Open Brain Coral is Dying

[polarbear]

I have a 29 gallon Biocube with 150W 14K MH lights along with a refugium.

I went to my brothers place yesterday and was checking up on my tank that he is watching for me. It looked great except for me Open Brain Coral is dying. He showed me a spot on the coral where the skeleton was exposed. We tested the water and the results follow:

KH (179ppm) - is this to high? If so how do I get it to come down?

Ca (460ppm)

PH (8.2)

Nitrate (0)

I had been dosing Strontium, Magnesium but he had forgot about it. I added some to the tank yesterday. I noticed that it wasnt open as much as it use to be. There is not anything next to it that would be stinging it. The following is a pic that was taken after the lights went out. Ill try to get another one today when the lights are on. You can see at the bottom where the coral is dying.

[Robb in Austin]

Kh of 10 should be ok. What about the temp of the tank? Other than something nipping at it, I'm stumped.

I'd do a water change at the least. Maybe move it if possible.

[polarbear]

ill have to ask my brother but the only thing that gets around it are the 2 clown fish. As for the temp, its setting at 80. I would like for it to be lower but there is already a fan that blows on the water and an AC unit in the room on all of the time.

[Robb in Austin]

The clowns shouldn't be bothering it. Crabs?

Temp should be fine.

[Gonzobob]

Has the light cycle or feeding timing changed in the last month or so?

[polarbear]

i think i need to change out the light which im going to have him do today. As for the feeding ill check with him but I told him to keep it the same. mysis shrimp every other day. I never spot fed the brain coral becuase the clowns were to quick to get the food. Ive had it for around 8 months with no problems.

[polarbear]

hes feeding the same as i did. about half a mysis cube every other day.

[polarbear]

Here is a better picture.

[innate1]

I had one for four years and out of the blue it did the same thing and I hate to say it but notice I said had one. Good luck.

[polarbear]

thanks. I had my brother change out the MH light. He stated that the tank looks a lot britter now so hopefully it will recover if it was do to the light being old.

[mhart032]

Hrmm what are the iodine levels and has it been dosed? it could cause this. high levels of iodine will wipe out a tank fast and lps corals will show first signs. i had this happen to a fungia plate coral and it was cause the tank got cold well actually it was in the middle of a tank swap and i lost alot of corals to cold and it happend in 12hrs. but if temp is good i would check iodine and mag levels.

[polarbear]

Im going thave to test the iodine levels before I can say. I have been dosing iodine (the consentrated one). I had my brother put it in there about once a week. You know, He has been doing more frequent water changes then I use to and I read online that iodine gets replaced with regular water changes so maybe adding the drops on top of the more frequent water changes is causeing the levels to be to high. How do I bring down the iodine level if it is to high?

[Robb in Austin]

Water changes. Why were you dosing in the first place?

[mhart032]

when i had shrimp i dosed it but just cause of the molt process. and the fact that they need it. but other than that if water changes are regular then you really dont need it. but yea id do a 50% water change.

[polarbear]

I was told by a fellow reefer that I should try dosing it so I gave it a try. Again I know, it was stupid on my part for just following the crowd and I should have done some research but the local fish store told me the same thing (not disclosing the store name). I called my brother this morning and told him to stop the dosing and he said ok. I will have him do a water change also. Do you think this is whats cauing the brian coral to die?

[mhart032]

Its possible, i would take the h2o to the LFS and have it tested to see what the levels are. then at least you will know if you could rule it out, or if so then you will know that maybe the problem. and then you will know what to do to fix it. or know to keep looking.

Matt