Is my SPS dying?

[Some Rando]

Yesterday I thought my tank was smelling a tiny bad. So I did a water change and changed out my activated carbon.

This morning when I wake up, my tank smells really bad. The worst it has ever smelled. Also my millepora colony has started to RTN. I go drop off my kids at school and when I return most of my SPS have white strings coming off of it. I’ve never seen this before.

I read the strings could be mesenterial filaments. What do you think? Is it possible I’m witnessing all my SPS dying?

I tested my water and everything seemed like it’s in normal parameters. The only test I did that I haven’t done in a long time is to test for ammonia. The test came back showing ammonia at .25. I used an API test (I know API sucks), but it’s all I have for ammonia. All my other tests done were using Salifert and Hanna.

I also ran the ammonia test on my RO water and it tested positive for ammonia too.

I’m using an RO Buddie Filter for my water and when I stick a TDS meter in it shows 0. Since my TDS shows 0 I haven’t replaced the filters in the RO Buddie.

I’m bummed about my Mille colony. Not sure if I should see if the RTN stops or if should cut off all the dead stuff and hope it makes it.

What should I do?

 

[rdriggett]

API always reads 0.25 for ammonia! How old is your RODI’s carbon block?

 

[Some Rando]

API always reads 0.25 for ammonia! How old is your RODI’s carbon block?

All of the filters are 1.5 years old.

 

[rdriggett]

I’m grasping at straws here but maybe it’s chloramines getting through? How are the fish?

 

[Some Rando]

I’m grasping at straws here but maybe it’s chloramines getting through? How are the fish?

I really appreciate the help, so thanks for grasping at those straws!

The fish seem fine and are acting like their normal selves.

 

[Mike Yasin]

Hi - I'm sorry you're going through this. Did I read that you removed all your sand and moved your tank a few weeks back? That is a lot of bio filtration you took away…. and if you scrubbed everything, you took more away.

You could be smelling the remaining bio (bacteria) die off. If you have some microbacter7, I would start using that at it's highest recommended dose asap. If not, Petco sells biospora - use the bottle to spike your tank and order MB7. Last ditch would be would to mix fresh salt water and move your living pieces.

EDIT: Get yourself some Seachem Prime as well.

 

[JVU]

The bad smell is a very bad sign. Very likely due to your SPS dying flesh that you see.

The cause can be very difficult to figure out, but what is more important is that it can be a feed-forward process. That is, the dying coral tissue cause more stress on the other coral and more dying. I don’t think the API ammonia test is reliable enough to be treated as a real piece of data, but the smell is, and you don’t need it to see that a substantial amount of dying organic material is in your tank and likely throwing things out of balance.

I think large water changes are in order, like 25% every 12-24 hours or something like that until it stabilizes. Since you don’t know if you can trust your RODI water (1.5 years with no carbon or DI change is not reassuring), maybe get water from a trusted source if you can. You might want to frag some pieces off of whatever colonies are RTN’ing to try to save some, from the opposite side of the colony as far away as possible.

For the future- you shouldn’t wait to have TDS in your water to change your RODI filters. For example, if choramine/chorine is getting past your exhausted carbon block it will ruin your RO membrane. Also not all bad things show up as TDS, for example chlorine and chloramine don’t.

 

[JVU]

Also- When you do your large water changes, siphon out the dead/dying flesh by putting the siphon tube right up to the skeleton. The more dying and possibly infected organic tissue you remove the better.

 

[Mike Yasin]

Doubt that water changes alone are going to help you considerably, considering that you’ve been using the same water and it wasn’t until after you moved your tank and removed your sand that you began having these problems.

The cause shouldn’t be difficult to figure out since you detailed it in a post at the end of August

In my opinion, you basically have reset your tank.

 

[Some Rando]

The bad smell is a very bad sign. Very likely due to your SPS dying flesh that you see.

The cause can be very difficult to figure out, but what is more important is that it can be a feed-forward process. That is, the dying coral tissue cause more stress on the other coral and more dying. I don’t think the API ammonia test is reliable enough to be treated as a real piece of data, but the smell is, and you don’t need it to see that a substantial amount of dying organic material is in your tank and likely throwing things out of balance.

I think large water changes are in order, like 25% every 12-24 hours or something like that until it stabilizes. Since you don’t know if you can trust your RODI water (1.5 years with no carbon or DI change is not reassuring), maybe get water from a trusted source if you can. You might want to frag some pieces off of whatever colonies are RTN’ing to try to save some, from the opposite side of the colony as far away as possible.

For the future- you shouldn’t wait to have TDS in your water to change your RODI filters. For example, if choramine/chorine is getting past your exhausted carbon block it will ruin your RO membrane. Also not all bad things show up as TDS, for example chlorine and chloramine don’t.

Thank you. I have new filters on the way and now I will put them on some kind of replacement schedule.

How often do you replace your RO filters?

 

[JVU]

Thank you. I have new filters on the way and now I will put them on some kind of replacement schedule.

How often do you replace your RO filters?

There’s more than 1 right way to approach this and it will depend a lot on your specifics. The most important thing is you need to have a plan that results in you changing filters before they are completely used up, and on some kind of regular basis. Doing it by time, gallons produced, or changing color of DI resin are popular options. I‘ve done all three over the years and currently have been doing the latter for several years. I went into more detail (and others did too) recently on this thread:

I give up, need a new RO/DI unit, suggestions?

