losing SPS colonies fast!!!

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by rlman41299, Dec 22, 2011.

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  1. rlman41299

    rlman41299 Skunk Shrimp

    Joined:
    May 29, 2010
    Messages:
    288
    Location:
    bay area, california
    i am battling this problem for 6 weeks now and i have run out of ideas what is causing it. i have lost at least 8-9 big colonies of SPS from garf bonzai to sunset millie's, tri color validas, prostratas and some high end colonies and also all of my australian sps are gone.
    this is how my tank looked like before everything went down.
    [​IMG]
    everything is in check, water parameters are in check. nitrates, ammonia, phosphate are all 0. used 3 diff. test to confirm and all came out zero. dosing kalk and magnesium ever since. temp constant to 78. tried to watch for predators at night and nothing came up.
    everything started about 6 weeks ago i noticed that my wall hammer was having brown jelly disease. took it out and dipped in iodine solution and was put back in the tank. a few days later noticed that some of my corals are losing their color and turning brown. next thing you know STN and RTN are all around the tank. since then i have done at least 10 water changes of 30g each time and since have slowed down the problem.
    woke up this morning and just lost a prostrata (this colony have had RTN ever since but recovered from the water changes) and saw this.
    [​IMG]
    this colony has been damaged with RTN since start but has recovered but woke up this morning and the RTN is progressing.
    any one have any ideas?
    i have run out of and tried to do a lot of research from the web. could it be a bacterial disease attacking my sps?

    on the side note some of my sps are healthy and thriving. but most of the big colonies are gone. this is puzzleing for me.
    any help is appreciated.
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2011
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  3. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    Location:
    Billings Montana
    Parameters and maintenance schedule?
     
  4. ReefPlayground

    ReefPlayground 3reef Sponsor

    Joined:
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    750
    Location:
    Los Angeles, California
    give us the specs on the system; equipment, maintenance schedule, chemicals used.
     
  5. rlman41299

    rlman41299 Skunk Shrimp

    Joined:
    May 29, 2010
    Messages:
    288
    Location:
    bay area, california

    cal. - 480
    alk - 9.5
    ph - 8.1
    mag - 1450
    nitrates - 0
    phosphates -0
    ammo- 0
    nitrites - 0

    water changes every other week 30g with reef crystals.
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2011
  6. m2434

    m2434 Giant Squid

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    Do you run GAC, GFO? Do water changes? How much salt, how much, how often? Do you monitor ca and alk? How often? have you changed test kits?

    Most likely it is parameter swings, such as alk. Or, could be buildup of something not tested, such as organic carbon. Also, could be accumulation of metals or other toxins. etc... We need more info really.
     
  7. rlman41299

    rlman41299 Skunk Shrimp

    Joined:
    May 29, 2010
    Messages:
    288
    Location:
    bay area, california
    90g with 30g sump. no chemicals used except for kalk and mag dosing.
    swc 160 skimmer, ai sol led.
    one thing i noticed is my chaeto's are dying but my gracilaria is thriving so that even it out.
    one thing odd is i am growing this green slime on my return pump compartment of my sump. it looks like cyano but is green color. dunno if that has any link to my problem.
     
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  9. reefmonkey

    reefmonkey Giant Squid

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    Location:
    SE South Dakota
    AEFW or some other predator?
     
  10. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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    What is your Mg at? What is your specific gravity/salinity?
     
  11. rlman41299

    rlman41299 Skunk Shrimp

    Joined:
    May 29, 2010
    Messages:
    288
    Location:
    bay area, california

    yes i have GFo and carbon running. Carbon is 1 cup and GFO is 2 cups. carbon changed every 2 weeks and GFO q month.
    if it was parameter swing it should have affected all my sps/corals but this one is targeting my big stablished colonies.
     
  12. tinctorus

    tinctorus Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2011
    Messages:
    205
    Has anything new been done to the tank lately?
    IE new chemicals/new batch of chemicals
    new salt mix/brand
    new light bulbs/brand of light bulbs
    ANYTHING that has changed in the last 6 weeks

    I had this happen on a customers tank before and it turned out to be a bad batch of reef chemicals that he had just purchased, I dont know if someone put something in the bottle at the store or something was wrong at the facility but we bought a new brand of chemicals and did a 50% WC and within 2 days the RTN went away and after a few months you couldnt even tell anything was ever wrong with the tank