Boron reduction

[Acro maniac]

I have been having some issues with burnt tips on acros and pale to chalky montis for the past 3 months. The challenge was every wc (Once a week 10%) as soon as the water change was complete half the acros in the tank tips would melt, but the next day all the montis would look better. so by the end of the week the montis would be worse and the acros would recover.
A little history... Tank is about 10 years old.
90 dt, BB 20 gal sump about 85 total valume
Curve 7 skimmer
danner 900gph return
(2) maxspect 250 gyre running at 90%
(1) hydor 1150 powerhead
1/4 hp chiller
tunze ato
Mechanical dosing BRS 2 part
feeding pe mysis, rods and lrs
Fish stock Sailfin tang, powder brown tang, (2) anthias (3) chromis a royal gramma clown and a malerius wrasse.
Mainly sps,acros and montis. Some lps favia acans and a duncan.
Salinity 1.025
temp 78
alk 2.5 meq/ 7dkh i know its low but its stable
cal 430
mag 1385
po4 0.1
no3 10
all salifert test, refractor for salinity
ROdi unit from spectra pure ~ 0 TDS and 0 for chrorine i also supply a buddy with water and he has no issues.
Tank maintence wc once a week 10-15 gal, blow rocks out once a month, suck out ditritus with wc.
change sock weekly ( never overflows)
salt was fritz but i had some concerns it was the cause, so last week i switched and am now using aqua forest.
After bang my head against the wall, i employed triton for a test to see what is really in my water.
the results are in and the concerns are ...
B~ 11mg/l
P~ 181 ug/l
p04~ 0.5538
My concern is the Boron. Where it is possibly coming from and how to get rid of it.

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

There's no risk (IMO) that the borate at your level is harming the corals.

If you want it lower, the only way is by water change (and not adding it, some buffers have a lot of borate in them, such as Seachem marine Buffer).

 

[Larry L]

What alk and Ca did the Fritz salt mix up to, compared to your tank? Maybe too much of a swing due to the water change?

 

[Acro maniac]

What alk and Ca did the Fritz salt mix up to, compared to your tank? Maybe too much of a swing due to the water change?

Alk has been 2.28 meq/ 6.4 dkh to 3.02 meq/ 8.45dkh and cal veries between 420 and 455
If the alk is not close within about 0.20 meq or 0.5 dkh then i dose it up.

 

[Acro maniac]

There's no risk (IMO) that the borate at your level is harming the corals.

If you want it lower, the only way is by water change (and not adding it, some buffers have a lot of borate in them, such as Seachem marine Buffer).

I wonder if its in the fritz?
The only dosing i do is soda ash and calcium chloride. Could it come from one of them?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I wonder if its in the fritz?
The only dosing i do is soda ash and calcium chloride. Could it come from one of them?

Yes. Some salt mixes have intentionally elevated borate (to provide pH buffering), but I do not know if Fritz does, or if it might have accidentally had elevated levels.

 

[atlfishes]

Interesting, i just got back my triton results back and Boron was listed as high at 9.05 mg/l. I've been using Fritz salt as well.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Interesting, i just got back my triton results back and Boron was listed as high at 9.05 mg/l. I've been using Fritz salt as well.

Could be, but that's not high enough to be an issue.

 

[rkpetersen]

Phosphate far too high. No one has mentioned it? Also how inaccurate the phosphate test you're using at home is at the high end of the range. I don't think boron is the problem here.