Water Chemistry/ SPS (pics)

[specialk]

Hey All -

So I have been posting on here, learning more and more about water chemistry and all that. More importantly, I have been reading and studying more on Zoox and how that can effect the browning of corals and coral health. I have been battling a funky green algae and SOME browning corals.

I am still confused, and trying to take the right approach to get this fixed. I am posting some pics in hopes that this can help in assessing the problem. And a big thanks to Randy to posting and helping in this section of the forum ... although I am still a bit confused with my head spinning

1st, the facts:

- 125 tank, 145 gallon all total with sump
- Have a TON of chaeto macroalgae in my sump
- Running Ocean Revive, S026's -- 3 of them, 9 inches above top surface water. Tank is 1"9" deep
- Run blues at 80-85% for 9 hours a day
- Have skimmer rated for 150 gal.
- Rnning BRS Rox carbon / Also have 2 little fishes reactor with GFO (been running for 2 months now and change out the GFO at the onset of heavy film algae building on glass at a more consistent basis)
- Do 10-15% water changes, every 2 weeks with IO reef crystals salt
- Minimal feeding - seaweed sheet tied to a rock every morning, and selcon loaded brine shrimp in afternoon (rinse the frozen brine with water to get the nasty out before I put in)
- Livestock -- Powder Blue Tang, Goby, 2 clowns, damsel, 2 chromis, and 1 anthias

Important Notes:

* I have, the last 3 months, been traveling for work causing some lack of TLC (although many of these issues still persisted before)
* was NOT on a dosing regimen and water parameters were fluctuating
* currently set up to start dosing BRS Alk, Calc, and Mag once I get all parameters where they should be and test to see how much my system uses on a daily basis.

I am WAAAY confused as to if these issues I am having are due to, very simply, lack of stable and consistent water parameters .. OR if it is from phosphate (although have been running GFO all the time for the last 2 months, and changing out when it goes "bad" ) ... OR if it is too much Zoox and how in the world do I get that under control .. I have tried to read up on that issue but still a bit confused.

Will many of these issues go away when I get the dosing set up and get things stable and consistent? If so, will this stupid nasty green algae that is showing up on the rocks go away finally... I mean how much GFO do I have to run?

So I am hoping some of these pics can help shed some better light on what may be going on here .. (pics to follow in next post)

 

[specialk]

Also, before I post the pics, other issues I was wondering ...

* why some corals are FULL of color, and some look like $#&@
* Could this be a flow thing as well and I do not have enough flow?
* Could this be something as simple as some corals placed and in the wrong spots in the tank...? Not enough light, too much light ...?

 

[specialk]

 

[drawman]

Can you list your parameters including SG, Cal, Alk, NO3, PO4? Acros are finicky coral. How long has your tank been setup?

 

[tripdad]

Posting your water test results will help people help you more easily and effectively.Sorry, posted at the same time as above.

 

[sinekal]

Is your primary problem that some corals are browning out and never coloring back up, in conjunction with algae growth?

 

[KingBlingTX]

What are your water tests showing? (ALK, Cal, Mg, NO3 & PO4) Browning is usually a result of nutrient & lighting issues. (e.g low light & high nutrients)

 

[sinekal]

Corals, or at least sps, will brown due to variable conditions like you said. If your tank hasn't been stable the last few months if the only thing you experienced was browning then you didn't do too bad, you kept the swing low and slow enough to keep corals from dying. Step up your efforts to get the tank stable and keep it there and I would bet you are pleasantly surprised.

Algae is just part of the deal, especially in the first few years of a new tank. Keep running gfo till the system runs a level that isn't too high.

 

[specialk]

What are your water tests showing? (ALK, Cal, Mg, NO3 & PO4) Browning is usually a result of nutrient & lighting issues. (e.g low light & high nutrients)

What an idiot .. I forgot the most important facts .. lol... here they are, as of yesterday

Cal - 700 (!!! yes that's true and tested many different ways!! got a bad batch of IO salt -- they say it occasionally happens and did a water change to try and bring it back down, although high calcium not that big of a deal)
Alk- 7.0
mag - 1400 (was 1240 the day before - I dosed obviously)
pH - 8.2 (was 7.8 the day before)
nitrates - 1-2 ppm
I do not test for Phosphate as I have many that have told me don't worry about .. go by the old eye test and you know its creeping when the film algae starts building with more frequency)

 

[specialk]

Is your primary problem that some corals are browning out and never coloring back up, in conjunction with algae growth?

Yes I guess you could say this was the case. Although, this type of Algae, I have never experienced before. I did and was slacking on water changes due to hectic all of a sudden mad work schedule, and then I noticed that when I stepped up the consistent "every 2 weeks" water changes, some corals started coming back ...but when I did that, this new green nasty stuff started popping up

 

[KingBlingTX]

What an idiot .. I forgot the most important facts .. lol... here they are, as of yesterday

Cal - 700 (!!! yes that's true and tested many different ways!! got a bad batch of IO salt -- they say it occasionally happens and did a water change to try and bring it back down, although high calcium not that big of a deal)
Alk- 7.0
mag - 1400 (was 1240 the day before - I dosed obviously)
pH - 8.2 (was 7.8 the day before)
nitrates - 1-2 ppm
I do not test for Phosphate as I have many that have told me don't worry about .. go by the old eye test and you know its creeping when the film algae starts building with more frequency)

I would definitely test your PO4. Given your current situation, what does the eye test indicate about your PO4 level?

