kH: 6.7 

Mg: 1300

Cal: 380 or 400

I have a 34 gal Red sea with 10 gal sump, skimmer, LED lightling retro kit.  I have it heavily stocked with 16 different SPS (which are really starting to take off) and 10 or so LPS along with several softies including a green toadstool that is 3" in diam.   I had been dosing every other day primarily Ca and kH and occasionally Mg but the higher demand was dropping kh from 8.5 or 9 to 7.5 every other day until I noticed it dropped to 6.7 when I noticed the acan was receeding.  I assumed it was the low kH so started bumping up my kH to 8.5 to 9.5.  and have been dosing every day for the past couple of weeks to keep it from fluctuating as much.

Oh and I checked nitrates, nitrites and PO a week ago and they were all at 0 according to my APi kit.  Also, I have iodine dipped a few of the corals, some more than once and showed no improvement.  I did use a dremel on the original acan and removed the dead recessed area, so far it seems to have possibly stopped it or at least slowed it down considerably (I cant see any obvious recession).  I have also done 4 15% water changes in the last 2 weeks but that doesnt seem to have helped.

Has anyone had this issue and corrected the problem?  Any advice for what I need to do to stop the slow death???? 

Here is a pic of what my tank looks like (as of 4 weeks ago)

Thanks,  Kevn

It is extremely important to maintain Alk and Ca by checking and logging, frequently at first until a dosing pattern is established that will allow less frequent testing. Depending on the substrate used, Mg does not usually fall so quickly so monthly monitoring is usually sufficient.

This is just one instance, but I know a hobbyist that saw positive results after using Benepets new food but then lost an entire colony of LPS. It was Euphyllia, but by the time I saw it, I could not tell if it was Frogspawn or Hammer. I used the same food a few times but saw no change in coral. I believe that's because, like Krazie4acans, I was already providing a very natural environment where live food was prevalent and a large variety of mostly frozen foods, including algae and algae paste was offered. Night feedings of powdered Golden Pearls was also offered which ensured a large live food population of invertebrate spawn and larvae available for feeding coral.

Krazie offered good advice. If followed, I would say that in time these coral will stop receding and will recover. It just takes a while for coral animals to recover after an incident like this.

Aloha,

Mark  

Regarding stray voltage, assuming there is no Grounding Probe or that it was removed from the water when the readings were taken, a voltage level of 14 is normal (though .2 is unusually low). It's called "ground voltage". It can be as high as 40 Volts but when it's above 40 it means there is a bare wire coming in contact with the water. That's when the defective electrical item should be found and and removed. The Eheim Jager heater in this case is safe, not a problem. All electrical components add inductively produced voltage to the water. Over the years, I've noticed that some tanks do better with a Grounding Probe even when the ground voltage level is below the tolerance limit.

Aloha,

Mark  

I may have half a bottle of Golden Pearls I could sell for cheap. I'll look later this morning.

Parameters tonight:  Alk - 9.2, Ca - 420, Mag - 1400.  

I performed a 25% water change yesterday and have kept alk between 8'6 and 10.0, Ca range 400 - 440.

I removed the Chemi pure blue as recommended a week ago.  Checked PO and still at 0.  I realized however, that my API test kit is quite old... 2011.  So I need to get a new one.  Suggestions on raising PO?  I feed my fish once a day and have been feeding benepets coral food every other day.  

If any one has any further suggestions please chime in... Im starting to pull my hair out... what l have left that is!! 

Chemical warfare? I have a green toadstool that is now 4" in diameter.  Its growing like crazy.  All other corals continue to thrive!  SPS polyps out all day long! Heres a pic of my Toadstool, below it you can see the mummy eye chalice that is slowing receeding on the right side. 

Im starting to second guess the 100 gal starfire tank Im going to be setting up as soon as my stand is ready... This is frustrating!

Patience.

I'm not sure how long the Alk was low but it probably took months of low Alk before the LPS started to show the signs of their suffering. It will take some time for stable parameters to help the coral stop receding and start to recover.

Okay, I'm going to give my advice to each point of the previous post:

Unfortunately, when parameters are good, large/frequent water changes are more often stressful to coral rather than helpful. Stability is good. Change is bad. Lots of new water is a change.  See the logic?

Phosphate(PO4) typically does not increase immediately after removing the PO4 removal media. Give it time. I'm going to go out on a limb here. Now that we can see a pic of the Green Mushroom Leather I believe it's safe to assume that a low PO4 level is probably not the problem and certainly not the entire problem. If PO4 were at zero and had been for a while, that particular coral would not be doing so well. Yes, a valid test would be good. Get a new test kit or have it tested.

In a previous post, I may have suggested (or was it in another thread), the cessation of Benepets Coral food, because it caused problems in LPS for another hobbyist. What the...  Well, it can't hurt to stop using it temporarily and if it is indeed the culprit or one factor in a combined issue, improvement might show rather quickly.

The sign of chemical warfare is clear to me. I'm not sure why others can't see it.  Look how the Green Mushroom Leather polyps bend with the water flow and they are clearly bending toward the right side of the Chalice. To add to the issue, the Green Mushroom Leather is shading the right side of the Chalice.  Lack of light energy combined with toxic chemicals!

It's okay. You're not alone. We've all been here too. Just a tip: Frustration is easier to handle when the issue is seen as a challenge. A problem that will be solved. That is the NATURE of this hobby. Mother Nature is complicated. That's one reason I love this hobby (the hobby I'm having to de-emphasize, for purely political reasons  )

Aloha,

Mark  

Oh, one last tip. Overcrowding can be a serious issue in this hobby. I believe that applies here. This tank is definitely at the limits of overcrowding. In my experience, all those coral covering the sand may be causing some of the problems. Sorry.  My advice: more open sand - less coral - better growth/health