Dwindling SPS Corals

Discussion in 'SPS Corals' started by Blarghensplargh, Jan 6, 2015.

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  1. Blarghensplargh

    Blarghensplargh Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    May 28, 2012
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    About three weeks ago I added my first sps corals to my tank. I've been taking things slow with the tank and it's already been up for over four months. In my previous tank I was quite successful with a pocillopora and a montipora so I'm not completely new to sps. But anyways, I got three acroporas and one millepora all from Aqua SD and when I received them they were all brightly colored for the most part and shower promising polyp extension after 24 hours in tank. For some reason, since pretty much day one, the four corals have been losing color and even bleaching.

    Here are my parameters:
    Temp: 77
    Alk: 9 dKH
    Calcium: 450 ppm
    Magnesium: 1440 ppm
    Nitrates: 7 ppm (a little high I know)
    Phosphates: 0 ppm (have always been zero according to Hanna checker?)

    Flow is two mp10s running on reef crest mode at full power and lighting is a gen 1 radion with gen 3 clusters and TIR lenses.

    My first thought was that the light was too intense thus causing bleaching but the radion schedule maxes out on the 14k preset at 25% intensity so I doubt that's the issue. :\ The only other possibility that makes sense is that the corals are suffering from nutrient deprivation. If phosphates truly are zero or close to zero the zooxanthellae algae may be dying off. I turned off the media reactor that had some carbon and a few tablespoons of GFO in it to try and let the phosphates rise slightly. Also, two days ago I target fed each coral cyclopeeze and they reacted quite well in terms of actually capturing the food but if anything they looked worse the next day. I'll be ordering some reef chili from BRS and start feeding them that to see if that helps but I'm seriously worried that I'm missing something and the corals are really starting look rough. I don't want to lose them.

    [​IMG]

    The acropora in the middle was a fairly bright green when I got it and has shown the most uniform fading, the blue acropora is bleaching quite severely on the side of the base exposed to the lights, the pink acropora in the front left stopped extending its polyps about a week ago and within the last couple of days has showed some decay and algae growth on the tips, and the pink millepora in the back, though having lost the least color, was extremely fuzzy and had beautiful poly extension when I received it and has slowly shown less and less polyp extension.


    Any advice or explanation is much appreciated.
     
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  3. GuitarMan89

    GuitarMan89 Giant Squid

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    How did you acclimate them when you got them?
     
  4. Ballgame

    Ballgame Millepora

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    acros are the hardest of the sps from my experience. Very very sensitive
    hows the flow?
     
  5. Blarghensplargh

    Blarghensplargh Astrea Snail

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    I dripped them for a bit under an hour and then floated them to get them back up to temperature. To light acclimate them I set an acclimation period of six weeks starting at 15% intensity and ending at 70% intensity. I stopped it around 30% and then turned it back down to 25%. If it was an issue with acclimation wouldn't there have been problems right away?

    The two mp10s seem a little underpowered for the 60g cube but the area that these four corals are in is quite close to them and they quite a bit of flow.


    Something I didn't mention is that there's a fifth piece, a montipora that has practically white flesh (in the pictures and when I got it), but has tons of these bright pink polyps that remind you it's alive. Over a week ago the montipora stopped showing its polyps and since has grown quite a bit of film algae over it. There doesn't seem to have been any tissue recession whatsoever so it's definitely still alive. Is there a way to remove the algae without damaging the coral?
     
  6. Kevin_E

    Kevin_E Giant Squid

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    I see burned tips (notice algae). Classic sign of high alk or swings.
     
  7. Blarghensplargh

    Blarghensplargh Astrea Snail

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    I just tested my alk and it's down to 8.3. It was 9 just a few days ago, why would it change so much? For some reason whenever I go a while without dosing soda ash the dKH always eventually ends up at exactly 8.3.
     
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  9. Va Reef

    Va Reef Giant Squid

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    How about pH? With all the constant monitoring offered by probes and controllers and such, even if you test and get optimal conditions at one point in time, you still have no idea what your tank parameters are doing at night or throughout the day.

    +1 to what kevin_E said, i see burnt tips too. Could definitely be alk swings. Could even be something simpler like being to close to a return pump when fresh water is added to top off or buffer not mixing/diluting enough before entering the DT.

    IMO, based off what you're describing, i would suspect low/fluctuating pH and elevated phosphates/nitrates. How old is your hannah checker?

    Also do you see any signs of STN or RTN?
     
  10. Blarghensplargh

    Blarghensplargh Astrea Snail

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    Are the corals actually sensitive to changes in the presence of carbonate and calcium or are they mostly sensitive to fluctuations in pH that can result from changes in the presence of these elements? I have a pH probe on my controller which I've had all sorts of problems trying to calibrate, so I don't know exactly what the pH is. I'm ordering a salifert pH test kit as soon as possible. What the probe does do however is allow me to monitor the stability of the pH. My pH has generally been very inconsistent but right around the time I got these corals I got 15' of tubing and since have been running my protein skimmer air line out of the window. Ever since then my pH hasn't fluctuated more .05.

    And so far I haven't seen any tissue narcosis but I'm definitely keeping my eyes open for it.
     
  11. mdbostwick

    mdbostwick Vlamingii Tang

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    I have had a few sps take a decline recently as well. I however do know my problems started with a couple malfunctions of equipment, I am following to see if there is anything i am missing as well.