What is killing my reef?!?!!

E

essop3

Guest
Awhile back my leather corals weren't opening. We thought it was my huge colt. I got rid of it, problem still not fixed. Thought it might be phosphates since I got a little cyno/hair algae. Nope, not it. The problem has escalated so far that my reef is in a state of emergency. Almost all corals are closed, some look really bad, 70% of xenia is melted. All shrimp are hiding.
Readings are
ammonia 0
nitrates 0-5 (very slight color change)
calcium 400
alk - good range (thats how the test reads)
pH 8.2
copper 0
salinity 36
temp 80 (same for years)
My other tank which uses the same salt & water is great.
I did a 50g water change Sunday and another 15 tonight. My only plan of attack is to continue water changes. Carbon hasn't helped. Ozone made the water better but no change in corals.
Any ideas?? Please help!!
 
E

essop3

Guest
Salinity and Specific gravity are diffrent. Salinity is usually 35-36. It is a more exact measurement.
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
wow well i dont personally see anything outta wack i run my salinity at about 35 but i know 36 is fine
hmmmm....
have u had any big sways or anthing like that in your alk or anything
a lil phosphates wont kill corals xenia seem to like dirty water anyways
anything else u can think of that u changed recently bulbs anything outta the ordinary
everything was fine before correct?
 
H

havunen191

Guest
I know the difference. Just noted it was a tad up. My corals don't like higher.
 
E

essop3

Guest
I had a carpet anemone I just gave away and 2 bta which are happy. Think anemone wars might be it?
 
E

essop3

Guest
I just recalibrated my refractometer salinity is only 33! This could be a problem
I didn't mean to offend with the salinity/sg thing. I just had to explain it to about 10 people on another site.
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
well 33 is a lil lower for reef tanks but i dont know if that would be the only reason but i would deff raise it back up slowly
before i broke down my last 100g tank to transfer to my 180 i started losing my sps i lost about 70% of them
i had issues with my CA and Alk stayin stable
i had a Ph swing from 7.8-8.3 during a 24 hour period from lights
i had a salinity of 1.30 or 38sg
lots of things i think were causin my last tank to go down hill
my new tank i have everything exact and my Ph stays stable due to my Calcium reactor and my sg is at 35 all my sps left that were damaged are all bouncing back and showing noticeable growth
i hope the lowered sg was the issue and i hope it brings it back
chemical warfare is always a hard one but i have a rbta and some softies and a leather mixed in with my tank so i run carbon 24/7 to help eliminate any chance for that just an idea
 
E

essop3

Guest
I have 640w of VHO over a 125g. New bulbs in January. Same brand I have ran for a few years, URI.
 
rsd

rsd

Member
Salinity could be part of the problem... here are a couple quick questions.
1: How deep is your sand bed and how old is it?
2: Refugium? Same question as above.
3: Any slime rings or bands of color around the base of your corals? (I had a REALLY rough round with Carribean red band disease a few years ago and lost 70%)
4: What type of lights? and how old.
PC's, Halids and VHO's can shift quickly but LOOK VERY close to whats right. Also, new lights have a possibility of not functioning correctly.
If you have Halides... are you still using the plastic or glass shield under it... that is a UV-filter. This wave length of UV is incredibly toxic to you and your tank.
5: Have you tested for copper?
6: Do you wash your hands with antibacterial soap? Possible contamination.
7: When you acclimate critters... what do you do? Do you use a plastic tub that may have been contaminated when washing it?
Grounding... grounding can actually cause a problem in the wrong circumstance. If you can, try usuing a voltage meter and remove your grounding rod. Test between the water column and a good solid ground... the put the ground probe back in and test between the water column and a good ground point. I couldn't hurt.
Good luck. Hope this lengthy rambling of thoughts helps.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Don't think it is salinity, IMO.
OK....
Fish all OK?
Other inverts all OK or are any dying?
Only affecting corals?
Both soft and hard corals?
Have you run and polyfilter or resins for heavy metals, etc (such as those made by Kent)?
No metal fittings or anything?
What pumps are you running?
Water changes are a good plan for now...it is a mystery.
 
E

essop3

Guest
1.sand it 4" deep 2 years old. shows no signs of going bad.
2. refugium has only rock
3. no slime on corals
4. vho with 3 month old URI bulbs
5. yup, Zero
6. Rinse extra good if I do.
7. nope, use tank only buckets
 
E

essop3

Guest
all fish are OK
Linkia and brittle are good as ever, shrimp are hiding you have to really look for them at feeding time.
Other than shrimp it seems to be corals only. LPS and Softies
I always run carbon. I used phosban a week ago (thought phosphates might be contributing) Gave away a really polluting carpet anemone. Never have ran anything else.
No metal
2 sieo pumps (620 & 820) and 3 mj900 mag 7 on skimmer, mag 9 sump pump
 
qreef

qreef

Member
sound like my problem i had 4 months ago because one nudibranch die in my tank. Did you have any nuudibranch?
 
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