★★★ Project " GENESIS (II) 2020 " ★ [ Re-Engineered / REBOOT ] ★ SPS 110G ★★★

[WallyB]

A picture is worth a thousand words, two pictures to compare is even better. This Link is another WEB sider photo.

https://www.instarestoration.com/slider/view/14d1a314-7e95-4b5f-b27b-3a616e8266b8

I know this doesn't look like much, but I RED circled the two problematic corals. JF Fox Flame on left, and Christmas Tree Monti on Right.

The Greener Monti in the slider is when things were going well (few weeks ago). You can clearly see the Monti fading green (today's photos). This Monti Fading has always been an early warning before other senstive sps started showing symptoms. My goal is not to tinker much but also not to do nothing.

I was told not to overreact to one sub-optimal coral when others are doing fine in order to not mess up the healthy sps. It's true but not always.

This shows the damage better on the Fox Flame which lost it's yellow tips. I see burned tips.

 

[sam.veilleux30]

A picture is worth a thousand words, two pictures to compare is even better. This Lnik is another WEB sider photo.

https://www.instarestoration.com/slider/view/14d1a314-7e95-4b5f-b27b-3a616e8266b8

I know this doesn't look like much, but I RED circled the two problematic corals. JF Fox Flame on left, and Christmas Tree Monti on Right.

The Greener Monti in the slider is when things were going well (few weeks ago). You can clearly see the Monti fading green (today's photos). This Monti Fading has always been an early warning before other senstive sps started showing symptoms. My goal is not to tinker much but also not to do nothing.

I was told not to overreact to one sub-optimal coral when others are doing fine in order to not mess up the healthy sps. It's true but not always.

This shows the damage better on the Fox Flame which lost it's yellow tips. I see burned tips.

Interesting, never had something similar here. I had massive a stn event last year because i was stripping no3, almost lost my "juicy fruit" monti.
And the most vivid coloration on my papi chulo was a few months before it went rtn, not related to the low no3 event but the only time i saw an improvement in coloration on a coral before going down.

 

[WallyB]

Interesting, never had something similar here. I had massive a stn event last year because i was stripping no3, almost lost my "juicy fruit" monti.
And the most vivid coloration on my papi chulo was a few months before it went rtn, not related to the low no3 event but the only time i saw an improvement in coloration on a coral before going down.

Oh no!!! You lost your Papi Chulo. Sorry to hear. Mine did the same. Peaked to perfection and then died.

My current situation has to be water related. I have a few christmas tree monti's in various locations (different placement, lighting & flow), and all of them look faded. Too soon to say but there appears to be a hint of color up happening on the Monti. I got Mag up to 1275ppm, and I am feeding fish more. I stopped the Amino's before I have other problems.

I am preparing a contingency which I should have done long ago. Keep a copy of my SPS backed up in another tank. Most of my Display Tank SPS are backups of a reef buddy's tank. He is lucky since his tank crashed just recently and he lost every sps. Till he rebuildd his tank there are no more backups.

I tried a 10G tank (Far right) but it's not ideal. Too small. 10G is Perfect for Fish QT, but not Frag tank.
So Just bought a 20G. Price is reasonable and it's seems pthe erfect size. Something to do during dark winter days. Not sure how I will do the setup. Maybe run the Frag Tank off Daily Auto Water Changes from DT.

 

[sam.veilleux30]

Oh no!!! You lost your Papi Chulo. Sorry to hear. Mine did the same. Peaked to perfection and then died.

My current situation has to be water related. I have a few christmas tree monti's in various locations (different placement, lighting & flow), and all of them look faded. Too soon to say but there appears to be a hint of color up happening on the Monti. I got Mag up to 1275ppm, and I am feeding fish more. I stopped the Amino's before I have other problems.

I am preparing a contingency which I should have done long ago. Keep a copy of my SPS backed up in another tank. Most of my Display Tank SPS are backups of a reef buddy's tank. He is lucky since his tank crashed just recently and he lost every sps. Till he rebuildd his tank there are no more backups.

I tried a 10G tank (Far right) but it's not ideal. Too small. 10G is Perfect for Fish QT, but not Frag tank.
So Just bought a 20G. Price is reasonable and it's seems pthe erfect size. Something to do during dark winter days. Not sure how I will do the setup. Maybe run the Frag Tank off Daily Auto Water Changes from DT.

No, the papi chulo is still alive.
I was speaking about last year before my original colony went rtn.

 

[WallyB]

No, the papi chulo is still alive.
I was speaking about last year before my original colony went rtn.

