Red Sea Reefer 525XL CRASHING!!! So bummed.

Bad news on the reef. A month or so ago I noticed less polyp extension and color loss. ATI ICP test showed EXTREMELY HIGH Iodine! Also had some extreme heat with no A/C plus smoke from the California wildfires. Sad Day!

[@NanoJoe]

Glad you have back up frags. This is really heartbreaking to see you go through this... this hobby can be rough on us.

[@jestronixhanderson9898]

Bummer, every reef knows the feeling, sorry for the loss. For me over 15 years I’ve had things like rusted vortech pumps, neighbour spray painted something in his yard and blew in my door, and a random event with my salt mix. Every time I lost 90% of my coral in days ! Glad you have backup frags :)

[@deansmith2124]

Thanks for posting this, even though it's not ideal news. Been following your tank here and on R2R. It's helpful to know your ups and downs so appreciate you posting the bad news. Stay strong, sounds like you have a solid recovery plan!

[@Meldium]

Oh no Phill. This news breaks my heart. I cant even imagine how you're taking it. Wishing for a speedy recovery. At least you have backed up a few. I know what its like to lose 80% of SPS. Its funny how sometimes when you do WC's thing actually get worst than if you didnt. And vice versa. If anyone could figure your tank its you. Hang in there Phill. You will find a way to bounce back even better. Stay Reefing! Mel

[@petesreef1891]

Sorry about your losses Phil had a few of my acros losing colour / paling out, I had very low nitrates so started dosing slowly kno3 and have seen a really good response with return of colours to my paling sps . Hope you get sorted . Pete Uk 👍

[@Reefkpr1]

Thanks Pete. I lost a bit of coral but things have settled down and back on track again. I'll be doing an update soon. Thanks for watching!

[@ttownaquatics3702]

Hope everything gets better 🙏 thanks for showing the things that could happen not jus the good... Still a nice looking tank

[@insane_reefer3719]

So sorry to hear that man, it’s a shame such a beautiful tank, I hope everything gets better 🙏

[@WilSantiagoReefing]

Sorry about your losses Phil. With the AEFW I read that some wrasses like melanarus and six line will eat them. I had them in my tank about a year ago and I added the wrasses and haven't see any since. I think I caught them early. Good luck and hopefully your tank turns around soon!

[@Reefkpr1]

Thanks Wil. I have 6 wrasses and I think that and the Flatworm stop have helped me manage the AEFW for as long as I have without losing any coral. Plenty of damage but no total losses. This crash will give me the opportunity to get rid of them once and for all. Mature reef should bounce back fairly quick I hope.

[@rodnyreef2970]

So sad to hear this, your tank had been an inspiration. Hope you get all under control.

[@fahad_s]

Sorry about the crash Phill. I suspect that the issue is caused from the heatwave. All of my SPS slowly died when my pump chiller stopped working, the temperature went from 25-26 C to about 28 C in just few hours. It took the SPS couple of days to show any sign of trouble. At the bright side, I went for a bigger tank (750 XXL) and starting over. Good luck!

[@Reefkpr1]

Thanks, appreciate the support. Sorry to hear about your reef as well. Congrats on the new build. 750xxl is a gorgeous tank!

[@oneilwiz]

Thank you for sharing, sorry to hear, happens to the best of us. Do appreciate you sharing the downfalls in reefkeeping as some people hide the bad part. I hope your tank recovers speedily.

[@Reefkpr1]

Thanks for that

[@andrewsdrmike]

I NEVER chase numbers! Only make sure my Alk/Ca and Mg are stable. Weekly 10% water change to keep trace elements.

[@kevinkamphuis4154]

Sorry about the tank but glad you made a video. Best of luck with the tank and keep on keeping on. Thanks for being real not many people have the stones for that

[@CescaTheDarkHorse]

Sorry to hear this bad news Phil. Hope you get your stunning reef back on track soon.

[@Leigh33]

Ah Phil man. Bummer. Gutted to see this happen to you bud. 🙏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🐠💚❤

[@teereefer1276]

I’m sorry to hear that Phil I pray that everything bounced back that’s crazy one day everything is looking good and the next day it looks like hell but I’m quite sure you will get it together 🙏🏾

[@thedarkotter2295]

Gave this a thumbs up not because I liked the news, but as a show of support and solidarity. Some good news...Atleast you've got a ton of backups.

