Acro dying

[CollectOyster04]

I say all of this in the nicest possible way. For your sake, please slow down unless you don't mind throwing money away on corals. Although there are plenty of experienced people that can/will drop corals in a new tank, it's not something that should be done by the inexperienced. I'm assuming your relatively new by you posting this in the first place. Spend more time researching, seeking advice from those that you would like to emulate and have proof to back it up (tank shots, or anything). Many like to chime in, but it's not all the best advice and can be contradictory at times. It's not always helpful. I usually spend more time "listening" here than typing and have learned alot about my tank in the process albeit it is still very much a work in progress.
Your tank will be going through several changes/cycles as it matures over the first year. Mistakes will be made. Take it slow through your first year, and educate yourself. Your patience will be rewarded. Many would recommend dropping your alk (again many run it high, but it should be more forgiving being closer to 7-8ish). Getting control of your nutrients would be another priority. Growing stony corals (LPS/SPS) will require due diligence in testing parameters and eventually even dosing elements. In the beginning, water changes can be your best friend. There are plenty others on this forum with far greater knowledge than I and could steer you even better. If it were me, I wouldn't bother adding anymore stony corals, and concentrate on stabilizing the tank focusing on growing what you have for a couple of months. If you're seeing healthy corals that have been growing for some time, that's when I'd consider adding to the tank. Until then, stay patient. Hope this helps.

 

[damsels are not mean]

specific gravity MUST be within their range of 1.023-1.025

makes no sense; they live in the ocean ?

 

[MaxTremors]

i've heard this so frequently but i have a very low survival rate for stylos compared to montis and other sps. i think i've narrowed it down to 1) specific gravity MUST be within their range of 1.023-1.025 and 2) dipping once they're acclimated to the tank since a couple polyps dying can lead to the whole thing STNing.

edit: the advice version of my rambling is to check your salinity. and get a second measurement on a different device if you haven't calibrated your device in awhile.

The common purple milka stylophora originated from the Red Sea, which has salinity that is 36 to 41ppt (1.027-1.030). That said the normal 1.025-1.026 (34-35ppt) should be just fine, it’s been in the hobby for decades (every purple Milka in the hobby came from the same specimen from the Monaco Aquarium, it’s crazy to think how one coral has been propagated and spread around the world from one single mother colony).

 

[reefermadness21]

49 ppb phosphorus is .15 po4 not .04, and is higher than most like to run. Your tank is also pretty new and between that and nutrients jumping around as well as temp swings, you're not stable enough to support sps yet. I would focus on keeping everything stable and getting those nutrients down for a few months before adding harder corals. That other SPS you have in there looks to be a montipora digitata.

Curious how you convert ppb to ppm, the numbers shouldn’t be different just the decimal. Never mind the above, I see it’s converting phosphorus to phosphate. Still learning

 

[ReefSlice]

Curious how you convert ppb to ppm, the numbers shouldn’t be different just the decimal.

You are measuring ppb phosphorus, there is an equation to convert that into ppm phosphate. https://www.hannainst.com/hubfs/006...phate-conversion-table--hanna-instruments.pdf

 

[reefermadness21]

You are measuring ppb phosphorus, there is an equation to convert that into ppm phosphate. https://www.hannainst.com/hubfs/006...phate-conversion-table--hanna-instruments.pdf

I just found that thanks, I made an assumption, I should know better. I guess I need to lower phosphate then.

 

[brmreefer]

I say all of this in the nicest possible way. For your sake, please slow down unless you don't mind throwing money away on corals. Although there are plenty of experienced people that can/will drop corals in a new tank, it's not something that should be done by the inexperienced. I'm assuming your relatively new by you posting this in the first place. Spend more time researching, seeking advice from those that you would like to emulate and have proof to back it up (tank shots, or anything). Many like to chime in, but it's not all the best advice and can be contradictory at times. It's not always helpful. I usually spend more time "listening" here than typing and have learned alot about my tank in the process albeit it is still very much a work in progress.
Your tank will be going through several changes/cycles as it matures over the first year. Mistakes will be made. Take it slow through your first year, and educate yourself. Your patience will be rewarded. Many would recommend dropping your alk (again many run it high, but it should be more forgiving being closer to 7-8ish). Getting control of your nutrients would be another priority. Growing stony corals (LPS/SPS) will require due diligence in testing parameters and eventually even dosing elements. In the beginning, water changes can be your best friend. There are plenty others on this forum with far greater knowledge than I and could steer you even better. If it were me, I wouldn't bother adding anymore stony corals, and concentrate on stabilizing the tank focusing on growing what you have for a couple of months. If you're seeing healthy corals that have been growing for some time, that's when I'd consider adding to the tank. Until then, stay patient. Hope this helps.

