jschottenfeld
Premium Member
I have a 125g reef with a mix of acros, millis, monti's, favias, zoas, setosa, digitata, and some other species that I am forgetting.
The reef has been established for 5 years and for the most part, thriving. Most of the corals that I put in the tank were happy. Sure a few would die every now and then but that was mostly caused by placing it too high or too low, etc. Overall I would say that I had a high success rate with many corals growing nicely for years.
I have 3 tunze streams on a multi-controller to help with flow, protein skimmer, refugium, calcium reactor, RKE controller and a 40 gallon sump. None of these items have changed in the last 4 years.
About 2 to 3 months ago I noticed that some of my acros had their tissue receding around the base of the coral. I first noticed it on 1 coral then another.
I was stretching out changing out my MH bulbs, (3 x 250w 14k) from a 1 year interval to about what was now about 15 months. I thought possibly that the temperature of the lights might have changed so I promptly started the process of changing out my bulbs for fresh 20K radiums. I shortened up their daily cycle a bit and changed out 1 bulb each week. After about a month I brought the lighting cycle back to where it previously was (8hrs per day).
It is now 3 months since I changed out my lights and my acros are still receding and shedding their tissue. At this point about 1/2 of my acros are gone with the other half in serious jeopardy. It appears as if the tissue is just comes off in strands from the base, while the tips are growing nicely. Some of my Favia's have receded slightly while ones on the bottom of the tank are doing fine.
My montis are fine, setosa fine, calustrea fine...My zoas are really happy and fully extended.
Here are my water parameters...
Spec Gravity 1.022
pH 8.4
Alk 9.3 dKh (had been lower ~6.9 and I slowly raised)
Calc 400 (had been previously at ~500 when Mag was higher)
Mag 1200 (had been 1365 and now I am raising slightly)
Temp 78
Phosphates ~0
Nitrates ~0
I dose 1 capful (small amount) of Iodine with each weekly 15 gallon water change.
Last bit of info...About 6 months ago I added 6' of Ecoexotic Panorama actinic LED strips to my existing MH lights and have them set to the lowest intensity on their dimmer. They go on for 2hrs just before my lights turn on and 2 hrs right when my MH's turn off...giving me a dusk/dawn effect.
Anybody out there have an idea what is doing a number only on my acros??
Thanks!
Jan
The reef has been established for 5 years and for the most part, thriving. Most of the corals that I put in the tank were happy. Sure a few would die every now and then but that was mostly caused by placing it too high or too low, etc. Overall I would say that I had a high success rate with many corals growing nicely for years.
I have 3 tunze streams on a multi-controller to help with flow, protein skimmer, refugium, calcium reactor, RKE controller and a 40 gallon sump. None of these items have changed in the last 4 years.
About 2 to 3 months ago I noticed that some of my acros had their tissue receding around the base of the coral. I first noticed it on 1 coral then another.
I was stretching out changing out my MH bulbs, (3 x 250w 14k) from a 1 year interval to about what was now about 15 months. I thought possibly that the temperature of the lights might have changed so I promptly started the process of changing out my bulbs for fresh 20K radiums. I shortened up their daily cycle a bit and changed out 1 bulb each week. After about a month I brought the lighting cycle back to where it previously was (8hrs per day).
It is now 3 months since I changed out my lights and my acros are still receding and shedding their tissue. At this point about 1/2 of my acros are gone with the other half in serious jeopardy. It appears as if the tissue is just comes off in strands from the base, while the tips are growing nicely. Some of my Favia's have receded slightly while ones on the bottom of the tank are doing fine.
My montis are fine, setosa fine, calustrea fine...My zoas are really happy and fully extended.
Here are my water parameters...
Spec Gravity 1.022
pH 8.4
Alk 9.3 dKh (had been lower ~6.9 and I slowly raised)
Calc 400 (had been previously at ~500 when Mag was higher)
Mag 1200 (had been 1365 and now I am raising slightly)
Temp 78
Phosphates ~0
Nitrates ~0
I dose 1 capful (small amount) of Iodine with each weekly 15 gallon water change.
Last bit of info...About 6 months ago I added 6' of Ecoexotic Panorama actinic LED strips to my existing MH lights and have them set to the lowest intensity on their dimmer. They go on for 2hrs just before my lights turn on and 2 hrs right when my MH's turn off...giving me a dusk/dawn effect.
Anybody out there have an idea what is doing a number only on my acros??
Thanks!
Jan
