[Cass1]

I've had a bit of grief with a couple of my SPS. They seem to be going brown on some of the tips. The only thing I can think of thats changed is the KH. This is due to me trying to bring up my calcuim levels.I've lost a couple of branches on 2-3 corals. They seem to be dying from the top downwards. My KH went upto 12.8 for a few days whilst I was adding Bio calcuim and got carried away. Its steady now at 10.5 ish. The strange thing is the affected corals are all in the same area.
The only other possible culprit is a pesky crab or even my newly introduced Copperband,unless someone knows different
Thanks
Martin

[lindsay]

Hard to say for sure ,a dkh rise will upset sps but i have found in the past that it normaly effects colour if it is a largish drop but when brought back up colour normaly returns after a week or so .If it is the copperband he will most likely get sloppy after a while and you will see him doing it .Crabs can cause a lot of stress to an acro aswell as damage .If it was me i would fix the dkh remove crab and keep an eye on the copperband ,you never know it could be all 3 .

[dylan]

what was size of the kh swing was it like 9 to 12.5 in a day or less than this ??

[chriss]

I have had dkh in the 12's for a week or more in the past without noticing anything like what you have described. DKH issues usually show themselves by recession from the base.


Are the damaged tips at the top, could it be a light issue? Do you have the same coral elsewhere in the tank? Are you still playing with your magnesium levels?

Chris

[Cass1]

Thanks for the replies.
To be honest I'm trying to think what has caused these particular corals to suffer and the KH was the only thing I can think of. I'm adding magnesuim to the system to try and rid myself of Bryopsis but I have it on good authority that it wont affect the corals. I've also had problems raising the calcuim levels since adding more sps and clams. I've now added a stirrer to help and cut down on the bio-calc to maintain the calc at about 440.During this time the kh has fluctuated over a couple of weeks. Last week it went upto 12.8 but is now back down to mid 10's. I have been adding calc hydroxide to knock out the aiptasia.The combination of these things may have raised the kh.
The lighting has been the same for months.
The other corals even within inches of those affected are not only surviving but are growing very well.
My limited experience with sps is that once they start to "go" they never recover. I dont really want to break up the colony but may have to.
Thanks again for the advice
Martin

[Dave.I]

Could it be a pest like acro eating flatworms/nudis etc that you cant see? Maybe take out an effected coral put it in a white bucket with some tank water and give it a blast with a baster or something.You never know you might find the culprit that way.

Dave

[chriss]

When I mentioned lighting, I was thinking had the tips shot up closer to the lights than other corals and perhaps with a bit of stress are suffering?

Chris

[lindsay]

When you add the additives to the tanks sump does this water enter the tank in the area of the affected corals ?.

[Cass1]

Sorry Chris,I see what your saying
Valid point but looking at the affected corals, 1 is indeed high up but it was a lower "stem" that was affected. the others are small and low down.
I add the mag and calcuim etc into the sump which obvs blows back into the main tank via surge buckets and return pump.
I'll give the bucket idea a go later and post back the results. It is strange that the 3 most affected are in the same area.
Thanks again for the responses
Martin

[satsuma]

Might it be a combination of things. You seem to be trying hard to get your water levels right, maybe trying to do too much at once has stressed a few corals?

I had a some corals go brown and start to RTN a few months ago, after I found the source of the problem and fixed it, all the corals immediately stopped to RTN and now they are all fine. I think in my case whilst trying to get rid of algae I was being too aggressive with skimming/phos remover/carbon/ozone. Only the Monti's and a Stylo were affected the Acro's were not bothered at all.

The RTN can be stopped, some good water changes spread over a couple of days and slowly correcting the water 'quality' worked for me.

Good Luck
Ben.S

[Cass1]

Valid point Ben.
I have got a bryopsis problem which I'm trying to eradicate with raising my mag levels.Due to the size of the system however its taking me quite a while to get anywhere near the 1600 level being recommended for Bryopsis killing.
I'm also in the process of squirting Aiptasia with strong calc hyd solution and I've also introduced a Copperband as well as a couple of new frags from a third party.
I guess I should be grateful that it doesnt appear to be a major wipeout but quite local which in turn leads me to suspect the Copperband having a go for supper when I'm not about or a pest, munching after lights out.
I'll recheck my tests and also remove the affected corals and see if I can find any nasties lurking about.