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Author Topic: Questioning the 75g coral problems  (Read 5811 times)

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Offline SweetReefOH

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Questioning the 75g coral problems
« on: July 22, 2018, 14:36:51 »
I got a couple pics of corals that I’ve experimted with between the 75 & 40B. I’m now starting to wonder if my giant Toadstool coral isn’t the problem.

This first pic is of a frag I got from WWC. I put it in the 75, 3” from the sandbed for 3 days and immediately it started to show recession so I took it out, dipped it and put it in the 40.


This is what it looks like 5 days later. Still regressing. I also did the same thing with a Setosa I got from Jeff. Same issue.

I am now starting to wonder if my massive Toadstool is releasing a toxin into the water. I’ve been reading a little about it and it seems that is a problem with some mixed reefs.

Everything I’ve got in the 40 that has not touched the 75 is doing great.

What are your guys’ thoughts on this possibility? My Toadstool would be about 12” across if you layed him out flat. I also have pulsing Xenia in the 75.

Offline lazylivin

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2018, 18:34:13 »
 I don’t think it’s the Toadstool. I had a lot of them pretty large in my 55 gallon tank along with a bunch of other softies such as singular and fields of Xenia.  Are you still manipulating your pH in the 75g? The 40 G is still fairly young. I had problems up to about a year and a half on a new system

Offline SweetReefOH

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Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2018, 18:58:20 »
I don’t think it’s the Toadstool. I had a lot of them pretty large in my 55 gallon tank along with a bunch of other softies such as singular and fields of Xenia.  Are you still manipulating your pH in the 75g? The 40 G is still fairly young. I had problems up to about a year and a half on a new system
I run both tanks identically, except for the lighting and auto dosing. I have a fan in the window pushing CO2 out of the room. And yes, I use the CO2 scrubber on both systems. I do run a fuge on the 40 and not on the 75.

The 40 is doing great (knock on wood). It’s the 75’s issues that I’m still trying to figure out. I hate having such a large, mature system that I can’t put an SPS in without killing it.

Offline lazylivin

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2018, 21:00:42 »
Consider removing the co2 scrubber. Everything was fine before you installed that. That co2 scrubber is also something that your doing that probably 99% of the reefing community is not. Not saying it is wrong but ever since you added it, it has been one issue after another.

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2018, 22:01:35 »
Brian, you may be on to something. I checked my picture and post history. I put the scrubber online 8-14-17. Corals were doing fantastic up to the Dayton frag swap which was in October. I have not been able to maintain an SPS since.

Since I’m drawing stale air out with the window fan, I think I will remove the scrubber and it shouldn’t drastically drop the pH. To be continued....

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2018, 19:13:25 »
This is why Brian is a master reefer and I am still a reefer n training. As Brian suggested Im thinking the scrubber was my problem all along. Now I’m kinda worried about what the long term use of the scrubber has done to the water. I can see clear signs of corals looking better and growing their skin back but some are not. And, since I don’t know if the CO2 media was putting something in the water or if the problem was lack of natural CO2 in the water, I don’t know if I should do a massive water change or just ride this out?

Thoughts?

Offline lazylivin

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2018, 20:37:18 »
Thanks for plug Jesse. I think your okay to ride it out. If it was the scrubber it was more likely the lack of co2 and/or lack of ph swing

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2018, 17:18:30 »
Very disappointed to say, taking the CO2 scrubber offline gave a small boost to the corals for a couple days and then it went back to the same ole problems. And now, the same issue has started in the new 40 build.

Offline lazylivin

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2018, 19:17:43 »
When a coral is suffering it can take a couple months before it will start recovering. Stressors usually affect corals for quite some time. It is to early to know if the condition affecting them is resolved

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2018, 19:47:33 »
When a coral is suffering it can take a couple months before it will start recovering. Stressors usually affect corals for quite some time. It is to early to know if the condition affecting them is resolved
They’re dead within days/weeks for 95% of corals. I can’t seem to get anything to survive, let alone recover. I took the scrubber offline on 7-22. I got a Stellata from rick on 7-27. It’s already losing tissue fast and I’ve seen additional corals start showing the same deterioration. These are in the 40. Whatever is going on, it seems that the corals are extremely susceptible to light.  I have had to turn the “whites” almost completely off to hinder the recession.

This is leading me to wonder if it’s not my salt. I have always used Red Sea Coral Pro. Both tanks. The additives and salt are the only thing left that is being used in both tanks. I don’t think it’s the alk or calc because I use so little on the 40. A week after my last water change in the 75, the remaining corals started to really look terrible once again, after a few days. Razzle Dazzle, Anacropra. In fact, the anacropora is almost skinless at this point.

Any thoughts?


Offline lazylivin

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2018, 20:41:23 »
I didn’t realize they were completely dying. I thought they were just having events of tissue loss here and there. I would still keep the co2 scrubber offline. Keeping it basic is good when having issues. Salt can cause issues but it would normally be a event that would occur immediately following the water change. It is probrably not that common but I am sure problem batches of salt have occurred.

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #11 on: August 03, 2018, 21:09:24 »

Unfortunately yes, they die. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of corals.

I built the 40g system to see if I would have success or the same issues as the 75. And I’m having the exact same problem as the 75. So that tells me it HAS to be something that’s involved with both systems.

The scrubbers were removed on both tanks and I have no desire to hook them back up. So, that only leaves the salt, alk, calc and food that is consistent in both. That’s why I’m wondering if it’s the salt.

