Reef nutrition

Seriatoporas gone south!

aqua-nut

aqua-nut

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In the last week 3 out of 4 bird's nest colonies have either died or are on their way to death.

Today I pulled out the largest, a one foot by six inch sour apple bird's nest. There were some pieces that still looked they could be saved so I fragged them, dipped them in Revive and returned them to the tank.

I could not find any pests on them. There were no life forms left in the dip container.

Everything else in the tank seems to be doing well. Montis are thriving, Euphyllias are great, zoas look better than ever.

The blight seems to be limited to the Seriatoporas.

I'm stumped! Anyone have any suggestions?
 
Oh no! Hope everything is ok man, I would have someone hold on to a piece of that sour apple in case it does not make it in your tank? Have you checked the sps basics? (mag, alk, cal) Any salinity swings or temp swings? Ive actually had the same thing happen where my seriatopa had died for no reason at all, kinda weird. Good luck man!
 
How old are your filters on your RO/DI unit? Maybe some chlorine (or chloramines if your Muni. water has that). I think I tracked down a problem I've been having to my water output (waiting for some testing supplies to verify), where any sort of sticks have died... yet my pink sand dollar montipora is doing great *knocks on wood*
 
swayd said:
Oh no! Hope everything is ok man, I would have someone hold on to a piece of that sour apple in case it does not make it in your tank? Have you checked the sps basics? (mag, alk, cal) Any salinity swings or temp swings? Ive actually had the same thing happen where my seriatopa had died for no reason at all, kinda weird. Good luck man!
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Thanks. Do you have any suspicions as to cause?

I'm wondering if it got so big it killed flow and is sort of 'self pruning'. Am I being anthropomorphic if I ascribe plant actions to an animal? :)

I did get a couple of good cuttings. Since I don't know the cause I'd hate to pass it on to someone else.

I haven't tested yet. I don't test very often. I't been so stable it's kind of boring to test. What's Rich Ross's phrase, "I'm a lazy'?
 
sfsuphysics said:
How old are your filters on your RO/DI unit? Maybe some chlorine (or chloramines if your Muni. water has that). I think I tracked down a problem I've been having to my water output (waiting for some testing supplies to verify), where any sort of sticks have died... yet my pink sand dollar montipora is doing great *knocks on wood*
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Thanks for the suggestion.

Luckily, I'm in Santa Rosa, a chloramine free zone! My RO/DI output has been real steady a zero TDS. Even if there were chlorine getting past the filter I'd think it would off gas by the time I get around to using it. See lazy above.;)

It is WC day today so I'll see if that helps.
 
+1 on carefully checking the basics. Alk/Ca/Mg/TDS/Temp/Ph
Check for equipment failure. Powerhed stuck or bumped?

Are they dying from tips or base?

I have heard that low Potassium can cause issues like that, and then with other corals later.
Although rare unless heavily vodka dosing. But VERY unscientific evidence.
 
I did two tests today! :D

Alk = 10 dKh
NO3 = 0 (aka none detected)
I started a PO4 test but the Hana egg either timed out or the batteries are low.

pH via probe is 8.3
temp is 77.5 +- 1.0

Alk has gone up some from my last test (8.2) but I'd expect that since the bird's nests are not sucking up the Alk in growth. I'll cut back on dosing and bring it down to the low eights over a couple of days.

pH is a bit high for this tank. Probably in range considering Alk.
 
Coral reefer said:
Ca? Def check the phos. What's your flow like? I forget and don't wanna go searching
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OK I'll do more testing today!

Flow hasn't changed since the tank was setup about 1.5 years ago. Two MP40s running several programs via Apex. I do think the local flow around the three colonies has changes because they have grown. The sour apple went from a 1" stick frag to a football sized colony. That's gotta cause some local change!

The three colonies, one football sized and two about baseball sized, have rapidly declined. At this point I'd call them dead. There are a couple of frags and a small colony that seem to be doing well. I'll keep a close eye on them to see if this blight progresses.
 
aqua-nut said:
I did two tests today! :D

Alk = 10 dKh
NO3 = 0 (aka none detected)
I started a PO4 test but the Hana egg either timed out or the batteries are low.

pH via probe is 8.3
temp is 77.5 +- 1.0

Alk has gone up some from my last test (8.2) but I'd expect that since the bird's nests are not sucking up the Alk in growth. I'll cut back on dosing and bring it down to the low eights over a couple of days.

pH is a bit high for this tank. Probably in range considering Alk.
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Hey John, unless you are heavily carbon dosing.....8.2 is on the low side (IMO). I do my best to keep mine above 9 and below 11 DKH. I have had it as high as 12 with no visable stress, but as low as 7.8 with dead corals (birdsnest in fact). Turns out it is much easier to keep it higher, because you have a nice range. If you are heavily carbon dosing (ie vodka) then you are out of my league. Just my $.02.
 
Thank, Kris.

Just tested.

PO4 = 0 (none detected). I really dislike zero as a result. Makes me wonder if the egg is working.
CA = 380

So I'm going to up the CA dosing a bit and check back in a few days. I'll let the Alk hover there or down a small amount.
 
I'd guess low potassium or some other trace element that you aren't testing for. My birdsnests did the same thing until I started dosing kent's essential elements and coral-vite.
 
siokoy said:
Just curious if your are dosing coral amino acids?


Siokoy
Click to expand...

No. I only dose two part. I'm not convinced all the additives are a good thing for anything else than the supplier's bank account.

AAs are protein components, food is protein and will be broken down by the creatures. I put food in and let them go to the work!

Update:

The main coral, a sour apple, was cut up and I have several good looking frags. The other two colonies rebounded on their own and now have polyps showing. They still need to color up but I believe the crisis is past. Don't know what caused it, don't know how it got better. Just a typical day keeping a reef tank! :rolleyes:

Thanks for everyones input and help.
 
Not me. I'd never take a picture. That is the kiss of death! :D :D :D

I did get the tank all cleaned up because my LFC (local fish club) was meeting at my house. That probably was the real cause. Too many people looked at them!

The tank did look absolutely Maaaarvelous - a small price to pay. :D
 
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