Very sick tank!

rocksalt

rocksalt

New Member
Need help gang!
90 Gal reef tank. We have a variety of mushrooms and soft corals. Six fish two shrimp and about 10 snails. Everything was doing great until recently. Now all the mushrooms hardly open up and the soft corals while not as obvious don't look so well. The fish seem ok. No ick or discoloration. Here are the levels:
Phosphates usually about 10 but now are around 6. Everything did great when at 10 although I know that is a bit high.
Nitrates are around 2.5
Nitrites 0
Alkalinity 280
PH 8.4
Salinity 1.023
Temp 80 to 81 consistently.
I use only RO water and have not changed my salt brand. I got behind on my water changes for a month but that was never a problem. The whole system flourished with a 6 week 20% change.
Now all the mushrooms are shriveling up and the soft corals aren't looking so hot either.
What can be wrong? My tank prospered at the aforementioned levels for over a year.
The only real change was I brought up the salinity from 1.020 to 1.023. Still a safe range. I also added another power head for increased flow. Nothing wrong with that.
I have quite a bit of the bad spongy red algae. I forget the name. However in the past I would do a water change and it would dissipate after a week. I don't know if that’s the problems considering I've done two 20% changes in the last four weeks.
Please help! I have hundreds of $$$ in this thing and if it all dies I can’t stand to see my wife cry. Ok, who am I kidding? With all the time and effort I'll be the one boo-hoo-ing.
Thanks!
 
J

jesses89

Guest
is that bad red algea growing ON your coral?
what kind of Lighting do you have?
What filtration system do you have? and are you using a protein skimmer?
Hows your water surface movement?
is the surface crystal clear?
or is there that white filmy thing on your surface?
Are you adding Calcium to your water?
Magnesium & Strontium?
Iodine?
Trace Elements?
What kind of fish do you have?
it could be possible that some of the fish are nipping at your coral, causing them to stress out and not open fully.
The salinity level you had 1.020 was wayyy too low for a reef system, You might want to raise your salinity to 1.025. That level is ideal for a reef.
 
zanclus

zanclus

Member
Firtst of all I would raise your salinity to 35PPT or 1.026. Your phosphates at 10 is high , strive for 0 PO4. Your Alk at 280 is ok , though it is on the lower end of the scale... What is your calcium level? Phytoplankton can lead to excessive algea growth and red algea is mosst likely cynobacteria continue the water changes syphoning out the algea. Keep circulation up , in a 90 i would have at least 3000gph , even more for sps. I strive to keep my tanks at :
calcium 430
als 9.6 dKH
temp 78-81 depending on the season
PH 8.3
PO4 0
NO3 undetectable with salifert kit
Consider a refugium and grow macro algea to lower nitrates(NO3)
If you dont have askimmer consider investing in either a good recirculating or becket one.
Cut back on the Phyto and good luck.
 
spinylobster

spinylobster

Member
rocksalt... I just got done going through the same thing you are going through now. Are levels may have been a little different, but after narrowing down all the possibilities, it came down to my lights... I was running them too long, so I cut them back an hour and everything is going great now!! Don't know if this helps, but it worked for me. Hope you get it figured out
 
rocksalt

rocksalt

New Member
Thanks for all the replies everyone! I will try to answer all the responses as best as possible.
Installed four new power compacts 6 months ago.
The fish are reef and coral safe. Same fish for the past 2 + years.
Salinity has averaged about 1.020 to 1.023 for the past five years with no problems.
I know 10 are too high on the phosphate chart but recently lowered it to around 6. In the past everything flourished around that level.
Filtration system is a sump w/ protein skimmer and a phosphate filter in line. Never had a problem there.
No slime on water surface. Very good flow.
The red algae I mentioned is the bad kind but it had never affected anything before. I would do a couple of water changes in a four week period and it usually helped.
From what everyone has said I think my lights have been run too long lately (I know they have) I have not tested my calcium. While the red algae are not good, I thought it was a byproduct of poor water conditions. Wouldn’t water changes correct that? Do I need to remove it from my rock instead of waiting for it to dissipate?
All this is very puzzling as the levels and overall environment has not changed in over a year and everything was looking great.
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Do you run carbon. This seems to help my tank when things do not look all that great.
 
rocksalt

rocksalt

New Member
No carbon. Never been an issue before. After over a year of consistent levels and filtration system, why are things going down hill now?
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
I am not sure. I never had an issue either and then one day, the tank started to go way down. Lost 3/4 of my xenia, hammer started to melt away, star polyps died, zoo's died. Water tested perfect and I did not change a thing and my tank had been up and running over 1.5 years.
Nature is hard to keep and I am sure there are things in the water that we do not test for that is deadly to the inhabitants.
I never figured out what cuased mine but the carbon solved the issue.
Good luck.
 
kmsrn

kmsrn

Member
I'm pretty much a newbie myself. Just started out changing my fo into a reef in January of this year so I may be wrong, but you mentioned in your first post that you added a powerhead. Maybe you have too much DIRECT flow on your mushrooms causing them to close up. Just a suggestion
 
rocksalt

rocksalt

New Member
One mantra I've always heard is you can never have too much flow in a reef tank. The additional power head is rated at 350gph. In a 90 Gal reef tank that is not overkill. To answer your question, the additional power head is not directed at any one group of mushrooms or soft coral. I have LOTS of mushrooms of various color and sizes scattered throughout the entire tank. Everything, soft corals included are slowly wilting.
The only two things I have not done are to remove the red carpet like algae (Cyrano algae?) which I know in itself is harmless but a result of another problem. In my case I am reducing light as I've had it on longer than normal the past month. The other is to test my calcium levels. They should be around 450ppm ideally.
FISHY7 recommended using a carbon filter but does anyone know where in my system it should be placed? Is it an in-line filter or just a pouch that needs to be in the flow?
Thanks for all the suggestions gang!
 
digitydash

digitydash

Active Member
I have mine in my magum filter which has holder in it that you can swap for a filter cartridge or for carbon which I use carbon with a little phospate remover in it I never have phosphates but thats the way I have always done it so I havent changed it and in the top of my wet dry above the bio-balls(( in a bag)) where the water runs threw it then back into the tank.
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Hey Rock,
Do you have sump? If not you need to place the carbon in a place where there is a lot of flow.
Me, I place mine in the sump next to the high flow area. I get a filter sock, fill it up and leave in the tank for 3 days. Use Kent they are the best.
 
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