I'm stumped

[wmboots]

I'm stumped as to what is going on with my tank, it started out with a bit of a problem with phosphates and nitrates last november. Did a couple weeks of every other day water changes brought phosphates down to .5 and nitrates down to around 10. Calcium, mag, alk were in more than tolerable levels.
But things just haven't been right with my tank since and now I have a beautifull specimen of green bottle brush just dying out and all frags I had of bottle brush are dying out too. A large frogspawn colony looks washed out and isn't extending as it was, a spongode frag I picked up from lilrob isn't looking promising. Other sps, lps and softs are doing well infact a colony of zoa's that almost died out a year ago is growing extremely well.
I have noticed specific gravity is running between 21 and 22 where it had been around 24 but I have a hard time believing this is the problem. T5 lamps are about 13 months .
What have I missed and am missing that is causing these problems?
I'm open to suggestions, I thought I had a pretty good handle on things after so many years in the hobby but I am stumped with this one

 

[grouper therapy]

Are the t 5 what you have always ran? Brand wise?

 

[ripped tide]

Running gfo or vodka dosing? How often are you feeding? It might be worth a bulb change. Most t5s probably really only last about 6-8months. It depends a lot on the ballast fixture, and heat. The hotter they get, the shorter their life gets.

 

[holley123]

The bulbs are 13 months old?

 

[wmboots]

have ran t5 for years using geisman, ati and uv lamps never a problem before, I have never had an issue with changing lamps more often than 16-18 months. Ballasts are advance brand (for info there are only a few manufactures of ballast just a matter of whose label is applied). I feed once a day swapping between mysis, reef mixture, brine and bloodworms. No I don't vodka or gfo dose

 

[ripped tide]

Would you ever consider running gfo or dosing a bio available carbon source?

Edit: If you wont consider it, I won't bother pitching it.

 

[lilrobb]

Interesting fact, same issue with my T5s, after I got new bulbs everything is thriving.
There might be a relation - but I cannot describe it...

 

[wmboots]

well all the responses are confirming what I was trying to deny, but I thought I had eliminated all other potential problems so I decided to throw it out there and you all are telling me what my gut as telling me.
As for dosing I am open to it and will most likely take sometime researching and giving strong consideration too if I ever get the 150 setup.

Guess its time to order lamps and then remember who I gave frags of bottle brush too so I can get piece back. Rich knows how big the bottle brush was in my tank, it was a good 6" across and at least 7" tall

 

[ripped tide]

The easiest way(IMO) is biopellets. If done right, they can be very beneficial and very little maintainance. I used to use brightwell's form of carbon dosing(reef biofuel) and have recently switched to biopellets. I have started with half the recommended amount of biopellets and in the first week,(feeding PE mysis and cyclopeeze twice a day, sometimes some pellets too) my PO4 has gone from .03 to .01(hanna photometer). I haven't checked my nitrates, but according to the coral's response, I shouldn't need to... BUT all tanks are different blah blah blah, you know the deal. Do your research, make a good choice. Good luck!!!

 

[holley123]

You should have better results with the bulb change when I used t5s I changed my bulbs every 6 months. I have now switched to mh and will never even consider running t5s again unless I'm running actinics

 

[rdnelson]

wmboots;733973 wrote: Rich knows how big the bottle brush was in my tank, it was a good 6" across and at least 7" tall

Yup. I can confirm that. If you need anything back from what you gave me just say the word. And, I am still waiting to hear when we are going to set up that 150. You better hurry, I think I have mamma re-thinking the ban on my 125 where the entertainment center currently sits. Once that hurdle is overcome that 125 is going up. LOL

 

[jennm]

What are all of your parameters, Bill? And what are you testing your specific gravity with? I am assuming you mean 1.021-1.022 (a bit low for corals, IMO)... not 21 or 22 PPT (which would be way low).

Yep, lamps are past due for a change but that might not be the only issue.

