I quit with SPS corals

tnn1567

Premium Member
I have been buying lots of SPS corals lately for the first time and just had one sps colony RTN. Now I have a second coral that is beginning the process. It makes me so mad that I want to sell everything and throw in the towel.

I think I need someone to babysit my corals for awhile until I figure what is going on. Here are the two corals I would like to have someone watch after for awhile.
 
Don't do it . I have heard you have a really nice tank. I know it can be painfull at times but you have to think of all your hard work until now.

I also read awhile back that you have alot of fish in your tank with the sps. Maybe have someone watch your corals until you find the problem. And maybe cut your bio-load down to get you water back stabble. I know you get attached to your fish but maybe it's time to find them a larger tank to swim in.

I have had some bad luck also and lost all my fish and coral 4-5 mnths ago but now I'm rebuilding and actually upgraded to a larger tank. Went from a 55 to 120.

Sleep over it and you'll make the right decision.
 
I can point to this first. Sps do not like any high levels of phosphate or organics. You have too high of a bioload in your tank and it doesn't matter that you have a tank full of liverock. You have a ton of fish, they have to eat, they have to crap and that all ends up one way or another in phosphates and organics in the system. I bet you would be shocked at all the waste down under and in between the rock if you could take all the liverock out and some how shake out all the waste. Following are a few negative effects of high organics in a tank.
Not only can organics be taken up directly to provide carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, but it can be broken down by organisms and released as inorganic nutrients, such as orthophosphate, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
The consequence of this oxygen consumption is that oxygen levels may be lower in aquaria with high organic levels, especially at night when photosynthesis is not producing excess oxygen. Moreover, during a power failure when both aeration and photosynthesis are greatly reduced, the metabolism of organics proceeds merrily along, reducing the oxygen content of the water faster than it would in the absence of dissolved organic material.
A lot of soft corals fair a lot better in such systems but sps need a lot cleaner systems to survive. And you also realize that on a sps reef in the ocean there are hardly any soft corals and vice versus. They really do not like each other a lot. And the sps could be dieing as a result of chemicals being put off by one or more of your soft corals. Are you running any carbon? How often are you doing water changes? You must have a huge skimmer, is it putting out a lot od skimmate every day? If not with a bioload like you have it should be.
 
I think Rick is dead-on with his advice. I know just how frustrating it is to lose corals you recently purchased, and also know how it feels to lose them a few months, or even years later. Basically, we don't want losses ever.

Both of those corals are stunning. Hopefully you'll find someone nearby to hold on to those pieces for you until you can get things resolved in your tank.
 
Tri,
I am not too far from you and would be happy to hold those pieces if that is what you want to do....I am very pleased with the progress of my tank and have been keeping about 20+ SPS frags and colonies for about 4 months now successfully.
 
Rick is 100% spot on here. I 2nd everything he said.

You have a super high bioload,a bunch of softies, etc, etc. None of these are ideal for SPS. What's going on is your trying to put a square peg in a round hole!
 
I recently added a calcium reactor and just went nuts buying a lot of sps corals. I have had a two colonies for over a yr which I have never had any problems and they continue to do well in the tank.

The SPS corals that are beginning to RTN is the one I purchase at Plano Pet. I should have look at the corals carefully since it has already began the process of RTN. I figure I could have save it and I was wrong. As for the other colony which is 33 percent dead, I won that from the raffle at Next Wave. I over heard Brad (ex president) said that the base of this coral will also RTN and this coral has no chance of saving it. This is no excuse and I accepted that fact that this will RTN but took a risk.

My PH has been swinging from 7.8 to 8-6 on a daily basis. I just kept on messing with the calcium reactor. I do weekly water changes. My skimmer doesn't seem to skim anything but occassionaly will skim. I will clean it out tonight.

In the end, I have decided that I will not purchase anymore SPS corals because the fact is my tank cannot handle the bioload. I am very angry at myself for taking a risk.
 
Fellow Kellerioan?? ..... hehe how about neighbor. :D

Sorry to hear about your SPS. Im very new at this hobby so I don't have any grand advice to give. I can say though I have seen Scott's tank and it could be a great place to house your corals. Plenty of room and lots of light.

Good luck
 
Tri,

Sorry to hear about your losses. If you need me to house any corals or come get some, I would be happy too. I hope you can get things figured out.
 
Tri:

One thing I will add is that if your pieces were wild collected as opposed to aquacultured, you may have been doomed from the start. Even very skilled hobbyists report losses on wild collected pieces as around 1 in 3.

Do you have algae problems in the tank? Sure sign of phosphates. You know the stuff you put on your lawn to make it grow. You may be providing too much fertilizer which algae likes and the SPS hates. Nitrates can be problem too.

Best advice I can give is SPS likes stability more than perfect conditions. If temps are fluctuating or alkalinity is way up and down that could be worse that a slight Nitrate reading.

Sounds like you have a couple babysitters already but if you want to house them here awhile in Colleyville I would be glad to help you out.
 
Tri,

You have a PM. If you want, I could come by and check out your tank and help you trouble shoot after looking at your tank. I have sucessfully kept various corals since 1998 with an emphasis on SPS for the past 6 years.

Nice Tenuis, unfortunately there is no polyp extension. If you don't have a thousand gallons of water blasting against them, I would again check your water parameters. There are so many possible reasons to have your corals go south, one would have to look at your system first and go from there.
 
@gmax wrote:
Tri: One thing I will add is that if your pieces were wild collected as opposed to aquacultured said:
I couldn't agree more. Especially those light colored pieces.


Nice post, Rick.
 
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