SPS troubles

[Jay6363]

Hi everyone,

wondering if you might be able to help me. I have been having trouble keeping certain SPS. I have a 60 gal with 30 gal sump, Radion pro llight with two kessils on the sides. I know some would say thats a lot. However the take foot print with the coverage with the pro would be too dark around the outer edges. I run my Pro at a peak of 40% for two hours. I was having trouble with it burning up my sps.However certain corals were loving the light at higher intensities.

PH 8.20 - 8.5
calcium 450

alk 8.4

mag 1400

amm 0
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
phos 0

I use brs two part, with dosing pumps, have a good skimmer rated for a bigger tank. Run a refugium with miracle mud. Use zeovit chemicals. 3X ecotech mp-10w es, Apex to control and monitor. I keep buying the nicer higher end corals and they are dieing on me.

the less desireable boring sps thrive, I have a few other like the purple bosai acro is flourishing.

please offer any suggestions!!


thank you

 

[JonnyJ]

Hi everyone,

wondering if you might be able to help me. I have been having trouble keeping certain SPS. I have a 60 gal with 30 gal sump, Radion pro llight with two kessils on the sides. I know some would say thats a lot. However the take foot print with the coverage with the pro would be too dark around the outer edges. I run my Pro at a peak of 40% for two hours. I was having trouble with it burning up my sps.However certain corals were loving the light at higher intensities.

PH 8.20 - 8.5
calcium 450

alk 8.4

mag 1400

amm 0
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
phos 0

I use brs two part, with dosing pumps, have a good skimmer rated for a bigger tank. Run a refugium with miracle mud. Use zeovit chemicals. 3X ecotech mp-10w es, Apex to control and monitor. I keep buying the nicer higher end corals and they are dieing on me.

the less desireable boring sps thrive, I have a few other like the purple bosai acro is flourishing.

please offer any suggestions!!


thank you

I'm just going to touch base on a few things that I think you can start with. Would also help to answer these questions.

How old is this tank?

How much are you dosing daily?

How did you come to this number?

How long have you been dosing

What kits are you using? Maybe you need to cross check with additional test kits.

Zeovit -

Are you following a complete zeovit tank?

Or just using some of their additives?

How long have you been using them

Salinity - make sure your refractometer is calibrated monthly. I try to do it as much as I can. Every time I have had an issue its always reverted to salinity issues and nutrient levels being too low.

Is the purple bonsai colored up and flourishing?

If it is: In my experience most purple corals will not do well with the exception of a few in low nutrient tanks. If your registering 0 nitrate and phos (which sounds off, then I would seriously doubt a purple bonsai would be flourishing. If your registering those type of results then you probably need to increase the feedings.

Maybe you need to start from square one and simplify things by cutting out the zeovit and dosing and relying on water changes. Please post a photo of your tank

 

[Jay6363]

I'm just going to touch base on a few things that I think you can start with. Would also help to answer these questions.

How old is this tank?

How much are you dosing daily?

How did you come to this number?

How long have you been dosing

What kits are you using? Maybe you need to cross check with additional test kits.

Zeovit -

Are you following a complete zeovit tank?

Or just using some of their additives?

How long have you been using them

Salinity - make sure your refractometer is calibrated monthly. I try to do it as much as I can. Every time I have had an issue its always reverted to salinity issues and nutrient levels being too low.

Is the purple bonsai colored up and flourishing?

If it is: In my experience most purple corals will not do well with the exception of a few in low nutrient tanks. If your registering 0 nitrate and phos (which sounds off, then I would seriously doubt a purple bonsai would be flourishing. If your registering those type of results then you probably need to increase the feedings.

Maybe you need to start from square one and simplify things by cutting out the zeovit and dosing and relying on water changes. Please post a photo of your tank

Tank is about 3 yrs old. But really started increasing the diversity of my sps over the last year.


Dosing about 43 ml of all and 50 ml of calcium daily split over 24 doses.