Jenn

 

[raz0945]

I have 6 tanks with T-5's and I can tell the change in my coral's at about 10-11 months, oldest tank is 5+ yrs, they are not as colorful and growth slows down. I do a bulb change at 12 months. I have at least 50+ different acros in these tanks and they do great under T-5's. Holley . (I will be bringing about 200 to the frag meeting, if you would like to see how they grow under T-5's)

 

[patrick]

You have been extremely lucky going that long between changing florescent bulbs. They will emit light for years......sometimes 5+ years....depending on use. But, they lose much of their intensity....and for our purposes....they lose most of their PUR at around 9 months. This goes for both T5s and PCs. Your success in the past may have come from the fact that the water parameters were better and the corals were able to by with what little PUR they received. Also, you are reporting different corals being effected differently......likely an indication of their differing light requirements. We place corals in our tanks thinking that they should all respond the same to good or bad lighting. The fact is...depending on depth of collection, etc.....some corals are accustomed to more light than others and really start to become effected when it changes or diminishes. I am with the others though that that would be the first order of business......a bulb change. Jenn brings up a good point that it may be multifactorial too. The zoanthids may be doing so well because some like the little extra phosphates and nitrates. Those things grow like mad in turbid lagoons in the indo pacific......I'm talking water that you can barely see 5 feet in.

 

[rdnelson]

Patrick;734261 wrote: You have been extremely lucky going that long between changing florescent bulbs. They will emit light for years......sometimes 5+ years....depending on use. But, they lose much of their intensity....and for our purposes....they lose most of their PUR at around 9 months. This goes for both T5s and PCs. Your success in the past may have come from the fact that the water parameters were better and the corals were able to by with what little PUR they received. Also, you are reporting different corals being effected differently......likely an indication of their differing light requirements. We place corals in our tanks thinking that they should all respond the same to good or bad lighting. The fact is...depending on depth of collection, etc.....some corals are accustomed to more light than others and really start to become effected when it changes or diminishes. I am with the others though that that would be the first order of business......a bulb change. Jenn brings up a good point that it may be multifactorial too. The zoanthids may be doing so well because some like the little extra phosphates and nitrates. Those things grow like mad in turbid lagoons in the indo pacific......I'm talking water that you can barely see 5 feet in.

Not questioning but trying to learn.... If that is the case, why wouldn't a coral from deeper depths suffer under new lamps? If the amount of PAR is that much greater, wouldn't they suffer from too much?

 

[wmboots]

there is more in play here than a simple lamp change and I find it interesting how even just a couple years ago 18 months was an acceptable life span for T5's and manufactures still tout 16-18 months. Now its 6 months or less ( I'm not buying it and lighting particularly T5 retrofit is one of the lines my company specializes in).
Jenn I will be coming by to see you tomorrow afternoon with a water sample, something is wrong and about the only thing I haven't tested for is ammonia because my test bottles are empty. Frogspaw colony of over 25 heads will probably be completely dead by morning yet monti's are thriving as well as other sps, I am beginning to wonder if a granddaughter or one of her friends have put something in the tank.

 

[jennm]

Do you run carbon, Bill?

How much water do you change and how often?

Almost sounds like aleopathy - but usually the frogspawn wins over the monti.

What's your temperature doing?

Jenn

 

[wmboots]

havent had carbon in for about a month was running phosphate ban instead, water changed every 2 weeks water temp between 76 and 78 with occasional spike to 79.
I have ran thru everything I have learned over the years and it isn't making sense to me at all. Unless my test kits are all wrong and before someone asks I use seachem and salifert kits and actually have checked them against api and even api has tested the same.

 

[wmboots]

Went to the place I always go to when I get stumped and hopefully Jenn and her crew have found the answer once again. My Salifert phosphate test kit showed .5 phosphates but seachem showed nearly 2 which corresponded with the API kit I have (I'm begging to believe API is getting a bad wrap).
Phosphate sponge and a bag of phosphate reducer are now in the sump. Keeping fingers crossed this will stymie the die off

 

[patrick]

rdnelson99;734262 wrote: Not questioning but trying to learn.... If that is the case, why wouldn't a coral from deeper depths suffer under new lamps? If the amount of PAR is that much greater, wouldn't they suffer from too much?

Sometimes they do. Many corals change colors from the time they are collected in the wild til you see them in your LFS. Sometimes they continue to change. Collection depth of corals is quite a factor in how they respond. But, you also have to remember that the sun provides quite a bit of PAR/PUR even 30 FEET below the surface of the water.......even in turbid water. Our MHs are by far the closest thing and they are still way off in strength of intensity. Corals are more adaptable than given credit......but not as adaptable as we'd like. Also, how the coral responds differs depending on type.

That is why aquacultured coral frags are the best thing to buy. They have already demonstrated their ability to adapt to captive life and are more likely to not change much provided remotely similar conditions.