Can't keep any new SPS frags alive. Slimming, tips burnig.

[ashr]

Hey all

So another post about my on going SPS issues. I notice that any new frags that I add other than a bonsai or milli ends up frying the tips and slimming most of the day and dies.

It's pretty hard for me to keep any SPS frag or colony I add healthy and alive. After a few weeks or month they are toast. They end up either slimming from the tips and RTN'ing from the top down or just growing algae on the tips and won't come back.

Any torts, smooth deep water acros and even a nice milli seem to hate my tank set up. I have ran tanks for years in another city with great SPS success but not here in Victory, BC! They do treat there water with chloramine but I do run a BRS 5 stage RO/DI unit but still see 1 or 2 TDS on the end.

The SPS that are doing well are a Red Planet, a couple of Bonsai's and a pink Milli (no growth tho). I cannot keep any monti caps alive to save my life either... They just start to bleach out, grow algae and die.

Any new SPS frag I add comes to the same fate and almost ready to throw in the towel on SPS.

My LPS, Clams, Zoas are doing great and look healthy.

75 g Tank details 36" long
Light: 36" 8 bulb ATI dimmable. Max 80% about 12hours a day on
Blue LED strip on for 3 hours a day (night)
8" from the water

Flow:
MP10 at max power on pulse setting
Glamorca GP03 at 50% mixed settings

Salt
H2O

Levels
Alk 8-9 shifting (bulk dosing)
Calc 430-450 (bulk dosing)
Mg - Need new test kit
P04 0.00 (hanna)
N04 - Need new test kit
Using AF build + engery
SPS powder food

I do have bubble algae but I have been keeping up with removing it.

I think I covered it all.. Sorry for the long text but I am at a loss right now.. Just not sure whats up

 

[ashr]

PH

ALK:

 

[Shineymoose]

PH

ALK:

That pH swing is rough. How old is the tank?

 

[Killer Karma]

Could be your bulk dosing, I know I do very little on my tank and my acro's grow well with constant polyp extension. I run an auto doser though and I know they enjoy very stable parameters. Doesn't necessarily have to be perfect water, I know mine is not, but stable does seem to be the key. Second is the water flow alternating around them. Mine all became much happier when I got another eco-tech and really got things alternating. Also I'm dosing B-Ionic for A/B which says it has some trace elements, and randomly a squirt or two of Brightwell trace elements.

 

[ashr]

That pH swing is rough. How old is the tank?

This tank is over a year old but was upgraded from a tank before that so let's say 2 years. Some of the LPS I brought from Kelowna and are doing fine are 7 years old etc.
Clams are happy, zoa's happy, hammers happy.

I am worried about the PH swings as well..

 

[ashr]

Could be your bulk dosing, I know I do very little on my tank and my acro's grow well with constant polyp extension. I run an auto doser though and I know they enjoy very stable parameters. Doesn't necessarily have to be perfect water, I know mine is not, but stable does seem to be the key. Second is the water flow alternating around them. Mine all became much happier when I got another eco-tech and really got things alternating. Also I'm dosing B-Ionic for A/B which says it has some trace elements, and randomly a squirt or two of Brightwell trace elements.

I was having the same issues with dosing the two little fishes A &B That is why I switched to bulk.
I am looking at switching to a Calc reactor right now as well.

 

[Killer Karma]

I was having the same issues with dosing the two little fishes A &B That is why I switched to bulk.
I am looking at switching to a Calc reactor right now as well.

I have considered a Calc reactor a ton of times, I'm away from my house for days at a time though and the thought of something going wrong with it and nuking everything freaks me out. Further I have kids and don't want a leak to possibly endanger them.

 

[ashr]

I have considered a Calc reactor a ton of times, I'm away from my house for days at a time though and the thought of something going wrong with it and nuking everything freaks me out. Further I have kids and don't want a leak to possibly endanger them.

That makes sense too.. Co2 leak... Hmmmm
Def would need a CO2 detector as well.

