Struggling with Corals. Radion Problem?

Getting really frustrated with dead or dying corals. I now have my Radion down to 40% max during the peak of the day, and things still are going white. Initially set at 70%, then 60% and always using the acclimation mode over 4 weeks. Lights are hanging 10" above the water. All corals start at the bottom and have never been more than half way up in the tank. I've lost 1 SPS and many LPS. Everything looks good for a while and then suddenly bleaches over the course of an afternoon.

I've also lost a few acans which have suddenly started shrinking up and dying. They didn't (or aren't) lose color, but just seem to rapidly start diminishing. This seems like it could be nutrient problem, maybe? However, I've had acans in the past that I never target fed or did anything with and they flourished. I treated one Acan last week with CoralRx after a sudden and aggressive decrease in health. It's holding, but can't say yet if it's recovering...

The only corals that have been holding steady are a ricordea and a frogspawn. Both of which look great.

Parameters
NO2 - 0 (API)
NO3 - 0.5 (API)
PO4 - 0 (API)
CAL - 440 (Red Sea)
ALK - 9.5 (Red Sea)
MAG - 1400 (Red Sea)

Dosing 2-part B-Ionic twice a week. Not currently dosing any coral nutrients, but have been thinking about trying Reef Chili.

I have no idea what's going on. I thought having all this nice equipment was going to make things easier. At this point, I feel like I was a better reefer when I was using PCs and cheap powerheads :-/ FRUSTRATED.

 

It might or might not be. Once you start changing everything, there's no telling. I think your acclimation to the Radeon was more than reasonable. Did you put the Votecs in at the same time? Once things start going South, sometimes all you can do is wait and see what comes out the other side. If things are stressed, changing things more just adds more stress.

Not a criticism at all. We do what we do, but sometimes we don't win.

I ask about the MP10 because when things are stressed, a ton of flow is not what they need. But sudden death sometimes does not ever get answered.

What else have you changes recently. I would say to spread out dosing more, but if you have been doing that, no need to worry about it now.

 

No, I totally understand your points.

The MP10 has been in there from the start. However, I did just change its position from one side to the other, and backed down the flow a little. I also just calibrated the Radion, however that was right before I reduced the power to 40 and things were already having problems.

I do agree about spreading out the dosing. Right now it's just 5ml twice a week, but I'm looking to get some dosing pumps.

 

Forgot to mention that I starting have a small outbreak of red cyano in the past couple weeks, but I've been siphoning that out and its pretty much gone. I lost a fish and my GFO was fairly depleted so I figure thats what caused it. I also never had algae blooms during/after my cycle.

 

I understand if the lights are it. But don't reduce them too far. IF.. it was too strong, then the damage was done and they will get used to it. Turning down too much then does not give them what they need. I think you were safe at 60% or 50%, but I doubt you need to turn them down to 40%.

I really don't know. It's a guess. I say hold what you got and see. I know it is also an easy thing... but do you have any fish nipping? I swore I didn't... until the day I found my Blenny of all things nipping at my coral. I removed him and no more dead coral.

 

Are you using carbon at all? The reason I asked is this happened to my tank, the last time I ran carbon. I think I got a bad batch.

 

Yeah, it seemed like 60% was reasonable, but I read a few outside nano owner threads and they all seemed to be using less than 50%.

I only have two fish right now; a picasso clown who doesn't ever swim anywhere but next to the glass (thinks his reflection is another clown) and a bicolor dottyback who I've only seen twice since putting him in 2 weeks ago. I'm preparing for the dotty to die or about to die since he never comes out to eat. Second fish in a row that has gone into the rocks and never come out. Have I mentioned my frustration yet, lol Would fish nipping cause corals to bleach though?

Yes, I'm running carbon, BRS Rox 0.8. You got a batch? And it caused corals to bleach? I honestly didn't know that could happen with carbon. I'm wondering if I'm running too much...if that even makes a difference? I have a BRS single reactor that is 80% filled with a 50/50 mixture of carbon and GFO.

 

One thing I know for sure is that Acans do not like LEDs. Period. They are even sensetive to too much light provided by T5's.

You might want to try putting the acans in a shaded area if at all possible.

Also, I would look into getting a hanna checker for phosphates. All other test kits for phos out there are lacking to say the least.

I would also consider the amount of GFO that you are running and how much flow you have going through the media. GFO can be harmful if used too aggressively.

 

Good grief, if that's true then my plan for this tank being acan dominated is falling off the deep end...

 

I have Acans in two different tanks under LED's, and both are growing very well! One is under full spectrum custom build, and the other just 10,000K daylights with actinics. Both are mid-lower in the tank.