Is this a lost cause

jphilip813 · Sep 3, 2020

so as I am currently in the final stages on my rebuilding, I noticed my SPS, montepora has Not being looking the same, I also noticed the maroon sludge of nuisance algea under my hammer we all dread (i actually don't know what the name of this is) but it is ****** annoying...the color of the montepora has obviously changed and I wanted to know is there any hope for it or should I just remove it and toss it out?

120 mixed reef, 2 mp40 QD, neptune system with trident alk 9.37, CA 482 MAG 1290, PH 8.18 at night,, 8.31 during the day average. Phosphates .04ppm, nitrates 25 (40 gallon sump with aquamaxx skimmer, bio pearls, weekly water changes

Algaewarrior · Sep 3, 2020

I may be wrong but I want to say montipora like a fair amount of magnesium which seems a little low in your case in proportion to your alk and ca. Also I think your nitrates are way to high in proportion to your phosphate. I have seen people run very high nitrates (like 50) but their phosphates are high as well (like 2). Than from Tidal Gardens run his system like this. From research that I have done about chemistry in reef tanks everything has to have a balance. Lou from fauna marin has a very good (and long) presentation about this from macna.

Yas · Sep 3, 2020

Algaewarrior said:
I may be wrong but I want to say montipora like a fair amount of magnesium which seems a little low in your case in proportion to your alk and ca. Also I think your nitrates are way to high in proportion to your phosphate. I have seen people run very high nitrates (like 50) but their phosphates are high as well (like 2). Than from Tidal Gardens run his system like this. From research that I have done about chemistry in reef tanks everything has to have a balance. Lou from fauna marin has a very good (and long) presentation about this from macna.

Thank you for sharing this video! This is one of the most amazing lectures I watched for saltwater chemistry.

jphilip813 · Sep 3, 2020

Algaewarrior said:
I may be wrong but I want to say montipora like a fair amount of magnesium which seems a little low in your case in proportion to your alk and ca. Also I think your nitrates are way to high in proportion to your phosphate. I have seen people run very high nitrates (like 50) but their phosphates are high as well (like 2). Than from Tidal Gardens run his system like this. From research that I have done about chemistry in reef tanks everything has to have a balance. Lou from fauna marin has a very good (and long) presentation about this from macna.

Thanks for the assistance, I will increase my Magnesesium. Do you think it is a lost cause or can it be recovered?

LesPoissons · Sep 3, 2020

Can you move a power head to increase the flow? My montis seem to live high flow areas. It may not be a lost cause. Boost your mag, see if you can boost flow without angering the other corals, maybe run carbon if you don’t already and see what happens. I also dropped my alk (slowly) from 9.5 to 8.5 and they seemed happier- but that’s just my tank.

Algaewarrior · Sep 3, 2020

my montipora has looked worse and recovered. Not a lost cause.

Algaewarrior · Sep 3, 2020

Yas said:
Thank you for sharing this video! This is one of the most amazing lectures I watched for saltwater chemistry.

It changed the way I look at reef chemistry for sure. Glad you liked it

Charlie’s Frags · Sep 4, 2020

jphilip813 said:
so as I am currently in the final stages on my rebuilding, I noticed my SPS, montepora has Not being looking the same, I also noticed the maroon sludge of nuisance algea under my hammer we all dread (i actually don't know what the name of this is) but it is ****** annoying...the color of the montepora has obviously changed and I wanted to know is there any hope for it or should I just remove it and toss it out?

120 mixed reef, 2 mp40 QD, neptune system with trident alk 9.37, CA 482 MAG 1290, PH 8.18 at night,, 8.31 during the day average. Phosphates .04ppm, nitrates 25 (40 gallon sump with aquamaxx skimmer, bio pearls, weekly water changes

How long have you been using the bio pearls?

jphilip813 · Sep 4, 2020

Chaswood79 said:
How long have you been using the bio pearls?

Thx for the reply, I would say close to six weeks now...and I also use (Clear FX Pro, Red Sea Carbon as well as Cheato)

jphilip813 · Sep 4, 2020

Algaewarrior said:
my montipora has looked worse and recovered. Not a lost cause.

Thanks for the reassurance...

Charlie’s Frags · Sep 4, 2020

jphilip813 said:
Thx for the reply, I would say close to six weeks now...and I also use (Clear FX Pro, Red Sea Carbon as well as Cheato)

That’s what caused it. Get rid of those bio pearls if you want to save your sps

jphilip813 · Sep 4, 2020

Chaswood79 said:
That’s what caused it. Get rid of those bio pearls if you want to save your sps

HUH? are you serious? Do not use Bio pearls?

Charlie’s Frags · Sep 4, 2020

jphilip813 said:
HUH? are you serious? Do not use Bio pearls?

They’re bio pellets correct? You’re starving your sps. You added them 6 weeks ago and now your sps are dying. Seems pretty obvious to me.

Hincapiej4 · Sep 4, 2020

Chaswood79 said:
They’re bio pellets correct? You’re starving your sps.

Hey! Maybe they need to lose weight! Everyone has gained a little recently. But at least most people have the good graces to not mention it! (I'm sorry I'm all weird today.)

Charlie’s Frags · Sep 4, 2020

Hincapiej4 said:
Hey! Maybe they need to lose weight! Everyone has gained a little recently. But at least most people have the good graces to not mention it! (I'm sorry I'm all weird today.)

Bikini season is almost over.

jphilip813 · Sep 4, 2020

Chaswood79 said:
They’re bio pellets correct? You’re starving your sps. You added them 6 weeks ago and now your sps are dying. Seems pretty obvious to me.

oh ok, i will take them down today...what about that marron colored algea on the rock under the green hammer?...i also see it on various rock in the back...none on the sandbed though

Charlie’s Frags · Sep 4, 2020

jphilip813 said:
oh ok, i will take them down today...what about that marron colored algea on the rock under the green hammer?...i also see it on various rock in the back...none on the sandbed though

Hard to give an definitive id but it looks like cyano. Probably caused by the bio pellets as well. Carbon dosing caused all kinds of surprises when I tried it. It did lower my no3/po4 but it killed or nearly killed all my sps in the process. Not a very good trade off if you ask me. Now my no3 fluctuates between 10 and 25 and my po4 between 0.10 and 0.25 and my sps love every bit of it.