SPS acros help

Jurg

Jurg

New member
Ok... I posted a while that I was dealing with an RTN issue. I thought the problem went away, but it's still there and frustrating the heck out of me.

I've checked the following levels and only found my nitrates were a bit high and now nearly 0.

Nitrates near 0
Nitrites near 0
Ammonia near 0
Salinity 1.026
Alkalinity 8-9
Calcium 420
PH 8.17

I am sending my water out to get tested to see if anything else is traceable.

I have looked for pests ( red bugs, flat worms etc.) and I do not see anything.

This is only effecting acros, my chalices zoas,palys, lps etc are all thriving and doing very well.

If someone is good at keeping acros can stop by I would really appreciate it. I have no clue what to do from here.
 
Whats your Phosphate levels and lighting? Are you using r/o water with zero TDS? How old is the system?

Are the SPS recent acquisitions? Did you acclimate them to the lighting?
 
Uncle Luke said:
Whats your Phosphate levels and lighting? Are you using r/o water with zero TDS? How old is the system?

Are the SPS recent acquisitions? Did you acclimate them to the lighting?
Click to expand...

Phosphates are at 0-.25

My current lighting is LED. However this problem started months ago when my metal halides were on and I have been acclimating everything to the new lights.

I have not added any new acros. I don't want to lose any more money then I have.
 
Phosphates at .25?
Might be your issue there. Try getting them stable under .01 at least. Some people strive for .05 depending on what you are using to measure.
 
The system has been up and running about 2 years. I get my RO water from a LFS and I haven't checked the TDS. I will see what I can do to test that.
 
doggydoc said:
Phosphates at .25?
Might be your issue there. Try getting them stable under .01 at least. Some people strive for .05 depending on what you are using to measure.
Click to expand...

I'm going off of the API tests which isn't the most accurate reading but the color looks about 0. I should invest in a Hanna checker to get a more accurate reading.
 
Last edited:
Hey Jurg, come over with tank water, I have a hanna checker.

Over .15 becomes a critical area for phosphates, unless the sps are used to it already.

.25, no good. Calcification becomes a problem at these levels

Sweet spot is the ability to feed alot of food AND keep the PO under control.
 
I see a potential issue with you using r/o water from the LFS. I never trust their water - I never had gotten water from any Lfs that didn't have TDS. Get yourself a good r/o unit - I think it's a MUST in this hobby.
 
Agree on po4. Need a Hannah checker. Must have! You mentioned it all happened when you changed lighting. Tell us more. How big and how many mh? What was the par? How about now? What are the new lights? Has your alk been stable? Or has it dropped below 7 in the last month? Just wondering?
 
marke said:
Agree on po4. Need a Hannah checker. Must have! You mentioned it all happened when you changed lighting. Tell us more. How big and how many mh? What was the par? How about now? What are the new lights? Has your alk been stable? Or has it dropped below 7 in the last month? Just wondering?
Click to expand...

This started months before changing lights. I didn't check the par before or currently.

Alk was low 3-4 months ago and has now been steady 8-9 testing every few days.

I will be ordering a few Hannah checkers unless I find some for sale here.
 
and my water test results are in:

Ammonia (NH3-4) Good 0 0.000 - 0.050 mg/L
Nitrite (NO2) Good 0.012 0.000 - 0.100 mg/L
Phosphate (PO4) Good 0.18 0.000 - 0.250 mg/L
Nitrate (NO3) Good 2.9 0.000 - 25.000 mg/L
Silica (Sio2-3) Good 0.4 0.000 - 0.500 mg/L
Potassium (K) Low 190 350.000 - 450.000 mg/L
Ionic Calcium (Ca) Good 140 100.000 - 300.000 mg/L
Boron (B) NA NA 3.000 - 6.000 mg/L
Molybdenum (Mo) High 0.2 0.000 - 0.120 mg/L
Strontium (Sr) Good 7.7 5.000 - 12.000 mg/L
Magnesium (Mg) Good 1375 1100.000 - 1400.000 mg/L
Iodine (I) Good 0.05 0.030 - 0.090 mg/L
Copper (Cu) High 0.04 0.000 - 0.030 mg/L
Alkalinity (meq/L) Good 2.7 2.500 - 5.000 meq/L
Total Calcium (Ca) Good 410 350.000 - 450.000 mg/L
Iron (Fe) NA NA 0.000 - 0.010 mg/L
 
It might not be easy to read, but 2 tests were off.

Potassium 190 should be 350-450

Copper .04 Should be 0.0 - 0.03, but yes should be 0.00
 
Pottasium easy to fix, Copper maybe easy as long as it is just that and it is not slowly leaching from old treated liverock or sand, then you have a problem. Try running some carbon and maybe a polyfilter, both of this better.
For the potassium you can get it from Brightwell, potassium P and dose according to label.
Alkalinity for our hobby is rather low than good, however it is a good compared to ocean water, 2.5 = 7dkh I would feel more comfortable bringing the alk up to 8-8.5 dKh.
I would fi=x the first two first and then recheck alkalinity before adjusting it
 
Where did get all them tests done? I have never tested for many of them.

Your PO4 is high for acros, but should not kill them. Shoot for .03. From what I read, correct Potassium levels help keep the color blue with the sps species. Not sure if it causes rtn.

How often are you changing water? What % volume?

Which acro(s) is RTNing? Pics? I find its usually wild caught pieces that rtn on me
 
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