily take it dried...

I just read on another reef forum of people getting tainted silicone and it doing something similar. I will try and find the thread. But basically it said the silicone was treated with a fungicide even though it wasn't supposed to have been. Same thing fish lived corals, clams, most inverts did not. I wonder if there is a way to clip some silicone and do a test? Maybe the levels are low that only effects sps...as they are proably one of the most sensitive in the tank?

Marco is about the same as Eco-Rox. Dry will mean its cheaper both in shipping and cost.

I'll probably do the same. Fill the 180g, get everything in line and just transfer everything over with very little water from the 28g. I'll probably devise something so I can acclimate my clams, and over time dilute the water from the 28g.

Post the link if you find it, its worth a look or two.

Catherine, there has been a proliferation recently of people unhappy with marco rocks on RC. Just a heads up, as he has many happy people in the past. Good thing about base rock 100 pounds usually is equiv to 200 pounds...well maybe not quite when wet :)

I saw that about Marco Rocks. Although lately he seems to have been sorting out the problem. From what I understand some of it was growing pains, and some of it was late shipments. I'm not even sure if they can be shipped to Canada. I'm looking up Eco-Rox details now actually.