Testing daily till I had stable numbers, just got the doser back in November but due to two malfunctions had to have it replaced twice.

I use the redsea test kits, was going to take a sample to the fish store to check it against mine.


No not doing the complete zeo system just : coral snow, amino acids, Phols xtra, zeo bak with zeo food, a few others that are slipping my mind.

I do use Red Sea no3po4 for carbon dosing

Been using them for over a year and saw success with what I have already in the tank that isn't new.

The purple bonsai is in a few different locations in my tank and is colored up nicely, and growing nicely. It does periodically pale from time to time but it pops back.

I do spot feed twice a week

Mix of phyto, oyster eggs, reef chili , mysis, brine , ect

Also give a little of phyto every other night

I have had a few alk spikes in the recent past due to my mishaps with the doser malfunctions but only up to 9-10 dka ... Caused some burnt tips and browning.

My refractometer is calibrated but honestly do not calibrate as often as you do. But it always stays about 1.026

I have an auto top off and I make my own rodi water 0 Tds.

Thank you for your input, I will double check my reading a with my test kits today then confirm them with Lfs tests. Will post results.

I will also post a pic of my tank when I get a chance.

 

[Jay6363]

 

[Jay6363]

 

[Jay6363]

Bump

 

[cdamiano]

How are the corals dieing? Are they bleaching (from the top down or the base upwards), or browning out, flesh peeling off, etc.?

I don't think you can get an accurate measurement on Phosphates with a Red Sea test kit. You will need a colorimeter like the Hanna Checker for that.

Alk spikes like you mentioned definitely aren't a good thing for SPS. Consistency is important.

Tough to tell for sure from the pictures, but it looks like your LED is hung kind of low. Too much light from LED's can certainly cause SPS to die.

Are they dieing right away? Are you acclimating new frags to the LED's by first keeping them very low in the tank and very slowly moving them up?

It could be many different reasons for the issue. The more info you can provide the better.

 

[Geraud]

I believe that BRS recommends the use of their additives in equal parts in order to avoid a chemical imbalance. You might want to avoid adding the same content every day unless it is only temporary for correction (aka "getting the levels where you want them").

Otherwise same questions as Chris: how do they die?

 

[Jay6363]

How are the corals dieing? Are they bleaching (from the top down or the base upwards), or browning out, flesh peeling off, etc.?

I don't think you can get an accurate measurement on Phosphates with a Red Sea test kit. You will need a colorimeter like the Hanna Checker for that.

Alk spikes like you mentioned definitely aren't a good thing for SPS. Consistency is important.

Tough to tell for sure from the pictures, but it looks like your LED is hung kind of low. Too much light from LED's can certainly cause SPS to die.

Are they dieing right away? Are you acclimating new frags to the LED's by first keeping them very low in the tank and very slowly moving them up?

It could be many different reasons for the issue. The more info you can provide the better.

Chris,
Thanks for responding..... I do feel ur right on the the alk spikes and I have tried to keep it Rock steady. Even though I have had a few doser malfunctions I've done a ok job at keeping it in the right area. However a few coral browned out from the last and are recovering.

I have raised my led since those pi a they were a few weeks ago, I have also turned them down a bit.

I do acclimate new corals on a frag rack and they seem to do great as I move them up little by little. Corals like milled have great polyp extension and do good . Once I feel like they are settled in after a few weeks I mount them. Then it varies from a few days to sometimes a week. Millie's loose there polyp extension then they bleach over night ir there flesh just peels off if it happens during the day. The browned out sps come back but don't die.

They all seem to due one by one never all at once. It's very strange. They never seem to show signs of stress till after I mount them.

I also take mind that corals in its area are doing good and looking good. But those corals have been there for a while and this happens to new frags.

I def fried a few when I transitioned from my gen 1 radion to the pro quite the difference in power but I have dialed down quite a bit.

You are right about the Red Sea phosphate test and will look I to getting a Hanna . Thank u chris for ur input, greatly respect your opinions!

