Help Needed

[Moose10]

Hi All, My coral have taken a major turn over the past couple of days and looking for some guidance.

The first picture was taken on March 6th and essentially how the tank looked until Saturday April 6th. Since then the torches have shriveled, the tentacles look almost as if they are cracking and have become skinny. The second and third pictures are from today.

All my Zoas but one have closed up

Changes:

I run Redsea 90 lights. last week one did dim on me. After replacing the power supplier it is back at full strength.

Parameters:

Temp: 77
Nitrate: 20 (typically around 25 )
Phosphate: .09
PH:7.9
CA: 500
Alk: 10.2
MG: 1240
Sal: 1.026

Since I just had the Par Meter I can tell you I am at 120-130 on the sand bed in that part of the tank

Other Possibly helpful info:
Tank: Redsea 625
Running a GFO and Carbon reactor- GFO and carbon replaced on March 31st
Have a little Refugium- no luck with Chaeto but dragons breath looks great
Weekly Water changes of 15 gallons. since things were not looking right Sunday night I did a 30 gallon change
Salt: Reef Crystals

Thank you in advance

 

[Reefer508]

I would start by checking all equipment, look for rusting magnets, cracked pump/powerhead or maybe a heater. Maybe metal getting into the water. Don't forget to check your mixing station as well.

 

[SteveDola]

Have you calibrated your refractometer? also try opening a window for bump in PH.

 

[Moose10]

I would start by checking all equipment, look for rusting magnets, cracked pump/powerhead or maybe a heater. Maybe metal getting into the water. Don't forget to check your mixing station as well.

Thank you, I just pulled everything and cleaned it. No obvious signs of rust but I will keep an eye out

 

[Moose10]

Have you calibrated your refractometer? also try opening a window for bump in PH.

It has probably been 6 months. I just ordered a new bottle of calibration fluid. It will be here tomorrow 4-8 AM thank you Amazon

 

[SteveDola]

you can calibrate to RO/DI water and set to 0
the calibration liquid is really only good for limited time

 

[iKenreef]

How often do you test and do you dose

 

[Zeefishies]

How long was the light dim?
And when u fixed it did u ramp up slowly or straight to full strength
If the any of the parameters were off those ducans would be the first to show signs
(At least that's what has happened to me with ducans and zoas)
i may be wrong but they look pretty good
So it may be something else besides water parameters
Try lowering the light for a few days

 

[Moose10]

you can calibrate to RO/DI water and set to 0
the calibration liquid is really only good for limited time

thank you, just calibrated to Ro. New salt level is 1.025

 

[Moose10]

How often do you test and do you dose

Typically each Friday. Every now and then I'm off by a day or two.
No dosing. Just targeted Reef Roids once or twice a month. and targeted phyto every other day

 

[Moose10]

How long was the light dim?
And when u fixed it did u ramp up slowly or straight to full strength
If the any of the parameters were off those ducans would be the first to show signs
(At least that's what has happened to me with ducans and zoas)
i may be wrong but they look pretty good
So it may be something else besides water parameters
Try lowering the light for a few days

It was really quick, dimmed from one day to the next. I had just purchased an Ai for a small tank and used that until the primary light was fixed. Total down time with minimal light was less than a day. Probably four with out the primary

I will try lowering the light

Those are my supper Duncans. They have been buried by an engineer more times than I can count. Beat up by a confused clown and my personal favorite dragged into caves, onto rocks and even onto an anemone by an urchin

 

[dburr1014]

thank you, just calibrated to Ro. New salt level is 1.025

RO water shouldn't really be used to calibrate.
If you do a Google search on Randy Holmes Farley for calibrating a refractometer he gives a recipe in there for refractors. You can make it yourself with table salt.
Reason being why you shouldn't use RO water is at the slope from 0 to 1.026 might be off, so you should calibrate with something closer to what your target value should be.

 

[Mike Lemming]

How's your RODI water?

 

[Mixed Reefer]

Sudden changes will piss your corals off. Change light over time. Slowly. Ph is low open some windows. Calcium is at 500? Magnesium should be three times that to be in range. My opinion I would bring calcium down to 440. I don’t think that’s your issue. Just an observation also Alk is a bit high in my opinion. But that I believe is from using instant ocean crystalsWhen was last time you calibrated your refractometer? Salinity could throw everything off. Start from basics. Sometimes torches close up. Could be large water change or some other nutrient rising quickly. The torches don’t look like they’re receding so I would wait it out a bit. Keep an eye on nutrients and keep stable

 

[Cpage101]

RO water shouldn't really be used to calibrate.
If you do a Google search on Randy Holmes Farley for calibrating a refractometer he gives a recipe in there for refractors. You can make it yourself with table salt.
Reason being why you shouldn't use RO water is at the slope from 0 to 1.026 might be off, so you should calibrate with something closer to what your target value should be.

you can use distilled water to calibrate

 

[dburr1014]

you can use distilled water to calibrate

You can but it might not be correct. Not sure if you read my whole post.
Your slope may be off from the factory and you would never know it. This is why it's better NOT to use RODI.

Happy Reefing

 

[PSU4ME]

I think I’d start with ensuring you have quality RO and make a fresh batch of balanced water. Your params are a little out of balance but not surprised if you’re using RC cause it can happen. Whatever is happening, dilution is always a good solution as long as you’re starting off with good, clean stuff,

Keep and eye out for any signs of brown jelly disease.

 

[Moose10]

Thank you every one,

Update:

I think the PH was a fluke reading. I have been testing since, with a range of 8.2 to 8.3 the rest has been holding relatively consistent.

RO: thank you Mike for recommending a tester. TDS came in at 5-7. I replaced the RO filter this morning

Calibration: I received some calibration fluid to confirm. Salt is at 1.025

I mixed up a batch of Instant Ocean to dilute the Calc.

Torches are looking about the same, Some Zoas are bouncing back.
I have a couple of hammers and frogs that are not pictured that have puffed back up and look great

I moved the 3 torches that looked the worst into a small tank that I keep a damsel in. They exploded and look great.

I had what I believe to be dino's show up in the bigger tank so I plan on adding UV this week. What's interesting is I use old water from the big tank for water changes on the little and it does not have the issue.

Is it possible this was a precursor and all bacterial?

 

[Moose10]

I’m having one heck of a week.

The lights came on this morning and my giant clam looked to be split in half.

When I went to pull it out it bit me, it’s shell is separated. Not an easy picture to take but it seems to be alive. Is there any hope. If so what can be done.

 

[Byureefs]

Any chance the dragons breath was added recently
I got some at a swap once and immediately noted something was wrong with my corals 1 week later
I suspected they had some bacteria or virus
I took it out added carbon and things bounced back
Meanwhile the dragons breath was thriving
I put it in a separate tank for a while then threw it out