Really impressed with the quality of advice in your videos. I've been in the hobby for 5 years and I like keeping up to date on the latest best practices and other aspects of reef keeping. I have a SPS dominant 25G nano and a mixed RS250 reefer and I can say that I've encountered all of these issues at some point or another despite being quite meticulous. My RS reefer has been more or less on auto pilot and I've lost two of my clams, an alveopora, and a ORA hawkins echinata over the course of about 12 months. Further inspection would find that the rear of one of my vortech MP10s is rusting, the submersible magnet on my hydor koralia in the sump was completely rusted and I was able to break it apart with my fingers. Lastly, I've been fighting diatoms for about 12 months with periods of success. It was only lately that I suspected my TDS meter on my RODI unit was inaccurate an I'm in the process of replacing most of the media. Spot on advice from the friendly Reef Dork!
I started my first reef tank just over a month ago and one of my corals is refusing to open up now. I'm so new to this I don't even know how to identify the coral but my LFS said he should be fine for a newer tank. They have decades of reefing between them so I trust them and put it down to the algae bloom i'm currently suffering! Awesome video - alongside Bulk Reef Supply you have everything covered. Subscribed :)
A month is pretty early to ad corals - lots of chemistry changes happen early doors. Decades of experience is one thing, but they're also there to sell stuff!
Great video Alex, for ages I could not keep corals for the life of me, but since I have changed to NSW, I now have several different varieties of coral, plus I now add All-For-Reef daily and everything’s seems pretty stable, phew, I got there in the end lol
Just watched. Thanks for the info. My cant keep coral are acans I've tried. I can grow euphillias. I think either lights or when I had issues it was zero phosphates causing my issues and I lost my acan and all my digitata.
Thank you. I have been obsessively thinking over every possible thing that I can do to make my zoas happy. I have one little frag and I’ve been trying to research the best lighting for a pico set up
Another great video. On the alkalinity issue I would add that it is frustrating to find the sweet spot of where your alkalinity needs to be. Some tanks can have an alkalinity is high is 11 and not have any issues we’re other ones everything will die as soon as it goes 9. With that said, your SPS corals will have a better tolerance to alkalinity swings if the nitrates are above zero. Ultra low nutrient systems are notoriously intolerant of any alkalinity swings.
Good video m8. @1:07, that hammer is rubbing, stinging and killing that SPS, the dying colonies are very clear. Like you said, in a mixed reef tank, location in everything...
I'd like to expand on the alkalinity point. While I agree that the stability of the number is important, the number itself (that 7 to 11 range) does matter as it relates to nutrients. Basically, if you have high alk but low/no no3/po4 that can cause burnt tip and STN issues.
Nice one Alex Q I had problems with ausie lps corals! Dieing for no reason. Proamiters are fine! Everything is fine. Took me £500 worth or corals to find out what it was! Well I hope it's that! Cheers
Hi Reef Dork! your tank looks absolutely amazing! Can u tell me please? Does keeping your tank lights on 8 hours a day for corals, work out expensive!! 😀👍
I'm not a fan of manual dosing - you end up forgetting, getting lazy or being unavailable and things go to pot. Instead, I'd use All For Reef which does calcium, alkalinity, magnesium and trace all in one bottle. Then buy a cheap 2nd hand dosing pump. The DD P1 single head doser is usually on ebay for around £30.
I found out the reason ive lost %80 of my corals ( was gonna trash the tank and leave the hobby ) was because surprisingly my kalk container was leachign copper somehow. Im amazed that a plastic jug had so much copper on it idk how.
I just had a question. My sps coral is bleached almost completely. Only the very tips have any sign of life. Would fraging the branches be beneficial or should I just wait if it jumps back? Any advice would be helpful
I have one coral losing tissue and had many shipped recently! This is the only one i ididnt dip! Stupid I know! I had my eye on this big moselya colony for a while at my lfs. Should I dip it now or would it be to stressful? Should I use coral rx or a iodine dip? Its on the sand bed and notice I am getting dinos I think! I have been blowing it off corals and this plus chalice are only two losing tissue. I have had bad luck with chalice in the past and also sandbed corals. This moselya is on sand bed. Look liked at first like it was bleaching. I have moved it to lower light area, but sand bed should be to high! Every thing else fine. Not sure what to do! HELP! Its a gorgeous and rare colony! Dont want to lose it!