Offline Heinbaughb

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #12 on: August 03, 2018, 21:13:25 »
Is your specific gravity stable? Are you using the same ATO between the two tanks? I know you track your alk and other parameters religiously so you would probably pick up on something like that. Just throwing out a guess. Maybe somebody is Windexing the glass? I hate to hear both separate systems are having similar issues.


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« Last Edit: August 03, 2018, 22:04:09 by Heinbaughb »

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #13 on: August 03, 2018, 23:14:37 »
Is your specific gravity stable? Are you using the same ATO between the two tanks? I know you track your alk and other parameters religiously so you would probably pick up on something like that. Just throwing out a guess. Maybe somebody is Windexing the glass? I hate to hear both separate systems are having similar issues.


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No, they are completely seperate systems. Parameters are stable and consistent on both tanks and I never use windex.

Trust me, this is one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever been through in my life. If changing salt doesn’t turn things around, I’m gonna have to cut my losses and get out.

Offline CoralBeauties

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #14 on: August 03, 2018, 23:53:55 »
Even if you dont get the sps issues figured out you can still have a great looking tank with lps and other corals.  Your display tank is beautiful even if you dont have sps.  I know wall_tank has had his issues with his tank and Steve went through a bad patch with his.  We all have had our problems.  I have found with this hobby things can go terribly wrong in a blink of an eye but for things to turn around it can be months.  With my recent tank upgrade it has taken several months for my corals to regain their growth and coloration back and several still havent regained their previous color.  If you want me to coral sit some of your frags again that isnt a problem at all.
Jeff
« Last Edit: August 04, 2018, 00:01:49 by jjoos99 »

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #15 on: August 04, 2018, 09:16:37 »
I appreciate your input guys. I really do. August will be the 10th month that I’ve been dealing with this in the 75. And now my new build is doing the exact same thing and it’s heartbreaking to see. I’ve done a 20% water change in the 40 with live aquaria salt. That is really the last thing I’ve got left to try.

Jeff, thank you for the tank compliment. When I decided to get back into reefing, my main objective was SPS because I’ve done everything else in the past. I bought the best of everything when building the 75 in order to set myself up for success. This unknown demon that is plaguing me just seems to be too elusive. I just can’t continue to invest all this time and money trying to figure it out.

I will give the new salt water changes some time and see what happens.

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #16 on: August 10, 2018, 11:25:44 »
I am ecstatic to announce that both of my systems are now recovering! Unfortunately, I cannot say for sure which change is responsible and I am not about to revert back to try to answer that question. All I know is it was either the CO2 media “dust” being present in the water column or the Red Sea Coral Pro salt. After taking the CO2 scrubbers offline, I seen an improvement for about 2 days and then things got worse, once  again. The same roller coaster I’ve been on for 8 months. So, I don’t think it was the scrubber in and of itself causing the problem. There was still something in the water causing damage.

A little over a week ago I did a 20% water change in the 40 with Live Aquaria salt. After 2 days I started seeing excellent results. Mind you, I have only had about 4 SPS (out of too many to count) ever survive after showing damage. A week in now and I’m seeing most of the damaged corals healing. After seeing these results in the 40, I decided to go ahead and do a 20% WC in the 75. After 4 days now, I’m so excited to see my few remaining SPS healing themselves and I couldn’t be happier.

I also want to give a big THANK YOU to Jjoos for babysitting two of my prized corals (Walt Disney, Bali Tri Color) and nursing them back to health! The WD is in the 40 and the Tri Color is in the 75. Both are doing great. So hopefully now I can sit back and watch them grow without all the frustrating headaches I’ve dealt with for 8 months. Building the 40g system was a great help in getting this figured out....

Offline erky

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #17 on: August 10, 2018, 11:35:49 »
awesome, im going to blame it on the new light curing all your issues!

bali tri is the coral i was referring to the other day as my litmus with po4

Offline CoralBeauties

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #18 on: August 10, 2018, 12:57:33 »
That is what the club and forum is all about, helping and supporting each other for one common goal. Beautiful and healthy tanks!!  Believe me when I tell you we have all gone through or will go through what you have experienced.  I can remember walking down into the basement and seeing more coral damage before and wanting to take a hammer to the tank.  I'm hopeful for you that this recovery is a lasting one!!!!  I've got some more beauties for you if everything is fixed.
Jeff

Offline Heinbaughb

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #19 on: August 10, 2018, 14:54:25 »
Glad to hear it Jessie!


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Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #20 on: August 10, 2018, 17:41:37 »
awesome, im going to blame it on the new light curing all your issues!

bali tri is the coral i was referring to the other day as my litmus with po4
You’re right! Why didn’t you give that up 8 months ago?? : )

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #21 on: August 10, 2018, 17:42:47 »
I thank you Jeff! I’ll be over to check these beauties out soon!
That is what the club and forum is all about, helping and supporting each other for one common goal. Beautiful and healthy tanks!!  Believe me when I tell you we have all gone through or will go through what you have experienced.  I can remember walking down into the basement and seeing more coral damage before and wanting to take a hammer to the tank.  I'm hopeful for you that this recovery is a lasting one!!!!  I've got some more beauties for you if everything is fixed.
Jeff

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #22 on: August 10, 2018, 17:53:05 »
Thanks, me too!
Glad to hear it Jessie!


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Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #23 on: August 15, 2018, 10:33:12 »
Just wanted to share a before and now pic of my acans. They’ve made a great journey back!

Offline Wall_Tank

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Re: Questioning the 75g coral problems
« Reply #24 on: August 15, 2018, 16:13:37 »
For what it is worth, I've been burned by RSCP salt before, right before they re branded in to the nice black buckets. This was on my old 90gal system.

Right now I think most of my problem is lazyness.......

 

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