Things are dieing, but I have information...need help

[peted]

Tank: innovative marine 10g cube. Filter floss, chemi pure blue in my stack. Return pump is mightjet SE to pulse at lowest setting with I'm random flow generator.
No changes is light, or flow.
I use redsea pro and weekly water change 2 gal if not more. Changed chemipure 2 days ago when I noticed issues. Tank started in mid October of 22.

78 deg
1.024 sg now was 1.026 before water change.
Lights schedule attached, not in acclimation mode. Shade and diffuser on light, ai prime.

Water perimeters below. No ammonia no nitrites, other listed in screenshot.

Lost a torch today, might be losing another or two others, hammer is not happy either.

Livestock is cleanup crew nasarrian, Astoria, conch, hermit. Diatoms come and go, conch mows them pretty well. I have a dragons breath macro and two clowns.

I started feeding corals a week ago. Could be the problem.... Reef roids and both phyto and zoo plankton, ever2-3 days. 5ml total with saltwater mixed at 50%.

With that being said and the attached....someone give me a little help into why I am losing this battle.

Corals are 3 torches, 1 hammer, 1 acan, 1 space invader.
Lost 1 other torch today....
Torch in the back looks ok'ish. Other looking closed or droopy.
The last image was a reference to what it used to look like last week and previously.

Hammer, dead torch, acan, and space invader were all added in Nov. The three Torches added on the rock, were added 2 weeks ago. Everything has been dipped.

So what am I missing?
Thanks.

 

[Tamberav]

Your salinity is low
Calcium low
Alk is high

It seems like there was a swing as you said salinity dropped?

Also a lot of changes made to the tank it sounds like around the same time.

I am not sure the food is an issue but no way that tank needs all that. You could just feed something like LRS reef frenzy to the fish and the juice and particles and fish poo will make the corals happy. I would at least back off on reef roids. If you are target feeding the torches, then you could certainly be irritating them. Broadcast for those types.

What were the parameters before?

 

[peted]

Here are more befores, and afters...

 

[bushdoc]

Sg drop from 1.026 to 1.024 within one water change is probably the cause. Corals are stenohaline, meaning they can tolerate only very narrow range of salinity. They could probably adjust to it, but very slowly.
Other params are not ideal either, low Ca, high dKH.
You need STABILITY and above all all you should correct salinity first, but slowly.

 

[peted]

Salinity was always at 1.024-1.025, but less than a week at 1.026 caused this?
Calcium, and dkh are both cause of redsea pro salt, either I change salt, are what do you think? redsea Pro salt is killing my torches?

I dropped salinity today, from 1.026 to 1.024, thinking if something had to do with salinity, it would be closer to normal. But death and decay was prior.

Similar results before.. nothing out of the norm. Been using the same salt since birth, light schedule had been played with a lot before, like first week coral were added in Nov, but after that nothing. Flow has not changed either.
3 torches were added last, that's it. Everything else had been in there for over a month before. The hammer has been the most resilient, and not it is showing signs of stress and death.

 

[bushdoc]

Salinity was always at 1.024-1.025, but less than a week at 1.026 caused this?
Calcium, and dkh are both cause of redsea pro salt, either I change salt, are what do you think? redsea Pro salt is killing my torches?

I dropped salinity today, from 1.026 to 1.024, thinking if something had to do with salinity, it would be closer to normal. But death and decay was prior.

Similar results before.. nothing out of the norm. Been using the same salt since birth, light schedule had been played with a lot before, like first week coral were added in Nov, but after that nothing. Flow has not changed either.
3 torches were added last, that's it. Everything else had been in there for over a month before. The hammer has been the most resilient, and not it is showing signs of stress and death.

Yes, I would stay away from Red Sea Pro Salt.There's nothing wrong though with Red Sea "Blue Bucket" Salt and if you want to stick with same manufactures, I would recommend switching (slowly) to it. Again, stability is the name of the game. You can adapt corals and fish to low salinity, but over time and rapid change is something they cannot tolerate.

 

[peted]

Yes, I would stay away from Red Sea Pro Salt.There's nothing wrong though with Red Sea "Blue Bucket" Salt and if you want to stick with same manufactures, I would recommend switching (slowly) to it. Again, stability is the name of the game. You can adapt corals and fish to low salinity, but over time and rapid change is something they cannot tolerate.