Have you had a chance to check any of your PAR levels (or at least LUX?)

You mentioned that with travel you had lots of fluctuation in your levels. I had that happen recently with my ALK in one of my tanks and many of the corals browned out considerably. It's taken a couple of months to for them to start coloring up again once it was stabilized.

 

[drawman]

What an idiot .. I forgot the most important facts .. lol... here they are, as of yesterday

Cal - 700 (!!! yes that's true and tested many different ways!! got a bad batch of IO salt -- they say it occasionally happens and did a water change to try and bring it back down, although high calcium not that big of a deal)
Alk- 7.0
mag - 1400 (was 1240 the day before - I dosed obviously)
pH - 8.2 (was 7.8 the day before)
nitrates - 1-2 ppm
I do not test for Phosphate as I have many that have told me don't worry about .. go by the old eye test and you know its creeping when the film algae starts building with more frequency)

Yes I guess you could say this was the case. Although, this type of Algae, I have never experienced before. I did and was slacking on water changes due to hectic all of a sudden mad work schedule, and then I noticed that when I stepped up the consistent "every 2 weeks" water changes, some corals started coming back ...but when I did that, this new green nasty stuff started popping up

As others have stated stability will be key and it may take several months for colors to come around. Your calcium is very high and I would get it down steadily with water changes. If SPS haven't reacted too badly then don't go too aggressive with any changes. Keep alkalinity rock solid that will help a lot.

Goes without saying but I would test your newly mixed saltwater going forward especially for Alk. A high dose of alk with a big water change could really kick those acros in the pants.

Your nitrates look good for me eventually you could even bump them up just a tad to play with colors but I wouldn't change a thing right now. I would be careful with GFO if you're not testing phosphate don't strip the water too clean.

 

[specialk]

I would definitely test your PO4. Given your current situation, what does the eye test indicate about your PO4 level?

Have you had a chance to check any of your PAR levels (or at least LUX?) That was my next venture -- ideas on a decently priced alternative to get those checked ?? Not looking to drop $400 on a par meter

You mentioned that with travel you had lots of fluctuation in your levels. I had that happen recently with my ALK in one of my tanks and many of the corals browned out considerably. It's taken a couple of months to for them to start coloring up again once it was stabilized.

Alk is the one thing that was low .. I am currently dosing to get it up to 8.6, then test and test to see how much my system uses everyday - then start my dosing program with auto doser

Any ideas on a cheap way to test my par levels? I am not looking to drop $400 on a par meter ..

 

[specialk]

As others have stated stability will be key and it may take several months for colors to come around. Your calcium is very high and I would get it down steadily with water changes. If SPS haven't reacted too badly then don't go too aggressive with any changes. Keep alkalinity rock solid that will help a lot.

Goes without saying but I would test your newly mixed saltwater going forward especially for Alk. A high dose of alk with a big water change could really kick those acros in the pants.

Your nitrates look good for me eventually you could even bump them up just a tad to play with colors but I wouldn't change a thing right now. I would be careful with GFO if you're not testing phosphate don't strip the water too clean.

All awesome advice ... thank you. Yes I am getting the Alk in order right now. That is something I am thinking WAS a big problem.

 

[KingBlingTX]

Alk is the one thing that was low .. I am currently dosing to get it up to 8.6, then test and test to see how much my system uses everyday - then start my dosing program with auto doser

Any ideas on a cheap way to test my par levels? I am not looking to drop $400 on a par meter ..

I plunged for a PAR meter several years ago, so that's all i've ever used. You can search the forum for LUX measurements and how to convert to PAR. I understand you can get a LUX meter for very cheap (or even use a free phone app).

 

[drawman]

Alk is the one thing that was low .. I am currently dosing to get it up to 8.6, then test and test to see how much my system uses everyday - then start my dosing program with auto doser

Any ideas on a cheap way to test my par levels? I am not looking to drop $400 on a par meter ..

If you have an iPhone/smartphone download a free LUX meter app

 

[tripdad]

I'm gonna chime in with an opinion here. I would not raise your Alk right now, readings above 8.0 with little or no nutrients in the tank can stress corals even give tip burn on acros. Get, as has been said, your PO4 tested, then aim for around .02 - .04 on that and 2 - 5 ppm on NO3. This will give you some safety to start raising Alk if you want.

 

[specialk]

All great advice and going to take all of this into account. Going to slowly get my #s where they should be and then test test test and then dose accordingly. Stability seems to the main "ingredient" I was missing... so I am looking forward to getting that taken care of and seeing what happens.