New to sps and can't keep anything alive

[polleke]

In my opinion I would have a look at the high KH in combination with the low (undetectable) NO3. That has caused some of my acroporas to become very pale and die or it can give "burnt tips". For very low PO4/NO3 (like you have, don't lower the PO4 further and maybe try to increase the NO3 to 2-5 mg/l) I think KH of 7-8 is best.

Also maybe the quality of your LEDs, I don't know what brand you use but there are definitely differences there.

 

[Chrisq0904]

Well after much trial and error and several frags. I think I got something growing!! I picked up this pink digi from a fellow reefer and the tips are turning white, which I'm hoping is new growth!

Crappy cellphone picture but you should be able to make it out.

 

[kevin_e]

SG is different for each temperature. In the US it's measured at 20 degrees (celcius) and in the EU at 25 degrees (celcius) therefor you need to convert both.

1.025 sg != 1.025 sg.

Over here in Europe the sg in most tanks is 1.024. And thats more then high enough .

You're going to have to exaplin this one to me.

 

[B.BASH]

I also had poor success with sps until i purchased a calcium reactor stability is by far key to sps health my alk is stable around 8 cal 400 and mag 1300 these numbers wk for me good luck and be patient this cannot be rushed ime hand dosing will cause daily swings when u figure out your daily consumption set your dosers for alk and cal to dose about i2 times a day this will help with swings mag can be dosed by hand weekly

 

[Chrisq0904]

I haven't had to dose in about a week. I find it very strange, especially since I stopped using kalk in my ATO. But everything seems to be doing just fine. I think it may be that they may not have been growing. I think my pink digi just started showing signs of growth. So I'll keep on top of my daily checking for now.

 

[B.BASH]

Your consumption is low because of little growth as the growth increases so will the demand

 

[JWags911SC]

Other than the salinity being low which was mentioned (NSW levels are 1.026 and what I shoot for), I am finding several of my Acros are doing the same thing you are seeing. I haven't found the sweet spot for growth yet, but I believe the combination of your very low Nitrates and Alkalinity over NSW levels may be contributing to the RTN.

I've done several small water changes (each time testing the new saltwater before adding it to the system to ensure Alk is where I want it, even batches from the same bucket can vary in readings) to bring mine down to 8 dKh, but I think it will take a while for me to see them recover from the damage done when my Alk was 10 dKh. I honestly think I had a spike in Alk from 8 to 10 dKh and that has been the cause of my Acro issues for the last month.

 

[Chrisq0904]

I think I finally found the main source of my problem. I believe my lights were too intense I've been doing A LOT of reading on people who run LEDs. What I found is that the majority of people run their blues really high(80-100%) and the whites pretty low (around 30) and I was running my blues at 90 and whites at 75. I lowered both and almost immediately I noticed my polyp extension on everything was better. I now have my blues at 80 and whites at 35. Hopefully that will solve my problem. Fingers crossed!