How do my parameters look?

[Pennywise the Clown]

I have been having a tough time with my acros lately. I've lost a Strawberry Shortcake and a milliepora and my surviving acro corals are not looking too good.
I have a reefer 250, running 2 Hydra 26's on the BRS AB+ spectrum and my acros are all at the top of my rockwork, 16" beneath my lights. There is plenty of flow, random and non direct.
I have started dosing Reef Energy A and B, though not the full recommended dose.

1.025
Nitrates 10
Phosphates 0.15
Alk 8.0
Calc 430
Mag 1280

Tips seem to be dying and brown algae forms on them. My Garf Bonsai, was a lovely purple colour with bright green polyps, is now totally brown with no polyp extention. It is still basing out on the rock work though.

 

[ScottR]

There’s so much more to keeping SPS beyond parameters. Pics, size of system, type of system, equipment, etc will help. Also, there are so many other parameters beyond the main ones.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

There’s so much more to keeping SPS beyond parameters. Pics, size of system, type of system, equipment, etc will help. Also, there are so many other parameters beyond the main ones.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

Reefer 250.
I've always had an issue with very low nutrients which caused a dino outbreak last year. I'm now feeding much more and my recent phosphate and nitrate readings are the highest they have ever been.
I was using Red Sea coral pro salt and was keeping my alk at around 10 but this, coupled with my low nutrients (at the time) burnt the tips on my acros.
Now using Blue Bucket, 10% water change a week.
RODI water, 0 TDS.

If there is any more info needed I will do my best to provide it.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

Before and after shot

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

 

[SeaDweller]

How old is your system? Based off the listed parameters, all seem ok. Are you sure your lights are sufficient?

 

[ScottR]

Funny how you mention RS coral pro. I had an issue with high alk and crazy alk swings with coral pro. My alk was always high. When I’d do water changes, it threw my alk way off. Alk swings can be deadly for SPS. I switched to the blue bucket and stabilised my alk after awhile. Only after that switch was I able to keep and grow SPS.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

How old is your system? Based off the listed parameters, all seem ok. Are you sure your lights are sufficient?

System is 18 months old.
The lights are bugging me. Being in the UK, nobody rents out par meters. I don't know of anyone who owns one.
I'm going by the par database on here and I'm guessing that the top of my rocks is getting 250. That is going off other reefers readings.
Unfortunately, I could be way off. One way or another.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

Is it possible to have too much flow?
I have a max turnover rate of 80x tank volume.
I know I won't get close to that due to them never running at 100% but I try to get the flow to converge above my acros, and limit the flow that fits my hammers and zoas.
My very hairy millepora has lost all polyp extension apart from the tips and my other millie RTN'd.

 

[jda]

While everybody knows that I am not a fan of LED only for acropora, they are not causing death nor are they likely too powerful. The stuff should still grow and look OK. I would not worry about the lights too much.

Have you checked your refractometer, make sure that your temp reading is accurate and all of the basic stuff? Do you have any rare-earth (powerful) magnets that are rusting in the tank - any EcoTech stuff? Are you using any organic carbon, GFO or other chemicals or media?

Cannot really measure flow in turnover per gallons. Kinda gotta know the types of pumps and where they area. For example, I can use a Mag 12 in my display, which is only about 1200 GPH on my 240G, or 5x turnover, but the velocity is strong enough to peel tissue off of any SPS. On the converse, a Dolphin 9600 with 9600 GPH with too many 1.5" outlets will barely move any water at all in the tank and it moves a massive amount of water.

 

[Magellan]

What’s your photo period look like?

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

While everybody knows that I am not a fan of LED only for acropora, they are not causing death nor are they likely too powerful. The stuff should still grow and look OK. I would not worry about the lights too much.

Have you checked your refractometer, make sure that your temp reading is accurate and all of the basic stuff? Do you have any rare-earth (powerful) magnets that are rusting in the tank - any EcoTech stuff? Are you using any organic carbon, GFO or other chemicals or media?

