Help - white spots good or bad?
- Thread starter dubmaneh
- Start date
Thanks. I feared it fell into the "not good" category but wasn't sure.
I've done 2 10% water changes this week and plan on another tomorrow. Softies looked better right away. Might go 20%.
Alk has been stable (less than 0.5dkh swing/day) for a few weeks after a spike.
As for nutrients.... had high N03 earlier this year (April) but managed to get that down. Rocks were leaching p04 but got that down as well. P04 has been at 0.00 on the Hanna ULR for about 2 weeks.
Maybe I'll tone down the white LEDs to give the corals a break. But the lighting is the only thing that hasn't changed.
Was just starting to see some good growth before the alk spike. [emoji17]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
biecacka
Active member
One thing I have heard is by the time the corals show you they are upset, it is usually a few weeks past. In your case, that Alk spike is rearing its head now. I would bust out a water change for sure.
In regards to your white leds, what leds do you run and what do you have the white set to?
Also focus on why you have high nitrates, over feeding, poor filtration, or such. This is important so you can work to prevent it from happening again.
Corey
In regards to your white leds, what leds do you run and what do you have the white set to?
Also focus on why you have high nitrates, over feeding, poor filtration, or such. This is important so you can work to prevent it from happening again.
Corey
Looking back at my log and some pictures that would make sense. I've done a few 10% water changes so far this week and my LPS look better but I fear it may be too late for my SPS.
I'm starting to doubt it was the Alk swings and suspect that it was PO4 reduction and starting N0
0x dosing that caused this. My Alk doser looks like it was failing for some time but the largest recorded swing was around 1.2dkh/7days which shouldn't have been enough to do this kind of damage (unless it was very, very sudden. But the frequency of the dosing schedule should have prevented that). PO4 however dropped from 0.14ppm to 0.037ppm/12 days. The drop was recorded on Sept 17th, just 3 days prior to when I lost an acro to RTN. And of course, keeping up with my GFO changes I changed my GFO on the 17th. Also changing brands from Aquaforest AP- to Rowaphos at this time(using a reduced amount).
Looking at my pictures from around September 17th, there were some burnt tips already appearing and some minor thinning flesh. But I wasn't concerned as it was minor and I had seen this resolve itself before. My PO4 continued to drop but didn't hit 0 on the Hanna ULR until a week after starting the N0
0x. Since I hit 0ppm P04 things have continued to go downhill at a steady pace. Just for reference , for months prior to this P04 remained between 0.15-0.2ppm as my rocks were leaching accumulated P04.
So.........my GFO was taken offline when I started dosing N0
0x and I've increased my feedings to get P04 detectable levels. Right now my N03 is at a steady 5ppm and my P04 is at 0.03ppm.Should I stop dosing N0
0x or continue my elevated feeding (fish don't mind) and let things stabilize?I don't suspect the LED's because they really one of the only thing in the system that hasn't changed. I'm running 2 Vertex Illuminas with the multicolour module on each. After doubting the lights could actually grow SPS, I got the settings off of another refeer who had pics of good growth.
This one was easy......vacation. I was successfully dosing NaN03 due to constant 0 readings and the person taking care of the tank managed to go from 0 to 80 within a week. Thankfully I didn't loose any fish. But came back to a lot of damage. Knew it was bad when I walked in the door and couldn't see the tank through the algae on the glass! Bought a couple more fish and now N03 is a little high but steady at 5ppm.
Just before this happened I was (gasp) actually witnessing daily growth on my SPS for the first time. Someone asked how my tank was and I remember saying "I never understood how people have to frag their SPS, but I think I understand." Never again will I tempt fate. LOL!
Really appreciate the help as this has been a little frustrating. :headwallblue:
White LEDs put out harmful radiation above what most coral can handle in the frequencies above 500. This can be OK if the coral is heathy enough to shield it's self from it - when they are not, trouble can come with tips and edges getting burnt. Even when coral are healthy, jacking the whites up too much can be trouble since every specimen has a breaking point.
There is a lot of data coming out that most fixtures have too much blue in them too (spikes too high)... again, fine for healthy corals, but when they get stressed, the lights contribute to the stress rather than the healing.
They certainly can grow corals when everything else is perfect, but they are not good lights when stuff is not perfect. Consider turning them down (at least the whites) - IMO, it will help.
There is a lot of data coming out that most fixtures have too much blue in them too (spikes too high)... again, fine for healthy corals, but when they get stressed, the lights contribute to the stress rather than the healing.
They certainly can grow corals when everything else is perfect, but they are not good lights when stuff is not perfect. Consider turning them down (at least the whites) - IMO, it will help.
Are the white spots appearing on the coral flesh good or bad?
Apologies for the iPhone phone photo but it's all I have at the moment.
After battling high P04, a massive alk spike and other....:
fun just not sure what to make.
Thanks.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Those are some bad *** vermetids... I'm glad mine are the small ones.
Anyways sounds like you are already on the right track. Good luck with the recovery.
jda - Checked the specs on the lights and the white LED's have about 40% of their output above the 500nm range. Lowered all colours (except red and green as they were very low already) by 15%. Also increased the ramp up/down time by 2hrs to shorten the peak hours.
Looking at the SPS, the areas where the flesh is shaded it looks dark and healthy with good polyp extension. We'll see what lowering the lights does. Man, fluorescents were so much easier.
pisanoal - Initially I kept hoping the corals would encrust over the snails and close them up and eventually just got used to them. You should see when I baste the rocks. Nothing but webs of dust!
They're on my to do list now. Broke a bunch off and going to start gluing them closed.
Looking at the SPS, the areas where the flesh is shaded it looks dark and healthy with good polyp extension. We'll see what lowering the lights does. Man, fluorescents were so much easier.
pisanoal - Initially I kept hoping the corals would encrust over the snails and close them up and eventually just got used to them. You should see when I baste the rocks. Nothing but webs of dust!
They're on my to do list now. Broke a bunch off and going to start gluing them closed.
I think the smaller ones you might stand a chance at that corals encrusting over them. Mine only grow about 1/4" long, the really long ones are 1/2". Those long/large ones... I don't see how a coral would keep up. Those things are nuts. Hopefully they aren't as virulent as the shorter ones. You might have some success with manual removal then.
I do have a thread going on reef safe chemical eradication, but I've been unsuccessful so far. My testing has been sidelined for a while, but ill be picking it back up as my other projects start getting finished up.
Good Luck
