SPS been going downhill lately….

[Matt Bravo]

That's almost definitely not it btw. LPS don't drop mg and CA that much. They're too abundant in seawater. Unless you haven't dosed or done a water change in ages.

It’s a 10 gallon system and I didn’t have time to do my water change this weekend, (normally done every 2 weeks) and my tank has an abundance of corals

 

[Matt Bravo]

There is a pest possibility that could be causing issues as well. AEFW - with only one picture provided that is a bit blurry it’s hard to say, but I would take a Turkey baster and blow off acros and see if you can see any flatworms come off. Usually more at the base.

I don’t think pest would be the issue since I dipped the drag before letting them go in the system, and I’ve never put a coral in without dipping first. But I’ll try blasting later

 

[ronnie]

I don’t think pest would be the issue since I dipped the drag before letting them go in the system, and I’ve never put a coral in without dipping first. But I’ll try blasting later

One dip wouldn’t kill eggs and break the cycle. A better practice is to cut all plugs off and mount the remaining on a new drag plug as most eggs are at the base (and difficult to see w naked eye).

I’m not saying it is definitely a pest issue - just throwing it out there as another avenue to consider.

 

[billyocean]

Did you add alk to the blue bucket water change water? It's usually about 8.5ish at 35 salinty.

 

[christwendt]

Phosphate. Raise it.

This. Add some reef roids. I believe that reading could be zero phosphates when you factor in the accuracy of device.

 

[Matt Bravo]

Did you add alk to the blue bucket water change water? It's usually about 8.5ish at 35 salinty.

Yeah I used to add alk since my corals we’re consuming it constantly and growing so I would dose Red Sea foundation.

 

[Matt Bravo]

This. Add some reef roids. I believe that reading could be zero phosphates when you factor in the accuracy of device.

Alright I’ll raise phos
A lot of you guys mentioned it, what should I raise it to?

 

[Lavey29]

Alright I’ll raise phos
A lot of you guys mentioned it, what should I raise it to?

.05 to .1

 

[Lavey29]

I will also let you know I tried a few test SPS frags at 9 to 10 month mark in the tank and they did not survive. After a year the tank seemed to go through an evolution and became much more stable and predictable. I now have 38 SPS colonies thriving. So perhaps your tank may need a little more maturing time.

Do you see abundant coralline?

 

[christwendt]

Alright I’ll raise phos
A lot of you guys mentioned it, what should I raise it to?

I personally think anything above 0.05 - .12 is acceptable. I feel most comfortable keeping it just a little above .1. That way I know if I go a week without testing it’s very unlikely I will go below 0.05. I never have issues with it going above .1. It always starts to drop over a week. Then I test and dose either pure phosphate solution or reef roids which adds a little nitrate but it’s mainly heavy in phosphates.

 

[dadnjesse]

If the Alk is 12 now and you said you've been lowering it what was it before?

 

[Matt Bravo]

If the Alk is 12 now and you said you've been lowering it what was it before?

It got up to about 13.5

 

[Dburr1014]

You never did say how are you lowering ALK but you can lower it one DK each a day if needed.

 

[Matt Bravo]

You never did say how are you lowering ALK but you can lower it one DK each a day if needed.

I’ve been doing 10% wc to try and lower it, I don’t want to lower it too quick since my tank looses a lot of calc and mag every wc I want to try to lower it slowly

 

[Dburr1014]

I’ve been doing 10% wc to try and lower it, I don’t want to lower it too quick since my tank looses a lot of calc and mag every wc I want to try to lower it slowly

I'm not sure I understand your statement. How do you lose calcium and magnesium with a water change? The new saltwater should have calcium and magnesium to replace what you're sucking out.

Edit; do you have a full tank shot you can post up? How much Corals in your system? You can always not do a water change and just dose calcium and magnesium until your alkalinity lowers. This will depend on how much is in your system and how much consumption of alkalinity you have per day.

 

[19Mateo83]

It’s a 10 gallon system and I didn’t have time to do my water change this weekend, (normally done every 2 weeks) and my tank has an abundance of corals

I’m wondering how you are dosing. Manually, dosing pumps? With a 10 gallon system it is challenging to maintain the very stable water parameters acros require with manual dosing. If you are dosing by hand and only dosing now and then when you see it needs something you are creating swings. Even if your dosing alk daily, if it’s once a day it’s a swing. I know because my 14 gallon consumes .6Dkh a day and I have held off on acros for that exact reason. I dose once a day and i know I’m getting a .6 swing. Stability in smaller systems is more of a challenge.

 

[jda]

Did you recalibrate your refractometer and make sure that your salinity is OK. Best advice and the most likely issue on this thread.

There is nearly no chance that coral is phosphorous limited with even .01 ppm of phosphate. You can raise it if you want, but getting more phosphorous to the corals likely won't happen. BTW - phosphorous and nitrogen are not food - sugar made by the zoox are. Phosphorous and nitrogen are building blocks and having more of a surplus does nothing. Energy/carb/sugars allow the coral to do more so up the light quantity and quality if you want this.

 

[billyocean]

Did you recalibrate your refractometer and make sure that your salinity is OK. Best advice and the most likely issue on this thread.

There is nearly no chance that coral is phosphorous limited with even .01 ppm of phosphate. You can raise it if you want, but getting more phosphorous to the corals likely won't happen. BTW - phosphorous and nitrogen are not food - sugar made by the zoox are. Phosphorous and nitrogen are building blocks and having more of a surplus does nothing. Energy/carb/sugars allow the coral to do more so up the light quantity and quality if you want this.

Alk at 12 and p04 at .01 isn't a problem?

 

[jda]

Not going to matter if the salinity is 1.020 and @Sabellafella was right as the reason why calcium and magnesium were so low. This is more paramount than anythjing else, IMO.

I would not keep carbonate at 12 for any reason, but you have to get well below .01 for burnt tips to happen. There are more sources of phosphorus in a reef tank than just phosphate. Phosphate is just what is left over after organically bound phosphate, metaphosphate, etc. have broken down. Since it appears that stony corals don't prefer to use po4 at all, having some just means that you had some left over.

 

[Reef Psychology]

I’ve been doing 10% wc to try and lower it, I don’t want to lower it too quick since my tank looses a lot of calc and mag every wc I want to try to lower it slowly

Listen to @jda. Often people will flood a thread with tons of information without really knowing what the issue really is. Calibrate your refractometer. Retest. Explain how you’re dosing.