Its not all about the parameters

Much attention is (and should be given) to water parameter in saltwater tanks.  That means that parameters such as temperature, pH and alkalinity should be monitored and kept as stable as possible. Once saltwater tanks are setup and operating, they mostly care for themselves in these areas. However, sometimes things go wrong (fish die, corals bleach, etc) for no reason in spite of having perfect water parameters.

For example, my tank temp ranges from 77.4 to 78.3 degrees during the day. pH stays between 8.0 and 8.1 and my alkalinity hovers around 8. Even though my tank’s parameters are stable, I’ve noticed that some of my SPS corals have started to bleach out.  Not wanting to lose these beautiful pieces that I’ve been growing out, I went on a tear to figure out why I’m losing them.

First step: check parameters via test kit. Everything looks good. No nitrates, no phosphates, etc.

Second step: Has anything new entered my tank recently that could have brought something with them? A: Nope, no new introduction of corals or fish

Third step: Any corals fighting, thusly causing chemicals to be released into the tank that could affect other corals? (Often called chemical warfare). Nope. Everything has its space and is not touching its neighbor.

Fourth step: little things I can’t see or test for: bacteria. Perhaps some strange bacteria has come into the tank via the air, food, etc. There is no way to test for certain types of bacteria, so my method to test this theory is to dip the affected coral and see what happens. The “dip” kills any bad bacteria/parasite on the coral while leaving the coral alive.

15 mins in the dip, then the coral goes back in the tank, and I start waiting. 2 days later, the affected coral is showing signs of rebounding – it has regained its color and the polyps are back out again. I expect the coral to take some time to fully recover and to start growing again, but for now, I know it has a fighting chance.

So if you corals aren’t doing well, and all the parameters are in check, think outside the test kit and see if dipping your corals makes a difference.

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