Why can't I grow Acro's

[IslandLifeReef]

If you get frustrated enough, sell your light and get an ATI T5 fixture. At least then you can rule out lights as an issue.
Try to get a better close up....like the original placement pic where we can really see the tips well.

I will try to get a better picture.

I used to run Radions on my tank and switched back to T5's. LED's can and will work. but you have to find a program that others are using as far as spectrum goes.

I am running the same program as my LFS on the same using the same lights. It runs the same spectrum as the Radion SPS AB+.

 

[trio91]

You'll typically see acros encrust before you see growth on the tips. I keep a lot of acros and have never experienced recession from the tips, it's usually from the base ime. That recession definitely looks like it was caused by a bite from a pest.

That was my first thought, looks like. Nudi bite mark

 

[trio91]

Yes, I have looked for pests. I haven't seen any. For flow, I have a gyre 230 set at 40% for a 40 gallon cube.

If it's a nudi, they won't get easily blown off by the gyre. They sometimes are hard to see as they can blend in with the coral skeletons.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

That was my first thought, looks like. Nudi bite mark

If you are looking at the second picture, the one without the circled areas, that is how the Acro arrived. The top picture is how the coral looks now and the area circled in yellow is the part that was damaged when it arrived.

 

[29bonsaireef]

I would rule out pests here. Unless, you consider a fish swimming by and brushing against the coral, to be a pest.. This does not look like any standard acro pest bite mark. Also looks like there is a bit of TN at the base as well. This looks real similar to light burn, and/or Alk burn IMO.

 

[reefwiser]

What is the water volume of the tank?

 

[IslandLifeReef]

The tank is about 40 gallons. Here is a better picture. This is what all of my Acro's end up doing. It usually takes 2 to 3 months before it starts and they go down hill slowly over the next month. I just don't know what I am doing wrong.

It definitely looks like tissue loss to me. Any other suggestions? Can this guy be saved? I'm really considering giving up on Acro's.

 

[lakereef]

What kind of fish do you have? This looks like a fish picking to me. I had a rabbit fish that inflicted very similar harm to my acros.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

What kind of fish do you have? This looks like a fish picking to me. I had a rabbit fish that inflicted very similar harm to my acros.

A chalk basslet, two clowns, yellow watchman, and a sixline wrasse (maybe a culprit?). I also have a blue leg hermit. I wouldn't think any of these would bother the coral, but this happens to every Acro that I get. All other SPS and LPS corals are fine.

 

[ReeferTX]

I'm having the same issue with one of my acros at the moment. STN from the tips. Do you run Carbon? if so, how often? I read that running carbon for too long strips the water of some vital trace elements leaving the tips exposed to sunburn slowly. I've since pulled the carbon from my system, and things are looking better already. I should note that I have about 70 acros in my tank and only one is having this issue.

 

[lakereef]

A chalk basslet, two clowns, yellow watchman, and a sixline wrasse (maybe a culprit?). I also have a blue leg hermit. I wouldn't think any of these would bother the coral, but this happens to every Acro that I get. All other SPS and LPS corals are fine.

None of those should bother the coral. My rabbit would bite off the fresh growth of acros, but the coral would usually recover. Assuming yours continues to go downhill? Try to look for other clues such as better/worse after you changed something. It doesn't look like pests to me, but sometimes it can be helpful to look at corals at night with a flashlight.

 

[lakereef]

One more thought just based on the timeline you say of it starting to recede. Acros are not happy if nutrient levels drop to nothing. Are you sure nitrates are high enough to support growth? I see issues with my system if it drops to the 1ppm level or below.

 

[reefwiser]

40 gallons explains a lot . you are getting fluxuations in parameters. It will take a couple of months for the signs of this to show up. But two months is generally the start of this type of issue. Having kept SPS since the early 90's I have seen this issue over and over and over again. In fact I have fought this battle many times currently in my 40 gallon IM tank. An has been my main issue with keeping sps in this tank volume. I am always developing strategies to minimize the small water volume and SPS. Thank goodness I am upgrading my system next year when I retire to a 300 gallon total water volume to start. I use to keep 3000 gallons of SPS in my former home but once we moved into a home with out a basement I was stuck to a rather small system due to the wife only wanting a certain size tank in HER living room.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

