UV and bleaching?

jcates · Aug 18, 2020

I am new to acro ( i know a lot of post start like this....) so I will start with parameters.

Alk-8.9-8.6 that is the total swing in the last month. before I added the frags was at 9 but I chose not to adjust as it was not a large swing.
Cal- 440-450
Mag- 1340 (full disclosure I don't check it too often)
Nitrate- .07-.11
phos .06 ( i did have a spike to .35 after skimmer overflow but i let nopox gradually bring it back down.

Tank is a 120 long with a 4k and 2k ice cap gyre peaking at 80% running sine wave mode with a hycor 2400 return running at half the bars on the controller so I am guessing that is around 1200GPH. If my math is correct it should be a total of around 40x for total tank turnover.

I add 20ml of AB+ daily for feeding typically broadcast but usually once per week I direct feed the same amount mixed with 40ml of water

I noticed yesterday that I have one frag that bleached half way it pretty well finished the job over night. And one more has started. PAR for these two locations was 260-270 measure with LFS par meter rental. The other 8 frags in my tank look great. The 2 bleaching frag and been in tank 3-4 weeks and showed no signs of stress previously.

The only thing that I changed was this weekend I added a pentair 40w UV to run and assist for ich management purposes. with a Sicce 251 GPH pump feeding it and the return goes into the DT. From what I read and watched BRS videos one says if you run uv for protozoa then it won't clear water and vice versa so the question is could adding that actually have effected my frags or could it be something else?

Sorry kind of a long post but trying to get as much detail in as possible...

725196 · Aug 18, 2020

jcates said:
I am new to acro ( i know a lot of post start like this....) so I will start with parameters.

Alk-8.9-8.6 that is the total swing in the last month. before I added the frags was at 9 but I chose not to adjust as it was not a large swing.
Cal- 440-450
Mag- 1340 (full disclosure I don't check it too often)
Nitrate- .07-.11
phos .06 ( i did have a spike to .35 after skimmer overflow but i let nopox gradually bring it back down.

Tank is a 120 long with a 4k and 2k ice cap gyre peaking at 80% running sine wave mode with a hycor 2400 return running at half the bars on the controller so I am guessing that is around 1200GPH. If my math is correct it should be a total of around 40x for total tank turnover.

I add 20ml of AB+ daily for feeding typically broadcast but usually once per week I direct feed the same amount mixed with 40ml of water

I noticed yesterday that I have one frag that bleached half way it pretty well finished the job over night. And one more has started. PAR for these two locations was 260-270 measure with LFS par meter rental. The other 8 frags in my tank look great. The 2 bleaching frag and been in tank 3-4 weeks and showed no signs of stress previously.

The only thing that I changed was this weekend I added a pentair 40w UV to run and assist for ich management purposes. with a Sicce 251 GPH pump feeding it and the return goes into the DT. From what I read and watched BRS videos one says if you run uv for protozoa then it won't clear water and vice versa so the question is could adding that actually have effected my frags or could it be something else?

Sorry kind of a long post but trying to get as much detail in as possible...

There are so many factors that could be the real reason. I do not believe that a UV sterilizer would do this. I would suspect it is more likely the lighting or alk. Some corals are much more sensitive to the abrupt change. If it is alk it maybe that the store/hobbyest you got them from had a different alk level. While this could be the issue I think it is more likely the par levels. Some acros need lower par levels than others and don't do well in higher par. A good store will know the corals they have and be able to tell you this. However I think what might be the most likely issue is not acclimating corals to the par of your tank. Bleaching can occur from the lights being too high when you first add a coral. I had this happen with some SPS I added about a year ago. Now when I add new corals I turn down the par and gradually bring it back up over a week or two. This will allow the coral to adjust to the parameters of your tank and lights without being overwhelmed.

Of course it could be something completely different. There are some good coral experts on here and maybe they will give their opinions.

piranhaman00 · Aug 18, 2020

It’s from High alk and low nutrients. How are you measuring 0.07-0.11ppm NO3 ? Not possible, maybe the new Hanna will be able to do this?

Charlie’s Frags · Aug 18, 2020

Did the coral bleach (pale) or rtn (tissue loss)? Your alk is too high with that low no3/po4

I hate nopox with sps. It killed a bunch a bunch my frags but it recommends higher than what you have for sps frags. Get your alk down closer to 8.

melanotaenia · Aug 18, 2020

I would add to what @Chaswood79 said and note that if they were only 3-4 weeks old it is possible something was going on prior to you introducing them to your system. I find that for the first 1-2 months, SPS frags can do some strange things as they settle into a new system.

jcates · Aug 18, 2020

piranhaman00 said:
It’s from High alk and low nutrients. How are you measuring 0.07-0.11ppm NO3 ? Not possible, maybe the new Hanna will be able to do this?

