I am blamming Oceanic Salt for coral loss.......

[The R/C Man]

A couple months ago my tank started having algae problems. Not a big deal, I did a water change and added some more herbivores. A couple weeks go by and no change. Another water change and checked parameters. Holy cow my alk was over 16 DKH! Turned off the kalk reactor and did another water change. Now my corals are starting to RTN. Ahhhhhh, panic set in... My tank has been doing great for two years and if you have seen some pics, my corals always look great and have good polyp extension. Anyway, my Xenia stop pumping and more RTNing, more algae and some cynobacteria growing in the tank..... One more water change and replace the carbon again. The RTN seemed to stop. I did two more water changes 5 gallon each and a few days later the corals that have been holding there own start to loose their tissue. Ok now I am confused..... I stopped in and talked to Kevin who mentioned that there has been talk on the boards of problem with Oceanic. So I purchase a bag Instant Ocean and did two 5 gallon water changes yesterday. As of this morning a couple of my corals are showing their polyps again (they were completely retracted) and the Xenia are starting to pump. I am planning two more water changes with Instant Ocean today and two more tomorrow all 5 gallons each. Since my system volume is only about 30 gallons this should do a good job replacing the water (diluting it) without as of a much shock as there would be by doing a larger change. After months of trouble shooting the problem I believe it was the salt. Of course the next week or so will tell all. So far I have lost a Luisette and a pocillipora. I took my blue Blue Acro (tort?) to Kevin's and it is recovering from the RTNing..... I am hoping this post will help others who my be having a similar problem. It may just be a bad batch of salt..... The problem is that it happens over time by monthly water changes.....

Has anyone else experienced this???

[WHOSYOURDADDY]

It's all in the mix - glad to hear their getting healthy and gaining strength again .

I have never used Oceanic Salt so I have no clue about the stability or the blend. I have used Instant Ocean for about 20 years and found that it is a good blend. I have just switched to Reef Crystals and my inverts seems to enjoy this mix as well.


Good Luck;)

[The R/C Man]

Thanks James!



It is amazing that something such as this could be overlooked. I was using Instant Ocean until recently and never made the connection with the problem. Originally I thought it was caused by the high Alkalinity. Also from what I understand Oceanic Salt tests differently from batch to batch. Some batches test upwards of 500ppm for calcium and others test at 420ppm. Likewise Alkalinity can test as high as 12DKH or as low as 6DKH. Of course this is just what I have heard and I have not done any of my own testing. Anyway, this is unacceptable!!!! The creatures we keep in our little clear boxes are very delicate and require excellent water conditions to thrive. Companies that produce salt must realize that their product is the bases for life in the aquarium. A high quality product is a must not a luxury. Just think about it, many people use water changes to correct problems and to replace nutrients that have been used up. Especially in a smaller tank such as mine. Problems happen quickly... Ok I am ranting and raving but I am a little upset and need to get it off my chest.

[WHOSYOURDADDY]

Nay a little Ranting and Raving is good. It reminds us that its the little things that we take for granted that cause the biggest problems.

I'm like you and we are all pretty much the same - we have a love of this hobby called "Marine Keeping" and yes when we get into it we need 1st to understand what we are getting ourselves into. These little critters did not ask to be caught, transported half way around the world and dumped into a box of water, but since they have and we bought them (accepted the responsibity) for their lives. We are in affect playing "God" with them. Their lives depend on how we take care of them and their environment.

On the other hand to many companies get into the business for the wrong reason. Simple to make money. For many years I was confused as to what was causing problems in my aquariums finally I traced it back to the water I was using. So today, I am huge on water purity "Just Say No to Tap Water" it is a killer. I have always been one to add supplmental Trace Elements especially for my inverts and filter feeders

Well R/C you got me to do a little ranting and raving:eek3: here today.

[The R/C Man]

Stress relief theropy!!!

Well I have posted this on two other boards and getting interesting results. I have been getting many responses of algae blooms using Oceanic and that they go away after returning to another brand of salt..... On the other hand some people are questioning the salt as the problem. After doing two water changes with IO and having a noticable improvement already I am still leaning toward maybe a containminated batch of salt. With that said I am not completely ruling out another cause, maybe a pathogen? If the multiple water don't do the trick I am going to try UV......

[zhenya]

Hi Greg,

Sorry to hear you having problems with Oceanic, but you are definately not alone in this. I had some set backs as well after switching to this salt. Nothing drastic like RTN but in general the corals just didn't look quite happy as they used to be.

Good luck and hope everything will get back to normal for you.

[GoinSalt]

What is RTN?

[kevinpo]

Rapid Tissue Necrosis or peeling of the tissue from corals in a very short time period (12-24 hours).

HTH,
Kevin

[zhenya]

Nate,

To add to what Kevin had explained already, here's an article by Eric H. Borneman about various deseases of corals. Just to get familiar with what is going on with corals as far as maladies and deseases are concern.HTH.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/eb/index.htm

[The R/C Man]

Hey everyone!

Well here is the latest news about my tank. After three water changes over two days I decided to wait a couple days before another change. So last Satuday I completed a fourth change. (all with IO salt) As of today my Tri-color now has its purple tips back the Xenia are pumping well. All of my other sps have great polyp extension and are also showing a regeneration in their color as well.

Here is my conclusion: After doing four or five water changes with Oceanic the corals got worse and the tank developed cyno and hair algae. After four water changes with Instant Ocean (which until recently I have always used) the tank has shown dramatic changes for the better. After seeing the results first hand I have to blame the Oceanic salt for the problem. Although some may remain sceptical that the salt was the cause of the problem this has proven to me that it was.

[WHOSYOURDADDY]

Glad to here all is well with your sps Greg