HELP!! Losing SPS!!

buzzword

buzzword

Member
OK readers digest version of events: in the past 5 days i have lost 5 SPS to RTN/STN. First the gorgeous and beloved pink birdsnest, then the stylophora, next a frag of a. robusta, montipora petiformis frag, and today a. secale frag. How can I stop the dying?
Found the biggest issue to be the pH it was 7.84 per pinpoint monitor (new). Tryed to buffer using Kent dKH. pH stayed the same alk/dKH went to 11.8 with Ca+ at 400, Mag at 1290. Got mag up to 1400. Ca+ up to 420. Found nitrites at.1 and nitrates at 50. And have done 2x 20g water changes and just did a 15g water change all in the past 4 days.
Parameters: now
Temp= 82
pH= 7.95
S.G.=1.025
Alk/dKH= 4.11/11.5
Ca+= 420
Mag= 1380
New to the tank; I changed my bulbs after 10 months from 10K to Blueline 10K+ (14K) acclimated by 2hrs first day and then up by 2hrs each day after to total 8hrs on. Was this to fast? Or not enough light now? Frags were mid to top and had been doing very well. I threw out 1/4 of my cheato b/c it had taken up the entire fug. Possibly stirred to much up in there?
Anenome split weeks ago and one split is just dangling under the back of my rock and can't get to it. Is it dying and causing some problems?
I have a huge about 14 head green with pink tip torch, not touching any SPS but possibly causing chemical warfare? I have a 36w UV sterilizer on now for 1 month.
PLEASE any help you can offer! Thoughts or suggestions? Am getting very discouraged at the loss of my loved corals and the thought of if the RTN hits my prized pieces, not to mention the $ lost. Sorry so long but wanted to be detailed. THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP!
 
J

jupoc911

Guest
your alk is a little high for calcium at 420 fyi. However I do not think this is the main problem. How big is this tank? Do you have any leathers or LPS in the tank? How but your invertebrate list?
 
J

jupoc911

Guest
i also just saw that you had a positive nitrtite test. this can defintly cause your corals to die.
 
buzzword

buzzword

Member
Jupoc, tank is 120g w/ 30g sump/fug, 175lbs LR. Yes I have a very small green polyped toadstool, Colt coral large at the opposite side of tank. LPS= the torch i mentioned previously. Ricordia, zoo's, clams, xenia. Inverts lots of hernits, fighting conchs, multi snails including nerite, turbo, trochus, astrea.
And yes Nitrite, that is why I have done the water changes as well. I never have nitrites or nitrates, not since the first month or two of the tank and especially since the fug has been full of cheato.
 
J

jupoc911

Guest
the nitrite is prob do to all the die off. could be a chain reaction of some sort. How is the torch doing? is he near anything that he could possibly sting?
 
buzzword

buzzword

Member
Torch is doing great started as 4 heads and now has 14. The frags he is closest to are not being touched nor affected by the RTN/STN. Thank you for your ideas and help.
 
buzzword

buzzword

Member
Not much really, but there was so much cheato that there wasn't much of any flow in the fug and there was a lot of detritus floating around when I was done.
 
J

jupoc911

Guest
probablly not the problem in a tank size like yours. I have a 55 and have stirred up the dsb in my display pretty badly and still didnt get any spikes. I would look at chemical warfare as the main prob and run carbon and do whatever changes every few days until everything normalizes. sorry i couldnt help more.
 
buzzword

buzzword

Member
It helps just to talk it through with others and to get someone elses view point. Thank you again and that is pretty much my plan. I'll go get some carbon and start that too.
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
sps like really really clean water....
they stress out easily to any changes or any impurities
my guess is the nitrates and nitrites u should have zero of both to keep sps healthy....
leathers and LPS can fare much better in dirtier water conditions
i would run some carbon and keep checking your water....
ph should be 8.1-8.3 yours is on the low side which could be affecting the corals healthy also
i have what seems to be a healthy tank and i still will lose some sps here and there not sure why usually it will be within the first 2 weeks probably do to acclimation or some other issue like that
my water is PH 8.3
Am 0
Na 0
Ni 0
Ca 400
Alk 9
Mg 1410
PO4 0
SG 1.025
Temp 81
and i still just recently lost a monti cap frag and part of my encrusting monti colony for what reason i have no clue??

kinda is annoying too... i also have a mixed tank with a few big softies and some other LPS all of them are doing great....
what kind of flow do u have in your tank?? i have 25X's
all i can say is keep an eye on the water and try to save what u can
 
buzzword

buzzword

Member
Yeah Murph I know, i freaked when i saw the nitrites and nitrates! I have not had any show up in over 6 months, so I don't really know what caused it but am trying hard to get my numbers back in line. I really have no idea why my pH is so low and why I can't get it to come up even with 3 water changes and dripping kalk.
I will update in the morning and see if anything else is dying. Thanks for the input.
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
id say your alk is a lil high too id try to get it down around 9-10
PH seems to be stabilized by mainly the alk and calcium relationship but deffinately your trates and trites will affect your sps!
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
ive never used kalk drip on my tank so im not sure
i cant get my alk above 9 stays about 8.6 and my calcium is at 400-440 usually
wierd why certain tanks act different ways
 
buzzword

buzzword

Member
yeah the tank was so stable for so long.. weird. Thanks for the help, wife calling me to bed, getting late. c-ya
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
That's a tough one... I wont bore you with a bunch of stuff you already know... but have you had any major fluctuations?? temp, PH, etc?? Are the corals that RTN/STN close to each other??
Chemical warfare is always a possibility when mixing corals... but IMO that wouldn't be the cause here.
When cheato gets that thick IME it can act as a debris trap... after messing with it, the debris inside could release nutrients into the water. IMO it's always best to keep it clean and trimmed back.
Bottom line is... it's almost impossible to point at one thing when so many things have taken place. Keep it as isolated as possible, continue water changes, run carbon and keep things going as normal as possible.
 
promisetbg

promisetbg

Active Member
Originally Posted by Buzzword
New to the tank; I changed my bulbs after 10 months from 10K to Blueline 10K+ (14K) acclimated by 2hrs first day and then up by 2hrs each day after to total 8hrs on. Was this to fast?
I would have backed off lighting from normal schedule to about 4-5 hours,then added 1/2 hour to an hour per week until you reached your desired time.
 
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