Dieing SPS

[Milad]

Originally Posted by tang daddy

From my experience, sps rtn isn't caused by pests because no animals can consume a large colony in one day. I had some sps rtn before, some were wild colonies and others was due to heat in the summer with temps rising above 89f. I also had a tank crash because of meds and disturbing the sand bed. But since you don't have wild colonies and run a chiller there's definitely something in the water. Have you been dosing anything new when you started to notice the symptoms of rtn? Something in the water that the sps don't like for them to die off so suddenly. Hope you get the problem rectified soon, I would say like others have suggested maybe some water changes to dissipate whatever is poisoning the sps.

The interesting part is Ive been messing with the tank much much less. Since I got the pellets online and my nitrates and phosphates are zero, Ive basically left the tank alone except for emptying the skimmer every few days. My zoas are growing like wildfire, only one colony died which was attacked by a aptsia. The purple death i bought from you at last year's frag meet has gone from 3 heads to about 40ish and its in a low light zone.

Did you dip the SPS that you got off of that somebody with something like Coral RX. I have read from other peoples journals that you should take any remaining bleached corals out, frag out any white spots on existing sps and give them a dip.

[daniella3d]

Really? I have my SPS in very low flow for 2 years now...everything is growing like weeds and beautiful. Some SPS have so little flow that you can't really see the polyp move.

I had a tank crash in my nano where both montipora cap bleached in one day and a few LPS died, not sure why but probably because that tank was very much neglected. But I had a colony of acropora millipora in there and it survived without a glitch... When I closed down my nano I took the millipora out and wam in the main tank with no acclimatation at all. It almost totaly bleached overnight and in 2 weeks it's almost back to its full color again. These things are really tough!

Months? like how many months?

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

What is your flow like? I've found that many species of coral both soft and stony can appear to do fine for months with inadequate flow and then suddenly die.

[TimT]

Your Potassium is high. It should be 390 - 400 and not 450. IME Acros(only acros and not other SPS) are very sensitive to Potassium. I would do some water changes to correct it.

[abcha0s]

I'm having a very simalar problem. Over the past two weeks, I've lost about 1/3 of my SPS. All of the parameters that I have tested are in range and stable.

I agree with Brett. Don't put your LED lighting over the tank until you have it stable.

I would look closely at the biopellets as a possible cause? If not directly, then perhaps indirectly. Low nutrient systems are know to be less stable. Your Alk is also high for a bioplellet system. Others have reported problems when their Alk climbs over 7.

I do have a question for the other posters - perhaps it will also benifit the OP. I changed salt about 3-4 weeks before my problems began. I'm not convinced the problem is the salt itself, but could the change in chemistry have caused the problems? Should I change back (another change in Chemistry) or should I ride it out?

Good luck with your tank Milad.

- Brad

[RedCoralEdmonton]

I agree that ULNS plus high alk = bad... either drop the alk or stop the ULNS, id bet money it fixes your problem

Steve

[daniella3d]

I almost lost all my zoanthids when I changed to H2O salt. Other people have reported they lost a few of their SPS when switching to H2O salt, especially digitata. When I returned to IO Reef Crystal my zoanthids came back. I never saw any effect on my SPS though.

Just curious but what salt did you use before and why/what did you cange for?

I changed because I thought that I would not have to dose any more with a stronger salt but I was wrong..it was more expensive and I had to dose just the same. Why did you change?

Originally Posted by abcha0s@conceptaquatics

I'm having anvery simalar problem. Over the past two weeks, I've lost about 1/3 of my SPS. All of the parameters that I have tested are in range and stable.

I agree with Brett. Don't put your LED lighting over the tank until you have it stable.

I would look closely at the biopellets as a possible cause? If not directly, then perhaps indirectly. Low nutrient systems are know to be less stable. Your Alk is also high for a bioplellet system. Others have reported problems when their Alk climbs over 7.

I do have a question for the other posters - perhaps it will also benifit the OP. I changed salt about 3-4 weeks before my problems began. I'm not convinced the problem is the salt itself, but could the change in chemistry have caused the problems? Should I change back (another change in Chemistry) or should I ride it out?

Good luck with your tank Milad.

- Brad

[TimT]

My experience comes from a salt mix change from Reef Crystals to Marinium. It was only a 20% water change with Marinium and I started losing Acros the next day. Only acros were effected, no other SPS. After 3 x 60% water changes with RC in a week things started to stabilize. The manufacturer did admit that the Potassium was low.

[kien]

I had a similar episode last summer. Lost 80% of my SPS over 5 days and I hadn't even changed anything for months. My conclusion is the same as untamed and aquottro's. Some infection or illness perhaps. Remember that these are close nit colonies. All it takes is one Polyp to catch a cold and the colony is hooped :-(. You can actually see it as it unfolds. It usually starts with a very small area that gets bigger and bigger from that point as it spreads like wildfire. If you nip off the tips or branches before the infection has reached it you can sometimes save it.

Anyway, I never changed anything during and after that even. Tank still has the same flow, biopellets, carbon, gfo regime, same old same old. Although over the past few months I have been using a new salt with every water change. I rotate through Reef Crystals, H2Ocean, Royal Nature and Aquavitro. This is not for the faint of heart :-). Everything seems to be okay though.

[StirCrazy]

this is common in the summer, whats your temp been doing?

Steve