Corals bleaching w/ no light change and good parameters

bosworth · #1 04/16/2007, 07:07 PM

I need some help my SPS corals are bleaching and my softies are not looking so hot as well. All other fish and inverts are doing fine.

I recently moved my 10g sump to the basement and swapped it out for a 55g sump and 10g fuge. I had a 45 gallon system which is now 90g total system volume. When I made the move I just added 45g of new salt water to the existing water. I carefully monitored salinity and temp before adding it.

The new system has to travel up 15ft vertically and 50ft horizontally. I am running a GenX Mak5 which is giving me over 600gph. I have a rather small bio load with 5 fish and my ASM G1X is in the new sump.

Here's the problem several of my SPS corals have begun to bleach. I have made no changes to the lighting only the flow and the total volume of water in the system. I am also running carbon and Rowaphos in two phosban reactors

Here are my water parameters
TDS in RO/DI water 0 ppm
Temp 80.8
PH - 7.93
KH - 7.2 dkh
Ca - 425
Mg - 1200
Salinity - 1.024
NH3 - .1ppm (mg/l)
NO3 - 0
NO2 - 0
PO4 - 0

According to these numbers everything should be perfect but there definately not.

ANY SUGGESTIONS? PLEASE HELP!

pdkinsel · #2 04/16/2007, 08:20 PM

IME and reading postings, ever person has different opinions.

If it were my system, I would try to change the following:

1. PH to at least 8.1-8.2 during day (is 7.93 the highest it gets?)
2. My corals like 9-10 dkh
3. My corals like salinity of 1.026-1.027 ( it changes slightly with evaporation)
4. My corals like Mg between 1450-1500.

How old are your lights? I keep two 250 watt Pheonix HQI on my 55. At first, I thought this was too much light, but have found my corals adjusted and I am getting nice color and growth. Anytime any of my corals start to lighten up, I move them to a bit more flow and more light and they come back.

nava405 · #3 04/17/2007, 02:17 AM

yup, the PH and KH seems low.

swannking · #4 04/17/2007, 10:12 AM

How come there is ammonia in your tank?

kirstenk · #5 04/17/2007, 11:21 AM

I think the addition of new water has shocked the system. More light is penetrating the tank and the corals are responding in a negative way. I would cut the photo period and give them time to adjust. I would stop running carbon until you see recovery.

Sometimes newly mixed water has an ammonia reading. Did you let the new water mix for 24 hrs?

I also think you could raise your ALK number.

Serioussnaps · #6 04/17/2007, 11:53 AM

I think we need pictures.

Ostentum · #7 04/17/2007, 12:54 PM

You say your temp is 80.8. Is that during the day or night. And what is the other side of the temp range. I would say that if your hihg is 80.8 and low is somewhere around 76 you could be getting bleaching from temp flux. If your temp is 80.8 constantly then you might want to look at other reasons. Just dont overlook temp flux when trying to find the problem.

bosworth · #8 04/17/2007, 01:03 PM

My PH and KH have always been a bit low but it hasnt stopped the SPS from flourishing before. I don't know where the ammonia came from, possibly some die off of feather dusters from my old sump when it sat for 2 days before I put it back in place. I can definately cut back on the photo period to see if that helps. Why should I cut out the carbon?

Generally my temp is 77-78 at night to 80-81 during the day. I use a ACJr. to maintain the temp pretty closely.

The saltwater mixed for 72 hours before I added it to my system, and it was at the proper temp and salinity prior to introduction.

I will post some pictures when I get home tonight. Thanks

kirstenk · #9 04/17/2007, 01:17 PM

I mentioned cutting carbon because of the better water clarity you have since the addition of 45 gallons. Same reason I mention shorter photo period. Let the corals adjust.

polypman · #10 04/17/2007, 01:56 PM

Could the move have disturbed / released some detrius or toxins in your sump or refrigum that need some time to settle?

bosworth · #11 04/17/2007, 09:37 PM

Things are just getting worse. Now my RBTA, who was looking good around dinner time, either got sucked into a PH or has committed some other form of suicide. It doesnt look like a split I can only find a small chunk of him now. I am using the Tunze Nano Streams for the saftey factor to keep this from happening.

