reoccuring issue with sps tips burning and receding whats the deal please help

murphreef

murphreef

Active member
ok well this always seems to happen to me for some reason or anotehr....

lots of corals i get slowly fry the tips and receed.... its happend on quite a few things in my tank over the past and slowly the acro would die off from tips downward.... like it was burnt or something.....

now i know people say alk can be an issue.....

my alk has always stayed between 7.3-8.6 at the extremes and usually stays around 8.3-8.6 using a Ca reactor and my Ca stays around 400-420.....

other parameters are as follows....

ph 8.1-8.3
temp79-80 chiller
am,na,ni,po4 all undetectable
mg 1350
sg 1.025-1.026
35-40x's turnover

so i dont know what else it could be.....

i dont know if the lights can cause this cuz some of my acros are just fine and growing well....

millis like my tank so do validas and some other random sps

but such things as all montis and stags always seem to fry from the tips down.....

what do i do?

i run 250W Phoenix 14K HQI's on PFO HQI ballast and PFO mini pendants and they seem really bright IMO.... but i dont think a 250W 14K could burn sps tips or could it??

this is my last option cuz everything else seems in line to me

please help a fellow reefer out with suggestions!!!

thanks
 
How far are they from the lights? I note that many of my acros like to be on the bottom of the tank 20" from my 250's. They brown if higher.

Also, if your params are perfect and you're still having trouble, time to start questioning the accuracy of instruments like thermometer and refractometer. Take same to your lfs and be sure you're checking out with their equipment.
 
as far as equipment goes i just recalibrated my refractometer it was fine....

i have 2 alk test kits both salifer both check the same....

i have 3 temp guages in the tank 1 in tank 1 in sump and 1 on chiller all are within a degree of each other.....

im pretty sure my ca and mg kits are fine as with my po4 kit those are all new and salifer.... the am,na,ni kit is some seamasters test kit which i have used this brand for years with those test and always works good IMO.....

all my ro/di filters are faily new no more than a few months....

i use ocean pure pro salt.....

i just dont get it .....

from what im seeing its the branches and tips that are facing upwards and at the top of the acro leaving me to believe its a lighting issue of some sorts....

but i just have a hard time finding that 250's can burn an sps tip.....

i know these ballast and pendants really help the bulbs out alot some really good reflectors in these pendants!

i run the lights 8 hours im gonna cut it back to 6 and see what happens in the next week....

what other things can i try its driving me crazy.,....

last thing i can think of is switching light systems out

thanks for ur suggestions what u think?
 
What's water movement like? Myself like a fool I pointed a tunze in thr direction of a pink bird's nest and blasted some skin off the tips of the BN. Thank goodness I spoted it a day later and changed it only harmed 5-6 tips the coral is recovering.
Not sure if you have the same problem but worth checking.
 
i mean the corals will have great PE and colot then all of the sudden the tips start to slowly receed/burn

and as far as montis go i cant keep a one!

they all bleach and slowly die off....

once again leading me to believe its a lighting issue of some sorts....

the DE bulbs are in pendants that have a glass shield so UV shouldnt be an issue
 
my flow is very random no powerheads or returns pointing at a coral directly....

i have a sequence Dart on an OM 4 way

then i have a SEIO 1500 and a SEIO 820 neither of which point directly at a tip.....

what happens its like the tips start to release lil white stringy tissue like feeding strands but then the tissue slowly receeds off of it then the skeleton is shown and this can take a week to a few months to happen depending on the acro....

like i said though my millis are fine growing nicely and have great color and PE....

same with my valida....

i have a few others that are fine too including a few wild colonies....

seems when i add a stag they are very succeptable to the burning tips
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8100947#post8100947 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
How far are they from the lights? I note that many of my acros like to be on the bottom of the tank 20" from my 250's. They brown if higher.

Also, if your params are perfect and you're still having trouble, time to start questioning the accuracy of instruments like thermometer and refractometer. Take same to your lfs and be sure you're checking out with their equipment.
Click to expand...

I am so glad to hear this. Seldom is this advice given. More often then not people are saying, "more light!" Guess what? Not all acros need to be at the top of the tank.

