Balance chemistry sps burning

Brockly · Mar 6, 2018

Sorry for all the background. Thought it would be helpful. BUT the question is this... with elevated nutrients, should I raise my alk up to 9 or something. Seams a lot of people run around 9 dkh and target nutrients around my current level.

So I have an 8 month old mixed reef. 75 gallon low demand as everything is smallish and frags. Bunch of zoas some low some sps. I have 2 black box lights, 2 t5. I run 100-200 par in the tank. Running for about 10 hours a day. Lots of flow. I dose 7ml of all and calcium a day to maintain my levels. Slimmer, marine pure bricks, chateo media reactor etc.

Historically I’ve had low nutrients available. 0-5 nitrates and 0 phosphates per Hanna. Maintain 1350 mag, 420 calcium and dkh from 7-8. If I got much above 8 I would get acro tips burning up and loosing flesh. When I lowered it below 8 things got better and healed up.

Now I am at 7.8 dkh but my nitrates have risen to 20-25 and phosphate is at 0.05. And I have some burning tips once again.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 6, 2018

There’s no need to elevate alk just because nutrients are higher. I don’t think high nutrients and low alk cause burnt tips. I’m not sure why you have it now. Maybe it is a remnant from earlier?

Brockly · Mar 6, 2018

Yeah I’m not Rushing into anything on changing it. I didn’t know if there was a coralstionnor not. But low nutrients and “typical normal” 8-9 dkh caused me issues.

Everything had healed up from before. But out of searingly nowhere one of my green acros and a setosa got burned tips ina few branches and the setosa got light brown algae on the skeleton that exposed. “Which seams typical for my system” when skeletons get exposed

Ps.. it was funny, I posted, the. Read the sticky on posting methodology “don’t Bury you question st the end of a long tank history” I did just that. Hahaa I changed it