Need some advice on SPS success

[xCry0x]

Yup yup ICP test ordered. Ended up going with the ATI one since Amazon sells it with free same day delivery and it includes a return label.

Interested to see results -- will probably be out of town when they come back though! Which sucks because I'll be able to see what is wrong (maybe?) and not able to do anything about it haha..

 

[ajhudson15]

I don't believe that the temp would be a problem. There are a lot of people on here that I have seen with really nice SPS tanks that run in the lower 80's

 

[xCry0x]

I don't believe that the temp would be a problem. There are a lot of people on here that I have seen with really nice SPS tanks that run in the lower 80's

Yea, before I got a chiller my temp would usually be a lot higher than that.. not saying it was a good thing or my corals loved it. But I'd see temps spike to 86ish during the day in the summer.

Got the chiller more than anything to just eliminate one more variable from the, "Why do SPS hate my tank?" equation. Temp stability no longer an issue =)

I did go drop the temp controller down to 79 from 79.5 so it should hold it in the 78.5-79.5 range.

 

[Reefer40b]

I have been running 79-80 on my tank and SPS have just been thriving, really don't think your issues are temp related at all.

 

[Reefltx]

I don’t think temp is your problem unless you’re having a considerably large swings. Seems like you’re doing everything right. Hopefully, your ICP results can bring some light on what’s going on. Btw, do you run carbon?

 

[xCry0x]

I don’t think temp is your problem unless you’re having a considerably large swings. Seems like you’re doing everything right. Hopefully, your ICP results can bring some light on what’s going on. Btw, do you run carbon?

Yea, I run BRS ROX in a bag.

--

ICP test in the mail. Gotta love Amazon same day delivery =)

 

[trido]

I've been an SPS grower for 12 years. I run temps from 77-80 depending on the season. I try to keep temp swings within 2 degrees. I blast my corals with light for 13 hours a day. I've had my Dkh as high as 16 (minor problems of course) and as low as 6.5 in the last year alone. I only test for Dkh regularly. I do regular WC's and run a Ca reactor so chemistry balance isnt really a concern for me.


The one thing I have not seen mentioned in this thread........ Flow! What do you have for flow?

Not only do I blast my corals with light, I blast them with flow. From 60-100x turn over is great for SPS. My LPS and softies struggle if I dont feed coral food regularly.

 

[xCry0x]

I have 6 small fish - so light bioload. Fairly heavy circulation, with a Gyre & 2 return pumps running at I believe 500 or 700 gph -- can't remember if they are Sicce 3s or not.

=). Sorry wasn't the easiest line to pick out since it was buried in other rambling.

I run the Gyre at about 50% because otherwise my fish all hide on the other side of the tank -- well they usually hide on the otherside anyway.

Given there is headloss in one pump because it runs the chiller; its about 50-60x turnover.

 

[trido]

What size of Gyre is it? How many gallon tank? I missed those details. FWIW, I run a Gyre 230 at 100% peak in my 35G grow tank. I also run a Gyre 250 at 100% peak in my 90 gallon grow tank. Both SPS , no LR to slow flow, just racks and coral. My fish do just fine.

 

[xCry0x]

I actually had a clown get sucked into it and die =(. I have small fish -- 2 juvi clowns, YWG, Blue star leopard, a flameback angel and a cardinal. (No, the angel is not nipping the sps.. I actually have decent PE)

Hm, I guess I hadn't paid a ton of attention. Its one of the knock off CP-40s -- I believe those are more in the 3000 GPH range (allegedly)

So at 50% + return pumps that would take the flow down to more in the 30-40x range.

The tank is only 36" long so the gyre can blast end to end fairly easily.

Too low of flow is an interesting thought though. I'll play around with bumping it up a bit in addition to getting the water test results.

-edit-

Its a red sea max 250 so officially 66g tank. That includes the rear chamber. The display is 36" x 16"

 

[ycnibrc]

trust me low phosphate and nitrate are a bad combo for sps corals. I see more tank has trouble with low level than high. Turn off GFO feed more and add amino supplement. Your base parameters are fine just need a little more nutrient.

 

[xCry0x]

I've had my Dkh as high as 16 (minor problems of course) and as low as 6.5 in the last year alone. I only test for Dkh regularly. I do regular WC's and run a Ca reactor so chemistry balance isnt really a concern for me.

On that note - ya. When I first started I was horrible at testing -- I remember testing alk one time and being SHOCKED to see it test at something like 3-4 Dkh.

I didn't have any difficult SPS corals - but I had a spongodes that was growing fine as well as a birdsnest that was growing away.

That is what has me annoyed more than anything though! Here I am years later, more experienced and much more dedicated to stability and correct parameters. Things still unhappy.

 

[xCry0x]

Got ICP results back:

- Strontium was 2.01 mg/l (8.27 recommended)
- Iodine was 20.67 µg/l (67 recommended)
- Molydbenum was 2.24 µg/l (12 recommended)
- Phosphorus was 3.5 (8 recommended)

The feedback commentary ATI provided was that phosphorus may be limited, remove GFO and maybe add phosphorus.

Nitrate was also tested at 0.7 mg/l -- so overall the water was nutrient low.

Not sure how big of an impact the trace element deficiencies are.

As for pollutants, the only one that popped up was Aluminium at 33.9 µg/l - not sure what is safe for that. Their test says 0.10 but also didn't actually flag it as bad. Also had 4.71 µg/l Tin; which I thought was a pollutant but they mark it as a trace element.

 

[Crimson]

Got ICP results back:

As for pollutants, the only one that popped up was Aluminium at 33.9 µg/l - not sure what is safe for that. Their test says 0.10 but also didn't actually flag it as bad. Also had 4.71 µg/l Tin; which I thought was a pollutant but they mark it as a trace element.

You can read Randy's article here: https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/7/chemistry

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aluminium-best-way-to-lower-it.290509/

So, your 33.9 µg/l is equal to .0339 ppm. The link above some had it far higher.

Not sure if this applies to you or not https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/marine-pure-does-release-some-form-of-al-into-tank.355397/

 

[xCry0x]

Yea - it seems that 100+ µg/l is where you start to see issues.

I did swap to Phosguard instead of GFO -- I rarely run it though. Found phosguard far easier to use though since it has larger particles.

I also had a marinepure block a while back but removed it due to concerns around leeching aluminium =)