Please help diagnose (with pictures)

[Ross33]

Tank set up: 65g tank with 15g Sump. 65g net total water volume. Lighting is 4x39w LED powermodule. Filtration is SRO skimmer and zeovit reactor.

Zeovit details:

I have been running zeovit since about June. I started off with the recommended dose of 600mL zeostones, but my corals got very pale and began losing tissue. I have since reduced and I am running CUNAreefer's recommended dose:

110mL Zeostones
0.2L Activated KZ brand carbon
2 drops sponger power 3 times a week
2 drops Zeobak 3 times a week
4 drops CV nightly
2 ML K balance per day to keep up with calcium demand

Actual parameters:
Alk: 6.7
Calcium 410
Mag 1260
Phosphates 0.03
Nitrate 2
Potassium 390

Now for my problem! I am experiencing tissue loss mainly from the tips, that you would normally associate with an alk spike or alk burn. I am 100% certain it is not alk burn. This particular problem seems to have gotten worse since I reduced zeovit.

I have been testing alk almost daily. I am using a hanna alk tester and verifying with salifert. I am also 100 % sure it is not pests.

I have several pieces that are looking outstanding, great color, growth and PE are greatly improved since reducing zeovit about a month ago. I have other pieces that are barely haning on and slowly but steadily losing tissue.

I have read until my eyes bleed and I cannot figure out why. I have seen theories inculding the following:

1. allelopathy as I do have some aptasias in the tank, but I just treated them.

2. increased phosphates due to the reduction in the zeovit media.

3. Too much light. I have raised my light up a foot above the tank. On one piece in particular (ORA scribbs) only the top of the acro is losing tissue, while the under side of the same branch still has tissue. I dont know why this issue would begin now though, because I've had the same light over the tank for months.

4. Excessive carbon dosing (althought zeo recommends 0.25mL and I am only dosing 0.15mL)

Sorry for the poor pictures, I'm taking them on an iPhone



This piece use to be purple and green, now it has burnt tips and almost no PE. the only polyps visible are around the base of the coral in the shade.

Here is the same piece on the left. Notice the pink lemondade and other battle corals piece on the right are both showing good color, encrusting, and have PE.


Here is an ORA scripps. This piece use to grow insanely fast. Now it is barely hanging on. The tissue on the top of it that gets the most light is slowly peeling away. The coral still has tissue on the under side of the same branches.



Here is a humilis. It use to be green all the way to the tips. The tips first turned purple and now have been receeding. I have cut them back several times after algae takes over the tips. It continues to recede slowly.


In this picture you can see the humilis, the purple acro, and the ORA scripps that are all doing poorly.



This is the right side of the tank. As you can see the RBTAs are happy, the xenia grows like crazy, they chili pepper monti and sunset montis are growing, zoanthis are happy, etc.



This pocillopra and sunset monti are growing well. The purple/ green polyp acro to the left has burnt tips that you can see in the picture.

 

[Ross33]

Here is my alkalinity graph on apex.

 

[codydemmel4]

when did it start? looks like you have a very very low drop in alk sometime a little after sept?

 

[Ross33]

This has been going on for about a month or two. That drop on the graph is where I accidentally entered 0 in apex (and I cant figure out how to remove the point). Alk has been dead stable.

 

[fishguy597]

I've had coral do that when I have had red bugs in the past.

 

[Ross33]

Here are my triton results. Does anything stand out? I'm getting very frustrated and still losing tissue.

 

[ADVRESOURCE]

Your Calcium is very high while your ALK is low. Also, you have Copper in your water. Try a decent water change. Start dosing ALK a little more and make sure you are testing for Magnesium and dose as appropriate to get that level to around 1450. This could be caused by Calcium burn. Won't happen if ALK was higher.

 

[markalot]

The alk dip just before the chart you posted will do it, I had the same thing happen on a smaller scale. Acros can show damage for weeks afterwards. Keep the Alk stable and IMO you should be fine. All other parameters are good.

One statement worries me.

2 ML K balance per day to keep up with calcium demand

Calcium is rather unimportant as long as it's in a safe range. Not sure how you maintain Alk but if it's with 2 part I would dose both parts based on Alk consumption only.

When My alk bottomed out at 5.8 I lost one of two frags of a blue stag, the other showed no signs of damage and it's the same coral. I got tip recession on a milli and base recession on another acro.

My mistake was relying on the calculator on the Apex site to tell me what Alk is based on the test kit reading (Salifert). It's wrong for Salifert and I was actually running dangerously low for a long time. Since you are using the Apex and Alk is 6.7 double check it's numbers with the page that came with your kit.

 

[vuqchu]

Only time that happened to me in the past was rusty magnet on a pump.