SPS Bleached...

[A.ocellaris]

Hey folks,

 

So here am I with more issues and you are the only ones that can help me . On May 21 I acquired a few SPS (Cyphastrea *on the bottom of the tank*, Jack O'Lantern Lepto *in the midde of the tank*, and a Bonsai Acro *at the top of the tank*. All of them suffered some damages and other are gone and I can't figure out the why since the parameters I can test are within range and there are not much swing with exception of PO4 and Nitrates. 

 

The Bonsai Acro bleached today within hours of me completing some maintenance with the water pump. I noticed some bleaching on its base and took some pictures so that I can ask you guys for advise, but when I returned home it was 70% bleached. I noticed more brown algae on the sand and rocks and the anemone just started to move (which is always a bad signal). 

 

 

Today at 9am:

 

Today at 5pm:

 

 

After this I decided to test almost all water parameters and results are below:

 

Ammonia: 0.ppm (API)

Nitritres: 0ppm (API)

Nitrates: 1.0 ppm (Salifert. It was .20 last week)

Phosphate: .18 (Hanna. PO4 was .07 last week)

pH: 8.0 (API)

kH: 9.1 (Hanna)

Salinity: 1.025 (Calibrated Refractometer)

Calcium: 420 (API)

Magnesium: 1320ppm (Salifert)

Temp: 79.3F 

 

I also have an IM Ghost Skimmer, ATO system, heater, and 2 power heads.

 

 

 

Recent Changes and Additives:

 

I've been using NoPox to reduce PO4 and NO3 for the past 3 weeks. and this week I cut dose in half because I did not want to have zero and starve corals. Also I use Amino Acid concentrate (1 drop per day). I also believe that I increased the royal blue and UV light, but no more than 10% each (the Cyphastrea died before this change). Keep in mind I use 1 Al Prime HD and settings are below. This light is 13" above water.

 

 

 

 

 

Other corals look fine, specially the softies. The anemone is looking good but started to move today. Water changes are 10% weekly. Any suggestions? 

 

Thanks

Edited June 2, 2018 by A.ocellaris

[Origami]

That's not bleaching. It's RTN - rapid tissue necrosis. The frag will likely die before the night is over.

 

It's a shame, too. It looks like it was fully encrusted on the frag plug. There could be a lot of reasons for this. We never really know. It could be the sudden change in parameters. It could be that you started out too high in the tank and it was too bright. There never seems to be a single definitive answer for RTN. 

[gmerek2]

Like origami said there is a million factors it seems for RTN. Sometimes my SPS don’t tell me they are angry until a week after I make the mistake so it’s hard to narrow down the problem. The tank looks newer based on the look of the rock. I couldn’t keep SPS until my tank was 6 months old. I kept sending in new frags they would do fine for a bit then die. Every tank is different though so it may take more or less time for your tank and there is no real way to know when it’s ready. The good news is it gets easier as the tank gets older and the phosphate and nitrate issues seem to go away for me as the tank gets older.

[CK Reef]

Couldn't agree more with Tom & Brian, a lot of things can cause RTN for SPS: light, nutrients, contaminants, temp swing, alk swing...etc.. In your case, we probably could cross lightning out of the problem. Your AI Prime only use 21W and it's 13" over the tank so I highly doubt that lightning was the problem. May I ask how did you do the pump maintenance? Also, like Brian said, your tank looks new base on the look of the rock, it could also be something leeching out from the rock if not properly treated. I would recommend you to run carbon and polyfilter then do 15-20% wc every few days to see how it goes. 

Edited June 3, 2018 by darkseeker

[madweazl]

Couldn't agree more with Tom & Brian, a lot of things can cause RTN for SPS: light, nutrients, contaminants, temp swing, alk swing...etc.. In your case, we probably could cross lightning out of the problem. Your AI Prime only use 21W and it's 13" over the tank so I highly doubt that lightning was the problem. May I ask how did you do the pump maintenance? Also, like Brian said, your tank looks new base on the look of the rock, it could also be something leeching out from the rock if not properly treated. I would recommend you to run carbon and polyfilter then do 15-20% wc every few days to see how it goes. 

And if you do go with water changes on the larger side, make sure the alkalinity of the freshly mixed water is close to the that of what is currently in the tank. If the fresh mixed water is considerably higher, it can be reduced with a number of items but I use muriatic acid. Doing so causes the pH to plummet so you have to aerate the water well prior to use (I let it mix over night). I know there are many people that keep SPS with higher alkalinity levels but 6.5-8.0 dKh has been the most forgiving in my tank. 

Edited June 3, 2018 by madweazl

[A.ocellaris]

Thanks for your answers, I really appreciate it! My tank is basically new. It has been running for 2 months and 9 days with live rock.

 

Couldn't agree more with Tom & Brian, a lot of things can cause RTN for SPS: light, nutrients, contaminants, temp swing, alk swing...etc.. In your case, we probably could cross lightning out of the problem. Your AI Prime only use 21W and it's 13" over the tank so I highly doubt that lightning was the problem. May I ask how did you do the pump maintenance? Also, like Brian said, your tank looks new base on the look of the rock, it could also be something leeching out from the rock if not properly treated. I would recommend you to run carbon and polyfilter then do 15-20% wc every few days to see how it goes. 

