Tank crashing

apexifd · #1 04-03-2011, 06:15 PM

While I was on holiday, there were few sps colony those started dying. As soon as I am back I have done a 40% water change. Hoping that I will flush out whatever thats killing my sps. And I have also added tlf 150 running carbon.

Here's my parameter
Sg 1.024
NH3 0.25ppm
NO2 0.25ppm
NO3 10 ppm
Phosphate 0.07 pm
Kh 9
ca 440
Mg 1450

I am suspecting the higher nutrient level comes from dying sps and not having the skimmer running for 2 days(setting up a new one)

What else could cause my sps to die?? Btw it looks like brown jelly when they are losing their flesh.

George · #2 04-03-2011, 07:07 PM

At first glance at your parameters, ammonia at 0.25ppm is high. It's at a deadly level to some sensitive fish and inverts (including corals). A few dead SPS won't cause that high of ammonia. Do you have any other fish missing or dead?
A mass water change should be done if it hasn't been done already.

Quote:

Originally Posted by apexifd

While I was on holiday, there were few sps colony those started dying. As soon as I am back I have done a 40% water change. Hoping that I will flush out whatever thats killing my sps. And I have also added tlf 150 running carbon.

Here's my parameter
Sg 1.024
NH3 0.25ppm
NO2 0.25ppm
NO3 10 ppm
Phosphate 0.07 pm
Kh 9
ca 440
Mg 1450

I am suspecting the higher nutrient level comes from dying sps and not having the skimmer running for 2 days(setting up a new one)

What else could cause my sps to die?? Btw it looks like brown jelly when they are losing their flesh.

apexifd · #3 04-03-2011, 11:08 PM

All fishes and shrimps are accounted for. However I dunno about turbo snails.

reefwars · #4 04-03-2011, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apexifd

While I was on holiday, there were few sps colony those started dying. As soon as I am back I have done a 40% water change. Hoping that I will flush out whatever thats killing my sps. And I have also added tlf 150 running carbon.

Here's my parameter
Sg 1.024
NH3 0.25ppm
NO2 0.25ppm
NO3 10 ppm
Phosphate 0.07 pm
Kh 9
ca 440
Mg 1450

I am suspecting the higher nutrient level comes from dying sps and not having the skimmer running for 2 days(setting up a new one)

What else could cause my sps to die?? Btw it looks like brown jelly when they are losing their flesh.

looks like you have a mini cycle going, have you added anything new like rock or sand or did any equipment crap out and not get removed soon enough??

lots of carbon and water changes should help plenty

apexifd · #5 04-03-2011, 11:47 PM

no rock, sand or live stock. only equipment down was skimmer because I was redoing the plumbing in order to fist a bigger one. also efflux line on the ca reactor was clog for sometime but, don't think that will cause much of cycling issue.

thanks

christyf5 · #6 04-04-2011, 03:32 AM

remove the dying colonies and affected parts, siphon out the slimy bits if you can. the death may be triggering others to do the same. run lots of carbon and do lots of water changes. eventually it should slow down. sorry to hear of this, I had the same thing happen due to a massive decrease in temp after a tank move

BlueTang<3 · #7 04-04-2011, 03:34 AM

I recently also went through a mini crash don't but it was from a clam spawn

. Its tuff but change carbon often and run it generous and keep up with the water changes.

apexifd · #8 04-04-2011, 04:58 AM

just complete another 50% water change.

carbon is running. how often should I change them out while the tank is suffer major sps death.

if I keep on loosing sps at the current rate, I won't have any left by end of week.

LPS survives though... cleaner shrimps are doing ok, bandit crab is alive however it will probably run out of sps colony to live in. RBTA is alive, although it's on a major move today.

Just gonna cross my finger and see what happen in the next few days. hopefully there will be a few colonies left.

ScubaSteve · #9 04-04-2011, 05:09 AM

I agree with Christy. Cut your losses and frag what you can and get rid of all the dying bits. With SPS, death begets death.

abcha0s · #10 04-04-2011, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apexifd

no rock, sand or live stock. only equipment down was skimmer because I was redoing the plumbing in order to fist a bigger one. also efflux line on the ca reactor was clog for sometime but, don't think that will cause much of cycling issue.

thanks

Did you smell anything like rotten eggs - even a faint smell?

If you weren't moving water through your ca reactor, the water in the ca reactor was sitting without oxegyn and would have become anaerobic. This can lead to the production of hydrogen sulfide. If you have water sitting in pipes, you should always flush it so that it doesn't end up in the tank. With a ca reactor, the water moves through it slowly and it's possible you might not have noticed the smell.

Aside from hydrogen sulfide, there are other problems that can arise from anaerobic conditions, but you would have to do some research to see whether the symptoms relate to your experience.

There are some recommended solutions for this and some good documents on the web that can help you through it. I only remember a couple of things such as leaving your lights on, maximizing aeration by pointing powerheads at the surface, putting in new carbon and water changes.

Hope things take a turn for the better. Good luck.