Are my levels normal?/dying corals

[FragOut]

Hey guys, quick rundown.

I have a mainly LPS dominant 90g tank. I purchased a birdsnest coral and a montipora and a pink lobo. They quickly whitened out I.E. within a week. It started off as white spots then turned completely white. The birdsnest fate fell the same. Polyps began to fall off until the coral itself turned white. The lobo still has a small amount of tissue left but it's all left quickly.
My other corals, frogspawn, bubble, zoas, leather etc are all fine. My water parameters are as follows.
Temp 78.5
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite-0
Nitrates-0
Salinity .26
pH 7.8
Calcium 470
Magnesium 1450
Phosphorus 32ppb dividing by 1000/0.032
Dkh- 11.7

I'm trying to figure out what's causing the high alkalinity and from what I've been reading my phosphates are good. It's frustrating. The pink lobo was/is a beautiful coral and I'd hate to completely lose it. There is no hope for the other 2.

 

[alyee5]

Alk may be too high for the nutrient levels you have...how did you light acclimate them?

 

[FragOut]

I kept the lobo in a shaded area. I have 2 black box leds that I kept low as I normally do. Didn't really do any type of light acclimation. :/

 

[FragOut]

Alk may be too high for the nutrient levels you have...how did you light acclimate them?

Also, what would be the cause behind the high alk?

 

[alyee5]

I would rule out measurement/kit error first and re-test...what kind of salt are you using? IO reef crystals and Red Sea Coral Pro are high Alk salt mixes...

 

[alyee5]

I kept the lobo in a shaded area. I have 2 black box leds that I kept low as I normally do. Didn't really do any type of light acclimation. :/

Ok, probably not a lighting issue....how about flow?

 

[FragOut]

I would rule out measurement/kit error first and re-test...what kind of salt are you using? IO reef crystals and Red Sea Coral Pro are high Alk salt mixes...

Red Sea Coral Pro is what I'm using. I had just done a 20% water change 2 days prior to testing.

 

[FragOut]

Ok, probably not a lighting issue....how about flow?

Flow is good. 2 tunze pumps running at 60% then down to 20 at night. I don't really have any dead spots.

 

[EriksOasis]

Any pictures of the tank?

 

[FragOut]

I have a couple lol

 

[Flippers4pups]

Light intensity may have contributed, but your water is "too" clean and alkalinity is very high.

Your system is ULNS at the moment and should never have alkalinity above 7- 8dkh with this condition.

You should try to have your NO3 between 5-10 ppm and PO4 at trace. And alkalinity at 8-9dkh.

 

[FragOut]

Light intensity may have contributed, but your water is "too" clean and alkalinity is very high.

Your system is ULNS at the moment and should never have alkalinity above 7- 8dkh with this condition.

You should try to have your NO3 between 5-10 ppm and PO4 at trace. And alkalinity at 8-9dkh.

How do I achieve this?

 

[alyee5]

As I added more fish the bioload in my tank naturally increased my nitrate and phosphate levels.

I switched from Red Sea Coral Pro to the Red Sea Blue bucket also to keep a lower my Alk to ~8.5.

How old is your tank?

 

[Flippers4pups]

How do I achieve this?

Do smaller water changes once every two weeks. (20% total volume monthly is recommended, do less.) 10%-15% for a month. Feed a little more.

Or add potassium nitrate, KN03.

Alkalinity should come down on its own.

Get this corrected and the stable, then start adding corals.

Shoot for 8-9dkh
N03 5-10
P04 at a trace.
Sps corals at 200-250 par.
As long as N03 is higher than P04, chances of nuisance algae diminish.

 

[FragOut]

As I added more fish the bioload in my tank naturally increased my nitrate and phosphate levels.

I switched from Red Sea Coral Pro to the Red Sea Blue bucket also to keep a lower my Alk to ~8.5.

How old is your tank?

I feel I'm at my limit now. Yellow tang, hippo tang, 2 clowns, 1 cardinal a mandarin and watchman goby. Tank is roughly 5-6 months old.

 

[FragOut]

I feel I'm at my limit now. Yellow tang, hippo tang, 2 clowns, 1 cardinal a mandarin and watchman goby. Tank is roughly 5-6 months old.

I'm also gonna check my salt when I get home I'm pretty sure the blue bucket is what I've been using. I leave work here in about an hour or so.

 

[oscargrumete61]

Red sea pro its the salt that has the most high alkalinity so , if i were you i will change my salt for another one