Serious tank crash

[nobody]

I've been fighting GHA for quite sometimes with little success. So, two weekends ago, I decided to do something drastic. I took all the rock out, scrubbed each of them with a brand new nylon brush. I used tank water and the Rubbermaid container that I always use to change water to scrub the rocks.That took 1/2 of the day. I then put the rocks back in and started dosing Algaefix every other day.

Didn't notice anything wrong at first. Then I got busy with work and a week later my SPS started dying. The tissue just "peel" off from the base up. Still busy at work, I did a 30% water change, then another 30% water change last Sunday. Nothing helped! Today it's official, all of my beautiful SPS are gone!

The 2 LPS I have are still receding, no idea why. Water is crystal clear, fish are happy, just no more corals!

I need to let the tanks sit for a while while I sort this out and then re-stock. This hobby can be so frustrating at times.

Water parameter tested last week:
Alk - 10
pH - 8.15 (Pinpoint meter)
Ca - 400
Mg - 1300
Nitrate 10
Amonia, Nitrite 0

 

[bimmerzs]

Dang,

Sorry to hear this bro. I'm thinking you missed an Ammonia spike since you were so busy.

Cheers,

 

[Rick]

@nobody wrote:

Do you have sand bed? Did you go down to the point it was disturbed while taking out all the liverock? It could have been a release of DOC.
We were pretty sure this was the cause of a tank crash that happened to my brother-in-law a few years back.
Indeed, the research shows that sugars, or dissolved organic carbon (DOC), trigger an overgrowth of normally coral-friendly bacteria that in turn overgrow and kill off the coral. Studies have shown that bacteria are present in corals and contribute to their survival. The role bacteria play is just barely starting to be understood, Dr. Kline told Access Excellence in an interview. It was only a few years ago that researchers discovered different species of coral each have distinct communities of bacteria living in them, and that the bacteria are constantly present.
"It looks like the bacteria are likely part of the symbiotic community living within the coral tissue," he said. Most of the bacteria live within a mucosal layer in the coral, though some live in the tissue as well. Studies have shown that some of the bacteria help fix nitrogen contributing to the nutritional requirements of the coral, while others carry out photosynthesis and help provide the coral with energy. It's possible some bacteria serve to protect the coral from other, harmful bacteria, Dr. Kline said.
However, Dr. Kline's research shows trouble happens when the populations of bacteria normally present in coral grow out of control. "If the system becomes out of balance – let's say, by adding too much simple sugars – and the bacteria start growing too quickly, then the balance breaks down. The same bacteria that were likely beneficial grow so quickly that they actually can end up killing the coral," he said.

 

[nobody]

I do have a sand bed. It's about 1" to 2" deep. I did remove ALL the rocks and scrub each of them thoroughly. For now, I'll just keep up with the weekly 30% water changes until the LPS are happy. Then I'll look at stocking SPS again.

Thanks for your inputs and encouragement.