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Unread 01/26/2007, 01:11 AM   #1
neelio
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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SPS not doing well

i just switched my tank over to a larger setup a week ago. Acclimatized properly and everything. i have an green open brain, candycane, toadstool leather and frogspawn that all were doing awesome, never looked better the first week. now for the last day, they all seem to be deflated, not opening or swelling at all. i just checked all the water parameters and everything seems fine

Ca 490
kal/alk 9 320
nitrates less than 10
ammonia less than .2 (if anything -nutrafin, hard to tell)
nitrites 0
salinity 1.025
ph 8.3-8.4
temp 80-81F

clues?


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Unread 01/26/2007, 01:16 AM   #2
Rockitmakr
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Perhaps the new tank is going through some sort of a cycle? Did you add any new sand or live rock?? The Nitrates s/b 0 ppm IMO...
My 2 centz..



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Current Tank Info: 250 Gal. Reef with Softies and SPS-LPS's. A few fishies as well.
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Unread 01/26/2007, 01:33 AM   #3
hahnmeister
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How is your flow and lighting? These can quickly shock a SPS to death if they are not favorable.


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Unread 01/26/2007, 07:25 AM   #4
WinkeyWoneye
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Well first off....out of all the corals you listed above....non of them are SPS, they are all LPS.
As for nitrates having to be below 10 ppm, I beg to differ. I dont keep any LPS, so I cannot attest for them. But I do however keep lots of SPS/softies, and I've had a nitrate problem for a long while now....(My dirty little secret) My nitrates fluxuate from 15ppm-20ppm. I know where the problem is stemming from, but unfortunatly just haveta let it run its coarse.(Old LR leeching nitrates into water) My old 39g tank was WAAAAAAAY overstocked and had no fuge, very small skimmer. All my LR that I took outta that tank when I swapped to my new 72, had to be super saturated w/ nitrates. I'm around the 3 month mark now on my new tank, the nitrates are slowly decreasing by the week w/weekly water changes and replacing my carbon every 2 weeks. Plus the new ER skimmer helps ALOT I'm sure. Anyways....all my SPS are doing great, as is my anemones, fish, etc......*knock on wood*. So I dont think nitrates under 10ppm are playing a role in anything.

If the ammonia is .2, that could be affecting things. Corals and anemones alike will quickly react to any presence of ammonia. "Dilution is the solution"-quoted from Calfo I believe...the best thing to do if your seeing ammonia present, is large water changes and do not let the ammonia levels rise too high. Keep on the changes until no ammonia's are present.
If you have stronger lighting in the new tank it is very possible the corals are reacting to that. It will take them a week or 2 to get used to the new lighting. You could try raising your lighting up higher for now, or use egg crate aka "light diffuser" in the real world (bought at home depot or lowes) and cover the top of your tank w/ it, which will weaken the lighting effects during this acclimation period.
Other than the possible .2 of ammonia, your params are right on, so I'm not sure what else could be affecting them.
HTH and GL with it, keep us updated on your progress.
Wink


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I suffer from REEFER MADNESS!!

Current Tank Info: Oceanic RR 72g Bowfront w/ 20g sump/fuge. Euro-reef CS6-1 skimmer w/gate valve mod. Have a couple SPS corals, many ricordia, zoa's, mushrooms, softies, LPS, and a Rock/flower anemone.
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Unread 01/26/2007, 07:34 AM   #5
WinkeyWoneye
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You may also want to think about getting a more accurate ammonia test, that is not a parameter you want to be guessing on...you want it to be 100% dead at 0! Also check the calibration of your hydrometer/refractometer, make sure your salt levels arent really higher than they should be. A buddy of mine that keeps LPS had a dig. refractometer, he had been keeping sg at what he thought was 1.026 for ever now, until he brought some frags to the LFS and they tested water...WHOA...your sg is 1.030!!! WAAAY high, not sayin this is your problem, but is a possibility. He has since bought a Milwalkee Refractometer (non digital) and has lowered his salinity to a true 1.026. He said he noticed a HUGE diffrence in his LPS polyp extension since lowering the sg. Flow will also affect how much LPS polyps extend. The same friend, has just added 2 tunze streams, and his LPS wont extend as much as they used to because of all the flow. He has tested this by turning them off for a day, sure enough full polyp extension w/ out the extreme flow. Cant think of any other possible causes off the top of my head so..... Winkey..OUT!


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CDMAS


I suffer from REEFER MADNESS!!

Current Tank Info: Oceanic RR 72g Bowfront w/ 20g sump/fuge. Euro-reef CS6-1 skimmer w/gate valve mod. Have a couple SPS corals, many ricordia, zoa's, mushrooms, softies, LPS, and a Rock/flower anemone.
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Unread 01/26/2007, 10:42 AM   #6
neelio
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haha- nice catch- yes it was near 1am in the morning for me. its the LPS in the tank im seeing affected. I have a few SPS, GSP and shrooms that seem to unaffected. I am going to go get a better ammonia tester today and do a decent water change. the tank lights are the same from the old setup. Flow is down a little bit from the last tank, still using the same seio powerhead, however, this tank is 30 gallons larger.


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Unread 01/26/2007, 11:42 AM   #7
WinkeyWoneye
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Too much flow is definetly not the issue than, nor too much lighting. Maybe too little of lighting is the cause? What do you have for lighting on the tank? Your old lighting on a tank 30g bigger, is going to give you significantly less watts per gallon. Also might wanna invest in another powerhead of some sorts for better flow in the new tank.
Bring your refractometer/hydrometer to your LFS with you and ask them to compare it to thiers. Make sure its reading properly. Most hydrometers dont, and arent able to be re-calibrated. The analog refractometers are the most accurate. They can be re-calibrated using just RO water. The digital's can be accurate...as long as your calibration fluid hasnt evaporated and changed the sg of it... Thats what happened to my buddy, the calibration fluid evaporated some and he kept recalibrating to what was supposed to be 1.026, when it was really higher, throwing the calibration way off of true. Luckily it was caught in time before the salinity got any higer. Anything past 1.030 is not good. Even that itself is a bit high.
Let us know what you find with the new ammonia test kit when you get it/test the water.


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CDMAS


I suffer from REEFER MADNESS!!

Current Tank Info: Oceanic RR 72g Bowfront w/ 20g sump/fuge. Euro-reef CS6-1 skimmer w/gate valve mod. Have a couple SPS corals, many ricordia, zoa's, mushrooms, softies, LPS, and a Rock/flower anemone.
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Unread 01/26/2007, 02:20 PM   #8
neelio
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i got to my LFS today to do some other things and completely forgot the test kits. I have a 36" aqualight pro doing the lighting. thats one single 150 watt hqi bulb dead center ( the tank is not as high as my other tank, just much wider. so i figured have the most light demanding corals right center under the light which i do. I remember the other day my wife saying when she fed the fish while i was at work she put wayyy to much food in there. she tried to back pedal saying it was that much but today when i was doing my water change, i pulled alot of food out of the sump. So 15 gallons came out today and i will do the same in a couple days. hopefully it was just that excess food kicking about. Im going to have a buddy come by that has salifert ammonia and nitrate test kits and perhaps get a test on my water as my nitrate kit didnt show squat (old hagen), i am upgrading test kits as i go :|


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