Why can't I grow Acro's

[IslandLifeReef]

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

I don't mind at all. Here it is.

 

[reefwiser]

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.

Ha ha ha A small volume of water will be inherently unstable. Just take a drop of a colored dye in one cup of water. Then the same drop of dye in a 55 gallon drum. Does one see a color change fast in a cup of water compared to a 55 gallon drum.

There are many factors that come in to play when keep SPS. I have seen many hobbies Stu just stumble into a success SPS tank. Then change tanks an they can not repeat their success.

Basic stable water is one think that will make or break a tank.

I am not a fan of LED’s as the create another layer of variability that is not needed. But one can grow corals sort of with them. Thou it is not a given that everyone will have success down that path.

One must always learn from one’s tank as to what works for proper coral health. In this case it is rather simple. I have seen many of my club members struggle with this as have I once one learns to do less and more simple things the path become clear and success will increase.

I would concentrate of keep temperature swings parameter swings to a minimum.
Get in a habit of checking your alk on a daily basis. Chart the reading you get. Are you having to increase all dosing regularly. This is a sign of coral health. One will get a pause from time to time in this consumption when you add a new coral or change a setting on your lighting even.

You need to understand how corals react to the changes that occur in your glass box.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Ha ha ha A small volume of water will be inherently unstable. Just take a drop of a colored dye in one cup of water. Then the same drop of dye in a 55 gallon drum. Does one see a color change fast in a cup of water compared to a 55 gallon drum.

There are many factors that come in to play when keep SPS. I have seen many hobbies Stu just stumble into a success SPS tank. Then change tanks an they can not repeat their success.

Basic stable water is one think that will make or break a tank.

I am not a fan of LED’s as the create another layer of variability that is not needed. But one can grow corals sort of with them. Thou it is not a given that everyone will have success down that path.

One must always learn from one’s tank as to what works for proper coral health. In this case it is rather simple. I have seen many of my club members struggle with this as have I once one learns to do less and more simple things the path become clear and success will increase.

I would concentrate of keep temperature swings parameter swings to a minimum.
Get in a habit of checking your alk on a daily basis. Chart the reading you get. Are you having to increase all dosing regularly. This is a sign of coral health. One will get a pause from time to time in this consumption when you add a new coral or change a setting on your lighting even.

You need to understand how corals react to the changes that occur in your glass box.

I keep a log of all of my water tests and occasionally take pictures of the progress of my corals. I also keep track of any changes I make to the tank. I looked back at my logs and pictures and noticed that in early August I was dosing about 2.8 ml of Alk each day and my dKh had dropped from a normal 7.7 to 7.4. Everything was looking better than it ever had and there wasn't a sudden swing. I figured that I just needed to increase my dosing to keep it up to 7.7. It eventually took 4 ml per day of Alk to keep my dKh at 7.7. I am using the RedSea pro test kit. I am also using Reef Foundation A and B.

Comparing pictures of my purple cap monti from early August and now, I can see fading in the purple cap. It looks like it is having a little trouble, though nothing I think can't be fixed.

So, here is my plan. I would like to know what everyone thinks.

I have decided that maybe the way I am testing or reading the results shows that I really need to keep the dKh at 7.4. I have reduced my dosing to 2.4 ml per day to allow the Alk to slowly drop 7.4. If I haven't seen a small drop in the dKh in a few days, I will lower it a little more.

Do you think this will help? Can my Acro be saved using this course of action?

Thanks for all of your help and input.

@saltyfilmfolks @Crabs Mcjones or any other reef squad member want to comment on this course of action along with anyone else who can help.

 

[ryshark]

Maybe an ICP test from Triton or ATI would help. Could possibly have metal or something being leached into the water.

 

[ashr]

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.

I just added this the other day.. How I missed T5 hahah I hope it helps!

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Having killed thousands of dollars or high end sps using hydra HD’s I fell like I should weigh in. First of all I think your UV and Violet are way too high. Second, a your peak power time line seems too long. And third I assume you’re using gfo or carbon dosing to drive your nutrients artificially low. I had a single 52 HD 12” over my 50 gallon cube and used gfo, bio pellets and nopox to to keep nutrients low. Acros would look great for a couple months and then they would either stn from the base or they would just dry up and whither away. Couldn’t figure it out because I had ideal numbers. So I bought a par meter and discovered the par was really really low. So I bought a seconds hydra 52 HD and got ideal spread and par. I also got rid of all gfo, biopellets, and nopox and just started growing a little bit of chaeto. Nitrates actually went down to 2.5-5 and phosphates went up to 0.9-0.15 and for the last several months my acros look incredible. Acro frags need good light, spread and nutrients. As they grow and they will consume the nutrients and bring them down natually.

