Is my acro bleaching/dying?

[saltwater4life1]

Hey guys so i got my first acro frag the other day and it seemed fine until today i noticed it's tips where the polyps come out are turning white. I doubt it's from to much light as it was in a shaded area, I just moved it to mid tank with alot more flow. I'm wondering it kinda looks like bleaching but i had this happen to a stanghorn frag, it started to bleach the tips but then the skin just feel right off but i was told that was because i hadn't a protein skimmer then (I do now). All my other sps (monti's, digis, bird nest,etc) are all fine. I think we're getting ready to leave if not I'll do a quick test on my water.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
~Nick

PS~ I have had low Alk in the pass would this cause the whitening of the tips? Also i'm not really sure i understand alk, If i add ph buffer that raises the alk no?

 

[tastingSalty]

alk plays a big part in the health of sps corals. let us know what that value is at when u test for it. also big alkalinity and pH swings are bad for corals.

i wouldnt use any 'buffer' for pH...

 

[saltwater4life1]

Thanks for the reply, My Alk is pretty low at just 3.5-4dKH my pH was also alittle on the low side at 7.8 I've been reading up and though i would try small doses of cooked baking soda to raise my pH and Alk over the course of a few days or so.

 

[saltwater4life1]

Ok so my Alk and pH are slowly coming up, but my acro lost like half it's tissue... I believe it's called RTN? Is there much hope for it to recover if i can get my Alk under control? I lugol dipped it last night and it had alot of tissue fall off.

 

[Du]

You KH extremaly low. So add baking soda to up it. 1 tea spon per 15 gal is ok for beginig. But ready to lost yours sps.

So, after you up the Alk you must test Ca level, it must be ~400-450 ppm, if it will low, u must to add the CA additivites.

And get target for Alk - 8-10 DkH

HTH.

 

[saltwater4life1]

I've been adding 1tsp 2-3 times a day for my 55gal ( done it 4 times so far. ) But haven't noticed much of a change... and I didn't want to shock anything as everything else was doing fine and happy. I'm gonna check my Alk and pH now. Also when my Alk goes up my Ca goes down right?
Thanks!

 

[Whisperer]

OT, what kind of sps is that? I have the one as well and I do not see any polyp extension but it's growing. Was sold as "efflo" I dont think so.

 

[saltwater4life1]

I'm not quite sure what mine is it was just sold as a acro but i think it might be a plating acro it had purple tips in the store.
Also i just tested my Alk it's now at 6dKH so i'm getting closer.

 

[tastingSalty]

your alk can be as low as 7 dKH, FYI. 7 dKH is NSW.

 

[saltwater4life1]

I was planning on aiming for 8-9dKH. So once my dKH is in range my acro should hopefully stop losing tissue or is it to late for it?

 

[Whisperer]

Absolutely not. Any parameter correction should be done very gradually to avoid shock tot he organisms. Place it lower in the tank.

 

[saltwater4life1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15603712#post15603712 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Whisperer
Absolutely not. Any parameter correction should be done very gradually to avoid shock tot he organisms. Place it lower in the tank.

Yeah, i'm trying to bring it up slowly i started at 4dKH yesterday morning and i'm at 6dKH now, that's not a big change is it? i was told to try and take 3 days to get it from 4-8dKH or a max of 1.5dKH increase/decrease a day. Also i mix the baking soda into a bottle of ro/di water and have it set up to drip into the tank to keep it from changing to quick
I'll move it to the sand bed where my koralia bounces off the glass.
Thanks guys,
~Nick

 

[ludiNano]

What do you dose usually for calcium and alk?

 

[saltwater4life1]

For Ca i dose Kent liquid Ca, As for Alk i have never dosed for it thats mostly because i never paid much attention to it until now. But after reading alot on acro's and Alk i found out Alk is an acro's best friend...

 

[ludiNano]

Well calcium and alk is used by every coral that builds a skeletal structure's best friend; meaning All SPS, LPS, clams.


The acro's and other SPS and clams usually grow faster than LPS and suck calcium and alk faster.

And i recomend you start using a 2 part calcium/ alk supplement. Since calcium and alk. should always be dosed in balaced amounts, since corals use both draw cal/ alk in a balaced amounts for skeletal growth.

Or puchase a calcium reactor which puts calcium and alk in balanced amounts aswell.

good luck its so much to take in.

P.S.-- magnisium(sp) is used a primary component in calcification too. it is the 4 most abundunt chemical ion in seawater.

 

[saltwater4life1]

Thanks, Yeah i'm thinking of getting the 2part starter kit from bulkreefsupplys.

 

[vidson]

keep you water quality in check.

 

[coral_lagoon]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15606126#post15606126 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ludiNano
What do you dose usually for calcium and alk?

You should drip Kalkwasser. Drip it when the lights are off as your make up water. Make up water from evaporation. Kalkwasser will maintain your calcium levels, and maintain your alkalinity at the same time. With that being said, my 60gallon reef tank is stocked with sps corals. I mix a little more than 2 teaspoons of kalkwasser per gallon with RO/DI water, ( A stronger mix) and perform 10 gallon water changes once a week. This keeps my calcium, and alkalinity levels up to par. Keeps them stable..

Calcium 450

alkalinity 9.8 DKH

 

[saltwater4life1]

Yeah this opened my eyes to my water quality... 2part solution is pretty much the same as kalkwasser right?