 

[Elegance Coral]

What filtration are you running? Any algae filtration?
I would invest in a second DI cartridge for the RO, to get the TDS closer to zero.
The PH has to be fixed if you're going to do acros. Maybe raise the alk until you figure out why the PH is dropping so low.

 

[ashr]

What filtration are you running? Any algae filtration?
I would invest in a second DI cartridge for the RO, to get the TDS closer to zero.
The PH has to be fixed if you're going to do acros. Maybe raise the alk until you figure out why the PH is dropping so low.

I am running only a filter sock and a Omega 150 Skimmer.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Are you using the Hanna ULR PO checker? Generally, when they burn from the tips its starvation caused by lack of PO.
I have similar problem with keeping Montis.. I definitely underestimated their care level and found that they tend to do better in higher nutrient tanks.
Maybe lower the lighting, overfeed, and dose some amino acids. I found this has helped greatly and running 0 PO is deadly - Since acros like low nutrients this could be the reason they are hanging on.

 

[ashr]

Are you using the Hanna ULR PO checker? Generally, when they burn from the tips its starvation caused by lack of PO.
I have similar problem with keeping Montis.. I definitely underestimated their care level and found that they tend to do better in higher nutrient tanks.
Maybe lower the lighting, overfeed, and dose some amino acids. I found this has helped greatly and running 0 PO is deadly - Since acros like low nutrients this could be the reason they are hanging on.

Def agree.. I never had problems with Monties before but I think my tank is almost to clean with 0.00 P04.. I am using the ULR PO checker.

 

[ReefBeta]

Except the 2 drop to 7.6, daily 0.3 is not that bad, especially you don't have refugium/algae reactor on inverted light cycle to counter the night drop. The alkalinity looks more problematic, ranging from 6.3 to 10 is quite a lot. That's the first I will try to fix. Target it to vary within 0.5 dkh for a month as a start. What are you using to dose 2 parts? If you're not using doser yet, get one it will be worth to invest in one.

Also, what's color of your red planet? Is it green? Does your tank grows algae? Your nutrition might still be too high. Test kit readings are low could because it's used up by algae. Don't see you mention your nutrition export method other than skimmer. You will need to grow some macro algae (refugium or algae reactor), or dosing carbon to reach low enough nutrition level for most sps.

 

[Reefrookie220]

With that much light that close to the water, and your alk where it is, and the lack of nutrients my guess would be they are starving to death. I'd feed heavy to get measurable po4 and maybe cut back on the photo period, a local guy in my forum wss having this issue awhile back. I'll tag @saltyfilmfolks , for his input.


Holy smokes! I just see your graph! Those swings are rather drastic, can you run your skimmers air intake out to a fresh air source?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hey all

So another post about my on going SPS issues. I notice that any new frags that I add other than a bonsai or milli ends up frying the tips and slimming most of the day and dies.

It's pretty hard for me to keep any SPS frag or colony I add healthy and alive. After a few weeks or month they are toast. They end up either slimming from the tips and RTN'ing from the top down or just growing algae on the tips and won't come back.

Any torts, smooth deep water acros and even a nice milli seem to hate my tank set up. I have ran tanks for years in another city with great SPS success but not here in Victory, BC! They do treat there water with chloramine but I do run a BRS 5 stage RO/DI unit but still see 1 or 2 TDS on the end.

The SPS that are doing well are a Red Planet, a couple of Bonsai's and a pink Milli (no growth tho). I cannot keep any monti caps alive to save my life either... They just start to bleach out, grow algae and die.

Any new SPS frag I add comes to the same fate and almost ready to throw in the towel on SPS.

My LPS, Clams, Zoas are doing great and look healthy.

