browing out sps

[pimp2daizzo]

so about a week ago my sps started to brown out thoguht it maybe time to change out my bulbs so i did, but it still hasnt gotten any better. i even see on my oj cap a bleach spot and i lost my ora frogskin.

my light run 8 hours
nitrates 0-10ppm norm sits more at 0
phos .25ppm
ph 8.3
dkh 8 (ive been having problems keeping it up but the browning happend after i got my level to stable)
temps around 83

i was starting to think my return put could be to small and not turning enoguht water over causeing my skimmer then to be able to skimmer out enought junk. its mkaing my crazy

 

[dzhuo]

phos .25ppm

This is very high if it's not a typo.

 

[Dynamic_Reef]

+1 on the high phos most Sps thrive in .0 - .03 in most tanks. high phos has been known to hinder growth and coloration in sps but .. it also takes time sometimes it takes several months for sps to recover from stressful conditions.

Patience!!! is key with sps

 

[pimp2daizzo]

i just dont know where its coming from...im running ro di just change filters out and im running 0 tds.

 

[dzhuo]

Majority of hosphate comes from food or decaying matters in the tank. Using 0 TDS RO/DI will certainly help but does not guarantee low phosphate. Would you want to share with us your tank set up?

1. Tank size?
2. Stocking list?
3. Feeding schedule and amount?
4. Water change frequency?
5. Skimmer? Fuge? Bio-pellets? Any other filtering mechanism?
6. Flow?
7. Deep sand bed? Sand bed at all?
8. Having algae issue?
9. How long have the tank been set up?
10. Any addictives you add?

 

[MarcoPolo]

Your PO4 at 0.25ppm is really high if the measurement is accurate and reliable. If it were correct, you need to understand root cause of issue and address. For SPS with a reliable PO4 checker you should get 0.00. There can be many sources for PO4, most commonly the food you add to tank for fish and corals, and AA

 

[pimp2daizzo]

90gallon

regal tang, powder blue, two small ora black clown, one md/lg true perc,cleaner shrimp, 12 lin wrasse,

i feed about 10ml of reef snow daily

i try to do a 20gallon water change weekly

skimmer is the aquac ev 180, 34 gallon fuge, vodka dosing, i have a carbon reactor, and i had the eco rocks from brightwell in a reactor.

the return pump is small only turns over about 300-400 gph but i have to korllia 4, one korllia 750, and a maxi jet.

sand bed is about 1" in most spot but some its 2".

green lgae that comes back in about a day or two, but i have none on the rocks at all.

about 8 to 9 months.

lugols, seachem a&b, kalk, started trying brightwell trace, mb7

Majority of hosphate comes from food or decaying matters in the tank. Using 0 TDS RO/DI will certainly help but does not guarantee low phosphate. Would you want to share with us your tank set up?

1. Tank size?
2. Stocking list?
3. Feeding schedule and amount?
4. Water change frequency?
5. Skimmer? Fuge? Bio-pellets? Any other filtering mechanism?
6. Flow?
7. Deep sand bed? Sand bed at all?
8. Having algae issue?
9. How long have the tank been set up?
10. Any addictives you add?

 

[dzhuo]

A couple things jump out:

1. I would stop the reef snow. You most definitely do not need it.
2. I would up the flow. I can't stress how important flow is as part of filtration.

Also, how much do you feed the fish? If your N is really between 0 to 10, your tank might be N limited which would render your carbon dosing ineffective.

 

[pimp2daizzo]

not to much at all, prob a teaspon of pe mysis a day

 

[dzhuo]

If you feel comfortable, I would try a little less feeding such as once every other day. It seems like your fish should be fine with that. Once you stop reef snow and up the flow (Understandably, this requires more money but I personally think you don't have enough flow), continue to do 20% weekly water change. I think you should see improvement within 2 months. You can slowly up the feeding again for the fish once color return. I am not familiar with this particular brand of skimmer you are using so I don't know how effective it's. If you suspect it should skim better, it's probably not running optimally.

Carbon dosing isn't terribly effective against phosphate so I would also look into running GFO if you are currently not. Once phosphate goes back down, carbon dosing should keep it down.

 

[pimp2daizzo]

in the past few weeks the skimmer hasnt been pulling out as much...and really just this week i started to feed my fish daily norm ill doing it once or twice a week only b/c im in school and ill forget to do it.

 

[pimp2daizzo]

and what gfo should i get?

 

[dzhuo]

There are lots of brands. Most popular is BRS GFO. I don't particular like it due to the dust and excess ion released. I have heard very good thing about PO4X4 - clean and does not release as much ion. Either brand will likely work.