I second this. The hobby can be exciting, but impatience can cause undo stress for both the hobbyist and tank inhabitants. Definitely take it slow and strive for the most consistent "stability" possible. Continue to test regularly as your already doing. You'll get the hang of it, but continue researching and learning. I believe once stability has been nailed down, then things will improve.

Note: Smaller systems can be a challenge when it comes to minimizing daily parameter swings, but many have done it. It just takes time.

 

[Trouble1375]

I say all of this in the nicest possible way. For your sake, please slow down unless you don't mind throwing money away on corals. Although there are plenty of experienced people that can/will drop corals in a new tank, it's not something that should be done by the inexperienced. I'm assuming your relatively new by you posting this in the first place. Spend more time researching, seeking advice from those that you would like to emulate and have proof to back it up (tank shots, or anything). Many like to chime in, but it's not all the best advice and can be contradictory at times. It's not always helpful. I usually spend more time "listening" here than typing and have learned alot about my tank in the process albeit it is still very much a work in progress.
Your tank will be going through several changes/cycles as it matures over the first year. Mistakes will be made. Take it slow through your first year, and educate yourself. Your patience will be rewarded. Many would recommend dropping your alk (again many run it high, but it should be more forgiving being closer to 7-8ish). Getting control of your nutrients would be another priority. Growing stony corals (LPS/SPS) will require due diligence in testing parameters and eventually even dosing elements. In the beginning, water changes can be your best friend. There are plenty others on this forum with far greater knowledge than I and could steer you even better. If it were me, I wouldn't bother adding anymore stony corals, and concentrate on stabilizing the tank focusing on growing what you have for a couple of months. If you're seeing healthy corals that have been growing for some time, that's when I'd consider adding to the tank. Until then, stay patient. Hope this helps.

I am a newer reefer (my tank will be 3 years in May) and I have just achieved enough stability to start having SPS thrive. Prior to this I would watch them wither away slowly. I was stoked the other day because the Tri-Color Valdia (my first acro) that I got for $5 a month ago has finally colored up and has actually grown since I put it in the tank. I was worried because the color was dull when I got it because it was cut from the colony and taken to LFS and not immediately mounted and put back into a tank. It was in the holding container the local reefer used to take the frags to the store for about 4 hours. The store usually mounts them and puts them in their back room tanks until they color up and start growing but I was determined to have a piece so they let me have it for next to nothing since they were out of stock on healed frags and it was my first acro.

 

[fushi]

Tank is three months old, 22 gal. With sump (10 gal) protein skimmer, chaeto, in sump, kessel led lights ph 8.1, nitrates 32, alk 10.3dKh phos- 49 ppb (.04 ppm) calcium 432. I have been testing 2x a week due to nitrate issues, I had been feeding the corals daily, but was advised to stop feeding due to nitrates, and since they are small. 2 other stylophora in tank are happy. Also noticed a group of star polyps didnt want to come out until I moved them. They have been in the tank for 2 months.

Those who posted about taking it slow with your first reef tank are right but you already have corals so lets get your tank going in a good direction.


Parameter swings make sps very unhappy so take it slow lowering your nutrients (nitrates & phosphates) getting to 5 - 10 ppm nitrates and 0.03 - 0.1 ppm phosphates is a good goal to be at in a month or two.

Cut back on feeding.
Keep up with water changes.
Up your macro algae light time to 24 hrs
Add some biomedia and Start dosing prodibio biodigest to help seed it

Check your Par, make sure your not way over or way underlighting the corals

And I highly recomend you keep an eye on your ph.
Tank ph fluctuates throughout the day. Usually its high point is around midday of your light cycle and its low just brfore the lights come on in the morning.
If your ph is a high of 8.1 its low is probably in the 7's
I find low ph increases the negative effect's of other parameter swings.

