Sps die from tip

[An ngo]

Hi guys, I’m having 100gal run from Feb. Having all kind of lps with no issue. I have green slimer, reef raft, pink lemonade, strawberries shortcake. 3 of my sps start dying from tip. Only pink lemonade has great color. Green slimer is the worst. I don’t know what happen but the flow shoot direct to my green slimer. The rest has indirectly flow but flow is strong. Sps have been in my tank 3 weeks. I know 8 months not a good time to put sps but just want to try out since all lps grow pretty well.
kh:7.9-8.2 stable in 2 months
Ca: 430-450 test every week
Nitrate: 65 yes it really high, dosing vinegar and nopox everyday+ cheato
Po4: 0 - 0.01 bring down from 0.1 in 2 weeks. Here are some pic

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Did this problem start after you started dosing nopox?

 

[KrisReef]

Do you have any fish?

 

[Auto-pilot]

This can happen from over dosing NoPox. I've don't like NoPox because it has caused similar problems for me in the past

 

[Crystal clear]

Alk burn possibly, have you had fluctuations

 

[ODSlim]

I wanna say it’s due to the imbalanced nutrients and your lighting intensity. Your two part could be a little high as well since it’s a new tank.

 

[jda]

Tip burn is usually from too high of alk while using organic carbon (nopox) to drive N or P below natural seawater levels and/or can be from LEDs up too high (quality, not quantity). With N that high, alk burn is not likely the issue.

I would turn your LEDs down and maybe get a bit more daylight in there. The issue is likely rapid po4 removal, nigh nitrate and/or the lights. This does not appear to be a tank ready for acropora - sorry.

 

[An ngo]

I’m dosing nopox a month and yes I overdose from last 2 weeks ago when N can not goes down i try to keep alk stable the best i can from 7.9-8.2 from last 2 months. I test twice a week to keep track it. Only nitrate still high. My lightning using hybrid 4 t5 vs 2 radion XR15w . It run sps ab+ program with 40% intensity in 10hours. Peak 8 hours. Acclimate those sps from 200 par to 350

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

It’s the nopox and gfo. It is not recommended to use gfo and nopox at the same time. 65 no3 and 0.1 po4 is not going to kill your sps but stripping/starving the water to drop them too fast will. I keep my po4 0.15-0.20 and they are colorful and grow fast. I would stop the vinegar, the nopox and gfo ASAP and stop worrying about po4. Do some large water changes to drop your no3 and give your corals some fish poop

 

[An ngo]

It’s the nopox and gfo. It is not recommended to use gfo and nopox at the same time. 65 no3 and 0.1 po4 is not going to kill your sps but stripping/starving the water to drop them too fast will. I keep my po4 0.15-0.20 and they are colorful and grow fast. I would stop the vinegar, the nopox and gfo ASAP and stop worrying about po4. Do some large water changes to drop your no3 and give your corals some fish poop

I stop dosing vinegar and nopox yesterday. Gfo still in filter sock. High nitrate and phosphate will make sps brown right. My rainbow monti has only 10% to survive. Do I need to bring the light down?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I stop dosing vinegar and nopox yesterday. Gfo still in filter sock. High nitrate and phosphate will make sps brown right. My rainbow monti has only 10% to survive. Do I need to bring the light down?

No
Brown corals means they are stressed
Usually from ppl chasing low no3/po4 starving their tank or low par. Do these look brown to you?

 

[An ngo]

No
Brown corals means they are stressed
Usually from ppl chasing low no3/po4 starving their tank or low par. Do these look brown to you?

Your sps look so healthy, my green slimmer start brown, the others didn’t. My reef raft and strawberries shortcake start ditonf from tip, but color still look great. My pink lemonade hasn’t any issue. Do you think because of low po4 too fast and lightning too high? I acclimated those sps im 3-4 days from 200 to 350

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Your sps look so healthy, my green slimmer start brown, the others didn’t. My reef raft and strawberries shortcake start ditonf from tip, but color still look great. My pink lemonade hasn’t any issue. Do you think because of low po4 too fast and lightning too high? I acclimated those sps im 3-4 days from 200 to 350

It’s not your lights. I use hydra 52 HD’s 350-500 par and I do not acclimate my corals. You’re causing these problems worrying about something that wasn’t a problem. Look on the side of your nopox bottle. It clearly recommends a minimum 0.08 po4 for sps frags, but I will never use any of those products again. All of my sps died when I was doing what you’re doing bc of all the incorrect sps advice out there. Nopox and gfo should only be used by ppl with heavily stocked fish tanks that over feed. How many fish do you have?

 

[An ngo]

It’s not your lights. I use hydra 52 HD’s 350-500 par and I do not acclimate my corals. You’re causing these problems worrying about something that wasn’t a problem. Look on the side of your nopox bottle. It clearly recommends a minimum 0.08 po4 for sps frags, but I will never use any of those products again. All of my sps died when I was doing what you’re doing bc of all the incorrect sps advice out there. Nopox and gfo should only be used by ppl with heavily stocked fish tanks that over feed. How many fish do you have?

Yes i have heavy stock that cause high nitrate and could not bringing down. Approximately 10 fishes 1 emperor angel 4-5 in, purple tang 4 in, tomini tang 3 in, 2 clown 1.5”, goby 4”, 2 anthias 2-3”, Christmas wrasse 3-4”. Coral beauty 2-3”. It probably bringing po4 to fast and I overdose nopox intentionally. I dose 20ml eveyday which double dose for my tank

 

[An ngo]

Here is some par at 70% intensity

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Uhhh
I’m not an angel fish expert but I thought they sometimes will Nip/eat sps. I’ve always stayed away from angel fish bc they might chomp on hard corals.

 

[ODSlim]

No. High nitrate and and phosphate doesn't brown your coral. Low to 0 Nitrate and phosphate will brown or pale your sps. In your case, with the rapid and overdosing of nopox and gfo is partially your cause, more like a shock. As mentioned on here already, completely remove the GFO and you've already stopped nopox. Not knowing on how high your coral from the lights, if its about at least 10-12" Id leave your intensity alone. Feed your corals and fish slightly more. And don't freak out if you start seeing a little bit of algae.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

My hydras are 16” above the water surface

 

[BeejReef]

IMHO carbon dosing isn't working for you because you have so little phosphate that the bacteria can not consume the nitrate. You might consider discontinuing gfo for a bit.

 

[An ngo]

My light 15” over water surface. Should I completely remove gfo or just take haft of those and still leave gfo for keeping decent phosphate level?