SPS Struggles

[helldiver]

My water parameters are stable CA 450-500 avg 450,Mg 1400 Alk avg 13 ,12-13 Phos .15 temp 79-80 salinty 1.026 Aquavitro salt ph 7.8 runiing CA reactor
My SPS seem to stay alive now bit not seeing any growth
Lighting 2 radion pro running AB+ schedule at 50 % 9 hrs a day with refugium reverse lighting schedule.Looking for suggestions .

 

[Downbeach]

Your PO4 is too high if reading is correct. What are you using to measure it with? Are you using any GFO? You should get it down to .03 or lower. Here is a good read:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/

 

[JMacedo]

IMHO your ALK is to high for the brand of salt you are using (8.96 to 10dkh @ salinity of 35%). If you do 10% water changes with such difference in ALK levels, your SPS are going to suffer, with time other important elements like K will be out of balance. If you skim wet and only replace the skimmate with RO/DI water coming from the ATO things will get worse. As someone once said: SPS also stands for Stability Promotes Success.

Also keep in mind that purchased sps corals wild or not are used to live with parameters closer to NSW. If you bring home a sps coral used to Alk of 7DKh, the chances to adapt to water with an alk of 13dkh are low even if you spend 12 hours trying to acclimate corals.

I might be totally off, every tank is different, just trying to help.

 

[Diesel]

^^^^ +1 ^^^^

What is your sitting No3 at?
Look also into Potassium and Strontium as these are a main factor of the growth balance.
Your alk can be a bit lower too, I've seen tanks with a high alk but none of them had any SPS in there.
My ALK I run at 7.8 with a CAL at 400/420, MAG at 1420, No3 at 10 and Po4 at 0.04.
Of course there is much more to the story as in lights, temp, flow and placement as also maintenance, how much and an how often you change water to keep up with the elements.
Any pictures of your SPS as we can't rule out pest too.

 

[Wilsoni]

In addition to all of the great points already made, I figured I'd take a swing...

How long have you been running the SPS AB+ program for?
What was your previous photoperiod length?

I switched from Radiant Color to SPS AB+ which helped draw out more color with the heavy blue spectrum but I instantly noticed slowed growth. My SSC which is mounted on my back wall was growing like a weed and encrusting at nearly the rate of GSP once it takes off... Upon transitioning to the SPS AB+ schedule, my growth almost came to a halt but it colored up like crazy. No noted parameter changes, so I toyed with the program and extended the photoperiod a little. I added two hours to the ramp time along with a lunar cycle so I could gain more viewing time and my growth has seemed to take off again...

I'm not saying this was the cause of your slowed growth but in my observation, extending the photoperiod helped. Going from a 12hr photoperiod to 9hrs along with a spectrum shift can definitely take SPS a little while to adjust to, as with any significant lighting adjustment... The 7hr peak time alone probably shakes things up a bit too.

 

[jcdeng]

when your alk is so high usually you will see burnt tips on acros, maybe your testkit is off? Also do you see any PE on them?

 

[Wilsoni]

^^^^ +1 ^^^^6

What is you No3 at?
Look also into Potassium and Strontium as these are a main factor of the growth balance.
Your alk can be a bit lower too, I've seen tanks with a high alk but none of them had any SPS in there.
My ALK I run at 7.8 with a CAL at 400/420, MAG at 1420, No3 at 10 and Po4 at 0.04.
Of course there is much more to the story as in lights, temp, flow and placement as also maintenance, how much and an how often you change water to keep up with the elements.
Any pictures of your SPS as we can't rule out pest too.

+1 for Potassium and pictures

I should become a Potassium preacher... @Diesel I think I would like "Potassium Preacher" to replace "Well-Known Member" do I need to become a supporter to dub myself that? If so, sign me up

Once I began testing/dosing I was easily sold on Potassium. Haha I think the importance of Potassium is often overlooked and most believe that you're replenishing most if not all of it with water changes alone... It's seemingly more of an assumption IMO as most people have no idea what their K value truly is... Why? Because they don't test for it...

Now that it's gaining popularity, those who are purchasing Potassium test kits are finding their K value much lower than expected... Even lower than what would be fall within the acceptable range.

Sorry for the rant... I personally believe more people should consider looking into Potassium when trying to troubleshoot SPS coloration/growth issues...

 

[Diesel]

Of Topic of course @Wilsoni
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/all-new-supporting-member-perks-support-r2r.68905/
You can have so much more as a member.
And YES if you become a member you can change that by yourself.