Whew!! That's good news. The Papi is one of my favorites, and I'm counting on your colony to get too big for your tank one day Put me at the top of the waitlist

 

[sam.veilleux30]

Maybe next spring when temp get better for shipping.
Never did any shipping so it scare me a little.

I'm planning to "bank" a few frags with someone nearby who have a good setup, the papi will be among them so i'll have a backup if my colony goes south.

The only concern i have with it for now is a really slow stn from the base, not sure what i should do.
I scraped some of it over the summer to bring the edge of the base to living tissue but it's still progressing.
I'm considering redoing the base and gluing the sides to stop it.
There's some hydroids growing on the dead spot, it might stress the acro.
I'll take a picture of it tomorrow to give you an idea.

 

[sam.veilleux30]

 

[WallyB]

It's hard to tell in photo. You need to shine a light or shoot with flash to get a closer view. You say it's localized STN but its very possible is hyrdoid stinging. Could it be just that it's a very shaded area from the colony grow.

I have battled colonial hydriods for years. Not in my SPS tank but in my LPS Mixed tank. If you broadcast feed they get worse. I've never gotten rid of them but they are not visible since they are starved. This thread shows a better photos of the hyrdoids, and it's about treating at tank which I would never do. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/h...-against-hydroids.214950/page-15#post-3502843
I did experiment with Fenbendazole as a QT Tank treament or dip.

In your case, that colony looks loose on a plug. Remove the colony briefly and carve off the hydroids from the bottom. Ideally if you had access to a diamond blade coral cutter you could have the bottom infected trimmed off clean.

 

[WallyB]

SPS Colony Pruning and Backup. Completed

So the SPS burnt tips still remain a mystery. It looks like things are recovering. To be on the safe side I clipped a backup copy of every sps coral and gave them to my reef buddy @tenurepro. Most of these SPS are a backup of his tank corals.

While I had the bone cutters out, and hands in tank I clipped off all the burnt tips, remove all dead sps, spread things out a bit, and trimmed down the oversized Miyagi Tort which is a nice change sincec now all the colonies are now similar sized.

I hope things continue to improve.

 

[Fudsey]

Looking good Wally ! !

 

[WallyB]

SPS Tank is having issues (Burnt Tips, and now more burnt Tips)

I can't figure it out. Everything is fine with water parameters and I really haven't changed anything. The SPS continue to degrade. I did loose my Little Red Ferrari, the Fox Flame. Many other corals have burn tips. Looking closely no SPS has been spared from Damage, except for the Turbinaria, my Golden Sunset Milli and the Bonsai. Even the tough as nails Green Slimer has burn damage. I wonder if this all a delayed reaction to the Alk Overdose I had this summer (July). Could damage show up 6 months later? I doubt it. Then what's going on?

This is the tank now after some pruning and trashing. Not too great looking

Reading my past post, the best and most safe solution to try is a bigger water change with best salt. I always keep some premium Sythetic Salt around. Tropic Maurin Pro. The Alk is matched to my tank so allows for larger Water Changes. This tank gets daily auto water changes. 1 Gallon, with Reef Crystals. A bigger 20-25 Gallon Water change might help. ANY ADVICE, THOUGHTS?

 

[crusso1993]

SPS Tank is having issues (Burnt Tips, and now more burnt Tips)

I can't figure it out. Everything is fine with water parameters and I really haven't changed anything. The SPS continue to degrade. I did loose my Little Red Ferrari, the Fox Flame. Many other corals have burn tips. Looking closely no SPS has been spared from Damage, except for the Turbinaria, my Golden Sunset Milli and the Bonsai. Even the tough as nails Green Slimer has burn damage. I wonder if this all a delayed reaction to the Alk Overdose I had this summer (July). Could damage show up 6 months later? I doubt it. Then what's going on?

This is the tank now after some pruning and trashing. Not too great looking

Reading my past post, the best and most safe solution to try is a bigger water change with best salt. I always keep some premium Sythetic Salt around. Tropic Maurin Pro. The Alk is matched to my tank so allows for larger Water Changes. This tank gets daily auto water changes. 1 Gallon, with Reef Crystals. A bigger 20-25 Gallon Water change might help. ANY ADVICE, THOUGHTS?

This is sad to learn. It is clear that the problem is widespread as every coral is showing distress.

I know you use automation on your tank. Have you conducted manual testing against your automated testing to make sure the results of the automated testing are accurate?

Have you checked for any stray voltage. Sometimes stray voltage can have some odd consequences.

Could any equipment be malfunctioning or breaking down internally?