That does look like burnt tips from too high of alkalinity with too low of nutrients. This would not happen at 7.5 dKH though. Are you sure that your alkalinity is stable and not moving around? The reason I ask is that I was in a similar boat, I could not keep SPS for any length of time, but LPS and softies would grow like gang busters. I thought everything was stable and it was not until I added an alkalinity controller (Alkatronic) that I discovered that my alk bounced around a lot due to small tweaks that I was always making. Once I had visual feedback on the alk, it moderated my tendency to tweak things and my SPS are now growing and happy. So my guess would be that things are not as stable as you think they are, and your SPS are reacting to the changes.

Dennis

 

[Technewb]

Im having the same exact issues with acros, i cant seem to keep any alive. I keep my phos under .03 (ULR) and nitrates @lowest on api reef test. My acros are either pale/brown and eventually rtn. Whats weird is that during QT, they seem to do much better in my 10g with only hob filter. Im thinking we are chasing wrong po4 numbers. Im going to stop gfo and set up a fuge and aim for po4 @ .05 to 0.1 Hopefully this will help me keep acros. Montiporas and stony lps grows very well in my red sea 750.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

That does look like burnt tips from too high of alkalinity with too low of nutrients. This would not happen at 7.5 dKH though. Are you sure that your alkalinity is stable and not moving around? The reason I ask is that I was in a similar boat, I could not keep SPS for any length of time, but LPS and softies would grow like gang busters. I thought everything was stable and it was not until I added an alkalinity controller (Alkatronic) that I discovered that my alk bounced around a lot due to small tweaks that I was always making. Once I had visual feedback on the alk, it moderated my tendency to tweak things and my SPS are now growing and happy. So my guess would be that things are not as stable as you think they are, and your SPS are reacting to the changes.

Dennis

Yeah, I am pretty sure that it stays stable. In the last 9 months it has never been any higher than 7.7 or any lower than 7.4 dKh. I do have SPS in the tank that are doing well, I just can't seem to keep Acro's. I have several different montipora and a couple leptoseris (I mention this because some debate over this being an LPS or SPS). My NO3 never goes higher than 1 ppm. Maybe that is the problem, though people seem to be able to keep Acro's in ULN systems.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

40 gallons explains a lot . you are getting fluxuations in parameters. It will take a couple of months for the signs of this to show up. But two months is generally the start of this type of issue. Having kept SPS since the early 90's I have seen this issue over and over and over again. In fact I have fought this battle many times currently in my 40 gallon IM tank. An has been my main issue with keeping sps in this tank volume. I am always developing strategies to minimize the small water volume and SPS. Thank goodness I am upgrading my system next year when I retire to a 300 gallon total water volume to start. I use to keep 3000 gallons of SPS in my former home but once we moved into a home with out a basement I was stuck to a rather small system due to the wife only wanting a certain size tank in HER living room.

I was wondering if that was part of the problem. I have seen people with the same exact tank as mine, a Reefer 170 Deluxe, have great success with Acro's. Maybe I'm just not investing the time and attention that it takes to keep Acro's. Because of work, I have to let others in the family take care of the tank while I'm gone, so I try to keep things simple. A dosing pump for Alk and calcium, and portioned food for daily feedings.

Can this guy be saved, and if so, what would you or anyone else recommend?

 

[29bonsaireef]

Tank size is no issue at all.. How often, or do you perform WC?

Are you placing the acros way up high? If the lights are burning the corals you're gonna want higher nutrients. ULNS work well, but if the lighting is too intense (LED hotspots) it will fry the corals.

 

[Kimmi2413]

I have to agree. I had a hydra 26 and my acros were finicky. I lost about 50% of my acros. I added the aquatic life t5 led hybrid and they took off.

What is your light settings for the hydras if u don’t mind me asking

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Tank size is no issue at all.. How often, or do you perform WC?

Are you placing the acros way up high? If the lights are burning the corals you're gonna want higher nutrients. ULNS work well, but if the lighting is too intense (LED hotspots) it will fry the corals.

I do a 5 gallon WC every other week. I will make one of those WC's 10 gallons every other month.

The Acro's are never closer than 18" from the light. This one is 9" below the waterline.