Baffled with acro deaths

Kungpaoshizi

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I have not done that thought I could try that. I do dip all my new frags in Bayer before they do in the tank and have not seen anything come off them. It also has been at least a month before I added anything new to to the tank.

When I dipped with bayer I had random rtn within a few months of adding them to the tank.
Just a thought, I noticed a 90% decrease in rtn after I stopped. /shrug

I have to bring it up because it is a factor. (especially from the interactions I've seen talked about in research concerning insecticides and corals; I'm sure some will flame me anyways, but w/e)

If it is a nutrient thing, I find nutricell to help a lot with minimal impact on po4.
 

cee

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Is your pH meter calibrated? Seems pretty high for a home that has been sealed up for months with the AC running. What time of the day did you measure it?

I don't like LFS water. AM doesn't use deionization but not sure about the Aquarium. Can you test TDS or do you buy it pre-mixed.

Your experience is not that unusual. Frags, especially the tiny ones people sell these days, can be tough if conditions aren't perfect.

Your lighting seems pretty weak.

The Bayer point is valid. If you've been adding a lot of frags lately and dipping all in Bayer you are introducing poison into the system that can accumulate. I always remove frag plugs, mariculture plugs, etc. from all corals, especially when dipping in Bayer.

Also, what about detritus settlement on the sand bed. Does it get stirred or otherwise exported or accumulate?

Just some ideas, no smoking gun.
 
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BlueDevil

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Is your pH meter calibrated? Seems pretty high for a home that has been sealed up for months with the AC running. What time of the day did you measure it?

I don't like LFS water. AM doesn't use deionization but not sure about the Aquarium. Can you test TDS or do you buy it pre-mixed.

Your experience is not that unusual. Frags, especially the tiny ones people sell these days, can be tough if conditions aren't perfect.

Your lighting seems pretty weak.

The Bayer point is valid. If you've been adding a lot of frags lately and dipping all in Bayer you are introducing poison into the system that can accumulate. I always remove frag plugs, mariculture plugs, etc. from all corals, especially when dipping in Bayer.

Also, what about detritus settlement on the sand bed. Does it get stirred or otherwise exported or accumulate?

Just some ideas, no smoking gun.

Is the pH high in your opinion? I thought it was on the lower end of the range that I would prefer it to be at. 7.98-8.17 is where its at right now, which I have checked via my Apex log, and also cross checked it with a test kit. I have tested the pH once in the morning and once in the evening and as best as I could do color matching it checked out pretty close to that range. I would prefer the pH to be between 8.1 and 8.3. The pH probe on my Apex has not been recalibrated since I first did it during install back in December. I'll get some calibration solutions to check that out as well to make sure.

I don't like that I have had to get LFS water either especially not now that I have a reef setup going. It was alright for a FO tank, but not so much anymore. I just didn't have the space I needed to set up a mixing station. But I have made the space now and have everything I need. I have the RODI unit, the mixing containers, and the stands that they will sit on. It is just a matter of setting everything up, which I hope to have done when I come back from vacation in 10 days. Hopefully that should help a lot with tank stability and knowing what's going in it.

For the frag dips, while I don't take them off the plugs, I do rinse them thoroughly in three separate clean SW containers. But I can see how it might not take out all traces of Bayer.

Lighting I agree is still on the weak end of the spectrum, but I am in the process of ramping them up. I didn't just want to blast them up from 10 to 50% in one go. So I am bumping them up 1% a day on week days. My actinics are now up to 50% with full specs at 19% to give me roughly 325 PAR up where most corals that have died were at.

I vacuumed the sand bed yesterday to see how much gunk came out of it and I have to say it was pretty clean. It pulled out what anyone would expect in terms of dirty water, but no chunks of food etc... I gravel vac about once a month and stir it every couple of weeks. I have plenty of large sand sifting snails that keep it pretty well turned over.

Short of some disease or anything else that I might just not be visible, I was wondering if the pH is the cause for my issues?
 

ZIGGY63

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Could it have been some kind of chemical residue introduced into the system. Only reason I mention is I'm in the same spot. I had three just go completely south on me while other acros have been just fine. I Checked everything and it seems fine.
 
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Could it have been some kind of chemical residue introduced into the system. Only reason I mention is I'm in the same spot. I had three just go completely south on me while other acros have been just fine. I Checked everything and it seems fine.

If it is a chemical residue it would have to be completely unintentional and honestly I don't even have a clue what it could be. I am very particular about cleaning things and rinsing them off real well with FW after each use. About the only chemical that could have gotten inside the tank is some trace Bayer as I mentioned in the above post. That too would have to be an extremely trace amount after all the rinses post frag dip treatment.

Not knowing what the cause is is even more frustrating than just losing stuff suddenly. I just wish there was a way to find the exact cause so I could take the necessary steps to fix it. But it's all par for the course in this hobby I guess.
 

saltyfilmfolks

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Can We see pics?
Im in my coral killing phase of reefing:D And there is something to be said for "how it dies" Ive killed with low flow, high flow. high nutrients, bugs, cyano, etc. All those looked different.
 
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I will get some pics tomorrow with my camera. Phone pics will not show much.

There are still a couple of frags hanging on for dear life that might show the damage. But the total skeletons I tossed yesterday since they were way past the point of return and I didn't want them aggravating the issue.
 

saltyfilmfolks

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New tank syndrome was one of my thoughts too but I'm baffled that some of them are doing great while others not so much.
Dont be baffeled, some corals are hardier than others. First from different depths different environments(lagoon/high reef), and different tanks w different chemistry.alk light, and nutrients.
 