I think if you get the low end of your ph range above 8.2 you will find all other parameter swings to be less detremental.

I try to keep my tank above 8.2 and below 8.5

Hope this helps.

 

[CollectOyster04]

Worrying about PH is putting the cart in front of the horse at this stage for this tank. Getting nutrients under control and stable. As long as PH is in the neighborhood of 8ish, I wouldn't worry much about it until basic nutrient control and consistent testing of parameters knowledge is gained.
I would think that most can not attain and keep PH at 8.2-8.5. At least not without dosing something. There are a plethora of successful tanks running at 8.1 and under. Yes, coral growth can be exponential with a higher PH, but chasing a PH number can be more harm than good especially for someone with less experience imo.
Key for any new reefer that would like to keep stony corals, is knowledge of these things and how it affects the corals. At one point with my tank, testing was done every evening - nitrates,phosphates,alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. Researching and understanding the relationships of the test results with water quality only improves success. Most corals deaths have a known reason, they usually don't just magically happen for no reason. The reasons aren't always known due to bad testing habits or advice, or general lack of coral needs in a specific tank. Knowledge is half of the battle. It can be overwhelming at first and not make sense, but once it clicks, most never look back.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Tank is three months old, 22 gal. With sump (10 gal) protein skimmer, chaeto, in sump, kessel led lights ph 8.1, nitrates 32, alk 10.3dKh phos- 49 ppb (.04 ppm) calcium 432. I have been testing 2x a week due to nitrate issues, I had been feeding the corals daily, but was advised to stop feeding due to nitrates, and since they are small. 2 other stylophora in tank are happy. Also noticed a group of star polyps didnt want to come out until I moved them. They have been in the tank for 2 months.

Tank is not mature/stable enough to keep most SPS. You could start with LPS and see how it does the next 6 months. A lot of LPS you can put in right after the tank is cycled.

 

[fushi]

Worrying about PH is putting the cart in front of the horse at this stage for this tank. Getting nutrients under control and stable. As long as PH is in the neighborhood of 8ish, I wouldn't worry much about it until basic nutrient control and consistent testing of parameters knowledge is gained.
I would think that most can not attain and keep PH at 8.2-8.5. At least not without dosing something. There are a plethora of successful tanks running at 8.1 and under. Yes, coral growth can be exponential with a higher PH, but chasing a PH number can be more harm than good especially for someone with less experience imo.
Key for any new reefer that would like to keep stony corals, is knowledge of these things and how it affects the corals. At one point with my tank, testing was done every evening - nitrates,phosphates,alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. Researching and understanding the relationships of the test results with water quality only improves success. Most corals deaths have a known reason, they usually don't just magically happen for no reason. The reasons aren't always known due to bad testing habits or advice, or general lack of coral needs in a specific tank. Knowledge is half of the battle. It can be overwhelming at first and not make sense, but once it clicks, most never look back.

I understand your point just gathering a greater understanding but dont agree about the ph.
Yes tanks can survice at a lower ph but I believe the low ph makes them more sensative to parameter fluctuations. So when a new reefer is still figuring out dosing and nutrient control kepping a higher ph will help them keep things alive through the many trial and errors we all experience. Keeping a higher ph is very attainable too, most people can keep it close to 8.3 by just hooking their skimmer to outside air (a simple home depot hose to the window works wonders).

 

[damsels are not mean]

It could just be that we don't really know what happened. Corals die sometimes for no reason. People feel comforted by the thought that we can use hobby grade water chemistry kits like Sherlock Holmes and find an easy answer.


Maybe a small nitrate spike killed it but I am doubtful. If a spike to 32 nitrate killed your stylo, I should have lost all the sps frags I just plopped into a system with 200+ nitrate. But they were growing 3 days after I put them in there. So something else is probably going on.

