Burnt tips what to do?

[Diesel]

Salinity did this and After a week the skin was flaking off of the big colonies in random spots. It was devastating.

How did you find out?
Explain as it can help a lot of reefers what to look for.

 

[Christina]

How did you find out?
Explain as it can help a lot of reefers what to look for.

It was a process of elimination. Our refractometer was off to begin with but we had just upgraded to a 240 gallon and changed sands. We assumed that was the problem and After a few months started to see improvement We still had algae problem That began when we switched to reef crystals and Our acros were still stressed. We decided to start intergrating coral pro through water changes. Our sps went from bleaching to flaking. The encrustations and skin looked dehydrated. We tried everything, Rtn destroyers, additives, replacing filters on Ro system, amputations, dips, adding beneficial bacterias and adding more pest predators. In a last effort we took our water to every Lfs for testing and only one of them checked the salinity. In the panick of our corals dying we managed to miscalculate the salt in the previous water change and our already high salinity rose up to 1.036. We were lucky and only lost one colony and a cple frags completely. Such a dumb error but without it we may not have noticed that our refractometer was off and would still be scratching our heads at the patches.

 

[fishdoc11]

FWIW I used to have this happen fairly often when I had a larger SPS tank. A good water change always fixed it. I never figured out exactly what caused it (trace element, alk, whatever). Not sure if that's what is going on with your tank but if you haven't done one that's something to try.

 

[SteelerMike]

So, I got my Triton test results back but I can't figure out how to upload them as the file is too large. Nothing was listed in the red range but 7 were listed in the yellow range. Here are the parameters that were listed as out of range:

Aluminum was 66.22 and the set point is 2.00
Mg was 1243 and set point is 1370
Bromine was 40.46 and set point is 62
Boron was 2.33 and set point is 4.5
Lithium was 315.90 and set point is 200.00
Iodine was 10.12 and set point is 60.00
Silicon was 376 and set point is 100


Soooo...what they heck does all this mean?The 2 that seem the most concerning to me are the aluminum and the silicon. I'm not sure where the aluminum comes from but the silicon would indicate maybe my rodi not working properly? (although my tds meter reads 0) Any ideas?

 

[Marty.h]

What phosphate remover are you using some is alloy bassed ?

 

[SteelerMike]

I have used Phosguard on and off. I think that is aluminum based. The weird thing is that I hadn't used it in a few months when I had this problem but I guess it could have built up over time. Can high levels of Aluminum affect the sps? Any idea the best way to get it out?

 

[Marty.h]

I use an alloy bassed one with SPS and as of yet have not seen any issues

 

[watchguy123]

I wish I had some positive constructive suggestions. This thread is so fascinating in that many smart reefers have suggested so many possible issues and solutions. Even the range of evaluations from thriving growth tips to bleaching tips. Sps are finicky creatures is the bottom line. Even with sophisticated testing, it's hard to decipher the significance of the results as well. I hope your issue resolves shortly

 

[Fercho]

So, did you ever figure out why the burn tips?

I had the same problem not too long ago.
My problem was high phosphates.
(Got lazy on good husbandry)
I run GFO from bulk reef supply all the time and replace it twice a month. I also do waterchages twice a moth.
(Didn't used to do this this often, thats why phosphates rose. )
Just run GFO and replace twice a month and do water changes and it should fix the problem. (You cand do WC every week to begin with if you want)
I didnt nip the burned tips. They healed back. Its unbelieveable but they healed on their own.
Just remember that good husbandy is key. Kep it simple. Dont pay attention to the aluminum stuff, it will only make
you overthink the problem an possibly make you make the problem worst.

 

[SteelerMike]

I'm not sure I ever figured it out, but it has stopped thankfully. I did multiple water changes and ran a poly filter which didn't show anything of significance but did bring my phosphates down to .08. I decided not to clip the tips off and I am hoping they heal up. They haven't formed algae on them so I am still hopeful. I think it may have been a combination of things. Thanks for checking in and I will update with photos if they come back!!

 

[Fercho]

Just keep those phosphates in check, im sure that was your problem.
If you can, try some gfo. Its cheap. I run about 13 spoons in a 90 gal tank and its what in my case fixed the burned tips.

I replace gfo every two weeks.
If it already stopped, thats sign you're in the right direction.
Good luck!

 

[Sangheili]

What's your zinc from the Triton test? I suspect zero. Eshan mentioned at MACNA that he theorizes low zinc and high alk is what leads to burnt tips.

 

[SteelerMike]

What's your zinc from the Triton test? I suspect zero. Eshan mentioned at MACNA that he theorizes low zinc and high alk is what leads to burnt tips.

It was 3.13 on the triton test and the target is 4.0. They labeled it as in the "green" range so I guess it's not low? Never really looked at zinc so I'm not sure how much deviation is bad

 

[Sangheili]

It was 3.13 on the triton test and the target is 4.0. They labeled it as in the "green" range so I guess it's not low? Never really looked at zinc so I'm not sure how much deviation is bad

Hmm, thats more then fine then. Must be something else...

 

[cginter]

Man I was reading this thread in hope to find a answer! I'm having the same problem now.

 

[Triggreef]

Aluminum is in many people's threads that are having issues. It's nothing to do with po4 I promise you. My po4 has never been anywhere near as low as yours. My last po4 test was .55 it only ceases growth. That is it.

 

[Triggreef]

My suggestion, some water changes and find a method other than phosguard moving forward.

 

[SteelerMike]

Aluminum is in many people's threads that are having issues. It's nothing to do with po4 I promise you. My po4 has never been anywhere near as low as yours. My last po4 test was .55 it only ceases growth. That is it.

I think you may be right. I thought I had turned it around. I did several water changes and began running carbon religiously again and things started to improve but my phosphates started to rise so I started using phosgaurd mixed in with my carbon and it seems to be happening again. The only other thing I has done is dose nitrate to get them to a detectable level. They are currently at .5 I took the Phosgaurd out and am going to mix a small amount of GFO into my carbon to help keep phosphates in check and see if that helps. At this point I think it is either the phosgaurd or the nitrate dosing although I'm not sure how the nitrate dosing would cause while spots, I would think it would cause algae which it hasn't.

 

[Triggreef]

I think you may be right. I thought I had turned it around. I did several water changes and began running carbon religiously again and things started to improve but my phosphates started to rise so I started using phosgaurd mixed in with my carbon and it seems to be happening again. The only other thing I has done is dose nitrate to get them to a detectable level. They are currently at .5 I took the Phosgaurd out and am going to mix a small amount of GFO into my carbon to help keep phosphates in check and see if that helps. At this point I think it is either the phosgaurd or the nitrate dosing although I'm not sure how the nitrate dosing would cause while spots, I would think it would cause algae which it hasn't.

I've been known to be right.

I didn't see you say white spots before though.... Have you checked for aefw?

 

[SteelerMike]

Yeah it doesn't appear to be aefw I just say white spots because it isn't always on the tips, sometimes in the middle of the branches