 

 

Darkseeker, I decided to clean the water pump because I noticed that the heater is set at 78º, but the water temperature is always 79.1-79.7, so I thought the water pump was kind of clogged and releasing heat to the tank (it did not change). I did rinse it with fresh water for a few minutes and did not use any chemicals, vinegar  or detergents. I just replaced carbon and hope things stay normal.

 

 

And if you do go with water changes on the larger side, make sure the alkalinity of the freshly mixed water is close to the that of what is currently in the tank. If the fresh mixed water is considerably higher, it can be reduced with a number of items but I use muriatic acid. Doing so causes the pH to plummet so you have to aerate the water well prior to use (I let it mix over night). I know there are many people that keep SPS with higher alkalinity levels but 6.5-8.0 dKh has been the most forgiving in my tank. 

 

 

Madweazl, I think my pH is always low (8.0) and I bet overnight it gets even lower. I live in a very closed apt and even with windows open it does not get any higher. Do you also match pH when performing water changes? How do I do it? 

 

Thank you all!

[madweazl]

Thanks for your answers, I really appreciate it! My tank is basically new. It has been running for 2 months and 9 days with live rock.

 

...

 

Madweazl, I think my pH is always low (8.0) and I bet overnight it gets even lower. I live in a very closed apt and even with windows open it does not get any higher. Do you also match pH when performing water changes? How do I do it? 

 

Thank you all!

 

CO2 is typically the limiting factor for our tanks pH and this time of year, that is exacerbated due to the relatively high temps and humidity (uncomfortable in house so we just have the a/c blasting all summer). While corals can show accelerated growth at higher pH levels, it isn't something I concern myself with at all (typically in the 7.8-8.05 range). As you aerate your freshly mixed water, it will equalize to whatever your tank is due to the CO2 in your homes air. To answer the question directly, I do nothing to equalize them; they will equalize regardless. 

Edited June 3, 2018 by madweazl

[CK Reef]

Did you let the pump dry or wash it again with rodi or tank water? I always consider tap water contaminated (at least in my area, tds is always 150-160).

For future references, I believe temp between 76-84 is ok for a reef tank as long as it doesn't swing like crazy. Also, heater's thermostat usually do not work very well. That's why it's important to use temp controller (such as apex system).

Your pH at 8.0 is totally fine. Like I said, stability is more important than numbers. Corals and fishes actually could adapt to different conditions better than we thought. The instabilities are the most common reasons for deceased livestocks. But if you want to have a desired pH at 8.3-8.4, you can use CO2 scrubber.

[A.ocellaris]

Did you let the pump dry or wash it again with rodi or tank water? I always consider tap water contaminated (at least in my area, tds is always 150-160).

For future references, I believe temp between 76-84 is ok for a reef tank as long as it doesn't swing like crazy. Also, heater's thermostat usually do not work very well. That's why it's important to use temp controller (such as apex system).

Your pH at 8.0 is totally fine. Like I said, stability is more important than numbers. Corals and fishes actually could adapt to different conditions better than we thought. The instabilities are the most common reasons for deceased livestocks. But if you want to have a desired pH at 8.3-8.4, you can use CO2 scrubber.

 

Do you know if I can also monitor my ATO/Salinity with Neptune? I've been using an ATO that kind of failed twice by either not turning on when needed and one day it put more water than needed. Nothining bad happened because I am monitoring the tank very closely, but I will be away for vacations in August. I was wondering if Neptune can turn it off once it reaches 1.026 just avoid issues?

[YHSublime]

I think part of the problem is that your tank is young as well. It's still going through changes and figuring itself out. That coupled with fluxing variables is all part of the recipe here. 

[madweazl]

Do you know if I can also monitor my ATO/Salinity with Neptune? I've been using an ATO that kind of failed twice by either not turning on when needed and one day it put more water than needed. Nothining bad happened because I am monitoring the tank very closely, but I will be away for vacations in August. I was wondering if Neptune can turn it off once it reaches 1.026 just avoid issues?

 

You can setup a rule for that but my personal opinion is that you'd be crazy to trust the salinity probe in the first place. 

[BtmDweller]

Ha! My salinity probe has been way off. Tried calibrating several times and pretty sure no stray current in the tank or around the probe cable.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CK Reef]

Do you know if I can also monitor my ATO/Salinity with Neptune? I've been using an ATO that kind of failed twice by either not turning on when needed and one day it put more water than needed. Nothining bad happened because I am monitoring the tank very closely, but I will be away for vacations in August. I was wondering if Neptune can turn it off once it reaches 1.026 just avoid issues?

Yes, technically, you can. Just out of curiosity, which ATO are you using? My Smart ATO is a bit annoying but it never dumps excessive water in my tank. 

You can try this:

Set On

If Condx4 > 36 then ON

If Condx4 < 34 then OFF

 

Remember, salinity also relies on your temp, that's why configuring ATO base on salinity is not strongly recommended unless you can keep a perfectly stable temp in your tank.