Some Acroporas Do Not Thrive in My Tank

[KLR]

how is it that you have absolutely 0 po4?

Nevermind, just saw above you are using an API po4 kit; I'd throw that away lol as it's pretty useless for our systems. Get a low range hanna or find a local reefer who has one that you can use.

I guess I should have said untraceable then? I will get a hanna. I wish they sold them locally to me.

 

[reefsandrotts]

I must be a exception to rule because my sps look great,
I only do a water change maybe every 3-4 months never run carbon my skimmer is the little crappy one built into my hang on aquafuge
lighting is 4 hours per day I dont test my water and I have tons of lps and zoos in there as well.

 

[KLR]

I must be a exception to rule because my sps look great,
I only do a water change maybe every 3-4 months never run carbon my skimmer is the little crappy one built into my hang on aquafuge
lighting is 4 hours per day I dont test my water and I have tons of lps and zoos in there as well.

I am jealous!

 

[KLR]

Would it benefit to move my sickly acropora out of direct light, like you would LPS, or no?

This^

 

[ritter6788]

I only frequently(every time I top off the tank-usually every 2 or 3 days) dose Seachem-Reef Buffer for pH and alk.

Depending on how much you dose at a time it could be enough of a ph or alk swing to affect Acros. The ones that you have established in your system already may be more tolerant of the swings but the new frags can't handle it. If you're needing to dose to keep your alk up then I would look into adding a dosing pump or using baking soda in your ATO (if you have an ATO?) for stability.

Seachem reef buffer also increases ph which means it probably contains Borate which you're not testing for and there's no way to tell if it's elevated in your system. Baked baking soda (soda ash) may be a better (and cheaper) alternative to the reef buffer. I would never dose any additives to increase ph. You only elevate your alk to unsafe levels and cause swings. Ph of 7.8 is fine. Increase fresh air in the room and aeration in your tank and it may boost your ph a bit.

Would it benefit to move my sickly acropora out of direct light, like you would LPS, or no?

It's possible but if it's been in one place for some time it may be better to leave it alone and let it settle. If the frags are at the very top then moving them down may give them a chance to recover before moving up to higher light again.

 

[reefsandrotts]

I also forgot to add I NEVER use ro/di water straight from the tap for me....

 

[KLR]

Depending on how much you dose at a time it could be enough of a ph or alk swing to affect Acros. The ones that you have established in your system already may be more tolerant of the swings but the new frags can't handle it. If you're needing to dose to keep your alk up then I would look into adding a dosing pump or using baking soda in your ATO (if you have an ATO?) for stability.

Seachem reef buffer also increases ph which means it probably contains Borate which you're not testing for and there's no way to tell if it's elevated in your system. Baked baking soda (soda ash) may be a better (and cheaper) alternative to the reef buffer. I would never dose any additives to increase ph. You only elevate your alk to unsafe levels and cause swings. Ph of 7.8 is fine. Increase fresh air in the room and aeration in your tank and it may boost your ph a bit.

It's possible but if it's been in one place for some time it may be better to leave it alone and let it settle. If the frags are at the very top then moving them down may give them a chance to recover before moving up to higher light again.

I dose 1/2 a tsp for every 2 1/2 gallons of RO. I do not have an ATO. I have a 3 part dosing pump but I have no clue whatsoever how to set it up and due to that I can not trust my self with programming it correctly. Ok, I will look into dosing with baking soda.

Ok. I will observe it closely today once the lights are on and if it looks significantly worse, I will lower it.

 

[crackers]

You can run an airline from you skimmer to a fresh air source and raise you ph quite a bit. My ph also ran about 7.8 or 8.0 at the most and now I ran an airline outside and my ph stays around 8.2 on the dot. A friend gave me the idea they had a large cap colony losing color and were told that the ph needed to be 8.2 or it would lose its color and they did the same thing and it colored back up and the frags in their frag system seemed to color up alot imo. Alot of people have low ph's due to the co2 in their houses and would be able to raise their ph levels by doing this. Also you have the soda lime method which I have heard works ok also but haven't tried it personally.