Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 (edited) Guys, I woke up this morning only to find every coral in my tank losing color. Also I don't see much polyp extension as there was yesterday! What the h@#$! is going on?!! The Ca is 480 ppm, the temp is 77.6 F Please help!!! YESTERDAY TODAY Edited April 23, 2011 by Reefoholic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Ivers April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 Did you check your ALK? pH? Salinity? Also were the pictures taken at the same time of day? I've seen corals color up later in the day as I guess they "warm up" especially some SPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 (edited) Did you check your ALK? pH? Salinity? Also were the pictures taken at the same time of day? I've seen corals color up later in the day as I guess they "warm up" especially some SPS. Ph 8.0 ALK 180 ppm (=10 dKH) Not @ the same time of the day but usually they are much brighter in the morning then this. Could it be the MH? I starting running it yesterday. They all seemed very happy and glowing tho. Shoot!!! Edited April 23, 2011 by Origami2547 Clarification of alk in dKH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 Could it be the MH? I starting running it yesterday. I was just going to ask about lights.... What did you have before? The corals are probably shocked by too much light. Try putting a few layers of window screen between the top of the tank and the lights to cut back some. Remove one layer in a couple of weeks and the other a couple of weeks later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epleeds April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 If u went from PC or T5 to MH and shocked them, the SPS is not going to be happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 will do. I hope there isn't another reason. I was concerned about the UV, also. What do you think about that? I currently have the Coralife Hang-on the tank fixture with a Radius 150W 20K bulb. Please let me know if you have any other ideas on why! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwaterworx April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 (edited) Definitely sounds and looks like photo shock. I can't imagine the UV playing a factor. Isn't your tank relatively new also? Edited April 23, 2011 by Saltwaterworx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 (edited) Yeap. The new setup is couple weeks old (The corals, LR, fish, sand and water from my previous established tank -2 years-old). Should I turn the MH off you think? The zoos and shrooms are not happy either... Definitely sounds and looks like photo shock. Isn't your tank relatively new also? Edited April 23, 2011 by Reefoholic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 Have to go to work guys! I will turn the MH off and deal with it when I come back home tonight. Please provide your suggestions/ideas. Thanks a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&Fmgr April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 is it just me or does the water look cloudy in the 2nd pic? bacterial bloom? maybe used the O2. maybe its just me, but it looks hazy which could be a bloom from an increase in ammonia, all fish accounted for? another possibility could be precipitation. Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 (edited) is it just me or does the water look cloudy in the 2nd pic? bacterial bloom? maybe used the O2. maybe its just me, but it looks hazy which could be a bloom from an increase in ammonia, all fish accounted for? another possibility could be precipitation. Sean Water looked a little cloudy in the morning too. Top of the tank is wide open. I think there was enough oxygenation. Also there is a skimmer working. I am setting up a SUMP. Waiting for the HOB in mail. Thus, there is no carbon filtration either. Ammonia wasn't detectable this morning. Edited April 23, 2011 by Reefoholic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 I agree the tank does look cloudy. Are you adding buffer or kalk during the night? I would turn the lights down to 4 hours and bump it by 15 to 30min every other day until you get it where you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 I agree the tank does look cloudy. Are you adding buffer or kalk during the night? I would turn the lights down to 4 hours and bump it by 15 to 30min every other day until you get it where you want. I added liquid reef by brightwell last night. I dose that regularly, tho. Never caused any problems. How long could the tank go on without carbon filtration? Would that be causing the cloudiness? There is a significant decline in nuisance algae over last couple days, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 You're right, Sean. Everything looks grayed out. Not only the corals, but the tank in the background and the rock, too. Reefoholic, if you look at your tank end-to-end (lengthwise), is your water really cloudy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 You're right, Sean. Everything looks grayed out. Not only the corals, but the tank in the background and the rock, too. Reefoholic, if you look at your tank end-to-end (lengthwise), is your water really cloudy? Not really cloudy but not pristine clear either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 Are the two pictures taken under the same lighting conditions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 How long could the tank go on without carbon filtration? Would that be causing the cloudiness? My tank has gone without carbon and phosphate remover for almost a year now without any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 Looking at the pictures again the RTN is form the bottom up so the light might not be the main issue here but could be an additional stress factor. In this particular set of pictures I would say aggression between the corals is the also a stress factor. Any other pictures of the tank and corals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 Are the two pictures taken under the same lighting conditions? Yes. The same mh light fixture. The corals were SO happy yesterday. I saw many nice colors on them. I dunno what happened this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwaterworx April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 The idea Oragami gave about the sheets of glass is great. You can also cut down on the lighting period as well. The water cloudiness could be brought on by a few factors. A couple could be stemming from the light itself. Do roll call on your livestock and run some tests. Carbon can help with clearing the water after losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 What is the entire list of stuff you are adding to the tank? It sounds like you have a lot of additives and foods for a small tank not very old. Really, be prepared for it to go through some phases. Its a new tank and you've added a lot of stuff really fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 Carbon can help with clearing the water after losses. Adding carbon will clear the water allowing more light to penerate down to the corals. If lighting might be an issue then factor that into when adjusting photoperiod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 What is the entire list of stuff you are adding to the tank? It sounds like you have a lot of additives and foods for a small tank not very old. Really, be prepared for it to go through some phases. Its a new tank and you've added a lot of stuff really fast. Agreed, it is not just a new tank but a small tank at that. A tank that size might not really need any additives as weekly water changes would be much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwaterworx April 23, 2011 Share April 23, 2011 So basically Reefoholic, pump your brakes a little when it comes to maintaining/dosing/ adding stuff to your your tank! In my line of work I see small tanks get it the worse when it comes to misguided error. Other than books, some of the best advice I've got or even given was about being patient. That doesnt fix whats going on now, but many people are here working on it with you as we speak! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefoholic April 23, 2011 Author Share April 23, 2011 (edited) Guys, Thanks for your help! I just got home and the scene is not pretty. My montipora which survived horrible conditions is chalk white as well as Roscoe's blue. The fishes are not doing great. At this point I have started moving everything to a small tank with new water. I will try to save some of the corals, but I really don't know what to do beyond that. This morning when I tested for calcium, ammonia, Ph and all others, all the parameters were just as normal. I do not add anything but calcium to my tank and I add it in very tiny quantities. For example, I added 2ml last night before I went to sleep to bring the calcium up from 380ppm. Besides SPS, the rock anemone is all shriveled up and the leather coral is the smallest I have ever seen him. Some of the SPS which are closer down to the bottom look fine which makes me suspicious of the light itself. Is it possible that the new MH created this crash? But why are the fishes acting wierd. After the rescue, I am going to test the water and post the parameters. At this point I will try to save whatever I can. How should I proceed after this? I am really frustrated!!! Here is a picture of the Montipora and Roscoe's Blue. The parts that was shaded are still orange. darn light!!! Edited April 24, 2011 by Reefoholic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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