Burnt tips ... low nutrients ... Need advice on how to proceed

[platax88]

Thanks, i will be using IO wich has alk around 9 I believe.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. It just seems that the recession is at a high rate and I hope they start bouncing back. Would you trim the dead tips or let them be

 

[jnc914]

Well the water changes will do that and there will be a small amount of consumption even when sps are dormant.Algaes consume calcium and carbonates so the level will drop.Only concern I have is if you are using a unusually high alk salt mix .Then the water changes would be counter productive.RC would not be one I would recommend with its history of high alk .As long as you r using a salt mix that has a lower mixed alk then you are at you will gently lower your alk.I have been where you are at several times while experimenting with pro biotics and low nutrient s in the last several years.

Dan- To your knowledge, what salts are currently offered that mix with a lowered alk? I currently use RC and my alk is at 10. I want to lower it gradually as I am starting ZEO in the next couple of weeks.

 

[rigleautomotive]

Yes the new IO is around 9 and will lower your alk.It has a low mg and cal which should not concern you much now but a tweeking with randys(recipe 2) mg and cal formula brings those #s up easy enough for the future when growth resumes and demands increase.I add a quart of MG and a Qt of calcium to a 50 gallon mix of IO to match my desired params.The mg is around 1100 and calcium around 350 on the last several buckets of new IO i have tested without the additions , the randys 2 part dose fixes it nicely.

 

[platax88]

great! I'll look into that. it would be pretty costly if I use the stuff from Bulk Reef Supply so maybe Randy's is cheaper... i'll look into it

 

[rigleautomotive]

Dan- To your knowledge, what salts are currently offered that mix with a lowered alk? I currently use RC and my alk is at 10. I want to lower it gradually as I am starting ZEO in the next couple of weeks.

Personally I have used and can only recommend IO and red sea with a lower alk but ESV has been reported to have closer to NSW levels of the big 3.I have no first hand experience with ESV.I was using red sea coral pro for years until there recent change in formula which yielded a very high dkh on the last several buckets.The regular red sea salt was still around 8 to 9 dkh but would require a mg bump to get it in the range that I like.IO is now the salt I have been using and it mixes very clean.

Most full blown zeo tank keepers seem to agree on one fact.Reefers best salt works best with the system.Many do fine with others but if you are going full blown zeo I would follow the regimen precisely and pay attention to every detail.Otherwise you may be another ZEO failure story.I believe using some of the other basic means of nutrient export to be much gentler and have a larger margin of error ie refugium,water changes,GAC,strong skimming,algea filtration.KISS if you will but every system is different and pro biotics may be right for you.GL

 

[rigleautomotive]

great! I'll look into that. it would be pretty costly if I use the stuff from Bulk Reef Supply so maybe Randy's is cheaper... i'll look into it

Not a quart of dry but the actual liquid mix you create using randys two part (formula 2 dilution)Just clarifying.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[Kolognekoral]

Jack,

as Dan pointed out, if the change water is a high alk (which apparently is still the case with RC), then you won't be able to reduce the alk. Reefer's Best is one of the best salts on the market for corals. It really attempts to imitate seawater.

You're in good hands, I'm going to bed....

 

[platax88]

Thanks Jaime ... I use IO with alk ~9dkh ... mixing a batch now for a change tomorrow

 

[Ron Popeil]

i too am enjoying this same phenomenon. burnt tips followed by tissue recession. my PO4 is typically between .0 and .03 and i used to run my alk at 11. this posed no problems for years using vodka and/or GFO... until i started with eco bak. then i lost essentially all my sps mysteriously over the course of a few weeks only to find out that high alk may have been the problem. but i was still showing PO4, so i was very much confused.

i have since removed the ecobak, switched back to GFO, brought my alk down to 8 and now have to wait to see if this is the reason my sps are still having problems. i have a lot of fish and tend to feed heavily, so it remains a frustrating problem.

 

[platax88]

i too am enjoying this same phenomenon. burnt tips followed by tissue recession. my PO4 is typically between .0 and .03 and i used to run my alk at 11. this posed no problems for years using vodka and/or GFO... until i started with eco bak. then i lost essentially all my sps mysteriously over the course of a few weeks only to find out that high alk may have been the problem. but i was still showing PO4, so i was very much confused.

i have since removed the ecobak, switched back to GFO, brought my alk down to 8 and now have to wait to see if this is the reason my sps are still having problems. i have a lot of fish and tend to feed heavily, so it remains a frustrating problem.

Sounds like my exact situation. Good luck, let me know if you figure anything out

 

[rigleautomotive]

i too am enjoying this same phenomenon. burnt tips followed by tissue recession. my PO4 is typically between .0 and .03 and i used to run my alk at 11. this posed no problems for years using vodka and/or GFO... until i started with eco bak. then i lost essentially all my sps mysteriously over the course of a few weeks only to find out that high alk may have been the problem. but i was still showing PO4, so i was very much confused.

i have since removed the ecobak, switched back to GFO, brought my alk down to 8 and now have to wait to see if this is the reason my sps are still having problems. i have a lot of fish and tend to feed heavily, so it remains a frustrating problem.

If you do not take swift action to halt base recession(unlike tip recession) unfortunately even correcting the cause will not stop the slow death IMO.I cut the receeded area off if its at the base removing the bare skeleton and a bit of the live tissue and reglue or epoxy to new substrate,not the same rock preferably.Doing this somehow seals the dieing tissue and bacteria (or irritant) from further killing tissue and chasing up the entire branch.Refering to acroporas here of course.In the past if i took no action i would loose the colony eventually to STN

I think you will see a trend in people returning back to more gentler methods in the future with all the issues arriving with the quest for 0 nutrients

 

[platax88]

My STN is strictly from the tips

 

[rigleautomotive]

My STN is strictly from the tips

Yes I gathered that.I have had good results with cutting the dead tips off and also have had the flesh grow back over the burnt tips when I did nothing.If the coral is healthy it will encrust right over the algae .