At a loss need some help

[thereefkeeper]

So my current 50 cube smallest tank I've ever owned.

Honestly I believe this to be the problem and I will explain below.

I have a ton of SPS and lose one per month and haven't bought any in a year I've checked for pests over and over and everything test perfect I am truly lost after 14 years in this hobby.

Salifert and Red Sea pro
0 po4
Nitrate 0
7.5 al
425ca
Ph 8.2
Mag 1400
Salinity 1.024 Milwaukee and tropic marine hydrometer

Now we can nit pick I know a few things may be off a tad cal and mag but no reason for the constant loss IMO.

Since I'm ready to throw in the towel I want to see if anyone is able to come help me out I'm honestly 1 post away from giving up I had a min 5k in SPS and not much left after a year of this really kills me Tips seem burnt and slow recession from the bottoms.
Some have pylon extension some don't. Weekly 5 gal water change.

Lights are geisemann 250w 20k and 4 t5 blue plus
Bubble king skimmer
Profilux doser
8 stage rodi
Apex
20gal sump
50 gal main tank
30# may be live rock
10# sand shallow bed
2 mp10w
Carbon in a reactor.

Salt Red Sea coral pro.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[jokersplayground]

i like to think that sps like a little nitrate in the water. not alot something like 5ppm and under. i have read a few times of people saying that it helps them grow and live well. it can also be another sps getting to close and they battle it out or maybe its another type sending sweepers out and its killing them. i also read that you are using carbon i know for a fact sps hate carbon.


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[jokersplayground]

try checking at night you might have a acro eating crab. they are nocturnal so you would need a small light. if you do have one at the tips of the branches it would look like there was small chunks of the skeleton was broken off. they eat the polyps from the sps. i had this same thing happen to my sps in my wifes tank couldnt figure it out. then i seen the culprit causing all the headaches.


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[SilverWolf229]

do you have a clown goby? I had one and ate about 500 in sps kept eating the polyps!

 

[thereefkeeper]

No clown goby they will chop away seen it so I stay away from them.
I've spent countless hours looking at night over the past year seems all clear of crabs in fact I don't have but 2 or 3 hermits and a few snails all clean too.
Everything is small nothing touching everything is too small still not even close almost looks like their starving tips of everything and skin is thin. I'm gonna take the carbon offline done it before and same result but I can defiantly give it a whirl.

 

[jokersplayground]

try to raise your nitrate a little


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[SilverWolf229]

I recently started dosing acropower. in one week I have seen a difference in color, pe,. Krystal clear in auburn orderd it for me. Im adding one cap full a week

 

[dz6t]

what brand of carbon are you using? not Kent right?

 

[thereefkeeper]

I'm using BRS Carbon I will dirty it up a but and see what happens.

Seems like Alk burn but it's so low I can't even see how that's possible.

Their any maintenance services I'm ready to pay someone else to put some eyes on this may be after a year of testing changing things I'm missing something really simple I've even looked for voltage and a piece of metal that could have fallen in and noting at all.

 

[jrushlow]

None of my corals seem to do very well with alkalinity in the 7's. I typically run mine around 10. I used to run it around 8.5, but my doser ran out once and it dipped really far and I lost a few things. Keeping it at 10 will give me an extra day or so of buffer to hopefully catch any mistakes I make in the future.

Joe

 

[delta]

Your alk is too low raise it to at least 8dkh. unless you are running a system like Zeovit you shouldn't run your system under 8dkh

 

[JasonandSarah]

Are you running gfo? See you listed your phosphates at zero? Also +1 to the acro power I've starting using it a few months ago (half the recommended dose) and have loved the results. My sps was already doing great but got even better with the addition of Ap.
Do you have 2 different test kits for alk? Be nice to get a second test to be sure where it is. I agree the the 7's are to low but wouldn't think it would kill things off like that.
I know you said there's no pest buy maybe you should make up a large dip and dip everything just as a precaution? That's what I'd probably do.

 

[nemodan]

What about the salt that you are using ? Has it been the same Batch for this last year ?

I would try some changes of water using NSW, anyone of the 2 brands that are in the market.

just a thought. ....

Daniel

 

[delta]

None of my corals seem to do very well with alkalinity in the 7's. I typically run mine around 10. I used to run it around 8.5, but my doser ran out once and it dipped really far and I lost a few things. Keeping it at 10 will give me an extra day or so of buffer to hopefully catch any mistakes I make in the future.

