Losing Coral

I am very confused and out of reagent packets at this point....
My Hanna checker is now blinking 0.00 which means under range. I got this reading 3 times in a row now. Does that mean my phosphates are undetectable? How is that possible? I guess I am headed to get a salifert PO4 kit
 
Update- lost all acros... softies look pretty bad now too. Really bummed

As far as phosphates go- it turns out I was using low range phosphate reagents with ULR Hanna checker. So I was getting incorrect readings of course thanks to my stupidity.
My phosphates are actually on lower side at .05

So do I need to raise my phosphates? Any other explanation for sudden coral loss?
 
I had the same issue a few months ago. I lost all of my acros and SPS. I dont know why either. My nitrates and phosphates were undetectable. thinking that was the problem i turned down my fuge light schedule and didnt pay attention to my nitrates and phosphates and they shot up to around 60-40 and .12-.1 respectively. Those major swings did a number on my Acros and made them die even faster. But i dont know what started the decline. So I empathize with what you are going through. I just started to try and get some SPS back in my tank to see if i can start growing them again.
 
Have you tested your pH? DIY rock will leach extremely high PH. I made a lot of DIY rock and would test pH and do water changes. When it seemed like it had cured I would move to tank and have a pH spike.
 
spike said:
Have you tested your pH? DIY rock will leach extremely high PH. I made a lot of DIY rock and would test pH and do water changes. When it seemed like it had cured I would move to tank and have a pH spike.
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Apex seems to show pretty consistent pH with lower range around 7.75 and upper range around 7.95. I am horrible at judging API colors but seems pretty close to pH of 8
I did notice a slight spike when I added the rock- maybe to 8.05 or so but nothing major
 
So this happened back at the end of October-

atlantareefclub.org

Cupramine in Reef Tank

Did I just kill my coral? I grabbed the wrong feeding container and dumped about 5 tablespoons of cupramine water (testing at .5 ppm copper) and mysis into my display tank :rolleyes: All in all my system is about 260 gallons.
atlantareefclub.org atlantareefclub.org

Is it possible that this is just now affecting my system?
 
mphammer said:
Apex seems to show pretty consistent pH with lower range around 7.75 and upper range around 7.95. I am horrible at judging API colors but seems pretty close to pH of 8
I did notice a slight spike when I added the rock- maybe to 8.05 or so but nothing major
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Ok, maybe things have changed in my hiatus.

But pH is supposed to be around 8.2-8.4..


Could be the issue or at least part of the issue..

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
 
drnecropolis said:
Ok, maybe things have changed in my hiatus.

But pH is supposed to be around 8.2-8.4..


Could be the issue or at least part of the issue..

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
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PH isn’t as crucial to be at a certain point (obviously it needs to be between 7.8-8.4) so much as stability is key.

The copper issue you had a few months ago probably irritated them and this pH swing probably finished them off. Not to mention your tank is still new. Give it some time, make sure you’ve got zero copper, and try again in a few months. That’s what I would do :)
 
Shawn said:
PH isn’t as crucial to be at a certain point (obviously it needs to be between 7.8-8.4) so much as stability is key.

The copper issue you had a few months ago probably irritated them and this pH swing probably finished them off. Not to mention your tank is still new. Give it some time, make sure you’ve got zero copper, and try again in a few months. That’s what I would do :)
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True.

Yeah, reading back through it. Tank is still definitely on the newer side. I think you're right, the ole 1-2 punch.

I had the worst luck with sps OP. Couldn't keep them alive to save my life. I finally gave up on it and after my tank was much older, I had great success. Then again, I've seen people drop sps in a tank that had just finished cycling and had awesome results and people that just couldn't keep them no matter what they did.

Always best to err on the side of caution and just wait until everything is running absolutely smooth with no hiccups you can remember. If you can't remember it, it happened a good while ago. (Unless you're me, I can't remember anything)

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drnecropolis said:
True.

Yeah, reading back through it. Tank is still definitely on the newer side. I think you're right, the ole 1-2 punch.

I had the worst luck with sps OP. Couldn't keep them alive to save my life. I finally gave up on it and after my tank was much older, I had great success. Then again, I've seen people drop sps in a tank that had just finished cycling and had awesome results and people that just couldn't keep them no matter what they did.

Always best to err on the side of caution and just wait until everything is running absolutely smooth with no hiccups you can remember. If you can't remember it, it happened a good while ago. (Unless you're me, I can't remember anything)

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
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@mphammer I agree with this, every system is different, even if just a little. Once things are back stabile for a month or two try putting a cheap/free stick or two in there. It could be something you don't want and will give away but it will give you an indication on how things are going. Birdsnest is great for this purpose. I would also look into methods to raise the pH of the system and recalibrate the probe. It doesn't take much from where your low is for coral skeleton to start dissolving.

@drnecropolis I have a GREAT memory... it's just short. ;)
 
Ok, so I was sitting here, and this crossed my mind. Feel free to tell me if the general consensus has changed.


Way back in the day, it was common belief that copper binds to pretty much everything.

So, silicone, rock, sand.. everything and slowly leech's back into the water column.

So.. if this is the case and that stands true. I really don't know how much success you will have with sps in this tank in the future.
 
drnecropolis said:
Ok, so I was sitting here, and this crossed my mind. Feel free to tell me if the general consensus has changed.


Way back in the day, it was common belief that copper binds to pretty much everything.

So, silicone, rock, sand.. everything and slowly leech's back into the water column.

So.. if this is the case and that stands true. I really don't know how much success you will have with sps in this tank in the future.
Click to expand...
I'm not so sure about the silicone. Even if there were a little trace, after 3-4 months there wouldn't be anything left. I wouldn't worry about it. Everything else that had copper contact, rock & sand would either need to be tossed or given/sold to someone doing a FOWLR.
 
Yeah, that's where my mind was wanting to go..

Pouring the 5 teaspoons of the coupmine is what worries me with the rock and all..

Not sure what kind of residual effects it may have later.

OP, if it was my and only me, I would buy a higher copper test kit and stay on top of it and see where you were and if you keep experiencing losses, might be best to drop back and punt.
 
Adam said:
I'm not so sure about the silicone. Even if there were a little trace, after 3-4 months there wouldn't be anything left. I wouldn't worry about it. Everything else that had copper contact, rock & sand would either need to be tossed or given/sold to someone doing a FOWLR.
Click to expand...
drnecropolis said:
Yeah, that's where my mind was wanting to go..

Pouring the 5 teaspoons of the coupmine is what worries me with the rock and all..

Not sure what kind of residual effects it may have later.

OP, if it was my and only me, I would buy a higher copper test kit and stay on top of it and see where you were and if you keep experiencing losses, might be best to drop back and punt.
Click to expand...
Just to clarify, the 5 teaspoons was not straight cupramine.
It was 5 teaspoons or so of saltwater that had cupramine in it. So the 5 teaspoons had a concentration of .5 ppm. Really a tiny amount of copper overall for 260 gallons, no?
Or did that tiny amount ruin all of my rock and sand? API copper test currently showing 0 ppm for whole system but the API kit seems pretty imprecise in general
 
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