Sps burnt tips

Saltgator · Aug 12, 2013

I know this has been a covered a thousand times, but point me in the direction I'm looking for. 2 of my frags started to stn on the tips. 1 is my Garf bonsai, the other is a high lighter. Double check my alk @ 8.8 using Hanna checker. I dose twice a day via brs dower. My test was conducted an hour prior to the second dose. The thing that gets me is my poci (a frag on the same rack and a decent size colony) show no issues as well as a unknown acro on the same rack.

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pickupman66 · Aug 12, 2013

what are your nitrates and phosphates testing at? I get burnt tips when my alk gets up to 8.7 dKh. or when its a bit lower but I have nitrates in the mix. Heck, I just had the polyps bail out on two strains of my pocillipora but the third is fat and happy. nitrates were a touch high.

Saltgator · Aug 12, 2013

pickupman66 said:
what are your nitrates and phosphates testing at? I get burnt tips when my alk gets up to 8.7 dKh. or when its a bit lower but I have nitrates in the mix. Heck, I just had the polyps bail out on two strains of my pocillipora but the third is fat and happy. nitrates were a touch high.

Phosphate tested zero, nitrate @ 0.02. I'm working on getting it to zero.

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Saltgator · Aug 12, 2013

I also should mention that these 2 frags have retracted their polyps. They were dipped months ago prior to entering the DT, and double checked for any bugs.

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120reefermadnes · Aug 12, 2013

This happens alot from alk going to high or too low too fast

Saltgator · Aug 12, 2013

120reefermadnes said:
This happens alot from alk going to high or too low too fast

I appreciate it. I'm back to checking every day. I'm also going to check my cal dosing regiment (lines and dower for air pockets or a clog). Just in case, if the cal dosing line became clogged or isn't dosing right, my alk will be all over the place right (I'm almost 100% positive in my thinking on this, but asking never hurt)?

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evolved · Aug 12, 2013

Have you checked your Alk with another test kit just to make sure the Hanna is giving you the right answer? Never hurts to be sure it's what you think it is.

Saltgator · Aug 12, 2013

evolved said:
Have you checked your Alk with another test kit just to make sure the Hanna is giving you the right answer? Never hurts to be sure it's what you think it is.

No sir, I'll see if i have a red sea or elos kit still. But, I found a issue. My cal timer was only dosing 1/4 of cal vs alk. Basically 20 minutes of cal vs 70 min of alk!! I feel like a beginner, but the issue I just found, could this be my culprit? Unbalanced or unequal parts causing certain unhappy acros?

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evolved · Aug 12, 2013

Doubtful; most people find their consumptions of 2 part are never equal, and more of one or the other ends up being dosed to keep the parameters stable. For me it's more Ca, but for some it's Alk.

But why are you only dosing twice per day if it's automated? You could get a more consistent Alk by spreading that dose out multiple times throughout the day. Personally I dose each 12 times per day, on opposite hours.

Saltgator · Aug 12, 2013

evolved said:
Doubtful; most people find their consumptions of 2 part are never equal, and more of one or the other ends up being dosed to keep the parameters stable. For me it's more Ca, but for some it's Alk.

But why are you only dosing twice per day if it's automated? You could get a more consistent Alk by spreading that dose out multiple times throughout the day. Personally I dose each 12 times per day, on opposite hours.

I'm still running w/o a controller, lol. My timers are only a 8x per day, digital. I'll break it down tonight. I've tried it in the past, but switched to twice daily for a reason my mind doesn't remember

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Saltgator · Aug 12, 2013

Ok, just ripped my sump out (I hated it anyway) and boy was it dirty. I replaced it with a 55 without baffles. While doing this, I noticed my foxface taking nibbles at my acros on the frag rack. You guys thinking hes doing it on the dead parts (tips) that are bleached or stn'd? Or just being a acro eating foxface?

