my sps are slowly dying

[jay-roc]

i satrted putting sps in my tank in october to do a mixed reef, and i noticed one of my acros flesh started coming off and then it till it all turned white then an encrusting monty the same thing now my orange didi and green slimer i dont know whats causing this

[jay-roc]

my orange didi (orange digi)

[greenmako]

what are you levels? especially Alkalinity and tell us more about your system please

[Texreefer]

also what type of softies or lps are they housed with and how close are they?

[jay-roc]

salinity 1.023,ph 8.2,calcium 480, alk 1.6

[jay-roc]

they arnt close at all nothing is touching

[jay-roc]

i dont see anything on the corals like visible parasites and when i first noticed the firs acro doing this i took it out and dipped it in lugols solution but it kept losing its flesh

[apedroza]

Your alk is very low. It sould be 8-10dKH. What are you supplementing with?

[cpreefguy]

What test kits are you using? What salt do you use? How often do you do water changes?

That alkalinity is super, super low

[jay-roc]

i have red sea test kit , i do a water change every 2 weeks and how do i get my alkalinity up ?

[apedroza]

What are you currently dosing with?? I use B-ionic on a daily basis and it keeps the Ca and Alk pretty stable.

[jay-roc]

well i dose iodine red sea calcium + 3 and marc weiss coral vital i just got the b ionics but i havnt started using it yet

[stoneroller]

What units are you reporting your ALK in?

[jay-roc]

so if my ca is already at 480 will starting the b-ionics make it rise ? or does it just keep it stable ?

[apedroza]

Start using it. Also use the chemistry calc to estimate how much of the B-ionic Part 1 (alk) you need to get to the levels you want. Remember to add it slowly over a period of time and not all at once. You may want to skip the Ca. part until your alk is up, then use both daily to keep the levels up. Hope this helps but let me know if you have more questions.

Here's the link to the chem calculator:
http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38345

[jay-roc]

i dont know i have no idea
i guess ill go ahead and start using the b-ionics tomorrow

[Bill S]

Reef chemistry calculator:

http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

As noted above, what units is your Alk in?

[cpreefguy]

What kind of salt are you using? I would do a few water changes first, then you can use B-Ionic to supplement your calcium and alkalinity needs,. You dont want to boost your levels too rapidly

[jay-roc]

what is chemistry calc ?

[jay-roc]

ok... got you

[jay-roc]

so if the alk is to low that could cause my problem ?i use reef crystals salt cpreefguy

[cpreefguy]

In what units are you measuring your ALK ?

[Bill S]

OK, what test kit did you use for Alk? I think that by any measure, it's way low.

Did the damage start from the tips, and did the tips turn white?

I constantly battle Alk, even with Kalk & Ca reactors.

[bimmerzs]

well i dose iodine red sea calcium + 3 and marc weiss coral vital i just got the b ionics but i havnt started using it yet


Hi,

It sounds like your parameters are out of balance. To maintain a balanced system you need to keep your Ca, Alk and Mg at normal sea water levels. I would suggest the below course of actions.

1. Stop dosing...

2. Conduct several large water changes(at least 25%) spaced over several days with the goal being to bring levels closer to NSW levels...

3. Retest Ca, Alk and Mg

4. Most likey you Ca will still be ok, concentrate on bringing your alkalinity up (slowly)along with your magnesium levels. Mg levels should be x3 your calcium levels(or ~ 1380ppm)

5. Keep in mind that the 2 part solutions such as B-Ionic are best for maintaining levels not for raising them. It is cost prohibitive to use these to boost levels, go with one of the products thats made for boosting alk or mag.

6. Once you have your levels up, test daily for a week or so to determine your tanks daily consumption and resume dosing with B-Ionic only, do not use the two part along with the other Ca supplement and toss the Marc Weiss product.


Cheers,

[99taws6]

J,

I will help you test your levels to include your ALK. I don't know what is up with your tank everything is doing so healthy. You do reg water changes. I would not give up on the Marc Weiss Coral Vital. I think you have something small we are missing.. You take better care of your tank and my stuff is still alive.

-G

[Texreefer]

bottom line, alk that low will cause your problem,, you have been given some good advice above

[Bill S]

Great advice above.

BTW, you MIGHT check your test kits. I know this isn't what everyone does, but many folks around here use only Salifert kits:

http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=41245&highlight=testing

I have had problems with bad reagents for ALK from another test kit company... It REALLY didn't help things out at all, as you can imagine.

BTW, when my ALK gets low, I dose anhydrous baking soda (bake at 300 degrees at least 1 hour - it drives off the CO2). It's one of those items on the Reef Chemistry Calculator.

[Fish4life]

You guys haven't hit on one of the key causes (IMO) of stone garden loss. TEMPERATURE!!!!!!! WHAT IS IT????

[bdls]

SORRY Jay-Roc don't mean to jump on your thread. But I have the same problem, first I thought it was my lighting. But after reading the above posts I wondering now.
Just test my water and my PH is high and Niterate is high maybe that's way their dying.
Here's my water readings.

Calcium 480 (Test Kit API)
Ammouna 0 ppm (Test Kit API)
Niterite 0 ppm (Test Kit API)
Niterate 50 ppm (Test Kit Nutrafin)
PH 8.5 (Test Kit Nutrafin)
ALK. 4 meq. (Test Kit Marineland)
Salt. 1.024
Temp. 77.5
Lights Power compacts.
Tank 75 gal.
Would weekly water changes lower the PH and Niterate leves? I do water changes about every month.
Again Jay -Roc sorry for jumping on your thread.
Bobby

[matt]

Once you have confirmed that your alk is really low, (if it's really 1.8 meq/l) use baking soda to get it up to 3.0-3.5 on the meq/l scale. The reef chemistry calculator will tell you how much to use. If your Ca is low, you can use turbo calcium to raise it. If your magnesium is low, just use epsom salts to raise it. The calculator will tell you all the dosages. Don't be surprised if it takes alot of epsom salts, if your Mg is low. I'd use Salifert test kits to measure all three, but the tropic marine Alk kit works well too.

Once those levels are correct, use the b-ionic 2 part to keep them where they are.

There are lots of other possibilities for dying SPS corals. Water movement, overall water quality (phosphate and nitrate levels in particular) and proximity of other types of corals will all have an effect. One thing you can do that may help, but certainly will not hurt, is run ALOT of carbon in a canister filter.

Don't use water changes to adjust Alk. Baking soda works the best, and it has no appreciable effect on ph. If your corals are stressed and your water is otherwise okay, you'll just add stress to the corals by changing alot of water. Make SURE your salinity is near NSW levels, (35ppt or 1.025-1.026) with either a lab-grade glass floating hydrometer or a calibrated refractometer, keep your temp near 80F, and run the carbon. I'd also trim and remove any dead or dying corals.

[KyleV]

Had the same prob a while back because the alk test I was using went bad. After the LFS tested, I bought a Saliferta, got the alk back up and everything was cool!

[jay-roc]

thanks for the good advice guys