Need help sps dying.

[KingTriton]

Wouldn't the closeness of the light depend on the fixture itself? Example an ATI will be much different than a Coralife fixture in terms of output. I ask because I just set up a 20 long which is 12'' with a 4 bulb aquatic life fixture with legs (only a few inches above the water surface). Would this be too much? (not trying to hijack)

 

[De Michieli]

I am running a 2 bulb t5 solar flare and a current orbit marine led and i consider my tank on the lower par spectrum for sps but I still always start them in the sand bed for at least a week. Just take time. SPS can adapt to A LOT OF LIGHT if done over a period of time.

 

[Y2KReef]

With API, the number of drops is your ALK. 13 is high by most reefers standards. Reef Crystals is good salt. I would stop dosing till your ALK comes down.

 

[De Michieli]

I run my ALK around 7-8

 

[twilliard]

I think the OP needs a little help understanding.
There are a few things that are way off

How are you getting a reading of over 200 on the ALK. The only thing I know that will give that number is a hanna.
Next it is stated you dont dose ALK but you say you are dosing 2 part??
And also you are dosing both vodka and vinegar in what amount? 30ml combined in a 90g daily is massive!
So the beginning of this thread just does not add up.

 

[brownsalt92]

I think the OP needs a little help understanding.
There are a few things that are way off

How are you getting a reading of over 200 on the ALK. The only thing I know that will give that number is a hanna.
Next it is stated you dont dose ALK but you say you are dosing 2 part??
And also you are dosing both vodka and vinegar in what amount? 30ml combined in a 90g daily is massive!
So the beginning of this thread just does not add up.

Okay what would you recommend for dosing vinegar and vodka on a 90 gallon? Sorry the beginning of the thread is messed up. I am pretty new to sps. I do not add any alk or calcium to the tank. I was just stating the product that I have on my shelf. I've only had to add some mag. I do bi weekly water change 10 gallon with reef Chrystal's.
I DO NOT ADD ANY ALK or CA. My mess up.
I just bought a jeboa wp 40 for in the tank BC it is pretty moderate flow and I think I can switch out the mp 10 for the wp 40 BC I do beleave I need more flow.
I also will stand up the sps in the sand and work them up in the tank week by week with frag racks.

 

[brownsalt92]

With API, the number of drops is your ALK. 13 is high by most reefers standards. Reef Crystals is good salt. I would stop dosing till your ALK comes down.

Using the api test 1 drop =17.9 kh I'm around 232 kh with this test I'm gonna buy a good test kit for alk that you guy recommended

 

[brownsalt92]

Where I bought the sps from it was in 2 250 gallon tanks with 3 mh on each tank my t5 is 324 w cheap unit from eBay bought for 165 bucks way better than the power compacts I had on the tank when I bought it

 

[brownsalt92]

Get a good ALK test kit. Salifert or Redsea.

Switch salts to Tropic Marin Pro, or to Instant Ocean. Keep ALK around 8-8.7 Ca 380-420.
IMO

Alk swings are the probably the most likely event that can happen that will cause sps to die without careful attention. Api has some great test kits like their calcium test kit it's much easier than the Red Sea. But do yourself a favor if you want SPS corals and buy the Red Sea Alk test kit. You need to get your tanks demands dailed in. Once you do that you can test once a week unless something looks off which is what I do. If your alk is at 13 you want to decrease this slowly. To have sps grow you need 4 things

Stability
Alk and calc levels
Flow
Lighting


Good luck

So I bought a red sea test kit for alk today I used 1 ml of the solution
Which would mean its at a 14.
The test went from blue to orange. But I couldn't get it to go pink like videos online.

 

[1fstnsx]

This is just my opinion...I was dosing 20-25ml per day of vinegar..all of a sudden all my sps tips were bleached or palling out, lps was palling to. As soon as I stopped going vinegar, they all colored back up within a couple days. If your nitrates are at 0, there's no need for vinegar.

Just what I've experienced. If everything you say is stable, and your alk isn't super high, your probably starving your corals.

 

[Lorne]

I had high alk levels started using ro/di water it test at 8 dkh. Tap water 13-14 dkh.

 

[bobbyM]

NEVER dose anything or for anything you don't test for. Good rule of thumb.

 

[Wolff92]

Yeah depending on the age of the regent the color might not be exact but all your really looking for is the change. 14 is extremely high. I would stop dosing Alk and let it drop naturally. Also check you PH to see where that is. As previously stated you must test anything you add into the water column. The only reason I don't test everyday is because I know how much my tank uses on a daily basis. I still test on a weekly basis tho to make sure there are no issues.

 

[jvb89]

I think the OP needs a little help understanding.
There are a few things that are way off

How are you getting a reading of over 200 on the ALK. The only thing I know that will give that number is a hanna.
Next it is stated you dont dose ALK but you say you are dosing 2 part??
And also you are dosing both vodka and vinegar in what amount? 30ml combined in a 90g daily is massive!
So the beginning of this thread just does not add up.

+1 if you aren't testing nitrates and phosphates and your adding that much vinegar and vodka your corals are terribly starved. FYI I have a 180g with a large bio load and only dose 20ml as a max dose of red sea nopox(it's basically a vodka/vinegar mix)

Yeah depending on the age of the regent the color might not be exact but all your really looking for is the change. 14 is extremely high. I would stop dosing Alk and let it drop naturally. Also check you PH to see where that is. As previously stated you must test anything you add into the water column. The only reason I don't test everyday is because I know how much my tank uses on a daily basis. I still test on a weekly basis tho to make sure there are no issues.

 

[brownsalt92]

+1 if you aren't testing nitrates and phosphates and your adding that much vinegar and vodka your corals are terribly starved. FYI I have a 180g with a large bio load and only dose 20ml as a max dose of red sea nopox(it's basically a vodka/vinegar mix)

What do you guys use for active carbon?

 

[jvb89]

I don't use any. The nopox keeps my water clear

 

[brownsalt92]

I don't use any. The nopox keeps my water clear

So should I just change out my phosban or switch to active carbon? In your opinion

 

[jvb89]

I would get a good test kit and test your nitrates and phosphates. I personally use and like the Red Sea pro nitrate and phosphate kit

 

[jvb89]

I also don't use any gfo.

 

[Robink]

Why are you doing water change twice a week? Once weekly should be fine. Reef crystals has high alk IMO. I use it also and noticed the first time I did water change (previouly used Instant Ocean) with it my alk went up. Once you stabilize the sps can recover. I tested my alk daily till I got it fine tuned.