Saltgator · Aug 14, 2013

Ok, might have found a issue. After replacing my sump, I noticed both my drip lines coming from my brs dosers have air pockets. I completely primed these for the 100th time, yet occasionally they get these air pockets. Any thoughts?? Could I just put a check valve on those so they keep primed?

Also found my sump I removed had a decent amount of garbage/poop/unknown junk in spots I could see when it was being utilized. Looks like might have had excess nutrient build up going there too (lucky me). Good thing I didn't drain my sump back into the DT. I pulled 100% if the sump and it's water outside.

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bct15 · Aug 14, 2013

I'm probably late on this, as I didn't read the whole thread but...

Burnt tips IME are associated with Hugh alk, cal, and/or low nutrients low magnesium. Try shooting for near nsw parameters. With that said, some times a couple acros might get bad tips even at the optimum parameter levels, your best bet is to cut the tips off. From what I have seen, burnt tips is not nearly as fatal to the coral as receeding base.

bct15 · Aug 14, 2013

Also, 8.8 is high alk if your nitrates and phosphates are low. How much are you dosing when you dose twice a day, you could be causing some mini alk spikes that the corals don't like. Are they near where the alk solution is being introduced? I would try and make more frequent smaller doses an see if that helps.

Saltgator · Aug 14, 2013

bct15 said:
Also, 8.8 is high alk if your nitrates and phosphates are low. How much are you dosing when you dose twice a day, you could be causing some mini alk spikes that the corals don't like. Are they near where the alk solution is being introduced? I would try and make more frequent smaller doses an see if that helps.

Thanks BCT15 and nobody is late with help, it's 24/7 and always welcomed. The dose is twice a day via brs doser on a digital timer (6a and 6p) for 40 minutes each, basically (6:00-6:40 am, 6:00-6:40pm). The dose is administered in the sump in high flow and the acros are on the other end of my 8' 240 (only 1 return). Btw, cal is dosed the same, except at 12:00-12:40pm and 12:00-12:40am.

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bct15 · Aug 14, 2013

I have my dosers set up to dose 5 times a day about 2 hours a part, I need to redo it with six times a day for each (every two hours a doser cuts on for a little while). My dosers only go for 14 minutes at a time, and right now I'm getting lucky with equal parts. If you have time you might want to spread yours out, it may or may not help now but when your dosing gets really big you'll be glad they are spread out. When ever I need to add some extra dosing time I just spread it across all five dosing times.

I was asking about the placement in proximity to the doser because mine mixes in my sump with high flow as well, but when I had my return pointed at some corals they started getting burnt tips. I pointed my return up and at the back wall it helped a lot.

I hope you solve the problem, how big are the colonies that are burning?

bct15 · Aug 14, 2013

You can get some digital timers from lowes with something like 60 program times for around 12 bucks each. They can be programmed differently for different days it you prefer that as well.

Saltgator · Aug 14, 2013

bct15 said:
I have my dosers set up to dose 5 times a day about 2 hours a part, I need to redo it with six times a day for each (every two hours a doser cuts on for a little while). My dosers only go for 14 minutes at a time, and right now I'm getting lucky with equal parts. If you have time you might want to spread yours out, it may or may not help now but when your dosing gets really big you'll be glad they are spread out. When ever I need to add some extra dosing time I just spread it across all five dosing times.

I was asking about the placement in proximity to the doser because mine mixes in my sump with high flow as well, but when I had my return pointed at some corals they started getting burnt tips. I pointed my return up and at the back wall it helped a lot.

I hope you solve the problem, how big are the colonies that are burning?

They're mini colonies, basically frags with multiple branches. My timers have up to 8 setting, so I'll spaces it tonight. I'll also turn the return up and towards the rear wall as well (can't hurt). I appreciate it.

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db1317 · Aug 14, 2013

Saltgator said:
While doing this, I noticed my foxface taking nibbles at my acros on the frag rack. You guys thinking hes doing it on the dead parts (tips) that are bleached or stn'd? Or just being a acro eating foxface?

I'd keep an eye on the foxface...I had one that I had to get rid of after it started chewing on a healthy green slimer.