[@thepassionreef]

This is very sad to see and hear. I am extremely sorry Phil. I have watched this tank right from the time when we use to be on the live streams and how you had issues in the earlier stages to a beautiful reef...Don't worry buddy hopefully things will recover and you would be able to take care of the issue soon...Good thing you did with the back up frags..

[@Reefkpr1]

Thank you. This is totally my fault. I panicked and tried to fix things too fast. On the bright side, hopefully I'll be able to rid the tank of AEFW. Didn't want to wreck the tank but now this is the perfect opportunity.

[@wildeyes12765]

Oh no..hope everything recovers soon xo

[@PDMAmit]

Keep sharing and chin up - I am sure it will be heartbreaking to watch your piece of prize suffering but see if you can revert back to to basics - sometimes the more we dose, the more chemicals we add to the water and this could cause an upset. Keep posting and your videos really help in my current set up process - Good luck and best wishes

[@Reefkpr1]

Thank you so much. I agree back to the basics and quit trying to be a Mad Scientist. LOL.

[@EDKsurly]

Good luck buddy. You're a great reefer, hopefully it bounces back.

[@Reefgrrl]

So sorry to see this Phil...you’re one of only a handful of reefkeepers I would say can turn something like this around - you’ve done it before so can do it again. 👍🏻 Still feels like a kick in the gut though.....

[@Reefkpr1]

Thanks, Now that the dust is settling, I've determined that the corals had adapted to the elevated iodine and I panicked and shocked the system by trying to lower it too fast. I should have brought it back down slowly vs in a few short days. Lesson learned. Super hard when you see things not doing well and you're trying to save the tank. This will finally give me the chance to eliminate the AEFW that I've been battling. Might even go bigger. Still trying to decide on what to do.

[@uknowwho80]

Wow! That’s crazy man ! I’m sorry to hear about the crash. You will recover and will came back stronger ! Best of luck to you and your awesome tank!

[@trureef2319]

Definitely still look good but sucks to lose such nice pieces. Hopefully it comes back with your husbandry.

[@atfinthehouse8631]

Very stocked frag tank. Glad you have MTS. So should be easy to come back.

[@ArrickthaRed]

So sad. It is hard to watch when there is nothing you can do. It is good you thought to have backups. Good luck.

[@BHaleChannel]

I feel for you man! Hope things stay steady and then turn around for you!

[@braveheartreefer525]

Sorry to hear this Phil hope it can bounce back. Such a beautiful reef aquarium

[@russellchiles3343]

Sorry man. As a 525 owner your tank has been a great one to follow. I hope I can recover.

[@waltertunk2964]

Do you have an update?...looking forward to see

[@Reefkpr1]

Coming soon. Spoiler. Everything is rebounding and 99% back to normal. Several losses but recovering nicely.

[@RogueAquariums]

Great that you fragged up some corals Phil. Sorry you’re having to deal with his crash but I hope the tank bounces back soon

[@ReeferDave]

I finally had time to watch the whole video. I hate this Phil. I hope it turns around and starts recovering for you.

[@Luv2ripFPV]

sorry to hear about the crash.. I hope you can recover!

[@DwightMcCharles]

From bad to worse! Sorry to hear this Phil. The frags look pretty good in the Frag system though 🤞

[@lastlines09]

I am sorry this happened to you and hope your tank will recover over time. Stay strong

[@9StickNate]

I got my ATI test back about a month ago. My Iodine was 164. I only dose soda ash, calcium and Acro Power.

[@00Mass00]

Wow what a bummer! So sorry to hear. Somehow it seems like the waterchanges upset something. Maybe the corals were used to this high iodine and it dropped to quickly? No idea.. Take care!

[@glenbuyer8738]

That sucks man, those sps colonies are hefty in size. I’m going to subscribe to see where you get to on your next tank cause this one is killer, all the best man.

[@2pleez122474]

Sorry this happened. Keep your head up and move forward is all you can do. Best of luck bro ... I know you can handle this 👊🏻

[@bosstang3355]

Oh man . So sorry to hear this. Also have a mixed 525 and use you as inspiration. Best of luck.

[@CoralEuphoria]

Sucks man. I hope the TN stops. Really good idea to have back-ups though. Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

I'm sorry to hear about this. Hopefully most of your pieces make it. It sounds like its only the acros that are affected so if you have frag of everything its a good thing. If you need anything just let me know

[@Reefkpr1]

Thank you. It's heart breaking but at the same time this will give me the opportunity to rid the tank of AEFW. Didn't really want to wreck the reef before, but now I'm ready. Taking it nice and slow. Letting things settle down then getting to work.