75 g Tank details 36" long
Light: 36" 8 bulb ATI dimmable. Max 80% about 12hours a day on
Blue LED strip on for 3 hours a day (night)
8" from the water

Flow:
MP10 at max power on pulse setting
Glamorca GP03 at 50% mixed settings

Salt
H2O

Levels
Alk 8-9 shifting (bulk dosing)
Calc 430-450 (bulk dosing)
Mg - Need new test kit
P04 0.00 (hanna)
N04 - Need new test kit
Using AF build + engery
SPS powder food

I do have bubble algae but I have been keeping up with removing it.

I think I covered it all.. Sorry for the long text but I am at a loss right now.. Just not sure whats up

What is bulk dosing. And yes that's a LOT of light for a long time.

What blue strip is it?
How old is the tank if I missed it?

 

[ashr]

Except the 2 drop to 7.6, daily 0.3 is not that bad, especially you don't have refugium/algae reactor on inverted light cycle to counter the night drop. The alkalinity looks more problematic, ranging from 6.3 to 10 is quite a lot. That's the first I will try to fix. Target it to vary within 0.5 dkh for a month as a start. What are you using to dose 2 parts? If you're not using doser yet, get one it will be worth to invest in one.

Also, what's color of your red planet? Is it green? Does your tank grows algae? Your nutrition might still be too high. Test kit readings are low could because it's used up by algae. Don't see you mention your nutrition export method other than skimmer. You will need to grow some macro algae (refugium or algae reactor), or dosing carbon to reach low enough nutrition level for most sps.

Hey,

So right now I do have a LED light I run from 3am to 11am to help with the PH swings and growing some cheato but she is super slow. The Red Planet looks great. Nice and red with a green base. It's one of the SPS in the tank that looks nice and healthy. But any Torts I try to keep just die.. I really feel I am starving the tank out and that could be one big issue.

I dose 2 parts Alk/Calc from a bulk supply. Dose 3 times during the night AM to help with the PH swings

 

[ReefBeta]

Hey,

So right now I do have a LED light I run from 3am to 11am to help with the PH swings and growing some cheato but she is super slow. The Red Planet looks great. Nice and red with a green base. It's one of the SPS in the tank that looks nice and healthy. But any Torts I try to keep just die.. I really feel I am starving the tank out and that could be one big issue.

I dose 2 parts Alk/Calc from a bulk supply. Dose 3 times during the night AM to help with the PH swings

It does sound like it's starving. Did you try increase feeding?

Also try shorter photo period gradually to 8 hours. I have 12 hour schedule, but it's at peak for only 4 hours. So it's average to 8 hours at peak.

 

[ashr]

It does sound like it's starving. Did you try increase feeding?

Also try shorter photo period gradually to 8 hours. I have 12 hour schedule, but it's at peak for only 4 hours. So it's average to 8 hours at peak.

I am gonna start feeding a ton more yes. I will also tune my light schedule back! Running all ATI bulbs. Mostly Blue Plus, 2 purple plus and then the rest coral plus.

 

[bblumberg]

All good recommendations above. I will add that since you know that the source water has chloramines and even trace amounts of chloramines are fairly troublesome to corals, it would make a lot of sense to dose with sodium thiosulfate or a commercial water conditioner containing it. There is no guarantee that your RO/DI unit will remove all of the chloramine in your source water. I'd add crystalline sodium thiosulfate to about 10 ppm (10 mg/L or ~38 mg/gallon). You can get this cheap on Amazon or at a pool supply. No harm and potentially large benefit. I routinely add a few grams to my FW tanks when doing water changes and to my RO/DI water just to be on the safe side.

Bruce

 

[kchapmanjr]

Dude, it's your Alk instability. First clue was burning tips. Plus, your graph looks like the EKG from someone having a heart attack. You really need to dial in your dosing regiment. BRS dosers are relatively cheap and reliable. I use a DOS, but have used BRS dosers in the past with great success. Stability is key for acropora. For instance, my Alk fluctuates daily/nightly from 8.3 to 7.9 - a total swing of 0.4 dKh. Yours shows swings of 4 dKh over short periods of time. Acros cannot tolerate that much of of a swing over such a small window of time.