Help with Sps please

renato120 · May 7, 2016

Hey guys, my sps's are bleaching. Some are bleaching from the botton, and some bleaching from the tips. Here are my parameters.
CA 410
Alk 10
MAG 1350
No3 elos test kit says 1. API says 10
PO4 0.22 checking with a low range milwaukee tester.
Salinity 1.025
Lighting is 8x54w ATI lights from 9am to 8pm
Only problem is with sps's. Lps's are fine.
What could be the problem?

renato120 · May 7, 2016

Some Pics:

renato120 · May 7, 2016

Is 0.22 bad for phosphates? Should I start using GFO?
I do run carbon in a reactor.

Diesel · May 7, 2016

Mmmm, your # are not completely out of wack.
What kind of salt are you using?
What is your temperature?
PH in the morning and later afternoon.
How do you dose ALK, CAL and MAG and what do you use for that?
If No3 sits at 1. and ALK at 10 you probably burn your SPS.
With low No3 it's recommended you run your ALK at 8 or below that but I dodn't recommend to go below 7.5.
How long have the SPS been in the tank?

Can you post some pics up from the troubled corals?

Diesel · May 7, 2016

renato120 said:
Is 0.22 bad for phosphates? Should I start using GFO?
I do run carbon in a reactor.

How many Gallons is this tank?
0.22 can be high and I recommend to lower that with doing water changes.
Take your AC (activated carbon) of line for the time being, what kind of AC do you use.
GFO isn't bad in this case to lower but don't do it to fast.
Just hang a mesh filter bag in a fast gyre in your sump.

I would take a coral or two and dip it just in case to see for pest.

renato120 · May 7, 2016

Diesel said:
Mmmm, your # are not completely out of wack.
What kind of salt are you using?
What is your temperature?
PH in the morning and later afternoon.
How do you dose ALK, CAL and MAG and what do you use for that?
If No3 sits at 1. and ALK at 10 you probably burn your SPS.
With low No3 it's recommended you run your ALK at 8 or below that but I dodn't recommend to go below 7.5.
How long have the SPS been in the tank?

Can you post some pics up from the troubled corals?

Diesel said:
How many Gallons is this tank?
0.22 can be high and I recommend to lower that with doing water changes.
Take your AC (activated carbon) of line for the time being, what kind of AC do you use.
GFO isn't bad in this case to lower but don't do it to fast.
Just hang a mesh filter bag in a fast gyre in your sump.

I would take a coral or two and dip it just in case to see for pest.

Im using red sea coral pro.
Temp is between 78/78.7
PH in the morning around 8.0 afternoon around 8.25/8.30
I dose ALK and CA I dose every 3 hours to keep them steady as possible. I use brs dosers.
I use all brs products for ca and alk.
I never dose MAG. Its usually Where it should be.
Some sps's are here for over a year, some less. They are all bleaching.
Tank is 120g with a 40g sump.
I use seachem matrix AC .
Im Pretty sure no pests.
What dosage do you recommend for gfo? I dont have a mesh filter bag. I do have a reactor.

renato120 · May 7, 2016

I did post some pics! Not sure if its showing. Let me know if you can see the pics.

Diesel · May 7, 2016

Did see the pics and your SPS are in bad shape.
All to me points in a direction of a out of balance system.
Looking at a large ALK swing some time ago that did the damage and they not recovering either.
I don't use GFO as I never trust it, sure it can do the job but I heard plenty of horror stories with it.
On a 120 i just recommend not more than a half a cup of GFO.
Never say never on pest even you QT the corals.
Need to look in all corners on this moment as you are far in with the damage.

Did you do a Co2 test in the room where your tank is?
High Co2 can be a problem to for SPS.
I always recommend to have your skimmer air supply coming from the outside.

Lets drop this for a few more eyes on it at the [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

hybridazn · May 7, 2016

Any magnets in the tank from frag racks or impellers that could be rusting?

Sabellafella · May 7, 2016

Do you use the dimmable? First things first, i would Deffinitly drop the lighting schedule, my ati lights peak out 5 hours a day and are on for 8. Any more then that my sps will either turn brown or bleach. Also thats signs of a pest, the skin is gone in some spots and the coral didnt rtn either. .22 isnt high enuff to cause rtn/stn like that. I would dip every coral, get a second test kit for alk, and if its not a pest it could be bacteria witch is a pain + will have to wait it out.

Sabellafella · May 7, 2016

Quick question @renato120 how often do you do water changes? Is the salt mix a new bucket?

Anthony kolodziej · May 7, 2016

I would dip a couple and see if anything comes off . Other than that po4 is a bit high but not terrible .

twilliard · May 7, 2016

Send off for a triton icp test. Eliminate the guess of elements.
My first impression.. pests

renato120 · May 7, 2016

Diesel said:
Did see the pics and your SPS are in bad shape.
All to me points in a direction of a out of balance system.
Looking at a large ALK swing some time ago that did the damage and they not recovering either.
I don't use GFO as I never trust it, sure it can do the job but I heard plenty of horror stories with it.
On a 120 i just recommend not more than a half a cup of GFO.
Never say never on pest even you QT the corals.
Need to look in all corners on this moment as you are far in with the damage.

Did you do a Co2 test in the room where your tank is?
High Co2 can be a problem to for SPS.
I always recommend to have your skimmer air supply coming from the outside.

Lets drop this for a few more eyes on it at the [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG]

I did had a alk swing a couple months ago. It was @14 and I slowly drop to 10. Its been at 10 steady now.
I lost a couple corals a few weeks later. But it stopped, and now most of them are bleaching at the same time. I used the brs calculater for gfo. It says 1.88 cups. I did one cup.
There is no way I can run a air from outside to the skimmer. Tank is in a basement with a small window. The window is too far away from the tank. I never tested the co2. I dont even know how to do it.

renato120 · May 7, 2016

hybridazn said:
Any magnets in the tank from frag racks or impellers that could be rusting?

no magnets. I have a new glass cleaner only.

BoneXriffic · May 7, 2016

Plan to try the dip soon?

renato120 · May 7, 2016

Sabellafella said:
Do you use the dimmable? First things first, i would Deffinitly drop the lighting schedule, my ati lights peak out 5 hours a day and are on for 8. Any more then that my sps will either turn brown or bleach. Also thats signs of a pest, the skin is gone in some spots and the coral didnt rtn either. .22 isnt high enuff to cause rtn/stn like that. I would dip every coral, get a second test kit for alk, and if its not a pest it could be bacteria witch is a pain + will have to wait it out.

I do not use the dimmable. The corals that its not bleaching have a nice color. Even the ones its bleaching still a nice color. My par meter doesnt read anything more than 400. Even the corals righ at the top doesnt get to 400. I dint think Its a light issue.