[@percyadams1040]

Sad period, Wish you all the determination to bounce back!💪🏽👊🏽

[@ProducerReef]

I’m so sorry to see and hear this. I hope you find the cause🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@mybeachshack]

How discouraging..... BUT, you have an overcommer attitude, i can tell. Otherwise, your tank is Stunning !! Glad you have frags... Keep smiling and never give up ! 🤝🏻

[@Reefkpr1]

Thank you. Really appreciate your encouraging words!

[@FriendM2010]

Seems the WD’s do go quick. Happened to me too.

[@marcussreef]

Sorry to see that man. That sucks. Wish you luck!

[@sunnygoold9449]

Bummer - sorry mate - it's great you have backups (and the frag tank is not plumbed in as many do). Did you see that Telegram episode where he mixes up something like KZ flatworm? In my short time reefing I haven't had good experience with corals doing bigger than 10% water changes - I know diluting something is different. That level of iodine seems extremely high - Amro Azul did a video on probiotics preventing bleaching / protecting corals from stress. I got Fauna Marin Coral Vitality and use that now after a stress event or for new frags. Dr Tims has Eco-Balance too and I use it more generally (like 1x daily dose every few days).

[@FECtetra1918]

That sucks! I'm going through a rough fase myself with my tank.

[@squidarcherb9707]

Good luck man! Tank crashes are tough

[@angryowlaquariums40]

If it's any conciliation... your tank still looks 100% better than mine and most tanks out there! 🦉🍻

[@DwightMcCharles]

Very true!

[@Reefkpr1]

lmao, your tank has made a big turn around. Only to have to break it down if you move. It was just hitting it's prime.

[@angryowlaquariums40]

@@Reefkpr1 I will attempt the impossible with the move! Probably a year or so to go so there's still time 😂

[@tomithy6047]

Sorry bud. Brutal. Hope the frags make it

[@atfinthehouse8631]

Tank still looks good. You’ll bring it back. Maybe just polyfilter?

[@chessmanmark9244]

This hobby can be humbling.

[@gocedimoski728]

Charcoal will remove iodine at first, 4-5 waterchanges ok, but what is with your phosphate and nitrate... a little polution have to be left as coralfood...

[@Reefkpr1]

Phosphate never dropped below 0.08 even after the water changes. The nitrate did drop and I dosed a bit of Nitrate after the water changes.

[@MySimpleReef]

Hope everyone be ok !

[@scej12]

Are you dosing Lanthanum Chloride by any chance...? I had one tank that had some corals withering away until I stopped the LaCl3.... Just a thought.

[@Reefkpr1]

I have used it on occasion but not regularly. Appreciate you pointing that out. Good to know.

[@freedomaquatics6328]

Get some brightwell pureit and run that for a period of time it will though pull everything out even trace elements I am pretty sure. You might also check your RODI water make sure that is good.

[@Reefkpr1]

Already running some Purit. Also had my RODI water tested using the ATI ICP test. Thanks for the suggestions.

[@sultanmehmoodghaznavi6312]

my guess is smoke and heat wave.

[@waynelscott]

Man I hate to see you go through that. I am experiencing that also but I think is because of low nutrients. Wish you the best.

[@NexgenBuilder2017]

Hey Phil, reefahholic from Houston suggested I reach out to you I have a 210gallon display amd I'm starting to battle aefw. I was wondering if we could chat and Maybe get some tricks of what worked for you and if you ever ultimately got rid of them. Thank you so much. Haply reefing

[@Reefkpr1]

If you are on Instagram, Dm me at CC_Reefkpr If not leave another comment here and I'll type out a response.

[@ThaMaikel13]

I think you did too many water changes too quickly after each other, which caused the iodine to drop a lot which probably stressed out your corals. Also the high iodine could be caused by flatworm stop (which raises iodine i heard)?

[@Reefkpr1]

100% agree with you. I panicked and tried to lower the iodine too fast. I recently read that on R2R about the flatworms stop. Pretty sure you're spot on. Appreciate the input.

[@ThaMaikel13]

@@Reefkpr1 Thanks for the reply! Keep up the good content :)

[@JCTReefer]

Yellow softie on the sandbed, left side of tank. Is that some kind of crazy bounce mushroom? Has to be. Definitely looks rhodactis-ish on the bottom side. What kind of bounce is that if you don’t mind me asking. Nice tank BTW.

