Brutally honest

[Ejb]

I understand 2 months may have been jumping the gun on sps, I have kept them before 8 years ago in my 75g with good results (that was set up for a good while though). I suppose time will tell if it was too early.

 

[JustinM]

I put SPS in one week old tanks, especially Montis, I couldn't kill them if I tried. Tank maturity is overrated IMO compared to husbandry.

I guess I'm having a hard time think the kessil a80 isn't enough light for a 16 gallon tank, especially if the month is under it. Maybe spectrum is off. Idk. That's the great thing about this hobby, most of it is a guessing game with a guideline to gonoff of.

 

[Ejb]

Just did the test for KH and it took 10 drops to turn yellow, that comes out to 179 ppm kh. Is this bad? What range should it be in?

 

[JustinM]

Nope, it's a little high for my liking but not bad at all.

 

[Paul n]

Just did the test for KH and it took 10 drops to turn yellow, that comes out to 179 ppm kh. Is this bad? What range should it be in?

It depends on what type of system you're running. In a ULNS (ultra low nutrient system) it's always advises to keep the alk lower than it is in a balling system. NSW (natural sea water) is around 8.0-8.6 dkh (dissolved carbonate hardness) so you should be aiming for anywhere around 8.0- 9.0. ULNS normally require a lower dkh around 7-8 due to very low nutrients. Anything above that in an ULNS or above 10 dkh in a normal balling set up can cause brittle skeleton in sps

 

[Ejb]

Well thats a relief, so it may be the light. When I talked ith someone from brs on the phone they said it would be a good light for that tank but I never told them what corals I would have. With the kessil controller I use the same light and color intensity as the brs vid they have on a light schedule.

 

[Ejb]

So how do I bring it down a tad? Or would it lower on its own somehow? Not too sure how this works

 

[Paul n]

So how do I bring it down a tad? Or would it lower on its own somehow? Not too sure how this works

Water changes, it's the least stressful on your tank, do small partial water changes over the course of a week or two to bring down to the levels you require. The most important thing with sps is stability, get the levels you want and keep them the same, balling classic, balling lite or a calcium reactor will help with that. I personally always preferred balling lite with traces but each to their own

 

[JustinM]

Sometimes the salt mix you're using is high in alk. You are about 10dkh so I wouldn't stress too much on it. Do you have your month placed as high as you can and to the light?

 

[Ejb]

I do weekly water changes every thursday, but am trying to get rid of the instant ocean before going back to the tropic marin pro. The monti is a little on the lower half of the tank, not at the top but my other monti is at about the same height and he still has his color (green/pink)

 

[Ejb]

I moves that monti to the top and in a little less flow, ill keep you updated if its color comes back.

 

[Ejb]

Moved....

 

[Ejb]

So after I moved the monti he drastically got worse. I do think I found out what was happening though, I found one night my blue legged hermit picking at him. Has anyone had this happen before? Didnt think the little guy would get a taste for corals...

 

[DivingTheWorld]

IMO, your Alk is high. I run my sps tank around 7.5 dkH and I consider my red monti to be an Alk indicator coral. If my Alk rises much above 8, my red monti starts to go south. The good news is that montis tend to be bulletproof and if I drop my Alk the color comes right back in a few days to a week.

If you're serious about SPS, you need to start testing Alk regularly. I test daily, but at least every few days is recommended. Test at the same time of day each time. Get a Hanna Alk tester and make your testing life easier.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

So after I moved the monti he drastically got worse. I do think I found out what was happening though, I found one night my blue legged hermit picking at him. Has anyone had this happen before? Didnt think the little guy would get a taste for corals...

Sometimes when Montis go south, little sections will die and start growing algae. The hermit may be picking at algae? Hermits have been known to pick at all kinds of things though which is why I don't have any.

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

10dkh is on the high side of the mid range if that makes sense. Not bad at all. I think mcgyvr is correct in saying alk is not usually the culprit for your type of situation. I also agree with the shocker about mature tanks being overrated. Not necessarily that mature tanks aren't ideal, just that one cannot have a mature enough tank to grow stony corals in a "specific" time frame. I have a 4 month old tank that has a birds nest I put in month 3 and it's going gangbusters!! Your issue is likely light or your phosphate nitrate testing is inaccurate. Just my .02

 

[Ejb]

So I figure I should update this, my other monti started to brown out pretty bad as well and I moved it in the spot the other monti was. I bought the a360 and have had it i think about a month in a half so far. Got my dkh to a constant 8 and my nitrates are basically 0 ( api says its 0 but im sure there is a small trace amount ). The monti that was green/pink almost went out on me but I kept it in hoping it would come back. The first pic is pretty crappy and when I thought he was a goner but the second pic is from today and im happy with how its doing now. He has almost completely encrusted the epoxy hes on so ill call it a win. Im sure in due time he will get his green again.

 

[Ejb]

Ill post a pic of the stylo too, I kinda think I bleached him a tad when I first got the light and using too much gfo. I took the gfo out and slowly acclimated the tank to the light rather then blasting them with 100% intensity right off the bat. Also broke 3 pieces off of him by accident cleaning the glass :/. But in the end I will have 3 more stylos