Simply trying to throw some ideas that perhaps you have not thought of occurring.

 

[WallyB]

This is sad to learn. It is clear that the problem is widespread as every coral is showing distress.

I know you use automation on your tank. Have you conducted manual testing against your automated testing to make sure the results of the automated testing are accurate?

Have you checked for any stray voltage. Sometimes stray voltage can have some odd consequences.

Could any equipment be malfunctioning or breaking down internally?

Simply trying to throw some ideas that perhaps you have not thought of occurring.

@crusso1993 thanks for your words of support. Good check-list and I appreciate the brainstorming.

Just to confirm. I do automate things like dosing, and water changes, but for water parameter measurements I'm 100% Manual. Fresh Salifert kits for Alk, Cal, Mg, & NO3. Hanna for PO4, and Refractometer for salinity.

No stray voltage. I used ground probes and all power circuits are GFCI protected.

I have checked my pumps and impellers. No risk of rust, including any magnets to polute tank with heavy metals.

I've always been lazy doing this but I think I should make an effort right now to do an ICP water test. Take a water sample before I do the big water change. To at least eliminate the water was ok, and maybe let the tank ride a bit longer.

 

[crusso1993]

@crusso1993 thanks for your words of support. Good check-list and I appreciate the brainstorming.

Just to confirm. I do automate things like dosing, and water changes, but for water parameter measurements I'm 100% Manual. Fresh Salifert kits for Alk, Cal, Mg, & NO3. Hanna for PO4, and Refractometer for salinity.

No stray voltage. I used ground probes and all power circuits are GFCI protected.

I have checked my pumps and impellers. No risk of rust, including any magnets to polute tank with heavy metals.

I've always been lazy doing this but I think I should make an effort right now to do an ICP water test. Take a water sample before I do the big water change. To at least eliminate the water was ok, and maybe let the tank ride a bit longer.

ICP test pre-water change is a very good idea. It’ll be interesting to see the results. Hopefully it will point to something that could be the cause.

I am happy to hear you are employing ground probes and GFCI outlets on your equipment. The amount of reefers that do not follow this protocol is always amazing to me. Many, believe it or not, never even give consideration to these safety measures.

 

[WallyB]

ICP test pre-water change is a very good idea. It’ll be interesting to see the results. Hopefully it will point to something that could be the cause.

I am happy to hear you are employing ground probes and GFCI outlets on your equipment. The amount of reefers that do not follow this protocol is always amazing to me. Many, believe it or not, never even give consideration to these safety measures.

Oh, you don't have to convince me about GFCI and Ground Probes. 100% a must! (Both). I got a good ZAP ....after an Urchin in my Tank Chewed insulation off one live wire. Then again when my Heater Cracked while moving stuff around in sump. I learned then that GFCI alone is not good enough when it's not a 3-prog AC device which is grounded. Even made this video showing my testing of what works and what doesn't for electric safety and Water.





So I didn't do the BIG water change yet on the SPS tank. I decided to first bring my salinity up to my target slowly. Then do the water change. I was at 1.024, and want to get to 1.026 (35). So last night I replace my RO reservoir with Salt water so ATO slowly brings Salinity up with Evaporation Rate of tank. I must be seeing things, or just hopeful thinking....but after small increase in salinity over last 24 hours.... I can ever so slightly see that many of the hard corals are showing more healther and bigger Polyps. If salinity was the culprit, I may be onto a solution. FINGERS CROSSED.

I still will do ICP. Took a water sample.

 

[crusso1993]

Oh, you don't have to convince me about GFCI and Ground Probes. 100% a must! (Both). I got a good ZAP ....after an Urchin in my Tank Chewed insulation off one live wire. Then again when my Heater Cracked while moving stuff around in sump. I learned then that GFCI alone is not good enough when it's not a 3-prog AC device which is grounded. Even made this video showing my testing of what works and what doesn't for electric safety and Water.





So I didn't do the BIG water change yet on the SPS tank. I decided to first bring my salinity up to my target slowly. Then do the water change. I was at 1.024, and want to get to 1.026 (35). So last night I replace my RO reservoir with Salt water so ATO slowly brings Salinity up with Evaporation Rate of tank. I must be seeing things, or just hopeful thinking....but after small increase in salinity over last 24 hours.... I can ever so slightly see that many of the hard corals are showing more healther and bigger Polyps. If salinity was the culprit, I may be onto a solution. FINGERS CROSSED.

I still will do ICP. Took a water sample.

Curious to know if you normally have been running at 1.024 or if it was a recent drop?