 

[helldiver]

I run a ca reactor it could be swings in that thing.I do agree with you about the K value to I dose 20ml every week,I think anything our body needs the reef aquarium needs but in different values.I ran bio-pellets for a while and had zero Phos.I am currently dosing vinegar right now to bring phos down.This weekend I will be adding 1 cup of High output gfo from BRS and changing carbon.I also run to 2 ATI blue plus from 1700-1900 I also have another set of bulbs in the front coral plus I have not turned on yet.
Currently
Also to have elected to turn the ca reactor off and testing parameters to bring my alk down reactor has been off a day so far

 

[helldiver]

@Wilsoni Please send me your schedule for radion I will use since they are similar.
I am really enjoying all the help on this to it is very fun and I need this to get more experinece

 

[Diesel]

How do you know it could be swings in your CaRx?
Did you wrote down all your testings as in ALK and CAL?
I test daily for ALK and only with that you can keep track what your tank is doing.
When turning reactor off you turn off only the Co2 supply.
What kind of reactor do you have and do you run a PH probe on your reactor, if so what is the lowest PH setting in your reactor?
What is your No3 sitting at?
Be careful on the GFO as it can drop down your Po4 to fast.
What kind of carbon you running and how much you in your GAC reactor?
If you dose K what is your K # as you should dose only if you can test for it.

 

[Downbeach]

GFO is a phosphate binder, and its primary purpose is to reduce PO4.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/

 

[Diesel]

GFO is a phosphate binder, and its primary purpose is to reduce PO4.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/

You're right.......... UGH :mad: bad night.
I was thinking the wrong way, thanks will edit it before they shoot me

 

[Wilsoni]

If you dose K what is your K # as you should dose only if you can test for it.

+1 ^^^

 

[Wilsoni]

@Wilsoni Please send me your schedule for radion I will use since they are similar.
I am really enjoying all the help on this to it is very fun and I need this to get more experinece

Sent reply

 

[themcnertney]

My water parameters are stable CA 450-500 avg 450,Mg 1400 Alk avg 13 ,12-13 Phos .15 temp 79-80 salinty 1.026 Aquavitro salt ph 7.8 runiing CA reactor
My SPS seem to stay alive now bit not seeing any growth
Lighting 2 radion pro running AB+ schedule at 50 % 9 hrs a day with refugium reverse lighting schedule.Looking for suggestions .

Here's my take...
I think you'll are over thinking this, lets keep things simple. All this dosing and complicated talk of water chemistry. Consistency is the key. Values can be a bit off, but as long as they are consistent, your coral will adjust. I think your alk seems a bit high. I have had sps in my tank for months and have seen no growth. Then for whatever reason, they start to take off.

 

[Mattrg02]

How much potassium should we have? I dose potassium nitrate to keep my nitrates around 4ppm. What test are you using?

 

[helldiver]

I do not use a test kit on k what test kit to use
@Dan agreed i am all over the place but with this advice from everyone is so helpful i am trying to get a routine going so i can get some consistancy.The first thing i am doing is to bring alk down and it comming down slowly right now. I tested is down to 12.2. Today i am changing media,charcoal and adding a gfo. To system to bring phosphates down

 

[reefwiser]

Here is my take I have kept SPS since 1992. Wait SPS can take time to grow. Every change you do to the water chemistry or lighting you will set them back for growth. Some SPS are very very slow growers and take a year or two to actually take off into a growing spirt. Some just don't care and grow. Others will take a few months before they start. Concentrate on stablity of water parameters and things will happen in time. The size that people get SPS now days I can see your concern. Small frags are easy to kill unless they are a hardy sps species.

 

[Downbeach]

I agree that you should get those numbers down a bit. But, if the only problem you're seeing is slow growth, there are two things I would do that have a direct affect on coral calcification. The first is the level of PO4; to get it down to an acceptable level I would start to run some GFO in a reactor, deploying it slowly, using about 1/3 the amount recommended for your system and test the results before adding more. This is one test that would be best done with a Hanna checker. The second would be pH; although the reading you posted is within an acceptable range, the use of an CaRx is known to keep it on the low(er) side due to the use of CO2. Coupled with elevated levels of CO2 in your household atmosphere when the house is closed up you have a formula for a consistently low pH environment, leading to slow(er) growth. To help mitigate this issue, one of the most inexpensive methods(if practicable) is to run and air line from your skimmers air intake to an outside air source. The use of kalk is also an option, but you'll have to make adjustments to compensate for the additional Ca and Alk it will bring along. To accurately measure pH I would suggest using a decent meter, i.e. PinPoint with a properly calibrated probe.