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Dont be baffeled, some corals are hardier than others. First from different depths different environments(lagoon/high reef), and different tanks w different chemistry.alk light, and nutrients.

Good point there! I guess I'll look at the glass half full in that I have some that have survived so far [emoji4]
 

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Where did the corals come from? Wild? Mari? Also it is my experience that with newer tanks as in less than a year this type of things can happen for no apparent reason. Over 9 months old tans Ive had good success keeping the most delicate SPS and over a year is almost bomb proof provided all parameters are on point. Give your tank time to mature. Get cheaper, hardier SPS for now.
 

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Not that your pH is high overall, just high considering that you've probably not had any fresh air intrusion into the house for many months now due to the heat. Can you run your skimmer airline outside? If so, this will raise your pH to normal levels.
 
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Where did the corals come from? Wild? Mari? Also it is my experience that with newer tanks as in less than a year this type of things can happen for no apparent reason. Over 9 months old tans Ive had good success keeping the most delicate SPS and over a year is almost bomb proof provided all parameters are on point. Give your tank time to mature. Get cheaper, hardier SPS for now.

All my frags are aquacultured from vendors that other locals have purchased from and some frags got from other reliable locals. It is quite possible that the tank is just too new. I'm just going to keep plugging away for now and let things settle while still keeping an eye for any obvious issues that need intervention.
 
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Not that your pH is high overall, just high considering that you've probably not had any fresh air intrusion into the house for many months now due to the heat. Can you run your skimmer airline outside? If so, this will raise your pH to normal levels.

I'll try to squeeze a line to a skimmer or airstone that can be routed in a window without having to open the whole window. Can't wait for the Fall so I can open windows to aid in it!
 

CastAway

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All I know is, that if someone as meticulous as you looses SPS unexplainably, then I have surely built a house of cards, and can be expect the worst. Honestly freaks me out thinking about it.
 
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All I know is, that if someone as meticulous as you looses SPS unexplainably, then I have surely built a house of cards, and can be expect the worst. Honestly freaks me out thinking about it.

Now now. Don't short change yourself! You're doing a bang up job with your tank and you've had it for a while to let it mature. Not to jinx you or anything but getting into this hobby I had accepted that such losses will occur, at times for no apparent reason. So just do the best I can do and take the lumps as they come.
 

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Now now. Don't short change yourself! You're doing a bang up job with your tank and you've had it for a while to let it mature. Not to jinx you or anything but getting into this hobby I had accepted that such losses will occur, at times for no apparent reason. So just do the best I can do and take the lumps as they come.
We have to live with the expectation that there will be losses. It is the nature of the hobby. We just have to do our part to give it the best chance at success. Don't be put off by some losses. From your description it is only the SPS having issues and IMO it can be a bacterial infection on the coral or like my theory before says the tank is not matured yet. I know people have been successful/lucky putting in SPS a month after cycling but it isn't common. Your tank at 4 months is just starting to get going but I personally feel lot more confident with my tanks once they passed the 9 month mark with no setbacks other than the common algae stages etc. Hang in there. Continue to investigate but don't stress over it(i know it sounds like bs I've been there) Get the hardiest of the SPS you can and let them thrive before you move onto more delicate ones. And I'd also stick to Aquacultured corals like you've been doing. You are doing the right thing and you seem to be in the right state of mind about the hobby. hang in there.
 

firemedix911

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Now now. Don't short change yourself! You're doing a bang up job with your tank and you've had it for a while to let it mature. Not to jinx you or anything but getting into this hobby I had accepted that such losses will occur, at times for no apparent reason. So just do the best I can do and take the lumps as they come.
We have to live with the expectation that there will be losses. It is the nature of the hobby. We just have to do our part to give it the best chance at success. Don't be put off by some losses. From your description it is only the SPS having issues and IMO it can be a bacterial infection on the coral or like my theory before says the tank is not matured yet. I know people have been successful/lucky putting in SPS a month after cycling but it isn't common. Your tank at 4 months is just starting to get going but I personally feel lot more confident with my tanks once they passed the 9 month mark with no setbacks other than the common algae stages etc. Hang in there. Continue to investigate but don't stress over it(i know it sounds like bs I've been there) Get the hardiest of the SPS you can and let them thrive before you move onto more delicate ones. And I'd also stick to Aquacultured corals like you've been doing. You are doing the right thing and you seem to be in the right state of mind about the hobby. hang in there.
 
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We have to live with the expectation that there will be losses. It is the nature of the hobby. We just have to do our part to give it the best chance at success. Don't be put off by some losses. From your description it is only the SPS having issues and IMO it can be a bacterial infection on the coral or like my theory before says the tank is not matured yet. I know people have been successful/lucky putting in SPS a month after cycling but it isn't common. Your tank at 4 months is just starting to get going but I personally feel lot more confident with my tanks once they passed the 9 month mark with no setbacks other than the common algae stages etc. Hang in there. Continue to investigate but don't stress over it(i know it sounds like bs I've been there) Get the hardiest of the SPS you can and let them thrive before you move onto more delicate ones. And I'd also stick to Aquacultured corals like you've been doing. You are doing the right thing and you seem to be in the right state of mind about the hobby. hang in there.

Thank you! As disheartening as it might be I was mentally prepared so it makes it a wee bit easier. Which is why I don't really buy any super expensive sticks, at least not until I am able to turn the cheaper ones into bigger colonies.
 
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