What's wrong with this tank?

[badger126]

Looking for some help! My parents have a 210 gallon tank and for some reason they can't keep any sps coral alive. I personally have no problem keeping SPS but I don't know what is wrong with their tank! they are running 3x 250 watt metal halides with practically new phoenix 14k bulbs. Their actinics are on a 12 hour cycle and their MH are on a 10 hr cycle.
Here's their parameters:
Temp 76-78
SG 1.025
pH 8.3
nitrate 5
alk 3.7 meq/l
Ca 550
Mg 1500
phos <0.1

I realize that their cal and mag are a little high, but other than that anyone have any ideas? We've been using frags of birdsnest from my tank as canaries - we put them in and they last 2-4 weeks before showing they start showing skeleton. Thanks for any ideas you may have!​

 

[skinz78]

Is there any excess algae in the tank? I am wondering about your phosphates, what kind of test did you use?

How old are the light bulbs in the tank that the corals are coming from?

 

[badger126]

Algae level is low - phosphate test is salifert. The bulb thought is a good one, the corals come from my tank and my t5s are like 10 months old, except that they have always had this problem, I just always thought I could figure it out. Now I'm stumped lol

 

[Madreef]

It's something in the water....In good water with little PC light a BN will last more than 2 weeks. Do you have enough flow in the tank? Is the Ph stable? IME if a tank isn't set up with sps in mind it can sometimes be a difficult task converting over. Maybe post some photos of the tank.

 

[badger126]

Ph is stable - it's monitored with an Apex. Flow is 2 mp40 es so I think that's ok. I agree that it's water, but what?

 

[Madreef]

You have to test and re-test. If it's not showing up in your regular tests it might be copper or other metals. Are there other corals in the system? How old is the tank?

 

[skinz78]

Do you use RO/DI, if so how old are the filters? Also do you run any type of phosphate remover? Phosphates can be pretty hard to test and get an accurate measurement.

 

[Paul_N]

Honestly I would try a monti cap before BN. The BN are the first thing in my tank that go when things are a little off while everything else is fine. But honestly your params looks fine unless like stated above you have a bad test kit for alk or PO4. I run my alk, Ca and Mag around the same. The PO4 although might be high if nearer to .1 since it should be around .03-.05. But it really shouldn't kill the coral if it was around .09. I can see maybe browning it out. Something has to be way off if coral are not surviving at all.

 

[Captain Nemo]

What type of salt mix do they use?? Just wondering? The params look ok, but maybe the salt mix is missing something. Strontium maybe?? Is it a reef salt???Or just a marine salt???

 

[VegasRick]

What else is in the tank, corals and fish? How does it die, describe what happens

 

[FRAGJUNKY]

Your stats say the temp is 76-78.. do you have a chiller on the tank and are you certain that your temp flux is only 2 degrees?
I've noticed that alot of people are under the assumption that their tanks only fluctuate 1-2 degrees but if you actually monitor it for a week, writing down your temp in the morning and at night, most find there to be more than a 2 degree swing.
I believe temperature has ALOT to do with keeping SPS alive..

 

[Johnthebaptist]

Where did their tank come from?

Could it have been exposed to copper or other coral killers in the past? If it is used you never know what might have been in it before.

 

[badger126]

Brand new tank about 1 year ago, temp is monitored by an Apex controller so I'm sure about the temp. I think that may have been part of the problem in the past though. We have tried montipora digitata before and it died as well. When the birdsnest dies it is doing good for 3 or 4 weeks and then the tips go white and the death spreads down the rest of the branches. They use instant ocean(not reef crystals) but I do too and my sps grow very well. The rest of the tank has a couple of anemones, a toadstool, some mushrooms, zoas and palys, some hammer. Fish consist of 4 tangs, 2 dwarf angels, 3 clowns, diamond goby, yellow coris wrasse, mystery wrasse, mandarin, and maybe a few more. What else am I missing? Thanks for the great ideas so far......

 

[Troylee]

How are you testing the po4 and what's keeping the alk stable???

 

[badger126]

po4 is tested with a salifert test, alk is stabilized by dosing 2 part. There is some small fluctuation in alk since they only dose 2 part every other day but I've been less consistent than that before and not killed all my sps.

 

[caudill187]

If it is just acros that don't do well, I would consider a pest......AEFW's or redbugs?, but it sounds like a birdsnest died too and I am not sure if acro specific pests affect these?

 

[patent]

Have you run any carbon or other media to clean out the water? If there is something in the water that may pull it out. There have been times where a part of a coral died and seemed to give off something that bothered the other corals in my tank.

Also, nitrates are 5, 5 what? That seems high, but that may depend on the test you use.

 

[JK777]

i also had similar incident for the acros..upon close inspection...i noticed my flame angel...japanese swallow tail angel..keeps picking on the buds of acro as soon as they peek out....hopefully not the same case for you tank

 

[gofor100]

i also had similar incident for the acros..upon close inspection...i noticed my flame angel...japanese swallow tail angel..keeps picking on the buds of acro as soon as they peek out....hopefully not the same case for you tank

+1... if its only SPS, then I would keep a close eye on the dwarf angels. Everything about the water params seems good, and the other corals/inverts are doing well (right?), so it very well could be one of the angels.

Good luck!

-Chad

 

[dakotasreef]

I do not think 2 MP40's in a 210 would be ideal for sps. Where are the sps being placed in the tank? There is a chance that there could be some chemical warfare going on with that mix of corals.

Other than the birdsnest what happens after the sps is put in the tank? Do they turn brown, polyp extension, rtn? How do they die, how long does it take, etc.....

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