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SPS white out

yardartist

yardartist

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This evening three corals are white or nearly so as no polyps are visible. Monti digita, Pocillipora, and rainbow monti. The Sunset monti is not full on the edges, and the setosa looks normal and has been growing since adding. I completed a water change last evening. I usually check Mg and dKH before and after as I have been working to bring them up and in the last two weeks find the daily dosing amount.

dKH this morning = 10.2
dKH 8/15 = 10.2
dKH 8/9 = 9.9 ( two hours after previous water change)

I have been dosing 16ml alk two part for almost two weeks. and the number is holding to rising slightly.

on 7/20 dKH was 7.7

Mg this morning = 1300
Mg 8/15 = 1300
MG8/10 = 1260 ( two hours after previous water change)

It had been climbing from MG 1110 on 7/20

The new water last night was lower salinity than I usually add at 1.023. SG is 1.023 or 30ppt currently. It usually stays around 1.024. I calibrated the refractometer last week and made a very slight adjustment.

Another recent change is adding a mandarin Dragonette, and a Coral Beauty Angel in the last week. The timing to add both after only a pair of Rainford Gobies in the 50 gal total volume system may have caused an ammonia spike/ mini cycle. I will have to go out for a nitrate test kit as mine ran out on last weeks test. It was very close to 0 then.

The photo is the damage on coming in the door this evening. The rainbow in the center right was closed a couple days ago, and I thought it was due to light so I moved it to the center top where it was starting to open again last night and this morning. The sunset, left, has closed edges.

The last notable change in the tank has been the decline of the xenia colony that had grown from two heads to about a dozen. I moved it months ago to a slightly less lit area on the outside of the overflow box with more flow. It slowly went down. I do not want it if it cannot live where it is so I have just let it go, and removed heads as they turn loose and drift on the bottom. One small bud where they used to be, seems OK pulsing and is growing very slow.


Any ideas what is causing this? I am off to get a NO3- test kit.

Attached files /attachments/sites/default/files/08_18_2008whitening.JPG
 
Sorry to hear Richard. Is the Angel a nipper? This will make the corals retract their polyps but I don't know why it would turn white.
 
Bernie the angel has not been in that area of the tank at all. It stays under the rock in all the openwork, or very near. It has not nipped at any of the more fleshy LPS available either. The white could be the body color given low PC lighting they are growing under. The white is not stark and on the Poci more than the other two. they are just completely retracted. The poci did open some when I dropped the daily Oyster Feast and Phyto.

I tested Ammonia and Nitrate and they were both near or at zero. The flow int hat area of the tank is very low. I know they could use more, and am looking into another K-1 to direct on them. There are two K-2's on the bottom keeping the plexi as clear as possible. The return keeps the water spinning around the sides of the hex.
 
look like you have pretty bad algae issue. Have you tested for Phosphate? I'm wondering if high phosphate could cause the problem.

Any temperature issue?? You also need to raise your SG to the correct level and test everything again.
 
Phoasphates have tested 0 since I started carting RODI water from LFS last fall. I know phosphates are there as the algae is feeding on something. I will test to see. Thanks,
 
So....first thing this morning as I walked past the door to the living room there was a burst of 'fish', so blurry it looked like a mouse, from the top of the rocks to the underside. I now agree with Bernie and Norman that the angel is keeping them closed. I am looking to cage them to test the theory, because removal of the angel will include an entire rescape.

The angel is eating pellets for the first that I have seen tonight. I will be feeding it more too now that I see it eating.

Thanks for all the help. And thank you to everyone who did not post, 'WTF were you thinking to add one of those'. Others have had good success, I just didn't win this lottery looks like.
 
This morning 410.

I have deep water lobos, acans, caulastria, I had planned to look at them and rescue as needed, to then make a decision on the fish. Did not see this coming.

I screened off the top corals last evening to see if they will reopen. Any ideas on when they will try to open again given the beating they have gotten. I do not want to assume they will just pop out right away. I do not have another place to move them where they would get that much light. Some are encrusted anyway.

Once the test is over then removing the angel. Great fish. May include a fish only tank in the loop to keep it around. The sump is out of sight so it would not work long term.
 
The sunset is back open. The others look a bit better, but I bet they are not getting energy as closed as they are. I see some spots on a favia so my guess is the pastures are greener other places now.

I am off part of tomorrow so I will be getting it out. Anyone have a trap?
 
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