No more polyp extension?

[zchauvin]

So I've been having three sps for about two weeks now. I noticed this morning before lights on that a few coral looked a little different. With lights on after x amount of hours I'm still not seeing any PE on my sps which had been full of PE previously. I upped the lighting a little two days ago and added a chemipure blue about a week ago. Those were the only two changes. Tested nitrates with Red Sea and got <2ppm. Alk is the same as it has been at 9.5 (Red Sea). I also noticed some browning of my red planet frag. I'm assuming I may have increased the lighting too fast?

Tank is a Nuvo 10g with Kessil 160.

 

[Scorpius]

Any change can lead to a stressed, browned out Acropora. I recently adjusted my dosing pump and I forgot to put it back into auto so I didn't dose Ca/Alk for almost 48 hrs. 8.0 dkh to 6.4 dkh drop has led to stn on some of my Acropora and I hope I don't wake up tomorrow to more tissue loss.

 

[zchauvin]

Yeah I know they are finicky and this is not the best system to try and keep any sps but they were doing good for a while. I do not have a phosphate kit yet but do have a Hannah low range in the mail. Perhaps I dropped the nutrients too quickly with addition of the chemipure blue? I have dialed back the light to what it was before hand and will see if it makes a difference.

 

[Scorpius]

Yeah I know they are finicky and this is not the best system to try and keep any sps but they were doing good for a while. I do not have a phosphate kit yet but do have a Hannah low range in the mail. Perhaps I dropped the nutrients too quickly with addition of the chemipure blue? I have dialed back the light to what it was before hand and will see if it makes a difference.

One thing I've been told but been terrible at following is only change one thing at a time.

 

[zchauvin]

Ok so I got my Hannah phosphate checker in today.

Went to LFS and got my two other frags ( orange passion and blue milli ) as well as 5g or RO/DI. Got home and mixed up 2.5g of salt to 1.026. Did a water change and these are what tests show after.

Sg : 1.026
Alk : 8.4
Ca : 430
Po4 : 0.00
Nitrate : <2 (Red Sea)

This was my first time using the Hannah meter but I think I did everything correctly.

I dosed some reef roids to try and add something back into the tank since apparently I have close to 0 nutrients. I have 2 bangai cardinals that I feed once a day. What else can I / should I do to get some PE back. The last thing I thought I would have in a nano tank was too low of nutrients..

 

[ycnibrc]

Realisticly how long do u think u can keep Sps alive and thrive in a 10g tank?

 

[erk]

Realisticly how long do u think u can keep Sps alive and thrive in a 10g tank?

There are plenty of people that are successful with smaller tanks. Especially with all of the new tech and better understanding of corals needs. Just need to be diligent.

 

[zchauvin]

Ok well for those who think this is realistically possible here are my parameters one week later, no dosing and after removal of chemipure blue.

Sg - 1.026
Alk - 8.4
Ca - 430ppm
Po4 - 0.00
No3 - 5ppm

All tests were done with Red Sea kits, phosphate with Hannah low range.

 

[jx.reef]

Those numbers seen fine as long as you keep it stable. People have kept sps in jars with proper maintenance. I'd be a little concerned about your nutrients getting out of whack in a 10g if it went from under 2 to 5 in just a week

 

[zchauvin]

Those numbers seen fine as long as you keep it stable. People have kept sps in jars with proper maintenance. I'd be a little concerned about your nutrients getting out of whack in a 10g if it went from under 2 to 5 in just a week

Wait did you read anything before replying?

 

[Rick.45cal]

You need some phosphate and that should perk things up a bit. Feed man feed!

 

[zchauvin]

You need some phosphate and that should perk things up a bit. Feed man feed!

Trying man. Only two fish and I'm dumping in food plus the reef roids and reef frenzy and the Red Sea A+B. Trying to up the nutrients anyway possible. Thinking I'll do water changes every other week. Hoping my nitrates get up to 10 in another week. Going to shoot for 5 after a water change.

I am seeing a tad more polyp extension even on my half dead red planet. It took the biggest hit for sure since I browned it out with too high light.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Phosphate deficiency in the presence of ample nitrates with bright light is probably one of the worst nutrient situations you can be in. The damge done is swift and unlike NO3 deficiency, not so rapidly repaired, there's usually dead tissue involved instead of just a bleaching event.

You can always add some phosphates via Brightwell Aquatics NeoPhos, or you can get a food grade trisodium phosphate and make your own solution and dose a tiny amount daily until you get a phosphate reading 24 hours later when you test. It may speed recovery.

Have you been carbon dosing or using a probiotic salt?

 

[jx.reef]

Yeah I did read everything. What part of my response makes you think I didn't?

You stated that nitrates read <2 (Red Sea) last week and is now at 5 ppm. Meaning it jumped up significantly over just a few days just by removing your chemipure.

 

[zchauvin]

Phosphate deficiency in the presence of ample nitrates with bright light is probably one of the worst nutrient situations you can be in. The damge done is swift and unlike NO3 deficiency, not so rapidly repaired, there's usually dead tissue involved instead of just a bleaching event.

You can always add some phosphates via Brightwell Aquatics NeoPhos, or you can get a food grade trisodium phosphate and make your own solution and dose a tiny amount daily until you get a phosphate reading 24 hours later when you test. It may speed recovery.

Have you been carbon dosing or using a probiotic salt?

No carbon dosing and using fritz salt. Maybe I should pick up the NeoPhos?

 

[Rick.45cal]

I have a bottle that I have had to use several times. It's not a bad thing to have around. But again... go slow it's not something you want to overdo either! The amount you will be dosing will be much less than 1 ml so make sure you have a 1 ml syringe or pipette around so you can dose a small amount accurately.

Whether it is worth buying is a decision you have to make. I think it will help your situation. Other's may argue that. My experience is that it has helped and never hurt the situation.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

My last 90 gallon I had a 0-0 issue with no3 and po4. I made a tank transfer and adapted some filtration a bit. Now I'm steady at about 2 for No3, and just detectable po4 via salifert kits. All I can say is, "Who knew Millies had PE all the time?!?" Lol! I did up the flow a little bit, but I'd put money up that it was too low on nutrients in my experience.

 

[zchauvin]

I have a bottle that I have had to use several times. It's not a bad thing to have around. But again... go slow it's not something you want to overdo either! The amount you will be dosing will be much less than 1 ml so make sure you have a 1 ml syringe or pipette around so you can dose a small amount accurately.

Whether it is worth buying is a decision you have to make. I think it will help your situation. Other's may argue that. My experience is that it has helped and never hurt the situation.

Thanks, I'll keep up what I'm doing for two-three more days and I'll test nitrates and phosphate again and see what the readings are. Hopefully taking out the chemipure blue was enough, if not I'll go pick up a bottle. I do have 1ml syringes as I'm dosing KZ flatworm at 0.2ml daily.

 

[zchauvin]

My last 90 gallon I had a 0-0 issue with no3 and po4. I made a tank transfer and adapted some filtration a bit. Now I'm steady at about 2 for No3, and just detectable po4 via salifert kits. All I can say is, "Who knew Millies had PE all the time?!?" Lol! I did up the flow a little bit, but I'd put money up that it was too low on nutrients in my experience.

If it were up to me, I'd have a bigger tank but I'm trying to hold off until I move into my house. Really don't want to start doing tank swap and all kinds of stuff just to move in four months.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

I was more relating to the lack of po4.