So the moral of this story is don't go up .01-.02 salinity over a week without killing everything. And don't use red sea pro if you don't have a tank full of sticks?

 

[Lionfish hunter]

So the moral of this story is don't go up .01-.02 salinity over a week without killing everything. And don't use red sea pro if you don't have a tank full of sticks?

Your calcium is really low and could alone be the cause. Should be 420!

 

[bushdoc]

So the moral of this story is don't go up .01-.02 salinity over a week without killing everything. And don't use red sea pro if you don't have a tank full of sticks?

Something like that. I understand that Red Sea Coral Pro salt has got some purpose, but perhaps it is not right for your tank.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

My water can go from 1.026 to 1.024 when i screw up and dont unplug my auto top off and I have very sensitive acros. I don’t think this is the cause.

 

[peted]

Something like that. I understand that Red Sea Coral Pro salt has got some purpose, but perhaps it is not right for your tank.

Ok. I can accept that...Lion.....I use prosalt, change like 20-30% a week based on nitrates, can't change calcium with my bioload. And who knows, maybe the plunger on the salifert was .20ml more/less than I thought when the color changed. So I'm like withing the range of acceptance?

Can you please provide a logical citing of why my calcium needs to be at that with 4 torches, 1 hammer, 1 acan, and space invader?

 

[bushdoc]

My water can go from 1.026 to 1.024 when i screw up and dont unplug my auto top off and I have very sensitive acros. I don’t think this is the cause.

Yes, but not in 10 min, I suppose and if so, this is called "Anecdotal Evidence" and not a prove or example how to run a reef tank.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Do not change your salt brand! You need to limit changes to only whats necessary. And red sea salt is not killing your corals.

 

[peted]

Yes, but not in 10 min, I suppose and if so, this is called "Anecdotal Evidence" and not a prove or example how to run a reef tank.

Bush, noted...I need to change to blue bucket. I agree with YOUR comment. Lion was who I was questioning on the other part.

The reason for the frustration on this is due to the appearance and testing previously, and without change I am having more than one coral issue...can't figure it out. But you have made the most valid point of salt possibly being the culprit based on the livestock per previous remarks

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Yes, but not in 10 min, I suppose and if so, this is called "Anecdotal Evidence" and not a prove or example how to run a reef tank.

I wouldn't recommend it, but ive done it plenty of times with no issues.

 

[bushdoc]

Ok. I can accept that...Lion.....I use prosalt, change like 20-30% a week based on nitrates, can't change calcium with my bioload. And who knows, maybe the plunger on the salifert was .20ml more/less than I thought when the color changed. So I'm like withing the range of acceptance?

Can you please provide a logical citing of why my calcium needs to be at that with 4 torches, 1 hammer, 1 acan, and space invader?

When Calcium drops below 380, corals slow their growth, eventually growth will stop. It is unlikely though that low Ca would cause their demise in short period of time.
Here's the link to lenghty video which explains lots of Ca/dKH/Mg needs for corals

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Bush, noted...I need to change to blue bucket. I agree with YOUR comment. Lion was who I was questioning on the other part.

The reason for the frustration on this is due to the appearance and testing previously, and without change I am having more than one coral issue...can't figure it out. But you have made the most valid point of salt possibly being the culprit based on the livestock per previous remarks

I would expect lps to die at 300 calcium. This is an enormous issue! LPS use calcium and allalinity to build their skeleton.

And why would red sea salt be killing your corals? So many people use red sea salt without issue. Changing salt brands can kill corals, you need to only change what needs to be changed to limit stress in this situation. A proven salt brand is not the problem.

 

[bushdoc]

I wouldn't recommend it, but ive done it plenty of times with no issues.

Good luck with your plan, I will stick to mine.
Signing off, I have to go to work tomorrow morning.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

When Calcium drops below 380, corals slow their growth, eventually growth will stop. It is unlikely though that low Ca would cause their demise in short period of time.
Here's the link to lenghty video which explains lots of Ca/dKH/Mg needs for corals

There is no way his calcium dropped to 300 in a short period of time.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Good luck with your plan, I will stick to mine.
Signing off, I have to go to work tomorrow morning.

Its not a plan, but if it happens its not the end of the world.