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cyano

plastic rating questions, toxins, coral recession

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ok so I seem to have an issue with receding tissue on LPS corals that I have kept for years successfully. I first started noticing these issues after I lost all my sps as I have unsuccessfully raised sps since installing my bio-pellet reactor I took it offline, cleaned it, and stowed it away. The problems persisted and I thought perhaps since some bryopsis has persisted and lived in my refugium that maybe it was a cause (plus since the fuge was extremely dirty since I was having a hard time getting a siphon to clean it) I also took it offline. The thought was that I was going to go back to the basics to a time when I was growing corals successfully and lower tech plus I had never had a algae problem or even detected nitrates in my previous set up. After taking both items off line I have noticed a bit of hair algae growing in the main display which I fully expected since the tank was relying more on the refugium and reactor than biological filtration in the main set up and sump.

I purchased a montipora cap frag as a coral I had a lot of success with in the past to try to use as a canary since they are fast growers and are very hardy in the right conditions. I have noticed that it is starting to show signs of new growth which is encouraging that I may be on the right track but I see no noticeable change in my lps flesh. I have started feeding my duncan a little more frequently to see if that helps but my branching hammer doesn't take food well (I have successfully fed it on occasions and witnessed food enter the mouth but the rest of the tank doesn't seem to like it) being that feeding of those corals is rarely successful or even heard of and me being successful without feeding it for 3 years I would rather not stress anything else out.

I was starting to think about what else could have changed from 3 years ago to now and I started to think about toxins leaching into the tank from somewhere. I have used to same buckets and before I would make RO water and top off the tank (before an ATO) and I would make salt water and usually do a change after about an hour of the water mixing. Well now I have an ATO so I usually make 10 gallons of top off water, one 5 gallon bucket with an aqualifter and a power head in it and one more 5 gallon bucket to add as needed to the first one. I also make 5 more gallons of water that mixes in a bucket with fresh salt for a period of about 24 hours before I do a weekly water change. I theorized that maybe over time the plastic in the buckets had started leeching harmful elements into the water that I have been adding to the tank. I did a little research and found people stating that plastics rated 1-5 were considered food grade with grade 2 being considered the best and grade 5 being questionable. Well the buckets I mostly use are old salt buckets which are a grade 5 and one other bucket that is used to store water being a grade 2. Not wanting to take any chances I have just purchased 3 more grade 2 buckets that I am filling with water as I type and will be taking my old buckets offline immediately to cover my bases.

So has anyone else experienced symptoms like these? If so did you ever find the cause?. All parameters are within range and all other livestock are fat and happy (not overfed though :P)

What type of plastic ratings do you use/recommend?

Any advice or help is greatly appreciated. It is very frustrating to be successful with certain corals for years and then feel like a failure. I have also taken my auto feeder offline so that no flake food it added to the aquarium.

I have also tested for stray voltage and found none as well as started dosing carbon in case there is something to absorb.

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Comments

  1. melev's Avatar
    There are a number of things that could be the cause, and it's going to take some back and forth to determine the exact cause.

    RE: buckets. Do you clean the buckets from time to time with vinegar and water, or bleach-water? At least once every six months would be wise. I've never had problems from salt buckets. We usually seek out HDPE containers, as those are safe -- they are called food-grade safe.

    I just posted an article on the front page of RA a few days ago where a person had a bad batch of carbon damage their corals, a brand that had a batch recall last year.

    Alkalinity and salinity measurements should be double checked and verified with a second method, to make sure you're on target.

    Lighting - age of bulbs, exposure of potential UV in the tank, duration of light in the tank per day; these are all things to consider to see if any or all are causing a decline.
  2. cyano's Avatar
    melev- I hadn't been cleaning them with any type of solution I had been just wiping them out every 1-2 months what vinegar to water ratio do you recommend? and do I need to soak the buckets or just spray and wipe them down?

    I read that last week actually very good write up and read. I have been refraining from dosing carbon so I actually just started doing it again last night after testing for stray voltage. Have you heard of any bad salt batches by Kent? I am halfway through this bucket but I don't think I could say comfortably that I wasn't seeing some dwindling problems before I started this one to blame a salt batch.

    I have two different alk test kits that I test with that are both within the same ballpark figure my Elos reads a more specific 8.5 and API reads 9. Salinity is a little low at 1.022-1.023 which I test with a refractometer that I re calibrate every few weeks with a 35 ppt solution

    Switched to new LEDs from HO T5s about 3-4 months ago. Corals had been bleaching in the same pattern as a RTN case but very slowly in comparison so after doing some research I assumed that it was due to lack of lighting (though they didn't SEEM to brown) and gradually turned the lighting up from about 40% to about 75% which I just completed about 2 weeks ago. My sps had already bleached and gone by this point.

    My monti cap is still encouraging me as it is one of my favorite corals of all time so any growth and progress is currently all revolving around that. There are NO soft corals in my tank.