Orion July 16, 2014 Author July 16, 2014 The corals in question have been with me for at least 8-12 months, and looking back at pictures have started to fade gradually over the last 3-4 months. The ones that look faded to me are - Pink tip Sarmentosa Superman Montipora (Other montis' in the tank look fantastic, no Nudi's to be found) ORA Frogskin The SPS that look great are - Purple Bonsai Ice Fire Echinata Birdsnest Oregon Tort WWC Pink Passion Purple Bushy Acro with Neon green tips (No idea what the name is) ORA Joe The Coral A few others that I don't know the names of.... I added two new acros from Marco (Red Planet, and Strawberry Shortcake) 2-3 weeks ago. Both are still colored up nicely, but it hasn't been long enough to tell.
Der ABT July 16, 2014 July 16, 2014 Marco knows his stuff and im a big fan of his procedures. with that being said i would still dip just in case....could have come in on something couple months ago and things were just so healthy it took this long for it to show. This is more of a way to rule something out quickly...do a dip, really inspect the corals in the dip and the dip water after...again magnafying glass. Also check your RODI...the water you put in is everything...i know i had an issues where my membrane was dead and it showed. Last thing i just checked out your build thread....pics look great, as does the tank....but two things popped into my mind do you still have that dwarf angel???? could be a nipping issue and he just likes those certain corals. You have LPS in your tank as well....are any of these corals near them?? youd be suprised how much chemical warfare goes on...even if not that close, if downstream it can cause issues. just trying to think of the 1001 causes that are quick/easy fixes... to humor me, take a frag of one of the corals when you dip it and move it to the other side of the tank or something along those lines....see how the coral does, if it does great it could just be a placement issues (find that hard to beleive but ya never know.
Orion July 16, 2014 Author July 16, 2014 I'll do a dip in the next day or two to see if anything shows. I still have the angelfish. The only thing I see that fish trying to pick at are the clownfish. It does occasionally pick at the rock work, but hasn't touched the clam or other coral. At least not that I have seen. The 3 corals that look faded to me are not close to any LPS. You mentioned RO/DI - The Membranes are about 1.5 years old. TDS before the DI is 1 and TDS out is still 0. As a quick fix I might order a couple of new membranes, and I am due to change out the sediment filter/carbon block/DI Resin soon anyway.
Orion July 16, 2014 Author July 16, 2014 FWIW for everyone reading... Der ABT's recommendation to look for red bugs is solid, and I am going to take his advice. One of the symptoms of red bugs is a loss of color and lack of polyp extension in smooth skin acros. Although I have a few other smooth acros that look fine, the only two that are smooth in my tank that have a loss of color are the ORA Frogskin and Sarmentosa. Both have been in my tank for over 8 months. Red bugs don't seem to effect montiporas, just nudibranchs like them. What is the best light to check for red bugs under? Take the coral out completely, and use a flashlight along with a magnifying glass?
Der ABT July 16, 2014 July 16, 2014 i have a cree led flashlight that i like alot....has the on, superbright and flashing...use that with a handheld microscope...or if you have a macro lense, take some pics and post em up....heck post pics regardless haha. i do a dip in a clear tupperware that i designate for dips. during and after the dip im inspecting the coral...redbugs can imbed themselves if the coral is nice and plump. but i look at the coral, and then in the dip water...they move similar to fleas/copepods and almost jump thru the water.... i say clear tupperware so you can shine the light from the side and can help show em a little better....they are freaking tiny...so easy to miss. redbugs you can also just put the coral in the container and look around....look at the shaded areas of the coral...if you see little yellow copepod looking guys...sorry, good things its an easy fix. interceptor spectrum can be ordered from Austrailia i believe (actually i need to order some more for the dog anyways) so if you have a dog its a good dual use thing to have. and thats teh best intank treatment we have at the moment, otherwise its dip everything as far as i know. PS im an SPS addict...but bad things happen to us all (me included/especially)...its how you deal with it and recover that makes you stronger.
davelin315 July 16, 2014 July 16, 2014 They can also swarm around the coral and make it look like a snow globe with gold glitter in the light. Shoot some water at it and see if they are dislodged and swim back to the coral.
Orion July 16, 2014 Author July 16, 2014 Sounds like most reefers have dealt with them at one time or another. We will see if it's my turn in the barrel.