I am going to raise my 250 DE's up for a few weeks and monitor the results....
 
bulbs are about 6-7 " off the top of the water but thats the glass shield so add another 2" to the bulb....

most acros were in the middle to upper but at least 8" under the water.....

bulbs are about 6 weeks old but this happened with the bulbs b4 too so im really confused
 
I use 1 250 mh 10000k centrally located Ushio with 2 actinics 9 inches above the water, and most of my bluer corals seem to want to be near the bottom. Frogspawn, on the other hand, luxuriates 8 inches under the surface. While my green slimer, which is supposed to go yellow in high light, maintains an impossibly dark green, like a well-fed lawn only 6" under.

I just wonder if the difference lies in the 10000 v. 14000 level.
My flow is a single sea swirl, which sweeps the front of my bowfront.

I have many of the same species that are thriving under that light. I'm having a little browning issue with corals that aren't on the bottom, at about 10-14 inches, but the rest live at 20" below the surface---all except that silly slimer and the digitatas that grow like weeds up at the top and proliferate every time I knock into them. My bulbs are half a year old. I dose 3 heaping tsp of calcium a day [Kent TUrbo Cal] in my 52. [I also have a clam.]

I don't blame you for being baffled. I wonder if somehow the intense light is causing a heat buildup at the growth ends. It's all I can think of...try lowering a frag of something you know is vulnerable---digitata might be a good test subject---and put it clear on the bottom and see if that helps.
 
nuclearreefs i have a jbj auto top off system that refills evaporated water thoughout the day as needed with the use of a float sensor....

i have a 18g container full of fresh ro/di water ... tank uses on average 3g a day

hmmm yeah i have a slimer that was doin well i thought then the tips started dying the sides facin the light were losin flesh.... its about half way in the tank in good flow....

i dont get it....

what else can i be overlooking???

what can cause tips to melt and such.....

ill see what i can lower....

i just raised the canopy anotehr inch and a half yesterday and today i shortened the photo period an hour so we will see what happens i guess cuz all other levels check a ok
 
I sure wish you luck. Your water is in better condition than mine, and your equipment is much better---I'm just betting there's a problem with the light level or the height. I don't know about UV over the long haul...that's something I've never used. In the process of trying to troubleshoot this I'd certainly start with the lights and see if that works some improvement.
 
thanks sk8r!

i know im hoping for the best.... like i said i raised the light up another 1-2 inches and then lowered the photo period to about 6.5 hours of MH and 10 hours of actinics only

yeah i thought i got good equipment and the right set up going but i duno.....

maybe ill turn the uv off for a while and see what happens if anything ....its a small unit with a slow flow rate so i duno how much it really does....

im just wondering whats goin on.... if nothin changes i may go to a different light setup maybe some SE bulbs on luminarek reflectors in my canopy instead.....

yeah i checked my water again tonight well the alk and ca and it was 8.6dkh and 420ca and 1350 mg so i dont think it gets better then that lol so those are right on line....

thanks again for ur help any one else experience this condition b4 and what was the outcome?
 
o BTW i also had a large sinularia "colt" coral that i have always had in the tank so i just got rid of it about 3 days ago to another local reefer who wanted it....

it was about 8" tall with 2 seperate stocks with a 2.5" diameter base.... so it was a large softy i wonder if this could have any thing to do with it??
 
ummm bubbles not really its more like the tissue becomes sorta stringy at times like the coral is feeding or something but then the tissue slowly dies off revealing the skeleton and then death

but its only occuring on the high tips first and the parts of the branches that are facing the light
 
Sorry I shoulda been more clear. I meant actual air bubbles sitting on the tips of your acros. I only ask because I had the same issue, but I corrected it by upping my Mg (using Kent's Tech M). I know you already mentioned that your Mg is fine.

I would also try switching salts, not to say that Ocean Pure is the problem but try using a more trusted salt like IO.
 
I have a bag of Ocean Pure Pro sitting here right now which was given to me by the supplier as a sample. Still a little hesitant to try it but am waiting until I hear more results about how this stuff really is.
 
oh no problem ....

no air bubbles at all

well i tested the ocean pure pro when i first got it and it tested ca at 440 alk at 9 and mg at 1400

with no po4's

so to me it seemed like a good choice

maybe ill switch it up
 
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