I’m pretty sure your lighting is low, so I recommend getting another 26 or t5 hybrid.
Get rid of carbon dosing and gfo and just grow some chaeto.

 

[29bonsaireef]

Ha ha ha A small volume of water will be inherently unstable. Just take a drop of a colored dye in one cup of water. Then the same drop of dye in a 55 gallon drum. Does one see a color change fast in a cup of water compared to a 55 gallon drum.

There are many factors that come in to play when keep SPS. I have seen many hobbies Stu just stumble into a success SPS tank. Then change tanks an they can not repeat their success.

Basic stable water is one think that will make or break a tank.

I am not a fan of LED’s as the create another layer of variability that is not needed. But one can grow corals sort of with them. Thou it is not a given that everyone will have success down that path.

One must always learn from one’s tank as to what works for proper coral health. In this case it is rather simple. I have seen many of my club members struggle with this as have I once one learns to do less and more simple things the path become clear and success will increase.

I would concentrate of keep temperature swings parameter swings to a minimum.
Get in a habit of checking your alk on a daily basis. Chart the reading you get. Are you having to increase all dosing regularly. This is a sign of coral health. One will get a pause from time to time in this consumption when you add a new coral or change a setting on your lighting even.

You need to understand how corals react to the changes that occur in your glass box.

It's funny, but I've kept acropora in 14gal tank without issue, so no, I do not think the tank size matters. I agree stability gold, but time, patience, and experience is key to success.

Changing your Alk from 7.7 to 7.4 is going to make no difference here. Stable is all it really needs to be. You don't want it jumping around too much.

Best advice (get T5's) I can give.. Do your homework..lots of it, and honestly, take less advice from the forums. Everyone's tank is different here, and I would go out on a limb to say half or more of the users that comment are probably still running into issues themselves, sadly. Your tank and corals are and will always be your best guide in this hobby.

 

[Preme]

I’ll weigh in here,
So I also had trouble for a while in my 56 gallon. I was running Hydras at first, then switched over to ATI sunpower and it made a huge difference.
Obviously your levels aren’t an issue as they’re all stable in the right area.
As mentioned above it may be your par, you could invest into a par meter but I personally would add another hydra or switch to T5.
Personally the best combo IMO is Kessil and ATI sunpower that will grow acros like crazy.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Are you carbon dosing and using gfo islandlifereef?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

 

[Preme]

Beautiful tank. This just shows it really varies and you need to have everything just right for success

 

[hart24601]

I would agree it's either a pest (or fish) or something with chemistry. Don't stress about the lights, 100% Hydra 26 here, I dislike t5. The setting were all 5 lights 80% UV, DB, v, b - 30% w,r,g. Easy peasy. Lights are not to blame.

 

[MgSullivan]

I am absolutely not saying this is your problem, but I have watched two different Yellow Clown Gobies eat skin and polyps directly off my acros.

It is one of my favorite fish to keep but I just can’t do it anymore after seeing it happen with two separate fish.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Beautiful tank. This just shows it really varies and you need to have everything just right for success

It’s definitley been a struggle since I upgraded from a 29 gallon cube a year ago. 12 years ago I grew acros like crazy in a 24 gallon cube with a 250 watt metal halide. I rarely tested anything. I would boost my alk from 8 to 14 once a month and never tested nitrates or phosphates. Then I lost interest in corals and let everything die. Last year I upgraded and went Led, got on the forums and started chasing numbers and ended up waistin a lot of money. I finally found the sweet spot with ideal par/ spread and simple filtration.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I would agree it's either a pest (or fish) or something with chemistry. Don't stress about the lights, 100% Hydra 26 here, I dislike t5. The setting were all 5 lights 80% UV, DB, v, b - 30% w,r,g. Easy peasy. Lights are not to blame.

He has 1 -26 HD over a 40 gallon. That’s not enough for acros on a 40 gallon.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

He has 1 -26 HD over a 40 gallon. That’s not enough for acros on a 40 gallon.

Awesome tank btw

 

[29bonsaireef]

I would agree it's either a pest (or fish) or something with chemistry. Don't stress about the lights, 100% Hydra 26 here, I dislike t5. The setting were all 5 lights 80% UV, DB, v, b - 30% w,r,g. Easy peasy. Lights are not to blame.

You make it sound like ya'll are running the same lighting.. OP has one fixture you have five. Huge difference IMHO, and not very relevant.

 

[hart24601]

He has 1 -26 HD over a 40 gallon. That’s not enough for acros on a 40 gallon.

Isn't it only 18" directly under? They don't need a crazy amount of light. Now if you want to play with colors imo then get into the 300 range plus.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Are you carbon dosing and using gfo islandlifereef?

No GFO, but I do use NoPoX.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

You make it sound like ya'll are running the same lighting.. OP has one fixture you have five. Huge difference IMHO, and not very relevant.

Agree