What is killing my reef?!?!!

[essop3]

Awhile back my leather corals weren't opening. We thought it was my huge colt. I got rid of it, problem still not fixed. Thought it might be phosphates since I got a little cyno/hair algae. Nope, not it. The problem has now escalated so far that my reef is in a state of emergency. Almost all corals are closed, some look really bad, 70% of xenia is melted. All shrimp are hiding.

Readings are

ammonia 0
nitrates 0-5 (very slight color change)
calcium 400
alk - good range (thats how the test reads)
pH 8.2
copper 0
salinity 36
temp 80 (same for years)

I did a 50g water change Sunday and another 15 tonight. My only plan of attack is to continue water changes. Carbon hasn't helped. Ozone made the water better but no change in corals.

Any ideas?? Please help!!

[Greg129]

Hmmm...what fish do you have?

[JmLee]

Salinity is 36?. is that 1.036?. If it is that high then thats probally your problem. Raise it down to 1.025 and you should be good.

[essop3]

sg and salinity are diffrent units of measurement

35 is a good sg level

[Sk8r]

I'd recommend the Salifert alk test, which gives numerical results. You'll want to fine-tune better than "acceptable," because you may need to raise to 3.5 or lower to 2.97 for various purposes, like getting cal to adjust. I hope that salinity is the second-column reading, which translates still to: above 1.025-6. Watch that one: I'm suspicious it's high, and if your salt meter is off in the least you're in scary territory. Check your thermometers and ph. If any meter or measure has gone out by a few points, that's a problem.

[essop3]

foxface
purple tang
firefish
bangaii
mandarin
2 false percs

[JmLee]

Originally posted by essop3
sg and salinity are diffrent units of measurement

35 is a good sg level

well he didnt specify.

[essop3]

Sk8tr, you might be on to something. I checked my refractometer and it was off just a little. after I recalibrated salinty was only 33. That might be a little too low.

[Reef Junkie]

Like Sk8r said, get yourself a good alk test kit. What do you use to replenish alk/cal?
If you're not actively replacing it, your tank can suffer from depressed ph at night.
How is the circulation in your tank? Do you have any surface agitation?
Bill

[essop3]

I have a sieo 620
a sieo 820
and 3 mj 900
mag 7 on the skimmer and mag 9 for sump return

a little surface aggitaion.

[Greg129]

Originally posted by JmLee
well he didnt specify.

It's common sense.

[Amphiprion]

Have you tried doing any water changes? When mass dieoffs like this occur, it helps to do large (~50%) water changes.

[essop3]

45g yesterday and 15 more today. The Xenia is the only thing that has died.

[Amphiprion]

Ah, ok. Unfortunately, it is not all that uncommon for Xenia sp. to suffer a periodic "crash." No cause has been attributed, but I suspect the depletion of a particular nutrient.

[essop3]

But the rest of the corals are in serious decline.

[Amphiprion]

I don't know if this is an exact situation, but the same thing happened to me. Did you remove all the dying/dead Xenia? If you have to, do another large (more than 45 gallons--that is how much I did on a 75 to remedy a similar problem) and add some carbon, etc. The dying Xenia release many of the compounds they had assimilated while growing, so you can imagine the massive influx of metals, etc. going into the water.

[Reef Junkie]

Yes, Amphirion hit the nail on the head. The rotting carcasses of xenia are dumping ammonia, nitrites and god know what else into your reef. These chemicals are compounding the problem by depressing your ph even further.
Also, it is well documented that newly mixed saltwater can have low alkalinity. That means if your alk was low to begin with, it may be downright nonexistant right now.
Get your hands on a salifert alk test and some super buffer dkh. Even if your alk is high (which I doubt) it's always good to have on hand.

The reason I'm going down the alk path is because it's one of the most overlooked and neglected parameters in a reef tank.
Plus, you said your calcium is 400. If you're not using anything to bump your calcium up and it's that high, then I'm willing to guess your alk is probably about 1-2 on your Salifert test kit you haven't bought yet.

I'm subscribed to this thread, so post your results.

Bill

PS It sounds like you have more then enough flow. Clean your powerheads when you get a chance.

[dhoch]

Have you thought about a small electrical leak into the water?

That might be causing enough charge to bother the corals?

Dave

[essop3]

I retested alk with my cheap red sea kit. It still comes up normal 1.7-2.8. It leans a little more towards blue which is higher. I will take some water to my LFS to be tested tomorrow, they use more expensive kits.

I've been sucking out the Xenia but i'm sure I'm missing some. I think they are very little of the problem since they are just now having a problem and this has been going on with my leathers.

I think they may be dying as a result of phosban. I ran it for 3 days last week.

[mystikdragon7]

essop3, what type of salt are you using?

[Paul79936]

I had that happen once. Xenia are full of noxious chemicals, that is why most fish won't eat them. I think that when Xenia die they release something more than nitrates. Low pH is known to cause Xenia crashes so the alkaline advice is good.

I think you will need plenty of water changes also, and some carbon wouldn't hurt.

[essop3]

I was using instant ocean. I changed to oceanic yesterday. I have heard some people claim IO has damaged their reefs. I figured it couldn't hurt to switch.

[Reef Junkie]

dhoch has hit on what I was gonna say if your alk was normal.
Stray voltage is a PITA. It can come from a ton of different sources, powerheads and heaters are usually the biggest culprits. Normally, larger pumps don't have this problem.

If you can get your hands on a grounding probe, get it. It'll give you some peace of mind even if you don't have stray voltage now.

Have you been shocked putting your hands in your tank? Not that I want you to do it, but have you touched a ground source while putting your hand in your tank? That is usually a good sign if you have stray voltage. It's unmistakeable, trust me.

Don't experiment with it, just get the ground probe.

Oh yeah, clean your Powerheads, did I say that already?

[essop3]

The tank is already grounded.

Thank you guys for your help on this. Just your ideas are making me feel less helpless.

[essop3]

One funny thing is Xenia on the back glass and overflow look as good as ever. Even on the main Xenia rock the melt down seems to be happening from the inside out.

I am not worried about losing the Xenia, I have more in the frag tank. Should I remove the rock on which the melt down it occuring?