Coral bleaching

[AspiringReefer]

So about a month or two ago I got some hybrid t5 to go with my kessils and slowly ramped those up over the course of a month.. other than that everything has been stable. My alk at most has swung .4 over the course of a few days. I also have been getting 0 nitrates on my test results about 2 weeks ago so I started to feed more. Now my nitrates are at about 2 however now my corals look putrid. Everything else is fine 1350 mag 420 cal 8.1 ph undetectable phos however my test goes to .25 so there is some in there. I have been running carbon and GFO for some time 4 months. I waited about a week just to see what would happen with the corals but they just keep getting worse. I have 2 skimz pumps as well for flow. My alk uptake now is about half of what it was. Any ideas as to what I should do?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Looks like too much light.

 

[AspiringReefer]

Looks like too much light.

So should I just turn half my lights off from t5? Or just turn down the kessils to min?

 

[Mjrenz]

May be too much light but what's your salinity, temp, and how stable are they? Also, what test kit are you using for phosphate and are you dosing anything or have you made any other changes besides what you listed?

 

[Bob Weigant]

Same problem here , starting switching lights from radion gen 2 to kessil 360NE. Corals started to brown out fast so I removed one out of the 3 360’s.

 

[AspiringReefer]

May be too much light but what's your salinity, temp, and how stable are they? Also, what test kit are you using for phosphate and are you dosing anything or have you made any other changes besides what you listed?

I have an ATO .. so my salinity doesn’t ever change.. the skimmer water I replace with more salt to even it out or just wait for water change .. but that never swings 1.025-1.026 .. the temp on the other hand .. I don’t know I check it once in a while to see if that is still working with my laser temp gauge. It sticks around 78.. sometimes it’s 77 sometimes it’s 79 .. but I check it once every few days. I guess it’s at 80.6 right now.. maybe the temp is swinging too much.. the only other change was I took off the glass top about the same time as I added the lights.

 

[Mjrenz]

Taking off the glass top was a good idea for lighting and proper gas exchange, what are your thoughts on this @DSC reef?

 

[DSC reef]

My guess would be low nutrients with a big increase in light caused some issues. To much to fast possibly.

 

[Flippers4pups]

So should I just turn half my lights off from t5? Or just turn down the kessils to min?

I would for now, till you can figure this out.

 

[AspiringReefer]

My guess would be low nutrients with a big increase in light caused some issues. To much to fast possibly.

That’s what my thoughts were leaning towards but just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something. I upped the feedings and got a couple more fish so my nitrates are at 3 now up from nothing. And I dimmed my kessils now. Hopefully they turn around and like my tank again.. funny thing is LPS didn’t mind this and neither did the zoanthids. Thank you all! I always appreciate the more experienced refers opinions as I am still learning.

 

[w2inc]

I am leaning toward tip burn from High alkalinity and or low water flow. I didn't see what your alk levels are. Could you point it out for me? If your tank is using way less than it was there is a good chance that it spiked on you.

I am on the way out of a similar situation. Is the issue more prominent on the top row of your tank or is it all over? I am blaming my lights for mine because I can see a burn pattern and a shading pattern in my animals but I sent in an ICP test to get more info.

 

[Hemmdog]

My guess would be low nutrients with a big increase in light caused some issues. To much to fast possibly.

+1

 

[AspiringReefer]

I am leaning toward tip burn from High alkalinity and or low water flow. I didn't see what your alk levels are. Could you point it out for me? If your tank is using way less than it was there is a good chance that it spiked on you.

I am on the way out of a similar situation. Is the issue more prominent on the top row of your tank or is it all over? I am blaming my lights for mine because I can see a burn pattern and a shading pattern in my animals but I sent in an ICP test to get more info.

Yeah it’s at 8.6 alk it went up from 8 over the course of 2 weeks and have been adjusting the additions of kalk down every three days.

 

[w2inc]

Yeah it’s at 8.6 alk it went up from 8 over the course of 2 weeks and have been adjusting the additions of kalk down every three days.

Thanks for the info. I am not thinking it is the Alk so much anymore. I keep mine closer to 11 as a normal thing and it has been a couple years like that.

Dana Riddle at the MACNA 16 San Diego conference mentioned in his lecture that alk and water flow go hand in hand. I dont remember the numbers he had for what high alk is, but he said that water flow was the cure. It might be worth looking at if your light adjustment does not pay out.

I thought I was on my way out of it, but I woke up this morning to find another coral with a big bald spot. Wish I could offer more. Good Luck.

 

[AspiringReefer]

Thanks for the info. I am not thinking it is the Alk so much anymore. I keep mine closer to 11 as a normal thing and it has been a couple years like that.

Dana Riddle at the MACNA 16 San Diego conference mentioned in his lecture that alk and water flow go hand in hand. I dont remember the numbers he had for what high alk is, but he said that water flow was the cure. It might be worth looking at if your light adjustment does not pay out.

I thought I was on my way out of it, but I woke up this morning to find another coral with a big bald spot. Wish I could offer more. Good Luck.

Thanks hope yours get better as well

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

sounds like u r running a cleaner tank. Clean tanks can’t have a higher alk or you will get alk burn. My tank burns corals above 8.5 and the sweet spot is 7.5 people telling you they can get 11 alk can do so with many factors added to the equation. I’d say give it a shot to run lower alk you might be surprised

 

[Doctorgori]

sounds like u r running a cleaner tank. Clean tanks can’t have a higher alk or you will get alk burn. My tank burns corals above 8.5 and the sweet spot is 7.5 people telling you they can get 11 alk can do so with many factors added to the equation. I’d say give it a shot to run lower alk you might be surprised

just following and interestingly almost all the cause and remedies above sound pretty plausible (adding those to the notes ...LOL)
...just endorsing the over clean as a possible... I just went through this a few month ago .... hope you fix it ...

 

[w2inc]

sounds like u r running a cleaner tank. Clean tanks can’t have a higher alk or you will get alk burn. My tank burns corals above 8.5 and the sweet spot is 7.5 people telling you they can get 11 alk can do so with many factors added to the equation. I’d say give it a shot to run lower alk you might be surprised

Theory sounds solid to me at first. Looking at my notebook and My ICP tests I am seeing that my alk is 10+ or I have left notes that I corrected it upwards and that my phosphate and nitrate have been undetectable until 3 months ago. When you say "clean tank" could you give me some details on that. Are we talking about po4 no3?. My tank is heavily stocked and gets plenty of food so even with undetectable levels, there are probably nutrients still available.

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

Theory sounds solid to me at first. Looking at my notebook and My ICP tests I am seeing that my alk is 10+ or I have left notes that I corrected it upwards and that my phosphate and nitrate have been undetectable until 3 months ago. When you say "clean tank" could you give me some details on that. Are we talking about po4 no3?. My tank is heavily stocked and gets plenty of food so even with undetectable levels, there are probably nutrients still available.

I run around 10 nitrate and .08 phosphate and feed my tank crazy but for me Lowering my alk to the mid 7s turned a lot around no burning whatsoever and I keep turning my leds brighter with great results. Also when my par was too low you can get RTN as well. I experienced this when my tank was new. Getting a par meter was a huge plus for me

 

[AspiringReefer]

Thanks guys I will slowly bring my alk down naturally. I tried to fix my nitrates at 0 by overfeeding finally got it to 3... I also will lower it to 7.5 and stick there hopefully this will help. I just did a water change and unfortunately that makes my alk go up.