Help with sps

[vhuang168]

I am having issues with sps.

Parameters are

Alk 9.3-9.6
Ca 440-450
Mg 1440
Phosphorus 12ppb
Nitrate 2ppm

After the sps are introduced to the tank, they start at med light med flow, polyps are out and everything looks good.

After a week they get moved to high light and high flow.

What happens after a week or so is the skin jus sloughs off. Polyps still extend but if I blow on it with a turkey baster, whole sheets of the skin come off the skeleton.

What would cause this?

 

[buy_baff]

You posted phosphorus 12ppb did you mean phosphate?

 

[ReefWreak]

Hanna phosphate checker math --> (12ppb * 3.066 ) / 1000 = 0.037PPM phosphate.

If they're doing totally fine longer term lower in the tank, and the flow is pretty even, then I would blame it on the lighting? It's weird that they would slough skin instead of bleach, but I suppose it's possible. They could just be sloughing because of the bleaching stress.

Do you have success keeping corals longer term towards the bottom of the tank? Do any other corals have success towards the top?

It just sounds like bleaching and coral death. What kind of lights are they, and what is the setup. If these are LEDs with optics, running at >50%, then I think that's your answer.

 

[vhuang168]

They do seem to do better towards the middle of the tank light wise.

Light is a Hydra 52 and I did run them close to 80% (keep hearing people say I don't have enough but I have a feeling I have too much!).

I'll lower intensity to 50-60% n try again.

 

[ReefWreak]

I'm on LEDs, and I really like them and want them to work well for everyone, and there are a lot of threads debating the merits back and forth, but I think that they are still too intense and focused, particularly with any lenses on them.

I have LEDs mounted without any optics at all, and I burned a favia mounting it 3" off the bottom of my tank (22" or so from the LEDs) at 50% power (1500mah RBs and 700mah white/red/green/UV; doesn't really matter because in a fixture you probably won't know what the LEDs are being driven at anyway).

I would just focus on slowly bringing them up the height of the tank, and at minimum give them a few weeks low in the tank directly under the lights to adjust to the LED intensity, and then slowly bring them up.

Now somebody quickly close the thread before it turns into LED vs. Halides ::tinfoilhat::