Definitely wanted to shout out @robert4025 at Neptune for trying to help with the cap. I spent about two hours today getting everything back together only to find now I'm leaking in a brand new place. So what systems do folks recommend for East Bay water? My TDS in is about 40-50, psi around...

www.bareefers.org

 

[jhuynh]

Hi - I'm sorry you're going through this. Did I read that you removed all your sand and moved your tank a few weeks back? That is a lot of bio filtration you took away…. and if you scrubbed everything, you took more away.

You could be smelling the remaining bio (bacteria) die off. If you have some microbacter7, I would start using that at it's highest recommended dose asap. If not, Petco sells biospora - use the bottle to spike your tank and order MB7. Last ditch would be would to mix fresh salt water and move your living pieces.

EDIT: Get yourself some Seachem Prime as well.

i would like to add to this as well. how did you do your major cleaning? what did you use to clean it with? did you make sure you clean everything off with rodi and let dry before adding everything back? maybe you leeched some chemicals back into the tank when resetting it back up in 7 hours. but i agree, you lost a lot of your good bacteria during the move.

 

[Some Rando]

i would like to add to this as well. how did you do your major cleaning? what did you use to clean it with? did you make sure you clean everything off with rodi and let dry before adding everything back? maybe you leeched some chemicals back into the tank when resetting it back up in 7 hours. but i agree, you lost a lot of your good bacteria during the move.

So for my major cleaning i did not use any chemicals at all. I just rinsed out my sump and removed some of the algae that had grown on it. The sump really wasn’t even that dirty. Everything was rinsed with RODI. At this point it seems like my RODI could be the culprit right now.

As far as losing bacteria, I’m a little confused on why I may have lost a lot. I did remove my sand, but my sand bed was very small and not deep at all. The sand didn’t even cover the whole bottom of the tank. My rocks were all kept in tank water with heaters and power heads and airstones. The rocks were only exposed to air for a couple of minutes at the max.

Is it not possible to move a tank and not have it crash?

 

[Some Rando]

Doubt that water changes alone are going to help you considerably, considering that you’ve been using the same water and it wasn’t until after you moved your tank and removed your sand that you began having these problems.

The cause shouldn’t be difficult to figure out since you detailed it in a post at the end of August

In my opinion, you basically have reset your tank.

Thanks for your input. Are you basing my tank resetting itself on the presence of ammonia? Others have said that the API ammonia test kit is inaccurate and always reads .25, like what I’m seeing when I run the test. Would your response still have been the same if I hadn’t mentioned ammonia?

I did remove my sand, but my sand bed was very small. The sand was not deep and it didn’t even cover the whole floor of the aquarium.

 

[Srt4eric]

Thanks for your input. Are you basing my tank resetting itself on the presence of ammonia? Others have said that the API ammonia test kit is inaccurate and always reads .25, like what I’m seeing when I run the test. Would your response still have been the same if I hadn’t mentioned ammonia?

I did remove my sand, but my sand bed was very small. The sand was not deep and it didn’t even cover the whole floor of the aquarium.

Even a little sand adds a ton of surface area for bacteria.

 

[rdriggett]

I’m over the top so I have a BRS 7 stage dual membrane RODI. I change every filter every 6-9 months or sooner if they change color.

 

[Mike Yasin]

Thanks for your input. Are you basing my tank resetting itself on the presence of ammonia? Others have said that the API ammonia test kit is inaccurate and always reads .25, like what I’m seeing when I run the test. Would your response still have been the same if I hadn’t mentioned ammonia?

I did remove my sand, but my sand bed was very small. The sand was not deep and it didn’t even cover the whole floor of the aquarium.

sand removal which even a small amount harbors lots of bacteria is (was) an important part of your filter. don’t discount the impact a little sand has on the system.

regarding the ammonia, you didn’t state the reading or I missed it. Either way, ammonia is or could be present, so act accordingly.

we also don’t know if you replaced 100% of the water, or did you use some of your old tank water to start the tank after the move? A 100% water change is also impactful and will
shock the system.

over the past 1.5 years, you created an ecosystem. You changed that ecosystem in 7 hours. It has its impacts.

 

[Some Rando]

sand removal which even a small amount harbors lots of bacteria is (was) an important part of your filter. don’t discount the impact a little sand has on the system.

regarding the ammonia, you didn’t state the reading or I missed it. Either way, ammonia is or could be present, so act accordingly.

we also don’t know if you replaced 100% of the water, or did you use some of your old tank water to start the tank after the move? A 100% water change is also impactful and will
shock the system.

over the past 1.5 years, you created an ecosystem. You changed that ecosystem in 7 hours. It has its impacts.

Thank you for the explanation. That all makes sense.

 

[Mike Yasin]

Thank you for the explanation. That all makes sense.

wish you well

 

[Klatzy]

I recently moved my system (about a month ago). Didn't removed the sand but things got sloshed around quite a bit. This triggered a big dino + diatom + cyano + hair algae bloom. I'm guessing a lot of nutrients and micro-organisms were unleashed into the water column—it's as if the tank went through cycling again. And probably a huge disruption in bacterial and copepods/amphi populations etc. The dino bloom got so bad that it started to smell.
Next time I have to move a tank, I'm thinking of dosing bacteria and maybe even going to blackout for a few days.