[@Reefkpr1]

Thank you. That is an OG bounce mushroom. One of my favorite pieces. Thanks for watching.

[@ReefCommunityWorldwide]

Sorry man, one beautiful tank hope you get to the bottom of it.

[@shockthenorth3316]

How stable was your ph after removing the fresh air line to the skimmer? You went from pulling in fresh air, to pulling in a more co2 rich air which I'm also assuming your windows have been closed tight, because of the smoke. If your tank temp jumped, paired with the ph could be the cause, the water change making it worse is what gets me confused.

[@Reefkpr1]

Thanks Shock. PH dipped a tiny bit after removing the skimmer line but nothing drastic. Trust me I'm confused as well. Could be what you suggested but I really think the corals had adjusted to the elevated iodine and I tried to lower it too fast which shocked the coral. Possibly a combination on all that stuff happening at once.

[@shockthenorth3316]

I hope it recovers, because it's stunning. Even if it wasn't, any tank crash sucks.

[@Scotharvey4867]

How’s everything doing now ? Did it level off?

[@Reefkpr1]

Yes. No further losses and coral starting to regain color. I lost a bunch but things have settled down. Thanks for asking.

[@calipsosreefs4843]

You will get things back on track

[@StanTheObserver-lo8rx]

Tank looks great. But why I had to give up reefing way back when. No matter how good it looked yesterday,today is what matters. Back then I was using Coralife metal halide bulbs to give you an idea of 90's that was. Even public aquaria have things take a dive. I think you will be fine. I guess you brought up ideas of REAL die offs...Xenia's overnight..ugh.

[@andrew5762]

Gutted for you 😩🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@Reefkpr1]

Thanks Andrew. I lost quite a bit but luckily I was able to save frags of just about everything except the Walt Disney. I wound up losing all of it. I already have a new frag cooking. It sucked bad but thankfully not a total loss.

[@andrew5762]

Hi Philip Wow I’ve just checked out your tank video from a year ago , 😃👏👏you put me to shame 😂and my tanks 4ft 340 Ltd 20 fish and full of mixed reef .lots of colour BUT really need to do a new aqua scape as all rocks run up the back of my tank 😖all though nice at the time 😃

[@LeoLionSun23]

I've started doing water changes to my fresh water tank and more and more fish are dying. I do the same thing like always... Sometimes I think water changes shouldn't be as frequent. Every tank is different. I can't wait to make my first salt water tank . Best of luck w yours brother!

[@peterpoop]

All of that because of too mucb idonine?! Dang. Do you think you shouldn't have dosed that brightwells iodine reducer?

[@Reefkpr1]

I probably shouldn't have used the Erase-CL along with the back to back water changes. I think I lowered it too fast, causing stress to the corals that had adapted to the elevated iodine.

[@tarynslittleocean4045]

Sorry to hear this happened. Keep your chin up

[@inventoryking]

Man, this really stinks!!! Sorry dude. Your tank is one of the best I have ever seen

[@KreefAquariumhobby]

No fun.. 😪 hope lot will recover and the back up frags will be fine.

[@D__fox_]

I wonder if your salt mix batch was super high in iodine?

[@Reefkpr1]

I wondered that myself. I mixed up a fresh batch from the same bucket and it checked out ok using the Red Sea iodine test kit.

[@aliceholbert1246]

The smoke will smother out quality of water. Water change it out 50 and 50 Check your magnesium. Pull dead it's a snowball effect

[@BC-fy1wn]

You might try Bumblebee snails as they are ferocious pest eaters but the weakened corals can fall prey to them,as well. Doc BC

[@lovermansmith9082]

Best of Luck ! What would you have done different to bring those iodine levels down ? If anything .

[@Reefkpr1]

The iodine spike didn't happen overnight. I should have spread out the water changes over several weeks instead of back to back. I basically changed all the water out in less than 10 days. The coral sort of adapted to the elevated iodine and I removed it really fast. I panicked and that's the worst thing you can do in a reef tank. I can't prove any of this but that's my best guess.

[@lovermansmith9082]

@@Reefkpr1 Thank you ! What about that iodine remover in a bottle ? Think that could of been useful ? I can see panicking , slowly watching your corals die , ouch ! Thanks again & Best of Luck ! Please keep us updated ! On your levels too !