I am curious what’s the point of checking the ph,alkalinity and etc if we can’t do anything about it. If there are ways to control the ph, alkalinity and etc please explain it thank you so much.
I wouldn't leave it in your sump but you could try running it through your sand. I'd be reluctant to stir it up though if it's older sand. To be honest metal is more likely to be a problem if it's from a rusty pump or something similar
Literally everything i have from hammers, to anthelia and leather are doing great. But my zoa and candy cane kryptonite are not looking great. For extra strange i have another teal candy cane thats doing great. Parameters look great as well.
I have no luck with zoanthids. Not sure what happened, they always seem to shrink n slowly disappear. Prior to this I had brass fittings n leached out copper but it was all sort out by using Seachem Cuprisorb to absorb copper and heavy metals, test kit shows 0 copper now for many months. Only 2 clowns, a fire fish and a juvenile blue tang. All parameters looks fine to me. Any idea what is the caused?
Impossible to say without much more information - you're probably best asking on a forum. But I guarantee if you properly correct everything on this list, you'll fix it.
I'm not entirely sure that corals need a close temperature match or even salinity after shipping. I've experimented both ways and the advantages are not immediately obvious. the real issue is whether to dip them when they are new and stressed or not and take chances with parasites and hitchhikers. I've been screwed both ways so I am not sure there is a clear answer....just various trade offs.
Way (way) back in the day ('90) I had a simple tank. 29 gal, butterfly fish, the requesite blue and even a domino damsel. Had an anemone. Coral banded shrimp. A small urchin. And then there was the arrow crab. Damsels kept dissappearing but I never found 'em. Never an amonia spike. Then the urchin was consumed, then the shrimp. I intervened finally and saved the beautiful butterfly fishie. The following morning the anemone was gone! That f'ing arrow crab single handedly destroyed a community. And it was my fault. For not knowing beforehand that they are demon crabs. And then for not figuring it out in time. The demon crab was my last suspect!
A looooong time! I'm 7 years in and I'd consider myself intermediate and I suspect most people who've been in the hobby 20 years wouldn't consider themselves true experts!
Now you've fixed your coral problems, fix your algae problems! th-cam.com/video/c2-PxQvQMfY/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for taking the time, Alex. Cheers! 👍
Really impressed with the quality of advice in your videos. I've been in the hobby for 5 years and I like keeping up to date on the latest best practices and other aspects of reef keeping. I have a SPS dominant 25G nano and a mixed RS250 reefer and I can say that I've encountered all of these issues at some point or another despite being quite meticulous. My RS reefer has been more or less on auto pilot and I've lost two of my clams, an alveopora, and a ORA hawkins echinata over the course of about 12 months. Further inspection would find that the rear of one of my vortech MP10s is rusting, the submersible magnet on my hydor koralia in the sump was completely rusted and I was able to break it apart with my fingers. Lastly, I've been fighting diatoms for about 12 months with periods of success. It was only lately that I suspected my TDS meter on my RODI unit was inaccurate an I'm in the process of replacing most of the media. Spot on advice from the friendly Reef Dork!
Ah, that's a real shame. Rusty pumps are a nightmare - happens far too often 😔
Stai puțin, din cauza ruginii, îmi pot muri coralii!?😳
I started my first reef tank just over a month ago and one of my corals is refusing to open up now. I'm so new to this I don't even know how to identify the coral but my LFS said he should be fine for a newer tank. They have decades of reefing between them so I trust them and put it down to the algae bloom i'm currently suffering!
Awesome video - alongside Bulk Reef Supply you have everything covered. Subscribed :)
A month is pretty early to ad corals - lots of chemistry changes happen early doors. Decades of experience is one thing, but they're also there to sell stuff!
