Anyone maybe know why I can’t keep a single hard coral without it being suffocated and dying? Everytime I get a f’ing hard coral, this brown crud starts from the tips and kills it’s way down the entire thing. It’s not slimy. I can’t brush it out of existence. Tank parameters are stable. I feed daily and I don’t believe I over feed for my stock. 9 hour light cycle right now. 40% intensity on 2 xr15’s. The coloring on the coral when i pulled out was brown and other parts slightly green. Diatoms really killing my coral? It’s not slimy so I don’t believe it’s Dinos. I’m at a loss. If it’s not a softie, it doesn’t live and even so, some of my softies get irritated by it and don’t open up as much.
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Stylo Death
- Thread starter Cjk90978
- Start date
DangerDave
NJRC Member
How’s the phosphates?
1.0-1.2
Just did a change on gfo and carbon yesterday as a precaution.
DangerDave
NJRC Member
Do you mean .1 - .12
I do sorry
If any one has sage advice for this question. I am sure it will benefit many. So don’t be shy. I know there is no magic answers. But let’s talk it Out. What works for you and what doesn’t. This goes to our fine supporters and venders. In the end we all want the same thing. Happy healthy coral
DangerDave
NJRC Member
Those phos #s are fine. That should be as close to a bullet proof coral as there is.
You should post every detail you can think of. For example lights. I don’t know those lights, but if you add how high they are mounted, how deep the tank is, and where it was mounted. and someone may have a better idea on how much light that is.
You should post every detail you can think of. For example lights. I don’t know those lights, but if you add how high they are mounted, how deep the tank is, and where it was mounted. and someone may have a better idea on how much light that is.
Matt, this is a tough discussion. My old tank I had reactors for GFO and carbon with T5 lights over a 75g with a sump.
Now I have LED's and both tanks were in the same house until I moved. So tank 1 SPS no good, tank 2 SPS good.
To this day I cannot figure it out.
Now I have LED's and both tanks were in the same house until I moved. So tank 1 SPS no good, tank 2 SPS good.
To this day I cannot figure it out.
Agreed and understood. Hence the reason I feel an open discussion is sooo important. Let’s air it out. No information is unimportant. I realize. We won’t solve everything here. But if we help just one coral. I’m satisfied
Everything I can think of:
Alk- 9.0-9.5
Cal-450
Mg- 1350
Phos-1.0
Nitrates- forget the number but I was within range
2 XR 15s- Running 40% intensity.
Tank is a RSR 350. ~70 display 20 sump. Currently running gfo/carbon in media reactor cup. Filter sock in the other slot. Octopus 150 INT skimmer. Green machine UV (the biggest one.)
Mp40 on the left. Mp10 on the right side.
Fish- 2 black clown, naoke wrasse, niger trigger, flamehawk and bengai cardinal. 2 emerald crap. Mix of trochus, cerith, bumble bee snails. Approximately 15 in tank right now.
Corals are all softies.
I feed fish daily. Phyto and reefroids 2x per week. Typically Wednesday and Saturday.
Water changes every 2 weeks.
Acropower and vibrant added weekly.
I added a picture of the tank in its entirety. You can see where I had the stylo right in the middle.
I'd approximate the lights are 8" above the water line. Tank is 21" deep.
If theres anything I missed let me know but I think I got it all.
Alk- 9.0-9.5
Cal-450
Mg- 1350
Phos-1.0
Nitrates- forget the number but I was within range
2 XR 15s- Running 40% intensity.
Tank is a RSR 350. ~70 display 20 sump. Currently running gfo/carbon in media reactor cup. Filter sock in the other slot. Octopus 150 INT skimmer. Green machine UV (the biggest one.)
Mp40 on the left. Mp10 on the right side.
Fish- 2 black clown, naoke wrasse, niger trigger, flamehawk and bengai cardinal. 2 emerald crap. Mix of trochus, cerith, bumble bee snails. Approximately 15 in tank right now.
Corals are all softies.
I feed fish daily. Phyto and reefroids 2x per week. Typically Wednesday and Saturday.
Water changes every 2 weeks.
Acropower and vibrant added weekly.
I added a picture of the tank in its entirety. You can see where I had the stylo right in the middle.
I'd approximate the lights are 8" above the water line. Tank is 21" deep.
If theres anything I missed let me know but I think I got it all.
Attachments
DangerDave
NJRC Member
If you’re actively treating for algae with vibrant, that could maybe be contributing to it. You should read the vibrant thread on R2R, a few reefs have had an adverse effect (not me), maybe you can find someone with the same issue.
Pho’s 1.0. Is a little high. And I agree about vibrant. It’s a great product. But if you require it constantly than you May have to much nutrient. Tank looks great and info is awesome. Have question. As a snap shot. You parameters look sweet but how do you maintain them. More specifically how stable is your alkaline. Does it swing much
Thank you. I manually dose every night I’d say I keep alk between 9.0-9.5 consistently. I started used vibrant only maybe a month ago. Had the same issue before started with vibrant with a Millie. I think my next actions will be a full tank clean down tomorrow and dosing. 3 days lights out starting Sunday. I’ve been reading and it appears the media cups don’t work too well unless in the path of direct flow so I may have to redesign how my gfo/carbon react with water. Possibly time for a reactor.
