Help me get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

[Ben1]

Here it is...again.

I have had my current tank set up in its spot ofr over a year now. All the live stock came from my old 20H and 40H minus a few fish.

The problem is I can't keep SPS or most LPS in this tank, they fail to properly expand and slowly have their polyps die back. I had a favia in this tank from my previous tank and it hasnt grown and started to fade away. I moved it to my SPS tank were it is fully recovering, along with frags of all my original SPS that went into this tank.

The corals die very slowly over many months, sometimes getting a brown algae growing on the exposed skeleton after the tissue dies back. This happens in all SPS, and most LPS placed in this tank. I have had a hammer in this tank since I set it up also and that seems to grow slow but not to far from usual. I have had the hammer since 97' and it has always grown slow for me, I got it as a few heads and It is only about 18" across now and was rarely fragged.

The tank has a very healthy populatoin of soft corals and I will try to break it all down later. They all grow fast and healthy and have never had any problems, they range in age from many years to only a few weeks in the tank.

The water quality is fine for what I have tested and the flow is also good, not great but good.


150 Gal tank
Dual Lifereef Overflow
Mag 9.5 returns 6' through 2 outlets
Sen 700 w/ mag 9 impeller returns to seaswirl
2x maxijet 1200 and 1 hagen 802 in tank
MRC CR-1 reactor
Geo Kalkreactor
2 x 250 wt MH 10K Ushios
2 x 96 watt PC actinics
Moonlight PFO LED
Liter meter top off
RO/DI/DI
Mak 4 running a bullet 3

Water changes done 1-2 times a month with about 30 gal of the ro/di/di mixed in a rubbermaid 33 gal brute trashcan with oceanic salt to a 1.025 ppm checked with refratometer.

Salifert test kits
P04-0
CA-450
DKH-8/9

Thats all I have tested for. I had a low alk in the tank for a few months that was resolved by adding the CA reactor, I thought that would solve my issue but didnt. I added a Phosban reactor and run carbon like crazy to help with the softs terrapin(sp?) but that didnt solve the issue. A few weeks ago (3?) I found my Mag 9 had a chipped interior wall that was leaking rust in the tank for a unknown amount of time. I have done a decent WC since then and have been running carbon, obviously replaced the pump but the LPS arnt looking any better.

I don't even know what else to do here and am at a loss why things arnt working for me in this tank. I set up a makeshift 20 L for my SPS why I fixed this tank and they are doing great in there with no problems and good growth.

WHAT COULD IT BE?

FISH:
Red Sea Dejardini tang
a pair of mated ocellaris clowns
a pair of tomato clowns
a single three strip damsel
a doliatus rabbitfish
a pair of pajama cards

SOFTIES
Large tabling leather 8"+ across
Large frilly leather 15ish" across
finger leather probably sinularia
green sinularia large
green nepthea small
zoos
shrooms
GSP
capnella small
purple ribbon gorgonian
sinularia dura
3 other misc leathers, all different


LPS:
Cream Hammer Euphylia doing fine
Green Frogspawn doing fine
Galaxia dieing slowly
Fungia dieing slowly
Pavona a colony I had for years dieing
Candycane Brown/green center years old doing fine
White candycane caulestra dieing away

A large 9+" derasa
A 4-5" maxxima both growing very well
3 x queen conch
a few stomatella
a dozen astreas
a pair of serpent stars maroon
6 ceriths

Some ones gotta break it down for me here, what the heck is going on?
The coralline is growing and clams are growing and healthy so its not a calcification problem.

 

[Anonymous]

Coral wars (defenses).

mario

 

[Reefguide]

Copper? Was this a new tank when you bought it? Just a guess...

 

[Ben1]

No it was a used tank but the silicone was all redone which is usually the worst with copper and it was used in the past as a reef tank. It was also acetone washed and cleaned prior to resiliconing it.

Thanks, any other ideas?

Would the softies effect the LPS also?

 

[blastermqn]

What about nitrates?

Side bar - how much corralline do you have? Is it dense puple/pink and grows fast, or does it tend to grow slow and have a lot of white/crustiness to it?

 

[Rikko]

Seems silly, but what about pH?

 

[Anonymous]

Do you know if the silicone used to reseal it was ok?

I have trace remnants of some of the bad stuff (kitchen/bath -> mildew inhibitor stuff) and have the same issue. - I've only killed a couple tiny frags so far but I'm positive thats what it is.

 

[waterfaller1]

Large tabling leather 8"+ across
Large frilly leather 15ish" across
finger leather probably sinularia
green sinularia large
green nepthea small

sinularia dura
3 other misc leathers, all different

All these leathers in one system..that is your problem.I had four leathers,and have just begun to add a few sps,and have more than a few lps.I removed three of them,keeping just my favorite..my yellow Fiji.All my corals look much happier since I did this.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a similar problem as Ben with my 20g with SPS, cant seem to keep them alive but a few months..from my SPS all i have left is my poci....and every thing checks out..i dont have leathers in my tank since im trying to stick to LPS and SPS with a few polyps..all have adequate distance from the other and i can pretty much eliminate chemi warfare....hmmm when you find a solution to Bens im willing to be itll be similar to mine :?

 

[Ben1]

It could be the silicone but IYE is this only effecting SPS/LPS or your softies also? I believe I used pure clear silicone but maybe not?

Last time I tested N03 it was O but I will pick up a new test kit this week end and let you know. There is lots of leathers in this tank, are they really that toxic. I tried to set it up so they were downstream but I dont know how well it worked out.

Ph is 8.0 in the am and 8.2 by the night.

Thanks for some more ideas.