Hope that’s the culprit!

 

[WallyB]

Curious to know if you normally have been running at 1.024 or if it was a recent drop?

Hope that’s the culprit!

Normally I run 1.026, and typically it usually drifts higher due to two part dosing. This last swing down on salinity was caused by my ATO sensor faulting and overfilling my RO water top up. Twice before I fix things properly. Maybe the sudden drop in salinity combined with a nutrient drop is the damaging combo. Whatever the reason I want to be back to 1.026 or 35ppt Salinity since that's what the tank has been stable for all many, many good months.

I'm making all changes slow since hasty quick changes will just cause more damage. The promising news is I do see a place where I pruned a SPS coral and it's nicely healed and growing a new stem. If corals are healing maybe the damage phase is over. I know recovery takes time. If I don't see more progressive damage I'll be really happy and patient.

I always have a plan B. Hope this never happens. My frag tank is fully of great LPS and Soft Corals. I tried putting a few trumpets in the kitchen tank (with the Clown Trigger). The Trigger managed to destroy at least 10-12 head in about 2 months. Not one trumpet left! Trumpet stems are crunchy, and you actually hear him chomping from a distance in the room. So the Trigger tank will have to be soft corals only. Or when the Trigger outgrows that 90G. Year or two? If my SPS tank get's wiped out, I'll restart and do LPS only using my frag tank coral collection. SPS was a challenge and still is a challenge I hope to achieve, but SPS seem to be just to finikcy. My favorite corals are LPS, especially any branching Euphylia.

Lots of hopeful thinking, but this sucks.

 

[WallyB]

The Good, The Bad, the Ugly (Close Ups)

Watching tank daily for improvements is hard to gauge. I took a few closeup shots of SPS to if things are improving or getting worse by comparing in a couple of weeks.

Notice the burnt tip damage.

Enchinata is hanging in there....Barely.

The Milli looks perfectly fine. It's my 2nd favorite SPS

The rainbow loom looks ok. Not the other guys.

The Montipora Confusia is alive, but 100% looking weak.

More burnt tips on Pink Caddilac & Green-Slimer. The Digi's all look frail and weak, but may make it.

Princess Peach (one of my favorites) looks Ok. Same for the Red Planet under it.

The Turbinaria is weak but has recovered in past from much worse. So long as I don't see a expanding dead spot in center I'm fine.

Last but not least. I can't believe this small, slow-growing frag is still alive and looking ok. Very rare Jason Fox Jolt. A super tiny piece was given to me by @tenurepro to backup his sps collection. His died. It has done well since it managed to encrust the plug and grow a bit.

Till next time.

 

[crusso1993]

The Good, The Bad, the Ugly (Close Ups)

Watching tank daily for improvements is hard to gauge. I took a few closeup shots of SPS to if things are improving or getting worse by comparing in a couple of weeks.

Notice the burnt tip damage.

Enchinata is hanging in there....Barely.

The Milli looks perfectly fine. It's my 2nd favorite SPS

The rainbow loom looks ok. Not the other guys.

The Montipora Confusia is alive, but 100% looking weak.

More burnt tips on Pink Caddilac & Green-Slimer. The Digi's all look frail and weak, but may make it.

Princess Peach (one of my favorites) looks Ok. Same for the Red Planet under it.

The Turbinaria is weak but has recovered in past from much worse. So long as I don't see a expanding dead spot in center I'm fine.

Last but not least. I can't believe this small, slow-growing frag is still alive and looking ok. Very rare Jason Fox Jolt. A super tiny piece was given to me by @tenurepro to backup his sps collection. His died. It has done well since it managed to encrust the plug a grow a bit.

Till next time.

Oof! Looks very similar to what happens under overexposure to light. It also looks like t of the corals placed higher in your tank are more affected. Maybe something is going on with the lighting? Probably not but thought I’d ask if you checked that part of your system.

 

[WallyB]

Oof! Looks very similar to what happens under overexposure to light. It also looks like t of the corals placed higher in your tank are more affected. Maybe something is going on with the lighting? Probably not but thought I’d ask if you checked that part of your system.

I did check my lights, and just in case I reset everthing. I have been having an issue with another pair of radions over my kitchen tank. Every day at 4pm they go 100%, and 15 minutes later go back to what's programmed. I was lucky to catch it. Reset took care of it, but I've always wondered if my SPS Radion had the same issue. Most likely not since it's a much newer G4. I do see damage at top and bottom of tank, even a monti that was 100% in shade. Can't be the lighting. I'm more leaning on water chemistry.