Bad acro tips......

BigJim · Dec 9, 2016

markalot said:
Just to make sure ...

PH 7.2 (buffered tonight)

Don't do that in a reef tank. Buffer spikes Alk and this is most likely the issue. Unless you have a calibrated PH probe stop looking at PH and throw any kits away so you're not tempted to use them again. Also throw any buffer away, these are deadly in reef tanks. The answer to low PH would be to run a skimmer line outside or through a CO2 scrubber but never adding a buffer.

As far as everything else goes I think you are on the right track. Be concerned about the high KH salts, raise Salinity to 35 (1.026) but not too fast.

Personally I would slowly lower KH down to the 7 - 8 range just because, in my experience, acros do better at the more natural KH levels when nutrients are on the low side.

One more thing ... your knowledge of reef tanks is probably greater than your LFS. Not to slag on the store but it's usually better to get advice from more experienced reefers than a LFS.

Almost exactly what I was about to say. I'm guessing your Red Sea salt is the Coral Pro version. This salt mixes to a dKH of about 12 and is on the high end of the recommended level. There are other similarly priced salts like Fritz Pro and HW Marinemix that offer similar benefits with lower dKH. I have low nutrients in my tank and I have issues similar to your pictures if my dKH is above 9.0. It would still be beneficial to know your nitrate and phosphate parameters before we blame alk, but it is a likely suspect.

CastAway · Dec 9, 2016

Think of Magnesium as a referee, it helps to keep Alkalinity and Calcium in check. Cant remember where I read that, but ever since I heard it it's helped me.

BluewaterLa · Dec 11, 2016

One thing you can do with your fresh salt water after mixing is to monitor the alkalinity by testing a batch after mixed and keep a small power head circulating the container.
Alkali it will drop over time and sometimes as fast as 8 hours after water clears up due to Co2 in your home.

So for example if you mix 10 gallons of water and the DKH is at 12 a while after it mixes completely and you test it 24 hours later and the dkh has dropped to 9 then you can have reasonable expectation that you can mix water 24 hours in advance letting a small power head swirl water around and your alkalinity would better match between your display tank and new water.

Just sort of the reverse of using 2 part to dose up new water to the level of alk in the display if your salt mix is low or you let it mix too long and the Co2 has dropped the alkalinity of the new water.

Two things I always check and adjust with new mixed saltwater before adding to my tank is temperature and alkalinity.
Good luck and happy reefing
BluewaterLa / Mike

BluewaterLa · Dec 11, 2016

And of course salinity haha

ajcanale · Dec 11, 2016

There have been some very constructive replies here. In my opinion OP seems a little too focused on salt brand, lighting, flow. Element replenishment (alk/calcium... mag to a lesser degree) is just as, if not more vital to keeping SPS corals successfully. It needs to be utmost priority in deciding on how you are going to do this. Kalk was mentioned, and can be effective to a degree, but has a pretty low ceiling in terms of the demand it can fill. I also find it to be the most difficult to calculate. That really leaves you with two options, dosing, or calcium reactor. Both are very common and have their benefits. Dosing is cheaper short term, but is easy to setup and maintain with the proper dosing system, but dosing schedule needs to be updated as the system matures and corals begin growing (consuming elements) at a faster rate. Calcium reactors are a pretty hefty investment up front, and can be a little tricky to setup, but, when done properly, are almost effortless to maintain. In addition if you use the correct blends of media (TLF reborn + Magnesium granulate media) you will also cover trace elements and magnesium.

tcup25 · Dec 11, 2016

Ezeke1 said:
Did you recently change salts? Not all salts have equal alk and calcium.

I have been using the same salt from the beginning.

tcup25 · Dec 11, 2016

so.......i have taken in a lot of helpful info and am most appreciative. as we all know nothing good happens fast in a reef tank ;-) i have done a couple of water changes to adjust my salinity. on the next change i will test the parameters in my bucket before adding to my tank. i was debating using two part, but am going to just wait and do calcium reactor (christmas gift).

how long can salt water be premixed before you have to use it? for some reason i had it in my head i needed to use it within 6 hrs of mixing

i didn't do any further buffering although it was so very tempting as things looked perkier the next morning.

i know someone was asking about phosphate and nitrate readings. i am headed to the shop now and will post the results later (water change was done friday night)

thanks again for ALL of the helpful advice. i will keep posting changes, choices, and outcomes as they occur.

tcup25 · Dec 12, 2016

The tips are no better but they aren't worse so I'll take that.
Did a water change tonight. About 10%. (300 gallon system.
Tank levels prior to change (will test again in the morning):
Temp: 81
Salinity: 1.021 (don't know why it keeps dipping so low. I can only assume I haven't been allowing my salt to completely dissolve in my water change bucket so that my salinity is actually lower than I initially measure it at? I let it mix for two hours tonight before using it.
pH: 7.8
Nitrate: 50
KH: 9.3
Calcium: 360
Phosphate: .50
Mag: 1320

Bucket levels (35 gallons)
Temp: 76
Salinity: 1.026 (ran out of salt)
pH: 8.3
KH: 12.8
Calcium: 520
Mag: 1340

So with those numbers I assume I should be dosing calcium? Yes I am getting a calcium reactor but until then I should be getting that number up right? Could the low calcium be a reason for the acro tips receding?

