just tested my salt! could this be the reason why my sps are not happy??

[murphreef]

hmmm....

thanks for the imput guys.....

well im using the glass that came with the PFO fixtures from PFO directly.... it says its 3/16" tempered glass....

others run the same pendants with no problems so its still confusing.....

i have done 60g in new salt changes using TM salt and so far so good all pieces have halted recession and have started to slowly heal back somewhat.... more noticeable is a piece of a monti digitata that was almost a goner is now back and looking great.... that yellow kinda stag is lookin better its slowly healing some of the tips ... heres a pic from today its hard to see but i can tell its lookin better and the blue stag hasnt gotten worse and is lookin a lil better too ....

i am doing another 30g water change tomorrow too so we will c how it does in the next week....

im guna check out that website on the light covers and i might change the pendants glass out also to see if that helps...

thanks for all the help and suggestions!

heres a pic

 

[PUGroyale]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8189967#post8189967 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by murphreef
so far so good all pieces have halted recession and have started to slowly heal back somewhat.... more noticeable is a piece of a monti digitata that was almost a goner is now back and looking great.... that yellow kinda stag is lookin better its slowly healing some of the tips ... heres a pic from today its hard to see but i can tell its lookin better and the blue stag hasnt gotten worse and is lookin a lil better too ....

WTG bro... :thumbsup: hope this is a real turn around for you My monti's returned quick too... Some take just a little longer.

 

[murphreef]

thanks Dave!!!!

im pretty stoked so far cuz things look like there turning around already with just 2 water changes!

im guna do a few more over the next 2 weeks to get all new water in the tank!

anyways i tested the TM salt and it was at 9dkh and 400 ca which is just how i like it!

see i dont think its the lights cuz i have had montis in the corners still bleach and die and they are not in any direct light at all ....

so i had one piece still kicking and its already done a 100% turnaround in just the last week or so....

if it were my lights i would think other corals would be affected such as my LPS and softies which many of the are up higher than some of my sps and they do great and grow great.... so if it were UV exposure i would think these corals would be affected also but none have ever done poorly just sps.....

so im leaning to low Alk causing burning of the tips due to usage of poor salt.... not saying all OPP is bad but the buckets ive used from an LFS out here have been bad IMO....

so far im 90% sure its the salt but only time will tell to let me know its a 100% the reason!!!

thanks for ur help dave and others im guna keep everyone informed and see how the next few weeks turnout

 

[PUGroyale]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8190046#post8190046 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by murphreef
thanks for ur help dave and others im guna keep everyone informed and see how the next few weeks turnout

NP... Make sure you do

 

[ringwurm]

I'm having the exact same problems that you are having. I changed from IO to Oceanpure when I moved to my new tank and I have had nothing but troubles. Almost all of my monti's are dead or dying and my acros tips are looking bad.

My ALK has been stable at 8 for the last month or so. I think I will try to grab a borate test kit also. I'm going to make a fresh batch of water with different salt tonight.

Last weekend I cleaned out the tank and threw away a giant bag of coral. It almost made me cry.

Keep us posted of your tanks progress.

 

[Covey]

murphreef if you or any one else that uses the Oceanpure could test the salt for borate content that would be helpful too.

 

[ringwurm]

I will look for a borate test kit this weekend.

 

[murphreef]

hey ringwurm

sorry for ur losses believe me ur not alone!

i have lost many sps over the last year until i figured it must be the salt ....

cuz now all corals are bouncing back awesomely and recovering nicely!

i have changed out 90gallons so far to tropic marin salt and the acros are doing much better already in just such a short amount of time!

get rid of ur OP salt and switch to some other brand like TM

i dont have a borate test yet but im getting one to see how much the OPP really does have in it!!!

i have lost montis all kinds from supermans to digis to caps and could not figure it out i had some nice pieces too and they all bleached and died i had one still haning in there a pink digi frag and now is fully recovered and lookin better than ever

ill take some more pics in the next few days to show u progress but i can see the daily rehealing already taking place!!!

it makes me so mad to know that i have been using a POS salt thats supposed to be a quality product!!!!

never again and once i test for borate and find the results im guna write the company and express my great displeasure with there products thats supposed to be great for sps tanks!!!!

im sorry to Rant on but im so ticked off righgt now thinking of all the awesome pieces i have had that have slowly faded away over the last year becuz of some crap salt

anyways let me see if i can get some pics up tomorrow and show u the turnaround already

ill keep u updated shortly

 

[Frankysreef]

Dont forget now that you are also letting your salt age and mix properly.

I use oceanpure and oceanpure pro with no problems... seachem used to give me problems.

 

[murphreef]

i know what u mean franky but still i know others that mix there salt and directly put it in the tank with no probs....

to me the buckets of OPP that ive used are no good and have done much harm to my sps

for me to visually see a turnaround due to 3 water changes with different salt tells me that the OPP is not good

 

[Frankysreef]

It's funny, I had the same issues with seachem salt... but oceanpro works great for me.

I guess you never know...every tank is different.

 

[murphreef]

yeah i dont deffinately know the issue with the salt but im hoping the borate test will help clarify that maybe it was a bad batch that only this LFS has but seems like more are experiencing this issue as the poster above has mentioned....

but i have never ever had success with montis and this one was slowly dying away with some algae on its skin and now look at it its completely healed and polypd out nicely....

so from my eyes still OP has something wrong with it

 

[ringwurm]

I just tested and my boron levels are around 17ppm. It says normal sea water is at 4.5-4.8ppm.

I'm going to double check with a new test later tonight and see what it says. I will also test the batch of IO that is cooking.

hmm.

 

[Frankysreef]

do you guys run carbon 24/7? I do.

 

[murphreef]

yup i run carbon 24/7 too....

yeah makes sence if the borate levels are that high its really meaning our alk is 2 points lower than what our test reveal....

now it makes sence.... so if u were keepin ur alk at 8dkh it means it was at 6 dkh more likely

i had always kept mine around 7-8 dkh so mine was really always 5-6dkh meaning low alk burn....

now its all coming clear

 

[scchase]

I have been having the same problems been checking everything. Originally thought it was from some high temps but months later I am still seeing problems. I know it isn't my bulbs they are staggered on age and the problem is throughout the tank. I have been using Oceanic salt and as far as I can tell the only reading that is off is my magnesium here are my specs,
alk 8.3
Calcium 465
Magnesium 1200
SG 1.023
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <5
temp 82 ish

 

[Covey]

I run Oceanic and it doesn't have elevated Borate levels like the Seachem salt. It wouldn't produce the misleading alk reading like the seachem salt.

 

[murphreef]

i havnt heard of probs with oceanic maybe its another issue but maybe try switching up ur salts too its always worth the try....

my acros are makiing a 100% turnaround already from just changing salt

so if in doubt try something else its worth the chance....

heres my yellow stag coral before

and now about a week or 10 days later look at the tips and compare they are already showing regrowth and covering the dead skeleton back up

my blue stag is doing better too now

 

[MACH5]

Murphreef very happy to hear about your tank recovery. I had a pretty good idea that all you needed was a good ol' changing of salts!

 

[murphreef]

thanks Mach5!

yeah the changing of salts so far has done wonders for the sps....

even today the yellow stag has even recovered more its growing fast back over the dead skeleton showing id say in a week there will be no more death showing on the coral

thanks for ur help