Send pics of media cups and sump layout. I am aware most people use GFO but it has always bothered me how prevalent. Water changes should keep its necessity down. And since it works like any chemical absorbent it starts out stripping rapidly and slows down as it is consumed so unless you use small amounts and change it often then phos will bounce and any bouncing is worse than high of the same thing on a reef. Remember stability is key. However it’s fairly obvious you are a carful diligent Reefer and I certainly am no marine biologist hahaha. In short my initial guess is your phos is to high and best practice is to change what’s making it get high.
Now i will be the first to say i am no expert regarding SPS or coral disease, i wouldn't even call my self a novice... but i did sleep in a holiday inn one time.. maybe it coulda been a red roof inn and i do not remember if i slept much that night.
How ever reading this reminded me of something i once read in a book about coral. There was a topic about Black Spot aka Dark spot disease from what i can tell the people that named coral illnesses really liked to go with simple call it what it looks like names, any ways it was described as dark colored spots appearing across the surface of the coral, these spots can be brown or dark purple in color and may or may not grow in size kinda like a cancer its either stable or it isnt. IF they do grow it consumes the corals tissue leaving a stained skeleton behind and so like cancer it consumes until the coral can not survive.
Unfortunately not much is known about this disease it has not been linked to a bacteria, fungus, or parasite .. so there really is know remedy which is a tough case to ask for advice on.
But thinking on a more positive note i do have a theory!
You have mentioned alot of different things about your tank, its set up, water chemistry, and its history. You told us that every piece of SPS you place in its water turns out the same and that everything else seems fine. So the question you need to think about is why SPS and what cant I see?
First what is your water source? is it tap water from the city? water from a well? do you buy it from the store? if it comes from your home from any source is it filtered in any way? is there and RODI system in place?
if we are going with it isn't algae or bacteria or some other type of single celled organism taking up residence where it isn't wanted and killing your coral then we have to think about the coral it self
Coral grow, feed, and rebuild using the chemistry and make up of the water. They absorb its nutrients, minerals, proteins, and trace elements like sponge SPS especially need this because they depend more on this stuff to build there skeleton, were as (dont qoute me on this) LPS and softies have more Zooxanthelle to produce energy threw light and have smaller skeletons in comparison and bigger polyps.
In biochemistry it has been seen that some times the body will absorb "things" ( i am using things as a catch all for the nutrients, minerals, and stuff) with a similar molecular make up to the things it naturally needs and in some case these other things can be over absorbed and block of the important good stuff from getting in. You see this a lot with Pharmacology, but what i am trying to get at is there could be things in your water being absorbed by the SPS that you dont test for and normally wouldn't think to look for. Things like lead, arsenic, zinc, copper, mercury, radon, fluoride, tritium, and just about what ever could be in the water.
You have two options, buy water from a different source and set up another small tank test it see if the SPS does fine or send your water out for a testing by a lab.
How ever reading this reminded me of something i once read in a book about coral. There was a topic about Black Spot aka Dark spot disease from what i can tell the people that named coral illnesses really liked to go with simple call it what it looks like names, any ways it was described as dark colored spots appearing across the surface of the coral, these spots can be brown or dark purple in color and may or may not grow in size kinda like a cancer its either stable or it isnt. IF they do grow it consumes the corals tissue leaving a stained skeleton behind and so like cancer it consumes until the coral can not survive.
Unfortunately not much is known about this disease it has not been linked to a bacteria, fungus, or parasite .. so there really is know remedy which is a tough case to ask for advice on.
But thinking on a more positive note i do have a theory!
You have mentioned alot of different things about your tank, its set up, water chemistry, and its history. You told us that every piece of SPS you place in its water turns out the same and that everything else seems fine. So the question you need to think about is why SPS and what cant I see?
First what is your water source? is it tap water from the city? water from a well? do you buy it from the store? if it comes from your home from any source is it filtered in any way? is there and RODI system in place?
if we are going with it isn't algae or bacteria or some other type of single celled organism taking up residence where it isn't wanted and killing your coral then we have to think about the coral it self
Coral grow, feed, and rebuild using the chemistry and make up of the water. They absorb its nutrients, minerals, proteins, and trace elements like sponge SPS especially need this because they depend more on this stuff to build there skeleton, were as (dont qoute me on this) LPS and softies have more Zooxanthelle to produce energy threw light and have smaller skeletons in comparison and bigger polyps.
In biochemistry it has been seen that some times the body will absorb "things" ( i am using things as a catch all for the nutrients, minerals, and stuff) with a similar molecular make up to the things it naturally needs and in some case these other things can be over absorbed and block of the important good stuff from getting in. You see this a lot with Pharmacology, but what i am trying to get at is there could be things in your water being absorbed by the SPS that you dont test for and normally wouldn't think to look for. Things like lead, arsenic, zinc, copper, mercury, radon, fluoride, tritium, and just about what ever could be in the water.
You have two options, buy water from a different source and set up another small tank test it see if the SPS does fine or send your water out for a testing by a lab.
look i know that was probably a horribly written mess, i never was really good at writing but i hope that kinda makes sense and you can use it towards solving your coral issue