 

[Geraud]

Jay, quick question for you, when you are acclimating to the new light on the frag rack, are you sure the area where the rack is situated is properly lit? What could be happening is that there is way more light right under the fixtures (aka where you place them in the end) compared to where the rack is.

See that image to see what I am talking about:

 

[Jay6363]

I believe that BRS recommends the use of their additives in equal parts in order to avoid a chemical imbalance. You might want to avoid adding the same content every day unless it is only temporary for correction (aka "getting the levels where you want them").

Otherwise same questions as Chris: how do they die?

Yes I believe ur right in brs. I have my alk dialed in I think and it stays stable. Just trying to raise the calcium a little that's why there is a difference.

Are u recommending I don't dose everyday? Just out of curiosity wanna make sure I'm reading ur post right.

For the corals basically as I said to chris they seem fine and the one day loose polyp extension and that may last a few days and flesh peels off and dead. It's frustrating. Other corals in the area are fine.

Thank for your reply..... Very interested to see what u guys think considering I'm missing something

 

[Jay6363]

Jay, quick question for you, when you are acclimating to the new light on the frag rack, are you sure the area where the rack is situated is properly lit? What could be happening is that there is way more light right under the fixtures (aka where you place them in the end) compared to where the rack is.

See that image to see what I am talking about:

Yes this could be a problem bc my rack sits on the front panel of my tank which is some what away from that zone in the graph

 

[Geraud]

Regarding dosing: yes you should dose every day, and spread it accross the day just as you do it.
But regarding A+B dosing, if it is anything like ESV( I made a mistake, it is actually ESV who was insisting on that) you should dose in the same amounts.

I assumed that you wanted to increase your Alkalinity "relatively more" than your Calcium, hence the "corrective" part more than "regular intake".

For your acclimatation issue, if you can, can you try acclimating "in the center" by securing the plugs in rock holes or similar? Could be a good way to rule this issue out. The best would be to find someone who has a PAR meter and check the results on the rack vs "in the center"

 

[SteveZ15]

One thing you can try is to get somebody with a par meter take readings in your tank.I have mh t5 and had readings done and found dead spots and high spots where i didnt expect them the sand bed was pretty much the same but now I know the fixture is at the right height and I know where to place certain corals,this may not be your problem but I feel it helped me a lot.The one thing I did find out before the par readings were takin the acros will loose color and get pale real quick in too much light.

 

[Jay6363]

Update tested my water at my Lfs

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Ph 8.1
Nitrate 5
Mag 1400
Phosphate .25 but said it was closer to zero kit doesn't detect lower
Dkh 9
Calcium 425
1.025

 

[polywise]

Jay6363,
IMO
I don't think the lighting is your issue, if you look at your zoos on the floor of your tank they are all really open, also even the ones that are higher up on your rocks.
How long is your overall photoperiod?
I do think that your initial PH readings were rather high. Ph should look to be around 8.03 Also, spend the money on a good phosphate tester. I use a Hana. Your Phosphate reading of 0.25 is high. Ask your LFS if they have a more accurate test for Phosphate.
If they maintain aquariums with SPS in them, I would guess they will have a better test they could do for you.

You need to be down in the 0.01 to 0.04 range at most for healthy SPS.

 

[Jay6363]

Thank u for the input..... I'm going to get a Hanna. On my Red Sea test kit I'm getting close to those numbers... But to be sure I'm getting a Hanna.

Blues on at 12:30 full power which is 60% blue and 30% white is at 2:30 then trends down to full blues with some uv at around 10:30 moon 20% blues for nighttime at 11.

The kessils on the side come on at 2:30 off by 8 pm I was thinking of shortening those.

I had just recently received a new small shipment and acclimated them slower this time. Majority are holding there color a few have darkened up a little. And I lost one. I had just changed my lighting pattern before receiving the last shipment.

I had all channels at 45% I turned the whites to 30% and went up slowly on the blues to 60%. Everything seems to be doing good.

Still have others that are struggling from before. Let me know what u think