@@ReefDork That's true, that's true! Thank you, I apprecaite your advice! I will be sticking around :)
Great video Alex, for ages I could not keep corals for the life of me, but since I have changed to NSW, I now have several different varieties of coral, plus I now add All-For-Reef daily and everything’s seems pretty stable, phew, I got there in the end lol
///‘
I like the waves in your aquarium. What is creating them?
Just watched. Thanks for the info. My cant keep coral are acans I've tried. I can grow euphillias. I think either lights or when I had issues it was zero phosphates causing my issues and I lost my acan and all my digitata.
Thank you. I have been obsessively thinking over every possible thing that I can do to make my zoas happy. I have one little frag and I’ve been trying to research the best lighting for a pico set up
Top tips Alex another quality video
Another great video. On the alkalinity issue I would add that it is frustrating to find the sweet spot of where your alkalinity needs to be. Some tanks can have an alkalinity is high is 11 and not have any issues we’re other ones everything will die as soon as it goes 9. With that said, your SPS corals will have a better tolerance to alkalinity swings if the nitrates are above zero. Ultra low nutrient systems are notoriously intolerant of any alkalinity swings.
Nice point 👍
Thanks so much for the advice 😃
You're welcome, thanks for watching 🙂
Good video m8. @1:07, that hammer is rubbing, stinging and killing that SPS, the dying colonies are very clear. Like you said, in a mixed reef tank, location in everything...
"Corals love stability but us hobbyist love to tinker" well said 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Great video! Happy new year!
I'd like to expand on the alkalinity point. While I agree that the stability of the number is important, the number itself (that 7 to 11 range) does matter as it relates to nutrients. Basically, if you have high alk but low/no no3/po4 that can cause burnt tip and STN issues.
Absolutely 👍
Nice one Alex
Q I had problems with ausie lps corals! Dieing for no reason. Proamiters are fine! Everything is fine. Took me £500 worth or corals to find out what it was! Well I hope it's that! Cheers
I've had the best results with corals with a 2000 gallon tank. Because when a change is made in a 2000 gallon tank it is so slow it is almost seasonal
What kind of light do you use?
Hi Reef Dork! your tank looks absolutely amazing! Can u tell me please? Does keeping your tank lights on 8 hours a day for corals, work out expensive!! 😀👍
Probably - it's about 350w on my tank. Plus heating, pumps, skimmer etc etc...
Here is lots of good troubleshooting advice.
whats a good routine for hand dosing a fluval 13 a 2 part system for alk and calc
I'm not a fan of manual dosing - you end up forgetting, getting lazy or being unavailable and things go to pot. Instead, I'd use All For Reef which does calcium, alkalinity, magnesium and trace all in one bottle. Then buy a cheap 2nd hand dosing pump. The DD P1 single head doser is usually on ebay for around £30.
thank you great master
👋🤘
How do you have such good movement on the surface of your fish tank?
Vortech mp40s
Reef Dork thanks ! Such a great tank
Nice guide Alex, would also have added that Soft corals do chemical warfare
Yep. Which is why I said 'all' types of coral 🤓
Reef Dork my mistake, I must have missed that. Keep up the good work 👍
Woaw you have pretty high waves in your tank!!!! 🌊🌊🌊🌊
Never wet floor ??!
Nope, just salt creep on the rim 😕
Same tank hate the salt lines left near rim 😡😡😡
I found out the reason ive lost %80 of my corals ( was gonna trash the tank and leave the hobby ) was because surprisingly my kalk container was leachign copper somehow. Im amazed that a plastic jug had so much copper on it idk how.
Oh wow. Well done for finding that 👍
another great episode...Thanks for sharing..
We always need reminding of all the ways stuff can go wrong in this hobby! Thanks for this Alex! 👍🏻👍🏻
Excellent video
I just had a question.
My sps coral is bleached almost completely. Only the very tips have any sign of life. Would fraging the branches be beneficial or should I just wait if it jumps back?