BluewaterLa · Dec 13, 2016

tcup25 said:
The tips are no better but they aren't worse so I'll take that.
Did a water change tonight. About 10%. (300 gallon system.
Tank levels prior to change (will test again in the morning):
Temp: 81
Salinity: 1.021 (don't know why it keeps dipping so low. I can only assume I haven't been allowing my salt to completely dissolve in my water change bucket so that my salinity is actually lower than I initially measure it at? I let it mix for two hours tonight before using it.
pH: 7.8
Nitrate: 50
KH: 9.3
Calcium: 360
Phosphate: .50
Mag: 1320

Bucket levels (35 gallons)
Temp: 76
Salinity: 1.026 (ran out of salt)
pH: 8.3
KH: 12.8
Calcium: 520
Mag: 1340

So with those numbers I assume I should be dosing calcium? Yes I am getting a calcium reactor but until then I should be getting that number up right? Could the low calcium be a reason for the acro tips receding?

Yes you will need to supplement calcium to get coral growth your looking for.
380 to 420 ppm calcium is the range we seek more toward the 420 ppm range of natural seawater
360 ppm is a little low but forgiving much unlike alkalinity
When calcium gets low there is just less ions in the water for calcification and it itself will slow or cease to happen.

As for using new mixed saltwater, different manufactures state different things
Some brands recommend using after the salt fully dissolves and the water is clear usually around 6 to 8 hours
This gives the salt time to dissolve and for the chemistry to stabilize in the new water.
Some brands reccomend waiting 12 or 24 hours.
The most important thing is to test your salt mix after it dissolves for DKH / alkalinity level and again at 8 hours after clear and even at 24 hour mark to see the loss of dkh due to Co2 in your home.
Some homes are better or worse than others in this regard due to number of people and pets respiration and how much fresh air the home gets from drafty doors or windows.
Saltwater can be kept circulating for a long time and still be excellent to use as long as you bring the alkalinity to level of your display tank before use.

I've used both types of salt that were high in dkh and low in dkh to maintain reefs.
Since some salts I've used we're higher than my reef parameters I would allow the mix to circulate for 28 hours and this brought the dkh in new water from 12 to 9 dkh.
I found this to be a good thing since I kept my reef at 8.7 dkh.
The minerals and trace elements don't go bad when keeping saltwater stored and circulating
The only thing to monitor is alkalinity since it will fall over time and watch for signs of precipitation on the pump if it creates lots of heat as this will pull a little OR a lot of alk, cal and some mag depending on how severe the precipitation or binding of carbonate and bicarbonate to heat sources and containers

I hope I was clear on this as it's late and my brain is slow right now haha
Good luck and happy reefing
BluewaterLa / Mike

tcup25 · Dec 13, 2016

@BluewaterLa I LOVE your slow brain!! That was all very helpful and made perfect since especially knowing that I can premix my salt water and allow time to bring down my KH to levels closer to that in my tank. Thank you for taking the time to give such a detailed, informative and yet very understandable response [emoji846]

reefwiser · Dec 13, 2016

When keeping SPS you need to dose cal,alk and mag on a daily and even hourly basis. SPS can remove these elements out of the water at a rapid rate. During the coarse of a day you can go from 9.0 dkh to 6 dkh if you do not dose at a rate to keep up with the demands of the corals. A constant level needs to be maintained to keep your corals healthy.

BluewaterLa · Dec 14, 2016

tcup25 said:
@BluewaterLa I LOVE your slow brain!! That was all very helpful and made perfect since especially knowing that I can premix my salt water and allow time to bring down my KH to levels closer to that in my tank. Thank you for taking the time to give such a detailed, informative and yet very understandable response [emoji846]

Your very welcome
Glad to know that I've helped out, this is the true meaning of reefing, learning and sharing information

I can get pretty long winded in my post or response to questions mostly because I want to explain things in relative terms that most can understand.
I grew up in a time with not much information and the internet was not around so we had to rely on our own mistakes and very little published data and info.

Sites like this was a game changer for reef keepers to learn and share experience.
Technology has also made leaps and bounds in the last 20 years that has made the hobby easier to succeed for the individual.
Again glad to help
Good luck and happy reefing
BluewaterLa / mike