I need help, Im calling on the experts.. please?

Discussion in 'Coral Health' started by GSUBiology, May 10, 2013.

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  1. GSUBiology

    GSUBiology Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2012
    Messages:
    226
    Hey guys.. I'm going to explain everything that happened so please bare with me.
    I seem to be on a bad luck spree, problem after problem. A good portion of my corals keep dying and I don't understand what's going on at all.

    First of all, these are my water parameters

    Ammonia 0
    Nitrate 0
    Nitrite 0
    PH 8.4
    Calcium 440
    Magnesium ~1400
    Salinity 1.025
    Temperature is always around 77-79 degrees

    The dimmensions of the tank are 48 inches x 18 inches x 16 inches.
    These are the lights that I am using. 2-150W with two T5HO.
    T5 Lights turn on at 10 and off at 6 ( the MH turn on at 11 and off at 5)
    Hamilton Metal Halide + T5 HO Belize Sun Light Fixture

    This is the skimmer
    Reef Octopus BH1000 Hang-on-the-Back Protein Skimmer - Bulk Reef Supply

    In addition, I have a dual reactor running carbon and GFO.

    I also have 3 growing mangroves for additional filtering and some sponge to capture bigger particles.


    Ok, Now, onto the problem. I am buying SPS coral and LPS coral to begin stocking my tank.
    Not even 3 days later after I bought a big Favia coral, 1/8th of it was gone, a week later 1/4, a few days after 1/2 and now its probably 90% gone. During this ordeal I tried moving it around to try to save it but no luck at all.
    Here is a picture of it degrading
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    And this is now in less than 3 weeks.
    [​IMG]

    This is how the Bubble coral looked before.. (The coral definitely look closer than they really are, I did take that in to account). Although I am not sure how big the tenticles can get at night, I did leave a distance between them that I though was safe.

    [​IMG]


    This is how it looks now
    [​IMG]

    And finally.. This coral arrived Wednesday and now pretty much half of it is gone much in a similar manner than the others.
    [​IMG]

    Look at how the "skin" just peels off the coral... it's been only 2 days in the tank and it's already gone!
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I have no fish in the tank, and I only have a few feather dusters ( of them also died and I havent seen my brittle star which leads me to believe that it also died.)

    I do see a ridiculous amount of pods everywhere, but I am assuming that's because the lack of fish. I have not been able to keep shrimp more than a month either. I blamed it on my Giant hermit, however, he also died a while ago in what i think was a bad molt, but Im not sure if that's the case.

    I really don't know what's going on or why I am having so much trouble with this tank. I am calling on the experts now because I have no idea what else to do.

    Could you guys give me ANY possible explanation and I will order what ever needs to be ordered ASAP to fix the problem. ( Don't take anything for granted.. Even if you think it's obvious such as "do you turn on the lights?". (I rather dismiss it than possibly have overlooked it).

    Thanks for the help.
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2013
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  3. pgoodsell

    pgoodsell Horrid Stonefish

    Joined:
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    Sparks, Nv
    The first thing that pops to my mind is copper (because of all the inverts dying). Was the tank used? Have you ever treated with copper? If not I'm stumped, hopefully one of the SPS peeps will chime in.
     
  4. GSUBiology

    GSUBiology Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2012
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    226
    The tank was used, but to the knowledge of my teacher, Copper was never used. I still have a bunch of hermits and A LOT of pods around. I'm not sure if copper would take longer to kill those, or why there are some alive and others are not.
    I could perhaps order a copper kit to make sure?
    So far, only these 4 corals have died the way they did (2 SPS and 2 LPS). My hammer coral lost a head the first week it was in the tank, but as soon as I moved it to a different spot it seems to have gotten healthier. No luck with the other coral that did die though.

    I am crossing my fingers on the rest of the SPS I bought.
     
  5. oldfishkeeper

    oldfishkeeper Giant Squid

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    Location:
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    no expert here but you asked :) You listed your salinity as 1.0025 - I'm assuming that's a typo and you meant 1.025?
     
  6. GSUBiology

    GSUBiology Feather Duster

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    Yes LOL definitely a typo. Fixed it :)
     
  7. tgood

    tgood Sea Dragon

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    Location:
    Annville, PA
    Sorry to see this is happening, I don't have enough experience in SPS to tell you what's causing it... but I hope you figure it out soon!

    What kind of water do you use?
     
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  9. tinnghe

    tinnghe Purple Spiny Lobster

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    I don't see Alk listing. It is probably the most important figure.
     
  10. GSUBiology

    GSUBiology Feather Duster

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    TThanks, I hope so too!

    I only use RO water.
     
  11. zeo

    zeo Bristle Worm

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    Feb 17, 2012
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    128
    I've nothin to say But Sorry for ur lose ...But wait i faced smthin like that after a lot of research i/ve found that hydrogen sulfate that produced by denitrator is the main cause do you use any ?
    (sorry for my bad english i hope u got me)
     
  12. missionsix

    missionsix Super Moderator Staff Member

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