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So, tank should be fine, but its not... May need a coral home

amdphenomx4

Non-member
So, tank should be fine, but its not

Well, 3 frags gone, 2 more almost gone, the slimer from the contest is receding, a birdnest is white in the middle, another monti changed color today, and I'm at a loss to why. Temps were high a week in the 86 range, last week brought to 82 and now back to 79-82 daily. pH is at 8. Alk was the usual 6-7 from the biopellets, though I raise it one. Nitrate is under 15, and I did 2 water changes to confirm. Light is a little old, but only the SPS seem to be reacting bad. A 250W exploded and so I'm using an old 15k XM, and the coral under it are fine. Ran Polyfilter in a powerhead and it turned light brown, so no chemicals. Voltage is not felt by my hand, though a voltimeter may read slightly. Skimmer is running, and a few hundred mL of biopellets are cycling. Did 2 30g water changes when this started and have a salinity of 1.026ish. Fish are fine. I'm out of ideas.
 
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the temp swing could have caused RTN...putting an RTN coral in another tank could cause the other SPS to RTN as well. Not sure how you would remedy RTN other then trying to frag off a few good pieces while you can and just give it time...i'm sure others will chime in
 
temp was at 86 for a week, alk is at 6, and nitrate at 15... and your at a loss as to why your corals arent looking good? my guess is those 3 issues are the culprits... jmo
 
Well, the tank normally ran an alk of 6 or 7. It was going along well there. Nitrate was 15-20 before 2 30g changes, which I was only able to estimate, and I would figure 15 is on the low side, but thats why I restarted biopellets.
 
Temp and alk will definitely cause rtn.
Why would biopellets effect alk?Never used them.
 
absolutely!! alk issues are the number one reason for tissue necrosis, slow or rapid...

ALK should be at a max of 2.8!!!!

how in the world is your alk at 6-7?? Surprised your fish aren't jumpin out!
 
ALK should be at a max of 2.8!!!!

how in the world is your alk at 6-7?? Surprised your fish aren't jumpin out!

I think we are talking about different reading... im referring to dkh, not meq/L...2.8 roughly translates to 11 dkh... i keep my alk at 8 dkh... i think if it dropped to 6 dkh, i would have coronary, and start panicking personally...
 
I think we are talking about different reading... im referring to dkh, not meq/L...2.8 roughly translates to 11 dkh... i keep my alk at 8 dkh... i think if it dropped to 6 dkh, i would have coronary, and start panicking personally...

Yep, I misread it!!! I was like... WOW!!! Forgive my lack of attention to detail!
 
I keep my DKH at 8 and have had it drop to 6 in the past with no adverse effects whatsoever... natural seawater is around 7 so this isn't a crazy drop... if i see it any lower than 6 I may have had a coronary, although I raised it up pretty quick when it happened haha. I bet temp was the biggest factor here, it is way above the comfort zone...
 
Raising alk fast is a sure fire way to have birds nest corals rtn.
I know first hand.:o
 
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