Here are some pictures of the coral bleaching:

I know the color is off a bit but they have lost about 80% of their color in the last 3 days.

I was reading a post on our local club page and they were discussing excess CO2 lowering PH. I wonder if my system is being exposed to a lot more CO2 than its used to. The new sump is next two (2) gas water heaters and my furnace, which is still running where I live.

I did open the basement window for fresh air. Any thoughts? I did check all of my parameters and they looked good.

wentreefgirl · #12 04/18/2007, 06:18 AM

I just had a bright green cap do that. Its been in my tank for years. I think its the probidio clearing my water.

bosworth · #13 04/18/2007, 07:37 AM

probidio?

JB NY · #14 04/18/2007, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kirstenk
I think the addition of new water has shocked the system. More light is penetrating the tank and the corals are responding in a negative way. I would cut the photo period and give them time to adjust. I would stop running carbon until you see recovery.

I agree. I have seen this happen in other tanks a few times and even done this to myself a couple of times when upgrading my systems to larger water volumes.

Serioussnaps · #15 04/18/2007, 12:22 PM

I think it is the change in water clarity too. I would just put some window screening(you can grab a roll from HD for like 3 bucks of the cheap stuff) over the tank and let the corals adjust.

Serioussnaps · #16 04/18/2007, 12:24 PM

Thanks for the pics.......they mean everything when trying to brainstorm a problem out.

surfjeepzx · #17 04/18/2007, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by polypman
Could the move have disturbed / released some detrius or toxins in your sump or refrigum that need some time to settle?

BINGO

You need to load up on fresh carbon and rinse / change it frequently. Reduce your peak lighting time by half running only the actinics to give the corals a break during this stressful time.

It will take 2-3 weeks to recove but you should see results.

wentreefgirl · #18 04/18/2007, 05:19 PM

Bosworth, prodibio, sorry. spelling.

bosworth · #19 04/19/2007, 03:37 PM

Ok I have reduced my photo period of the MH by 5 hrs. per day. My carbon and RowaPhos was just rinsed prior to the move so I feel that I'm good there. I also discoverd something alse that may be leading to this problem. I decided to investigate my salt mixing tank (32g Brute) and I discoverd something scary. I think there may have been some form of mold growing in the bottom of the can.

This can is located pretty high up and its very difficult to see into on a regular basis. I took it down and this is what I found. Frankly I was horrified. I immediatley clean the can out with bleach and hot water. Last night I mixed a fresh batch of salt water and this morning I again performed another 20g water change. So there may have been some toxins afterall or this may have been nothing I don't know.

trottman · #20 04/19/2007, 04:19 PM

that happened to me when one of my MJ power heads broke and the copper leached into the tank.

resulted in total tank destruction and death

Rickyrooz1 · #21 04/30/2007, 07:27 PM

I have the same scum on the bottom of my trash can which I cleaned out today because I thought that might be the cause of my SPS bleaching. I have a Pocillopora that is half bleached and three other acros that have white spots on them including a Birdsnest. My temp. has gone up to 80.5 due to the warmer weather which may be the cause or could a phosphate reading (Deltec) of 0.30 ppm be the cause? After doing a 40% water change last saturday and a 25% water change today the tank is crystal clear. I just reduced the lighting period to 8 hours of actinics and 4 hours of metal halides. I have six other SPS corals that have no signs of bleaching (Chips Acropora, Blue Tortuosa, Blue Tenuis, Plating Montipora, Blue Kimbeensis and a Purple Tri-Color Acropora). My LPS, zoanthus, mushrooms and soft corals look normal and seem fine. My SPS corals are at the top of my rockscape. The SPS corals are 16" below my light and the light sits 9" above the water. I have two Double Ended 250 Watt Phoenix 14K metal halides and four 65 watt power compact Actinics. My calcium reading was at 500 ppm. Could that cause bleaching? Hope this information can help with solving the problem of bleaching corals.

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