 

[CollectOyster04]

I guess my frustration is so many come here with questions like originally posted, and there has been hot debate about the responses. Many tire and say "use the search tool" and read. But many threads become confusing by anecdotal facts about one's personal tank or experience like this thread. This has little benefit for a newcomer to get educated and usually just confuses people more.
In this instance, focusing on nutrients/stability will be far more beneficial than bumping PH theoretically from a perceived 8.1(OP never gave his reading) to 8.3 or above given how new the tank is. So I guess we'll agree to disagree there. Not to say people shouldn't educate themselves on the benefits of running a higher PH.
Bombarding someone trying to get better at this hobby, with things like running tanks at 200+ nitrate is perfectly acceptable, or things just magically happen for no reason at all. There's always a reason, just not always known to the tank owner for whatever reason(accidents, not testing or knowing parameters, etc). Just because a couple of tanks are "perfect" running high nitrates/phosphates, alk etc, is it really sound advice for the inexperienced ?
Or maybe we should help establish baselines that we all can agree on in general, and know with experience it will be understood that each tank will differ and prosper. It becomes so overwhelming for those that want to learn and be better, but so much misinformation or anecdotes get thrown around that many are setup to fail wasting a lot of money/time and are forever burnt out of the hobby.

 

[damsels are not mean]

My point wasn't really to advocate for any specific level of anything, but rather to say that a coral dying doesn't necessarily mean you did something wrong or that it was the "obvious" thing. The reasons corals die or don't from certain stresses are too complex to be simplified to ranges on a hobbyist test kit, and attacking whatever numbers you can measure is often the worst thing to do.|

Clearly something changed overnight, and that spike in nitrate is possible evidence of that change, but going after "nutrient control" doesn't make sense when the issue wasn't a running one. Often nutrient control as a way to chase a number does more harm than good. Instead we should be trying to figure out why the nitrates doubled overnight. That doesn't just happen unless some equipment failed or something biologically/chemically changed that we can't even see.

 

[Rmckoy]

Even though it’s not a acro .
even stylo are very sensitive to parameter swings.
Alk alone can cause this to happen fast !
assure all parameters are stable

 

[fushi]

I guess my frustration is so many come here with questions like originally posted, and there has been hot debate about the responses. Many tire and say "use the search tool" and read. But many threads become confusing by anecdotal facts about one's personal tank or experience like this thread. This has little benefit for a newcomer to get educated and usually just confuses people more.
In this instance, focusing on nutrients/stability will be far more beneficial than bumping PH theoretically from a perceived 8.1(OP never gave his reading) to 8.3 or above given how new the tank is. So I guess we'll agree to disagree there. Not to say people shouldn't educate themselves on the benefits of running a higher PH.
Bombarding someone trying to get better at this hobby, with things like running tanks at 200+ nitrate is perfectly acceptable, or things just magically happen for no reason at all. There's always a reason, just not always known to the tank owner for whatever reason(accidents, not testing or knowing parameters, etc). Just because a couple of tanks are "perfect" running high nitrates/phosphates, alk etc, is it really sound advice for the inexperienced ?
Or maybe we should help establish baselines that we all can agree on in general, and know with experience it will be understood that each tank will differ and prosper. It becomes so overwhelming for those that want to learn and be better, but so much misinformation or anecdotes get thrown around that many are setup to fail wasting a lot of money/time and are forever burnt out of the hobby.

I didn't post here to argue my point about Ph with you, I posted what I believe would help make things better for the OP, if you don't like my advice to the OP you don't have to respond to it.

The OP mentioned his PH to be 8.1 but he didn't say what time he tested it or with what testing method, thats why I explained that PH fluctuates in a home aquarium and if their PH had a high of 8.1 it probably dropped a lot lower at night.
The OP's nitrates of 32 is no where near your issue with "200+" lol and I never argued that extremely high nitrates are "perfectly acceptable". I simply said keeping a higher PH will help the corals in their tank survive many of the parameter fluctuations (including nutrient fluctuations) of a new tank and new reefer.

You do not have to agree with that but I wholly believe that advice will help their situation.

If you don't agree with my advice thats fine but instead of trying to debate me about it, the thing that seems to be upsetting you, you could give more specific advice on what you would do in the OP current situation.

 

[reefermadness21]

Thank you all for the input, I am not getting anything else until the tank has more time.