SPS randomly died

mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Well it was sorta white last night and now is white, don't see how it can recover. :( Umm water was low so did a top off last night of 3g or so, (it's in a 10g) which was a little much but still I figured if it needed calcium or need better salinity then I figured its best chance was getting that from the top off. But it's dead now. No ammonia or nitrates, not a lot of algae in the tank. There are pods, bristtle worms, and aptasia (on my clam only) in the tank so I'm just listing off stuff about my tank. I didn't think any of those could do anything. Got a peppermint shrimp but hardly see it and know it hasn't touched the clam. May get another. I tested my salinity and it was a little low. I was going to test my ph but that stuff if confusing because from what people say it changes over the day. I may get my water tested at a lfs soon for calcium and phostphates and stuff like that.
What killed my SPS? Luckily it was a 15$ frag. Oh and my clam is still doing good.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Ok I did my research on that and I think that's what happened. So I guess I'm going to throw the dead coral away tomorrow once I get back to my mom's. This would explain how my clam hasn't shown any signs of stress yet my SPS randomly died. I guess I'm going to wait a bit before I add any more coral, since I want the RTS to cycle out before it can plauge any future corals. I'm so glad this was only a 15$ coral instead of a 60$ or something outrageous like that.
 
coralreefer

coralreefer

Active Member
WAIT!!!!!! are there any areas left that have tissue not damaged? if so, frag them and hope it survives.
thanks i could help
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
Are you saying you added 3 gallons of top off ( RO/DI ) water. ..OR 3 gallons of SW. If your 10 gallon DT was 3 gallons low due to evaporation...Im sure you know that can cause problems in a system that small.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Originally Posted by ifirefight
http:///forum/post/2518522
Are you saying you added 3 gallons of top off ( RO/DI ) water. ..OR 3 gallons of SW. If your 10 gallon DT was 3 gallons low due to evaporation...Im sure you know that can cause problems in a system that small.
I added sw because it needed it's calcium re-added, I found out the levels that my sw mix I use has, and my buddy Paintballer76800 did the math and we figured a water change every other week would keep the calcium about right. I need to get test kis for calcuim anyways though.
The water depletion was over a week.
Here's how the whole thing went down (SPS):
Yesterday morning I found the polyps hiding so I thought, ok I'll need to tests on the tank tonight.
I end up working and studying and doing a school project (finals week) so I dont get home till 9:30 and study till ten. I looked at it before I went to bed and realized it was all white with some dark spots on top of the coral, not part of the coral. Then I added the three gallons of sw to help try and save it, because I didn't know if the salinity was off or the calcium levels were low.
Then this morning it was all white, and I realized my hopes for recovering it was gone.
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
This certainly sounds like RTN. (I had a LARGE monti die in 2 days from it) There are people who contribute it to temp changes,but most think its an ALK or Cal issue...of course nobody is 100% sure...but I agree that you need to get a test kit for Alk and Cal if you dont have them. Good luck...I know its difficult to keep levels "steady" in a small tank.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Originally Posted by ifirefight
http:///forum/post/2518634
This certainly sounds like RTN. (I had a LARGE monti die in 2 days from it) There are people who contribute it to temp changes,but most think its an ALK or Cal issue...of course nobody is 100% sure...but I agree that you need to get a test kit for Alk and Cal if you dont have them. Good luck...I know its difficult to keep levels "steady" in a small tank.
Ok thanks. I'm going to try and get some soon. Any recommendations?
And I plan on moving my lights/clam to hopefuly at 29g that'll fit my lights(aquapod I believe is the only one that is only 20" long which is perfect for my lights)
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
not sure what you mean by adding more sw when youre 3 gallons low? do you mean started off 3 gallons low of sw? or 3 gallons of water evaporated so you added 3 gallons of sw? most likely it was stressed out and RTNed
i say if its low on calcium add calcium chloride like b-ionic or even purple up. just make sure you test your calcium before and after.
not sure what your alkalinity is either but you should look into that as well. you need to have stable water parameters
you should be making sure that: magnesium, alkalinity, calcium, phosphates, nitrates, pH, temperature, flow, etc, are all in check.
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
also if you want to use an ALK and calcium test kit pick the individual ones by API. thats all i use and i trust them. i found my API calcium test kits were reading pretty close to my Elos calcium kits.
magnesium i use elos
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Ok thanks for the help. I'll defentily look into getting some test kits soon, and I probably won't get another coral till I upgrade.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Here's some pics of my SPS dead and the clam which still seems to be doing great. Oh and I forgot to mention, my temp is at 72 degrees but it has always been at that. The reason it's so low is because the tank is to full to add a heater and I thought my lights would heat it up nicely. I also have my fan on high all day which could be a problem, but I like it that way. If I do upgrade then I will be adding a heater. I may go look for a tiny one at Petsmart.


 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
If 3 gal of water evaporated out of the tank over a week you should have added just RO/DI water not sw to fill it back up. Also, in a 10 gal tank you should be topping it off with RO/DI water everyday to try and keep salinity in check.
When the water evaporates the salt stays in solution. When you add saltwater you are raising the SG because you are adding more salt to the system. I would check your SG and if it is high you may consider doing a few small (1/2 gal or so at a time) water changes with just RO/DI water to get the salinity back in line. HTH.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Originally Posted by cmaxwell39
http:///forum/post/2519440
If 3 gal of water evaporated out of the tank over a week you should have added just RO/DI water not sw to fill it back up. Also, in a 10 gal tank you should be topping it off with RO/DI water everyday to try and keep salinity in check.
When the water evaporates the salt stays in solution. When you add saltwater you are raising the SG because you are adding more salt to the system. I would check your SG and if it is high you may consider doing a few small (1/2 gal or so at a time) water changes with just RO/DI water to get the salinity back in line. HTH.
I tested it yesterday and it was low. Once it does get a tiny bit high then I will add just RO/DI water. Right now though I'm trying to raise it.
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
Sounds good. You also want to make sure not to raise it to fast. If you are just topping off daily it should be fine.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Originally Posted by cmaxwell39
http:///forum/post/2519511
Sounds good. You also want to make sure not to raise it to fast. If you are just topping off daily it should be fine.
Yeah, obviously I did an extreme top off, but by Tuesday or Monday I'll need a small top off again probably.
 
mike22cha

mike22cha

Active Member
Got an API Reef Master Test Kit thing and here's the results:
-Water Hardness: 125.3 ppm KH
-Calcium: 560 ppm (REALLY HIGH!)
-Salinity/SG: 1.26 (Tested with a refractometer)
-Phosphates: 0.0 ppm (GOod or bad?)
so how do i lower my calcium?
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
With API, I think theres conversions to other units on the back. When I test for Alk, I have to use an equation to make it to a well-known reading. From PPM to meq/L is the one I do, and if you do decide to do that, it should be anywhere from 2.9-4.0 meq/L, or 8-12 dKH.
And I must say, of course you get better pictures of the coral, after its died haha.
RTN (rapid tissue necrosis) doesnt need to cycle out, corals just stress out and thats for what happens when they die sometimes.
 
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