Any advice would be helpful
Sounds like it might be too late but personally I'd just move it to a low light spot rather than stressing it with a cut
I have one coral losing tissue and had many shipped recently! This is the only one i ididnt dip! Stupid I know! I had my eye on this big moselya colony for a while at my lfs. Should I dip it now or would it be to stressful? Should I use coral rx or a iodine dip? Its on the sand bed and notice I am getting dinos I think! I have been blowing it off corals and this plus chalice are only two losing tissue. I have had bad luck with chalice in the past and also sandbed corals. This moselya is on sand bed. Look liked at first like it was bleaching. I have moved it to lower light area, but sand bed should be to high! Every thing else fine. Not sure what to do! HELP! Its a gorgeous and rare colony! Dont want to lose it!
I am curious what’s the point of checking the ph,alkalinity and etc if we can’t do anything about it. If there are ways to control the ph, alkalinity and etc please explain it thank you so much.
You can affect pretty much every parameter in your tank! Too many ways to cover here but Google reef tank parameters and start your research there 👍
could i run a magnet through my sand or leave one in my sump for the metal issue?
I wouldn't leave it in your sump but you could try running it through your sand. I'd be reluctant to stir it up though if it's older sand. To be honest metal is more likely to be a problem if it's from a rusty pump or something similar
Spot on mate!
The reef version of Simon Whistler from ‘Today I Found out!’
Great video with good content :)
Man I have a question, I get 3 corals, begginer, soft corals and cheaper of course, but they turn all white, why you think I'm doing wrong?
Literally everything i have from hammers, to anthelia and leather are doing great. But my zoa and candy cane kryptonite are not looking great. For extra strange i have another teal candy cane thats doing great. Parameters look great as well.
Awesome tips boss
I have no luck with zoanthids. Not sure what happened, they always seem to shrink n slowly disappear. Prior to this I had brass fittings n leached out copper but it was all sort out by using Seachem Cuprisorb to absorb copper and heavy metals, test kit shows 0 copper now for many months. Only 2 clowns, a fire fish and a juvenile blue tang. All parameters looks fine to me. Any idea what is the caused?
Impossible to say without much more information - you're probably best asking on a forum. But I guarantee if you properly correct everything on this list, you'll fix it.
I'm not entirely sure that corals need a close temperature match or even salinity after shipping. I've experimented both ways and the advantages are not immediately obvious. the real issue is whether to dip them when they are new and stressed or not and take chances with parasites and hitchhikers. I've been screwed both ways so I am not sure there is a clear answer....just various trade offs.
Way (way) back in the day ('90) I had a simple tank. 29 gal, butterfly fish, the requesite blue and even a domino damsel. Had an anemone. Coral banded shrimp. A small urchin. And then there was the arrow crab. Damsels kept dissappearing but I never found 'em. Never an amonia spike. Then the urchin was consumed, then the shrimp. I intervened finally and saved the beautiful butterfly fishie. The following morning the anemone was gone! That f'ing arrow crab single handedly destroyed a community. And it was my fault. For not knowing beforehand that they are demon crabs. And then for not figuring it out in time. The demon crab was my last suspect!
You've just given me an idea for a video - inverts to avoid! 🙂
I just put two new coral in my new tank and one coral shrinking/falling over.
Look tired mate, good video
What is the name of the coral u used as clickbait* ( aint beein rude just dont know what else to call it)?
The thumbnail picture? I'm pretty sure it was a hammer coral...
Man I miss my radiant wrasse
His head moves more than the surface of the water.
Jokes on u my corals don’t die because I don’t have any
Gabriel McKenzie oof
👌🏾
👌
@@ReefDork 👌
Top! 😁
@ReefDork. Is 1TDS ok ? Just wondering . Or always 0
Probably OK but I only accept 0
@@ReefDork thanks mate my water is bad and I can see myself changing resin an awful lot 😬
To much white light. Only need 1 hr.
The more blue the better 👍
Hi when can you consider yourself and so called expert reefer?🙂
A looooong time! I'm 7 years in and I'd consider myself intermediate and I suspect most people who've been in the hobby 20 years wouldn't consider themselves true experts!