[@Reefkpr1]

@@lovermansmith9082 Yeah I used the Erase CL along with massive water changes. Should have gone much slower. Totally my fault. I'm not going anywhere. I'll post updates and hopefully be back with some nice 1 inch frags. LOL.

[@nikhilroy5197]

What part of California are you in?

[@atfinthehouse8631]

Does iodine get absorbed into rock, where it can be eventually build up and leach out?

[@Reefkpr1]

It's a possibility. I mounted the acros on pieces of flat rubble rock for easy dipping and I have dipped in iodine from time to time from the AEFW damage.

[@Bhodges9582]

Maybe the problem is your source water, sounds like it got worse when you did water changes.

[@Reefkpr1]

I had my source water tested during the ATI ICP test. No issues. My best guess at this point was the corals had slowly adapted to the elevated iodine and I shocked the system by trying too lower it too fast.

[@ReefSpy]

Heartbreaking. 😔

[@chasemclelan8446]

How are you like the 525xl? Thinking about this a water box

[@Reefkpr1]

The 525XL has been a great tank. I don't think you'll go wrong with either the Red Sea or Waterbox. They are very similar. I will say my friend setup a Waterbox and the plumbing seems a better quality than the Red Sea. Good luck with you decision and Happy Reefing!

[@fishstix1988]

what's your trick on keeping a flame angel around your coral (I heard they're not reef safe)

[@Reefkpr1]

They are considered Reef Safe with Caution. My Flame Angel nips at my SPS polyps and my Space Invader. It causes most of my Acropora to keep the polyps retracted during the day. Mine has not killed any coral but sure does annoy them. I would not add one again.

[@jonandlisa2000]

This hobby is such a rollercoaster 😕

[@mybeachshack]

Like trying to keep a beachball underwater.

[@scottwilson4288]

Heartbreaking.

[@json216]

Damm..all them beautiful zoas...I love collecting zoas...I really feel the pain in this one...sorry man

[@ajiths4103]

Liked n subscribed 😍

[@lynnreefnerd]

Sorry Phil. Maybe add some purite just in case?

[@Reefkpr1]

Thanks Lynn. Purit already online as well as some regular carbon. So bummed.

[@lynnreefnerd]

@@Reefkpr1 you are a great reefer. I'm sure even if you have to restart (500 gal tank?!?!?) It will be just as beautiful in a year 😁

[@TheBioReef]

:( the video looks shows things healthy - did it get worst than this ?

[@Reefkpr1]

Yeah it got pretty bad after the video. I wound up losing 4 big colonies and several mini colonies. Tank has settled down and I'm seeing slight improvement in color. Managed to save just about everything in my frag tank except my WD. Lost all of it. Sucks.

[@TheBioReef]

@@Reefkpr1 sorry man, that mush hurt! but i am sure you'll bounce back in no time... you can lose colonies, but you'll always have the skill to get them looking great again

[@raeisi70]

so what exactly causes this ? how can it be prevented ?

[@Reefkpr1]

I believe this was caused by an iodine overdose from a combination of using a double dose of Flatworm stop and weekly dosing of Iodine. I waited too long in between ICP tests and was blindly dosing. Once I saw the elevated iodine levels, I panicked and water changed back to back lowering the iodine too fast. If I would have spread out the water changes over weeks time vs days I probably would have been ok. Thanks for watching.

[@crazyinkjets7005]

how often do you change your water?

[@Reefkpr1]

10-15% every 10 days.

[@jooooooooi]

What salt you use? Maybe bad batches coming out?

[@Reefkpr1]

I'm using Brightwell NeoMarine. I thought that too but checked 3 seperate freshly mixed batches and iodine came out normal So I've ruled out a bad batch of salt.

[@jooooooooi]

Reefkpr that’s the best salt right now for sure!

[@theideaofclips5481]

Carbon binds up iodine shoulda asked me

[@Reefkpr1]

Thanks. I am running some Carbon and Brightwell Purit. I think this all could have been avoided it I wouldn't have rushed trying to lower the Iodine. I messed up and Panicked trying to drop iodine really fast. SMH.

[@duckslinger999]

That trigger :) Sorry to hear about this Phil.

[@jimmyjiinuk]

2 WD gone ?! OMG

[@Reefkpr1]

It was 3. Luckily I have a buddy that owes me and he has a nice chunky frag for me. Great idea to bank corals with friends.

[@michaeleaddy7568]

That sucks😔

[@ProducerReef]

Wtf???! No wassup 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