Joe

It is great you picked up on the ALK issue. But keeping Alk at 10DKH doesn;t work as you think it does, a drop is worse than running it low, at 10 it plummets at 8 it can only go so far. So to post like this makes it seem like it is a fail safe when in fact it is the exact opposite. Far too easy for people to see this when they are new and take the information in the wrong context.

I find that there are far too many misconceptions out there, I read, so and so told me, etc, etc, when you have a clear problem that is directly related to SPS necrosis staring you in the face. And the majority scanned right over it. Alk under 8DKH with SPS is not a good idea unless it is a Zeovit or the like system. If you do run it under 8DKH you will see Tissue necrosis on a regular basis until you remedy that issue.

 

[Jim Tansey]

Dong why do you say "Not Kent right"? I use Kent carbon and have had my share of coral problems.

jim

 

[delta]

Dong why do you say "Not Kent right"? I use Kent carbon and have had my share of coral problems.

jim

they had a recall http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/kent-marine-issues-recall-for-reef-carbon

 

[wdebenedettojr]

Do you carbon dose at all? If your carbon dose and your seeing burnt tips your alk might be higher then what is coming out in the test. Maybe to
Much carbon dosing?

As far as using carbon in an sps system I have never had an issue with it. I run carbon in my sps system 24/7 in a brs reactor. I encourage using carbon as it can help take out impurities.

Piggy backing on the carbon topic, you may want to just try throwing a poly filter in your system to see if there is any chemical in the water not being removed.

Kent carbon, IME, have found to be extremely dirty and dusty. You have to rinse kent carbon very very well and for a lot longer then some other brands I found. I have found the marineland black diamond carbon and the BRS rox carbon to be among the best. The black diamond does need to be thoroughly rinsed also.

 

[Jim Tansey]

Thanks Greg, I may be the only one that didn't know.

Jim

 

[reefkeeper2]

OP,your not alone if that is any comfort. I have been dealing with the same mysterious problem. Every other week I lose a few frags to RTN. They all look great. Nice color, good polyp extension, and then one morning you see one with it's tissue flappin in the current. Another will follow in a day or so. I have another with burnt tips. All water parameters are fine and alk is stable at 8.6. I even sent some water out for testing just in case my kits were off. At the moment my nitrate and phosphate levels, like yours are undetectable. There is no algae in the display and I don't need to clean the acrylic for days at a time. I have never had any tank with such a low nutrient level and don't know why considering I'm doing things the way I always have. So I increased feeding my already fat fish. I dosed acro power. I fed Reef Chili. But the tank still looks ultra clean and yesterday I lost half of my Hawkins. Never seen anything like it. So today I removed two thirds of the biopellets. If that doesn't help I will remove them all until levels start to rise. I will reintroduce them slowly when needed.
Try to increase your nitrates and phosphates so there is at least a trace present. That's what I'm going to do. I would cut way back on the carbon too. I have seen fresh carbon trigger RTN before and so have others. This doesn't happen every time or to everyone that uses it. How come? I think that's because it's not the carbon itself but the condition of your tank when you use it. My guess is an established system with lots of organics and livestock + carbon filtration = no problems. A very nutrient poor system + carbon filtration = chance of STN or RTN. BRS ROX carbon gave me the most problems and since it is the most effective it boosts my theory . Give it a try, good luck and never give up.

 

[thereefkeeper]

I should have mentioned I totally forgot I use prodibio bioptim and BioDigest I ran out for a few mo and a lot died been back on it and things are better but still losing stuff.

I agree 8 DKH seems like the point I would like it at but with 0 po4 and Nitrates is this really causing the mass loss seeing I'm running a type of UNLS system? Seems meek that it's 1 point of alk I've had it at 8 before even 9 and same result ya know?

Like I said above never seen a problem like this and I've had up to 4,000 gallons running at the same time it's as if I don't have enough bio in this small 50 to survive. Though about doing some live sand just don't have a trustworthy supply that has real live sand.

I've used carbon for 13 years in my SPS system not this small but I only use 8 tablespoons and don't crank the reactor more of a tricycle to catch the yellow effects and keep water clear I shut it down yesterday to try to raise po4 and no3 let's test it noting to lose really lol



I really appreciate all the help guys