Orion July 17, 2014 Author July 17, 2014 No red bugs or any other pests found. The prized fungia that I got from ERC that's in my avatar? Now very faded and looking like it is on its way out. Ugh. Looking more like a water quality issue. I took the existing GFO and carbon out and cut both in half. I'll do more tests tomorrow morning and see if I can come with anything definitive. Also ordered two new RO/DI membranes.
morgan175 July 17, 2014 July 17, 2014 Congrats on no bugs. I hope you figure out what is wrong before you lose that beautiful piece. I checked mine to no bugs. Good luck. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
gmerek2 July 17, 2014 July 17, 2014 Congrats on no red bugs! Just my 2 cents on redbugs. I noticed them on a frag in my QT tank. They are extremely hard to see and if the person doesn't have 20/20 vision just forget it. I tried dipping them in 2 different dips and them suckers are hardy as heck. Now my 2 cents on loss of color....just re assess the basics and don't half butt it. I believed my temp gauge every time I looked at it. Took me a week to figure out that it was faulty. Double check salinity and all parameters with a different one and stray electric. I agree cutting back on GFO could help.
Rob A July 17, 2014 July 17, 2014 I know that low light will cause them to fade. A couple years ago I had MH bulbs and bought my first sps frags and put them on the bottom since I thought the MH was a lot of light. I found out it was only 50 PAR. They lost most of their color. In my first (temporary) frag tank I saw intense colors with high nitrates (40 or so) in birds nest, chalice and bonsai frags that I had under 200 PAR fluorescent. Probably had high phosphates at that time too. I should have added...in my current frag tank I started out with high nitrates (40 or so) but everything looked fine. When the nitrates finally came down with vodka dosing to 0 I saw things fade and had less polyp extension. I try to keep a little nitrate in there now. Some of the acros that had been right under the light (200-250 PAR) doing fine started fading, so I moved them out of the direct light and they are slowly coming back. It makes me think that if you have higher nutrients you can have brighter lights...like maybe if you have high PAR the coral needs more "food".
Orion July 17, 2014 Author July 17, 2014 It makes me think that if you have higher nutrients you can have brighter lights...like maybe if you have high PAR the coral needs more "food". I would think so too. Again, all about finding that balance!
Orion July 17, 2014 Author July 17, 2014 Add a couple more fish! I added a goby a couple weeks ago. Waiting to see if Marco can get me some new ones
BowieReefer84 July 17, 2014 July 17, 2014 I think the ZEO Pohls Coral Vitalizer is a solid dosing product. It seems to help my tank. I had stopped for a while, and after starting again there has been a positive change in polyp extension and colors of my corals (monti).
Orion July 18, 2014 Author July 18, 2014 This morning's test results - Calcium 430 Alk 8.4 Mag 1400 PO4 0.025 (8) using the Hanna ULR - That's low! Nitrates - 0. Undetectable. So I had BowieReefer over to double check for pests. None. I think we both came to an agreement that my tank is low on nutrients, and my fish simply need to be fed more. Even the bubble algae is dying off....
Orion July 21, 2014 Author July 21, 2014 (edited) I tested PO4 4 days ago (was at 8 - 0.025), stopped using GFO, and have been feeding twice a day. PO4 is now at 12 - 0.037. Nitrates are still undetectable. The tips on the Ice Fire Echinata are darkening up a little to a deeper blue. The fast growing monti looks like it has a little more color in the new growth too. Fungia has stopped losing color. Hopefully it can come back. Did the weekly water change this morning. I'm going to go back to feeding once or twice a day lightly as I don't want the phosphates to rise too quickly. Edited July 21, 2014 by Orion
morgan175 July 21, 2014 July 21, 2014 How are you reading your po4 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
YHSublime July 21, 2014 July 21, 2014 Good for you! Did research, planned it out, and seeing results. Don't be like isaac, and feed way to much!
Orion July 21, 2014 Author July 21, 2014 How are you reading your po4 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Hanna ULR Phosphate Checker. If I use the regular Hanna PO4 checker it just reads 0.
morgan175 July 21, 2014 July 21, 2014 Hanna ULR Phosphate Checker. If I use the regular Hanna PO4 checker it just reads 0. Not sure is it the 713 or the 736. I have the 713 it reads 0 until it shoots up. If it's the 736 should I get one? Thanks sorry to steal thread. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Orion July 21, 2014 Author July 21, 2014 Not sure is it the 713 or the 736. I have the 713 it reads 0 until it shoots up. If it's the 736 should I get one? Thanks sorry to steal thread. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk It will say "ULR Phosphate Checker" on it if it's the ULR one. I think it's a good idea to get one.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now