Inverts Dying

[TTBuster]

Dear Dr Ron

I have a 70 Gal reef set-up, up until a month ago every thing was fine. It as been set-up since Feb 2002. I took thing very slow waitng 2 month before I put any fish, coral, or invest in the the. Before that time I had 60 lbs of uncured live rock in it, I did a 50% water change every week to cure the rock And prevent Amn. build up.

After 2 month all the test's there stable for a week I then added a damsel, 2 turbo snials, and a peppermint shirmp. Slowly I added some corals, a few fish, and then a few more invert. All was fine until about 30 day a go my BTA died. I pulled it out before it could foul the water. I also did a 20 gal H2O change.

Since that time it seem ever time I try to add something it will last about a week before it dies. So far to date I have lost 2 BTA, LTA, 3 Tridacana clams, xenia, elegance, and a rock of green star polyp.

All my tests are normal, I am do 10 Gal H2O change every other day with RO water. What am I missing?

Tank info 70 gal
Lighting 1 400 watt MH 6500k, 1 110 watt vho act. 1 110 watt vho superday URI bulbs
Temp. 74-76 Sal. 1.022 pH 8.21 Ca 412
Filter CPR Bak Pak, 2 power heads and a Hang-on filter
80-90 lbs live rock, 100 lbs live sand, 20 lbs plant rock
fish Fu Manchu lion 1 1/2" Brown Tang 3", Maroon clown 3"
2 Scooter blenny ea 2" 1 snowflake eel.
Corals Button polyp, Leathers, Cup (on the way out) Mushroom.

Any help would be greatly apprisiated.

Tom

[Newreeflady]

Not an expert, but since no one else has chimed in yet, to me, your temp seems a bit on the low side. I'd up it a little to 77-78, definitely not below 76, 74 seems very low to me. Maybe this could be the problem since most stores keep temps @ ~78-80?

Salinity is also on the low side, imo, I keep mine at 1.025, 1.023 is the minimum i'd go to personally, but i'd aim for 1.024-1.025 .

LTA, TRIDACNA CLAMS, AND ELEGANCE, all very difficult I think. Also curious as to if you're sure the gsp colony was dead, or if it simply hadn't been expanding. I've had mine not expand for over a week or so at a time.

Just a thought. That also seems like a lot of water changes to me, but then again, I don't do them so I guess I can't really give advice on a schedule. But that seems like a bit too much instability for my taste. If you're keen on water changes, i'd cut them back to at most once weekly.

Are you having Phosphate or Nitrate problems? Do you run carbon now and again? Do you have a dsb setup, or what type of substrate do you have? What is your KH/ALK value, btw?

Just trying to help you sort things out. Like I said, i'm no expert, and certainly not the good doctor, these are just my thoughts.

Angela.

[rshimek]

Hi Tom,

Angela's basic advice is pretty sound, but not emphatic enough.

Your specific gravity is far too low. These animals require a specific gravity of 1.025 to 1.026.

Additionally, the temperature you are operating the system at is almost guaranteed to kill the animals in it. These are coral reef animals and need coral reef temperatures. The average coral reef temperture is 82 deg. F. Adjust your tank to this temperature. Do it slowly over a day or so.

See here for some more information on this topic.

These steps should help. You may wish to consider putting in a Deep Sand Bed to help with nutrient control.