Getting tired of this....

renato120 · Sep 12, 2015

I'm getting so tired of trying to keep SPS corals.... All my parameters are where its suppost to be... Its always one sps coral with a problem...
Sometimes is the tip bleaching, sps looking pale, and now I have a sps dying from the the middle of the branches up.
How Am I suppost to know when its getting enough lights or when its not getting enough lights?
When a sps coral is having too much lights what does it look like?
How about when its not getting enough lights? Does look pale? Bleach? I know it requires a steady parameter... And mine is. I dont have any bugs... Already look for it. I just lowered the lights one inch to see if maybe Im not getting enough lights... Im so annoyed. Just took this pic today.. You can see the green sps on the right dying, and already looking pale. A couple months ago it was perfect.

Tahoe61 · Sep 12, 2015

Your tank is stunning, and the sps look very healthy.

How big is the tank, do you run carbon to combat the terpenoids released by the Toadstool?

BTA Love · Sep 12, 2015

I would have to say it is trial and error on the lighting part. I have one SPS that likes a lot of light and is literally 3 inches from the top of the tank so 6 inches from the light, and I have another one that bleached out up that high so I moved it lower, but both say high light when I researched them. But your problem could have nothing to do with light and everything to do with flow. Have you noticed if it is always the same placement that the coral that dies is in?

ngvu1 · Sep 12, 2015

Your tank looks pretty good. out of room already. Except tanks have bugs that bother SPSs, Alk stability is 1 of the most important key for keeping SPS.

renato120 · Sep 12, 2015

Tahoe61 said:
Your tank is stunning, and the sps look very healthy.

How big is the tank, do you run carbon to combat the terpenoids released by the Toadstool?

I do run chemipure blue. Its 60g cube

Surf&turf · Sep 12, 2015

Not sure what the piece is under it but could be some coral warfare going on.

renato120 · Sep 12, 2015

BTA Love said:
I would have to say it is trial and error on the lighting part. I have one SPS that likes a lot of light and is literally 3 inches from the top of the tank so 6 inches from the light, and I have another one that bleached out up that high so I moved it lower, but both say high light when I researched them. But your problem could have nothing to do with light and everything to do with flow. Have you noticed if it is always the same placement that the coral that dies is in?

The one is dying now is getting a good flow. Im thinking on buy a stronger power head see if will be better. I lowered the lights 1 inch

renato120 · Sep 12, 2015

ngvu1 said:
Your tank looks pretty good. out of room already. Except tanks have bugs that bother SPSs, Alk stability is 1 of the most important key for keeping SPS.

Thank you. My alk its always at 10... Calcium sometimes change.

renato120 · Sep 12, 2015

Surf&turf said:
Not sure what the piece is under it but could be some coral warfare going on.

It could but it was doing fine for 6 months... With the same corals next to it...

Triggreef · Sep 12, 2015

Tahoe61 said:
Your tank is stunning, and the sps look very healthy.

How big is the tank, do you run carbon to combat the terpenoids released by the Toadstool?

That was my initial thought. I would ditch that leather and see if your problems persist.

Also with alk staying at 10, your ca and mg should also be higher than average. The big 3, should always be in balance. So if average alk is 8, ca is 420, mg is 1370 then if you keep alk at 10, ca should be more like 500, mg more like 1500 etc etc. (I'm no chemist those are just guestimations on numbers). I keep mine at 8dkh, ca 430~, mg 1350~

Triggreef · Sep 12, 2015

Also Highly suggest a triton test, you may be surprised at what you find. $50 seems like a lot, but it's really only the price of one of those frags you lost. Maybe can save the others...

renato120 · Sep 13, 2015

Triggreef said:
That was my initial thought. I would ditch that leather and see if your problems persist.

Also with alk staying at 10, your ca and mg should also be higher than average. The big 3, should always be in balance. So if average alk is 8, ca is 420, mg is 1370 then if you keep alk at 10, ca should be more like 500, mg more like 1500 etc etc. (I'm no chemist those are just guestimations on numbers). I keep mine at 8dkh, ca 430~, mg 1350~

Oh men..... Thats my favorite coral... Took me so long to get that one...

Triggreef · Sep 13, 2015

Sorry

Let's explore other things then. What is that Bushy green branching coral that is under the green slimer that looks like the base died? Look like maybe hydnophora from the picture.

Triggreef · Sep 13, 2015

Generally acros will get burnt tips from alk rising too fast. Low CA for extended period will cause recession from the base. Same with alk swing. Tissue peeling from anywhere or everywhere I'm not sure. Bleaching or pale from too much light too fast or not enough nutrients.

renato120 · Sep 13, 2015

Triggreef said:
Sorry

Let's explore other things then. What is that Bushy green branching coral that is under the green slimer that looks like the base died? Look like maybe hydnophora from the picture.

Birdsnest... That one looks very nice... Maybe is the picture... Base is not dead... Not yet lol

renato120 · Sep 13, 2015

Thank you for all the help

renato120 · Sep 13, 2015

Triggreef said:
Generally acros will get burnt tips from alk rising too fast. Low CA for extended period will cause recession from the base. Same with alk swing. Tissue peeling from anywhere or everywhere I'm not sure. Bleaching or pale from too much light too fast or not enough nutrients.

Its crazy how much they need to be in good shape

Triggreef · Sep 13, 2015

renato120 said:
Birdsnest... That one looks very nice... Maybe is the picture... Base is not dead... Not yet lol

I meant the slimer looked like maybe the base was dead, but certainly could just be the rock its mounted on. I'm not really seeing anything that looks like its having issues but then its hard to tell from a FTS I guess. Tank looks great from where I can see.

I had a mostly acro crash a while back, all parameters were in line and never had a significant swing. Lost about 40 acro in about a couple month. leaving about 12 hardier acros that survived. My triton test revealed elevated copper and zinc as well as iodine which I had dosed. Still a year later get copper and zinc creeping up every few months and have to chemically remove it. Censes on here though, was that those elements weren't high enough to cause issue, and it may have been some bacterial infection. I still hold my theory about those elements building up that caused my problems. The more it built up the more corals became irritated. Now I keep fewer types of acros, as well as several of the first coral I had issues with as a red flag, being red/green war coral believe it or not.

Fishy Bizness Aquatics · Sep 15, 2015

Pretty sweet looking tank!

pcrain · Mar 4, 2016

What are your water parameters phosphate nitrate calcium alkalinity magnesium Pacific gravity temperature.. have you heard about balanced calcium to alkalinity makes a huge difference.