Coral Meltdown

Zosozeppelin · 01/23/2021, 04:24 PM

Hi everyone,

Hi everyone,

I have a bit of an issue going on. January 16th, I woke up and noticed my pulsating xenia had melted. Immediately did a water test and had my pH 7.8, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 60 nitrates. All fish accounted for. Did a water change. A few hours later, my anacropora is bleaching. After the water change, I dosed to raise my pH to 8.0, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates (normal for my tank). I still haven't found a nitrate source unless it was a snail that got caught somewhere and I can't find it. To note, my mag was 1340 and calcium 360, so I dosed calcium only by the recommended amount on the Aquaforest bottle.

Within 48 hours my large branching bird's nest had died. I have angry GSP, Duncans, and cloves. I was told that this was possibility an alkalinity swing and not to dose by pH, but the xenia melted before I ever dosed anything. I did a 10 gallon water change yesterday. The tank is a Planet Aquarium tank with a total volume of 120 gallons.

Currently my parameters are as follows:

Alk- 147.3
Ca dropped to 280
Mag dropped to 1200
Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates-10
Phos- 0.25 (which stays chronically elevated in this tank and stays at this level)

I dosed 18.4 mL each of the Seachem Reef Fusion 1 and 2. I will dose mag as well.

What else can I do to prevent loss? I'm devastated. Should I do daily water changes? I was told to wait a week. Thanks for your help.

Sk8r · 01/23/2021, 07:36 PM

Have A sore hand and typing is hard, but this may help http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2588686

fix mag, then alk, then cal. wait 8 hours between dose and test---takes time to fully dissolve

move corals to qt tANK OFnew made salt water.

01/23/2021, 04:24 PM	#1
Zosozeppelin Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: New Orleans Posts: 3	Coral Meltdown Hi everyone, Hi everyone, I have a bit of an issue going on. January 16th, I woke up and noticed my pulsating xenia had melted. Immediately did a water test and had my pH 7.8, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 60 nitrates. All fish accounted for. Did a water change. A few hours later, my anacropora is bleaching. After the water change, I dosed to raise my pH to 8.0, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates (normal for my tank). I still haven't found a nitrate source unless it was a snail that got caught somewhere and I can't find it. To note, my mag was 1340 and calcium 360, so I dosed calcium only by the recommended amount on the Aquaforest bottle. Within 48 hours my large branching bird's nest had died. I have angry GSP, Duncans, and cloves. I was told that this was possibility an alkalinity swing and not to dose by pH, but the xenia melted before I ever dosed anything. I did a 10 gallon water change yesterday. The tank is a Planet Aquarium tank with a total volume of 120 gallons. Currently my parameters are as follows: Alk- 147.3 Ca dropped to 280 Mag dropped to 1200 Ammonia-0 Nitrites-0 Nitrates-10 Phos- 0.25 (which stays chronically elevated in this tank and stays at this level) I dosed 18.4 mL each of the Seachem Reef Fusion 1 and 2. I will dose mag as well. What else can I do to prevent loss? I'm devastated. Should I do daily water changes? I was told to wait a week. Thanks for your help.

01/23/2021, 07:36 PM	#2
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Have A sore hand and typing is hard, but this may help http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2588686 fix mag, then alk, then cal. wait 8 hours between dose and test---takes time to fully dissolve move corals to qt tANK OFnew made salt water. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.