Cannot really measure flow in turnover per gallons. Kinda gotta know the types of pumps and where they area. For example, I can use a Mag 12 in my display, which is only about 1200 GPH on my 240G, or 5x turnover, but the velocity is strong enough to peel tissue off of any SPS. On the converse, a Dolphin 9600 with 9600 GPH with too many 1.5" outlets will barely move any water at all in the tank and it moves a massive amount of water.

Temp probe double checked, Digital Hanna salinity checker verified with my refractometer.
Nothing rusting that I can see, no Ecotech gear.
Activated carbon running in the sump and dosing Vibrant once a week to remove a bit of GHA, which is slowly receding.
I have a TMC Reef Tide (it's a uk pump) which seems incredibly powerful. I've just lowered it to its lowest setting and there is still plenty of water movement around my acros. Maybe I was over doing it?

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

What’s your photo period look like?

It's the Hydra 26 AB+ setting which is very popular amongst Ai users.

 

[jda]

The Vibrant is likely your issue, or one of them. I would wean yourself off of it over the next week, or two. Organic carbon dosing is only for the super experienced and to fix a few very specific problems - it usually causes more issues for people trying to use it in general situations. If you are going to dose organic carbon, then it has to be steady and constant, not just once a week.

If you have a bit of algae, then get some more consumers - I have about .1 nitrate and .01 phosphate and algae will grow in my tank like crazy without the urchins and snails. Urchins are wonderful workhorses in the reef tank.

I looked at every model of the Reef Tide - none of them look too strong. Don't sweat this.

The whole thing with wanting to feed more, elevated N and P, running granular carbon and dosing organic carbon is a bit non sequitur to me. Seems like you need to pick a path because this looks like trying ride about three horses at the same time.

 

[Magellan]

Only thing that jumps out at me is the Vibrant (a small percentage of people seem to have issues) and potentially too much flow.

edit: I second the urchins!

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

I thought Vibrant was a bacterial solution and not a carbon based one?
I'm only dosing 6ml weekly, could that be enough to cause problems?

 

[jda]

IMO, they are totally full of ****. We looked at Vibrant under three different microscopes and never once saw any bacteria. They posted photos of bacteria, so we though that we would be able to see them too, but nope. What other bacteria product have you ever seen that has no shelf life and does not need to be refrigerated or otherwise handled in a timely fashion? It is most likely just ethanol and some other type of bacteria fuel - or- an algaecide that is somewhat reef safe since it has caused damage to some corals in some tanks, but nothing in others.

In any case, I would never use it in my tanks since they will not tell me what is in it... and what they did say was a lie. They have a right not to tell me exactly what they used, but if it an algaecide, then I want to know this.

Take this all with a few grains of salt since i know for sure that they lied about what is in Purge, so perhaps I have an unhealthy trust of them. Factor this into your decision to do anything with what I just posted.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

IMO, they are totally full of ****. We looked at Vibrant under three different microscopes and never once saw any bacteria. They posted photos of bacteria, so we though that we would be able to see them too, but nope. What other bacteria product have you ever seen that has no shelf life and does not need to be refrigerated or otherwise handled in a timely fashion? It is most likely just ethanol and some other type of bacteria fuel - or- an algaecide that is somewhat reef safe since it has caused damage to some corals in some tanks, but nothing in others.

In any case, I would never use it in my tanks since they will not tell me what is in it... and what they did say was a lie. They have a right not to tell me exactly what they used, but if it an algaecide, then I want to know this.

Take this all with a few grains of salt since i know for sure that they lied about what is in Purge, so perhaps I have an unhealthy trust of them. Factor this into your decision to do anything with what I just posted.

Wow, that's incredibly interesting.
Unfortunately I have just done my weekly dose but I think that it will be my last one.
I will have to try urchins as as of yet I have never found any cuc that touch algae in my display.

 

[Pennywise the Clown]

A quick search reveals a few people having issues with acros and vibrant.
One reefer lost all his coraline algae which I can definitely relate to. I probably have 10% of my coraline remaining. It started falling off in sheets.