A little SPS help from the experts..

[ihavecrabs]

So I have a few worrying signs of things turning for the worst on a few corals and need a little help figuring out what to check on.

#1 mesenterial filaments showing on a few pieces where the tips look like the are burning.

#2 burnt tips on a few new pieces above and beyond the ones when my alk dropped at the end of November and beginning of December down to the mid to high 6's

#3 the base of my green slimer is receding and my forest fire digi is now showing much green and where it gets a little less light looks it has receded polyp extension.

#2 is what concerns me the most. Let me know your thoughts and my parameters are below.

Alk - steady at 7.5-7.7 sky
Calc - 470ppm
Phosphorus - 10ppb (po4 0.031)
No3 - 20ppm
Salinity - 1.026
Temp - 77.1-77.6 (seasonally adjusts between 77 and 79)
PAR - 250-350 for the pieces in question.

So much other great growth and polyp extension:

 

[ycnibrc]

I presume your phosphate is 1.0. As far as parameters are looking good however the tank look new so its a process to acclimate your sps to your tank condition. My advice is just keep it steady dont try to chase number and a few more months see if your sps improve or stay the same then you can plan some action. For now dose a little acropower wont hurt if u dont dose any amino acid.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

What are using for lighting? If led, how high are they mounted?

 

[lolgranny]

Have any nippers? Angels? Tangs?Your params are good imo.

I get the Filoment after water changes sometimes or after heavy feeding. You have PE so that’s a good sign

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I presume your phosphate is 1.0. As far as parameters are looking good however the tank look new so its a process to acclimate your sps to your tank condition. My advice is just keep it steady dont try to chase number and a few more months see if your sps improve or stay the same then you can plan some action. For now dose a little acropower wont hurt if u dont dose any amino acid.

10 ppb is 0.032 po4

 

[ihavecrabs]

I presume your phosphate is 1.0. As far as parameters are looking good however the tank look new so its a process to acclimate your sps to your tank condition. My advice is just keep it steady dont try to chase number and a few more months see if your sps improve or stay the same then you can plan some action. For now dose a little acropower wont hurt if u dont dose any amino acid.

Corrected it.. it was phosphorus so the equivilant of 0.031 PO4)

Since the slight dip in Alk at the end of November everything has been stable as far as I can tell. ALK for sure given I test every 4 hours with the KHG.

 

[ihavecrabs]

What are using for lighting? If led, how high are they mounted?

LED and they are about 12" above the water (as high as they can go).

 

[ihavecrabs]

Have any nippers? Angels? Tangs?Your params are good imo.

I get the Filoment after water changes sometimes or after heavy feeding. You have PE so that’s a good sign

My blue tang does every once in a while but with the receding base of my green slimer I dont think that is the cause.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

LED and they are about 12" above the water (as high as they can go).

Hydras?

 

[ihavecrabs]

Hydras?

Ocean revive t247s with some LEDs changed out.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Ocean revive t247s with some LEDs changed out.

Not familiar with that light, but since the others seem to be doing really well, maybe they’re getting an led “spot light” burn. Are they directly under a white led? You might try moving the the ones that are struggling. Are you using gfo or carbon dosing?

 

[ihavecrabs]

Not familiar with that light, but since the others seem to be doing really well, maybe they’re getting an led “spot light” burn. Are they directly under a white led? You might try moving the the ones that are struggling. Are you using gfo or carbon dosing?

I would have thought spot burn would have presented itself a while back if the lights were an issue.

GFO I use intermittently. Haven't in a while though army PO4 has been low. I am running carbon though. No carbon dosing at all.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I would have thought spot burn would have presented itself a while back if the lights were an issue. I'll try diffusing the light above them slightly more although I am already using glass tops that have a little haze to them.

GFO I use intermittently. Haven't in a while though army PO4 has been low. I am running carbon though. No carbon dosing at all.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I'm going to send out an icp test tomorrow just in case.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

The filaments can be a last resort because they are fighting off something, usually an infection. Bad bacteria, ciliates, etc. These are opportunistic attackers, meaning they feed on immune compromised tissue. The corals May have been suffering for a while before they just couldn’t take it anymore.

 

[markalot]

What's up with the orange digitata missing polyps on the one side? Your PAR is on the high side for LED only IMO, nothing will suffer if you dim them down a bit (watch Alk though). I don't really see an issue, filaments are typically a reaction to feeding, so IF there is an issue it might be the tank is starving. Maybe try a little coral food now and again and see if things improve?

I don't like spot usage of GFO, GFO is stone cold killer of acros if used carelessly and many times this will show up weeks after the incident.

Carbon, I use it from time to time, only thing I can think of is if the water cleared up rapidly. You haven't been playing with the LED spectrum, have you?

 

[ihavecrabs]

The filaments can be a last resort because they are fighting off something, usually an infection. Bad bacteria, ciliates, etc. These are opportunistic attackers, meaning they feed on immune compromised tissue. The corals May have been suffering for a while before they just couldn’t take it anymore.

That's what I am worried about.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

What's up with the orange digitata missing polyps on the one side? Your PAR is on the high side for LED only IMO, nothing will suffer if you dim them down a bit (watch Alk though). I don't really see an issue, filaments are typically a reaction to feeding, so IF there is an issue it might be the tank is starving. Maybe try a little coral food now and again and see if things improve?

I don't like spot usage of GFO, GFO is stone cold killer of acros if used carelessly and many times this will show up weeks after the incident.

Carbon, I use it from time to time, only thing I can think of is if the water cleared up rapidly. You haven't been playing with the LED spectrum, have you?

I also totally agree with markalot. I think you should try his recommendations, hope he is correct and I’m completely wrong. If I’m right there’s not a lot you can do. Fingers crossed.

I know the feeling. 95% of my acros look better than ever but I can’t keep my favorite alive to save my life.

 

[ihavecrabs]

What's up with the orange digitata missing polyps on the one side? Your PAR is on the high side for LED only IMO, nothing will suffer if you dim them down a bit (watch Alk though). I don't really see an issue, filaments are typically a reaction to feeding, so IF there is an issue it might be the tank is starving. Maybe try a little coral food now and again and see if things improve?

I don't like spot usage of GFO, GFO is stone cold killer of acros if used carelessly and many times this will show up weeks after the incident.

Carbon, I use it from time to time, only thing I can think of is if the water cleared up rapidly. You haven't been playing with the LED spectrum, have you?

Yeah it happened one time before to the digi and 24 hours later it was back to being 100% normal. It has been like this for the past 48 hours now.

I'll try giving a little less umph with the lights and turn them down a bit. I am currently at 65% blues and 30% whites at peak. Thanks for the recommendation.

As far as GFO, when I use it, it is so little and I test every day to ensure it doesn't drop more than I want it to and not too quickly. I cant imagine my water is too clean with 25ppm nitrate and 0.03 phosphate right? I think my nitrate is on the high end and would love to lower it down to 10ppm ideally. Phosphate i'm fine with unless it gets up above 0.08 but maybe I shouldn't care so much about that lol.

No spectrum changes on the lights although I did install a bluefish controller to allow control of the lights and they went from on/off to ramping up and down. That was about a month ago. Percentages of the channels remained the same though.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I also totally agree with markalot. I think you should try his recommendations, hope he is correct and I’m completely wrong. If I’m right there’s not a lot you can do. Fingers crossed.

I know the feeling. 95% of my acros look better than ever but I can’t keep my favorite alive to save my life.

Always the case right? I just don't want to change stuff for the few not happy and affect the others that are doing well. Ugh!