Correct I using the new hanna ppb and then doing the math conversion.

reading x 3.29/1000=ppm or according to Hanna anyway

jcates · Aug 18, 2020

Chaswood79 said:
Did the coral bleach (pale) or rtn (tissue loss)? Your alk is too high with that low no3/po4

I hate nopox with sps. It killed a bunch a bunch my frags but it recommends higher than what you have for sps frags. Get your alk down closer to 8.

I would say rtn. They had some white at the tips and then gone.

piranhaman00 · Aug 18, 2020

jcates said:
Correct I using the new hanna ppb and then doing the math conversion.

reading x 3.29/1000=ppm or according to Hanna anyway

do you mean PO4?

jcates · Aug 18, 2020

Chaswood79 said:
Did the coral bleach (pale) or rtn (tissue loss)? Your alk is too high with that low no3/po4

I hate nopox with sps. It killed a bunch a bunch my frags but it recommends higher than what you have for sps frags. Get your alk down closer to 8.

Could I also decrease the amount of NOPOX dosing to increase nutrient level? That might be an easier to do than an alk change. decrease nopox and increase feeding the fish ?

jcates · Aug 18, 2020

piranhaman00 said:
do you mean PO4?

Nope.. using this checker and formula

Nitrite Ultra Low Range Colorimeter HI764 Hanna Checker - Marine Water

Check for Nitrite easily in your tank. The Hanna HI764 Checker HC Handheld Colorimeter for Nitrite ULR bridges the gap between simple chemical test kits and professional instrumentation. Accurate, affordable and easy to use. First, zero the instrument with your water sample. Next, add the...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

How to Test for Nitrite in Your Aquarium

It's important to test for nitrite when an aquarium is first being set up and when the tank is being cycled to make sure waste is being properly recycled.

blog.hannainst.com

piranhaman00 · Aug 18, 2020

jcates said:
Nope.. using this checker and formula

Nitrite Ultra Low Range Colorimeter HI764 Hanna Checker - Marine Water

Check for Nitrite easily in your tank. The Hanna HI764 Checker HC Handheld Colorimeter for Nitrite ULR bridges the gap between simple chemical test kits and professional instrumentation. Accurate, affordable and easy to use. First, zero the instrument with your water sample. Next, add the...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

How to Test for Nitrite in Your Aquarium

It's important to test for nitrite when an aquarium is first being set up and when the tank is being cycled to make sure waste is being properly recycled.

blog.hannainst.com

The nitrite not nitrate NO2 vs NO3,

Charlie’s Frags · Aug 18, 2020

How old is the tank?

jcates · Aug 18, 2020

piranhaman00 said:
The nitrite not nitrate NO2 vs NO3,

Well that's a stupid mistake it make.... I do understand the difference I guess i just can't read too good...

piranhaman00 · Aug 18, 2020

jcates said:
Well that's a stupid mistake it make.... I do understand the difference I guess i just can't read too good...

Ya we need nitrates for sure. Salifert NO3 is the best kit imo.

jcates · Aug 18, 2020

piranhaman00 said:
The nitrite not nitrate NO2 vs NO3,

On the bright side nitrite levels are good....shaking my head

jcates · Aug 18, 2020

Chaswood79 said:
How old is the tank?

6-7 months

been very stable on alk for the last 3

Should probably add had LPS, digi, and monti growing and doing well before i thought I'd try acro

Charlie’s Frags · Aug 18, 2020

jcates said:
6-7 months

been very stable on alk for the last 3

Should probably add had LPS, digi, and monti growing and doing well before i thought I'd try acro

I would ditch the nopox.

jcates · Aug 18, 2020

piranhaman00 said:
Ya we need nitrates for sure. Salifert NO3 is the best kit imo.

Thanks got a Salifert on order. Api says zero to 5 for whatever that's worth

Viking_Reefing · Aug 18, 2020

piranhaman00 said:
It’s from High alk and low nutrients. How are you measuring 0.07-0.11ppm NO3 ? Not possible, maybe the new Hanna will be able to do this?

Yep, that’s the most likely culprit.