Sps dying from the tips down

[Reefhaven]

hey reefers,

I am having some trouble lately with my sps dying from tip down. All my parameters are good but don't know what's causing them to die. Some are tip down and some are bottom up. Don't know what the hek is going on. Please help!

 

[hybridazn]

Will need a bit more info to help. All parameter readings, what are you dosing, what kind of flow and lights etc. The more info you can give us about your system the better chance of us helping.

 

[Russ265]

by "good" do you mean 0 across the board? hybridazn hit the nail on the head.

chuck us some numbers

 

[Reefhaven]

Will need a bit more info to help. All parameter readings, what are you dosing, what kind of flow and lights etc. The more info you can give us about your system the better chance of us helping.

alk 10.5
cal 410
mag 1300
salinity 1.025
temp 78.3
phosphate 0
ph 8.1
dual overhead with two wp 60 and 2 hydor 400?
bubble magus three part dosing with fauna marin (alk, cal, mag)
evergrows A8 nova and D2120

some are doing great with full polyp extension and some not all all...weird

 

[ReefMadScientist]

Gonna need more numbers buddy.

 

[Russ265]

need nitrate but let us assume you carbon dose or really have a nitrate deficit. Your alk is wayyyyyy too high imo. your po4 doesnt even merit it.

as a reference i will do my shameless cue

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/help-my-sps-are-paling-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do.210035/

 

[Reefhaven]

need nitrate but let us assume you carbon dose or really have a nitrate deficit. Your alk is wayyyyyy too high imo. your po4 doesnt even merit it.

as a reference i will do my shameless cue

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/help-my-sps-are-paling-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do.210035/

last time i checked the nitrate was at zero and no not carbon dosing yet. just brought a dual reactor for carbon and GFO. i always had my alk around 10 to 11. I know many people with alk around that their tanks are flawless.

 

[Russ265]

last time i checked the nitrate was at zero and no not carbon dosing yet. just brought a dual reactor for carbon and GFO. i always had my alk around 10 to 11. I know many people with alk around that their tanks are flawless.

i dont know their parameters so i cannot comment on blanket statements of "all my friends run 11 dkh and their tanks look great".
most of the ones I have personally seen and tested had po4 between .08-2ppm.

not 0

i also test everyone's water i purchase from.

 

[Reefhaven]

i dont know their parameters so i cannot comment on blanket statements of "all my friends run 11 dkh and their tanks look great".
most of the ones I have personally seen had po4 between .08-2ppm.

not 0

i totally understand where you are coming from Russ and your write up is great. I will go home today after work and test everything again. i have Elos test kits at home

 

[Russ265]

i totally understand where you are coming from Russ and your write up is great. I will go home today after work and test everything again. i have Elos test kits at home

i only had experience with phosphate test from elos and i threw it away. red sea pro or hanna are pretty good for us "0" guys.

i ran 10-11dkh as well with no nutrients. some rtn'd after a week, others 6-8 weeks.

let's try another question.
why would you run alk so high?

 

[Reefhaven]

i only had experience with phosphate test from elos and i threw it away.

i ran 10-11dkh as well with no nutrients. some rtn'd after a week, others 6-8 weeks.

lets try another question.
why would you run alk so high?

my local fish store runs all their tanks at 10-11 alk so thats what i have been doing.

 

[watchguy123]

An important consideration with burning tips is always high alk and low nutrients.

Phosphates at zero is probably too low. And you need to know your nitrates as well. Although 10.5 alk is not super high, many prefer 8-9.

The list of things to consider is long.
Look at recent changes to tank like adding or removing gfo, carbon, carbon dosing etc. Too much, or too little flow, new lights, pests........

And you need to have a log to evaluate a shifting trend in your parameters. There is a happy place which tends to be unique for each tank. So finding that happy place and recognizing it and finally keeping those parameters locked in is more important than chasing arbritary numbers

 

[Russ265]

my local fish store runs all their tanks at 10-11 alk so thats what i have been doing.

mine does too. his po4 is 1.5 though.

usually we raise alk for one reason or another. i just wanted to know why you chose it. NSW is high 6s.

 

[hybridazn]

This seems to be a very common trend lately. Everyone is so convinced that their water needs to be spotless but that isnt the case when keeping corals.

You have too little nutrients and too high of alk. When keeping water that clean I wouldn't keep alk any higher than 8

 

[watchguy123]

The chase for numbers is a dangerous game to play. Your tank really does talk to you.

For years tanks were run at 11-12 dKh and did great, but technology and interests change over time. My guess is those tanks had much higher nutrients than many tanks today. Yet there is a long thread that somebody has going currently with super high phosphates and a very pretty sps tank. So there continue to be a multitude of ways to manage an sps tank. There is the ZEO, dutch, ULNS, balling, triton plus a lot of old school methods.

We get to choose the 1) intensity, duration and quality of lighting, 2.) nutrient export whether it be by skimmer, water changes, gfo, chaeto, carbon dosing, or water changes 3.) flow however you do it, 4.) temperature control, 5.) nutrient import such feeding fish, adding whatever supplement 6.) minerals and trace elements management such as calcium reactors, dosers, water changes, supplements, kalk,.

How your tank thrives depends on balancing all these factors. I think the goal is finding the "spot" where the tank is happiest and keeping it "dialed in" or stable at that set point.

There are lots of guidelines for recommended ranges but I think chasing numbers without appreciating the interplay of factors is not recommended. I believe that is where many of us get lost, some of our numbers are so good but the tank isn't. Regardless of where you keep your dKh at, zero nitrates and zero phosphates seem to be intolerable for sps health.

And of course, there are always pests. Pests don't really care about ranges, sweet spots, or numbers.

 

[Reefhaven]

thanks everyone for the knowledge. this is really helpful. I think its the high alk and low nutrients in my tank. I will also test for nitrate and other as well. I will drop the alk down to round 8.5.