Help! I really don't want to kill anymore frags...

[MrSkumfrog]

Hello,
I've been having some issues with some of my SPS frags. Some bleach, some fade, some die and some bleach strictly at the tips. I'm trying to troubleshoot. I would like to resolve some of my issues before buying more frags.

My system:
Red Sea Reefer 250 about 60g total water
Setup Feb 2017
Pukani rock had been cured for 3-4 months (after an acid bath) prior to setup
Simplicity Skimmer cleaned biweekly
Kamoera 2-Part Doser (BRS calcium and Alk)
1 bag of chemipure elite for phos control changed every other month
*** Geisemann Aurora Hybrid fixture average PAR 225-270 MAX
Sicce 3.0 Return
EchoTech Mp40 x2 @ 60-70%, Jebao RW4
Carib Sea Bimihi Pink Sand 2"

Parameters:
Alk 7.8-8.0
Cal 440
Mag 1200
Nitrate 3-4
Phos 0.009
Ph 8.0-8.1
Temp 78-79F
8g water change every 1-2 weeks

Fish: 1 kole Tang, 1 hawkfish, 1 jawfish, 3 firefish
1 Fighting Konch, 6-10 Astrea snails, 6 or so red hermits, 3-4 nasarius snails
All frags dipped in Bayer before placement

*** I was thinking my issues stemmed from my lighting. The Geisemann seemed rather low PAR. I purchased a 6 bulb ATI Sunpower about a week ago and my MAX PAR went from about 270 to 410 with the Sunpower. I'm acclimating slow with my 2 blue+ on channel 1 On for 12 hours. The other channel turns on for only 2 hours. I'm going to increase channel 2 to 1/2-1 hour a week until I'm at 8 hours.

Anything that you would tweak?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Bump mag up to 1300-1350

Remove all carbon and gfo for about a month. Need to try and see where your nutrients are falling. Your water seems too clean. If your nutrients aren't raising a whole lot, you might not need the extra filtration.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yup^^^^^

Maybe limit your photo period.
How's the corraline coming in?

 

[maroun.c]

Try to check frequently for alk temp or PH swings.aybe a large water change to offset anything that has accumulated or sending a sample For ICP testing

 

[SashimiTurtle]

+1 to what @reeferfoxx said.

I would remove the chemipure, and do a 20% water change with salt that matches your tank parameters every week until things look better. Just in case anything is off, that'll help reset it without shocking the system. Purigen and chemipure did the same thing to my tank. Too little nutrients. Get some SPS specific food to bump up some nutrients if normal fish feeding doesn't get it.

 

[MrSkumfrog]

Yup^^^^^

Maybe limit your photo period.
How's the corraline coming in?

There's a moderate amount of coraline. I'll post pics later.

 

[Bacon505]

Photo?

 

[jda]

When the coralline is thriving, then that is a good time for acropora to thrive. MBP&S can do ok when coralline is starting to show.