Sps, Alk What do you think?

[tynman]

hello everyone.
I just have a few questions and just would like some idea's before I pull the plug because Im so upset. Of course only my frags that cost me $75 or better that this has happened to like my purple monster, so aussie bright red millie and a few others that I really liked and enjoyed watching them grow.
Ok all the coral started as frags i my tank and some I have had for months and others for year or so and I have watched them encrust to the rock that I put them on and then they turn white and become pretty white rock coral, some over night and some in a few days.
The only thng I found different with my tank was I kept the alk at 9.4 to 9.6 and I found it this week at 10.3, and my coralline algae slowing down my water flow by growing and making my drain holes smaller (so I fixed that to make i normal)
So #1 What do or should I keep my Alk at ? What do you keep it at?
#2 Why did this happen to my frags if its not the ALK?
My other tank info
76 1/2 circle tank
10 or 20 gal sump
swc 160 cone skimmer
wingo LED light hood about 180 watts of power with is like 450 watt MH
cal is always around 400 to 440
mag is around 1450 give or take but steady
phose is around .03 hanna meter
Any advise would be great.
Of course to replace these frags to start people want $275 to start and I just dont have that kind of money anymore and thats just for 4 or 5 frags I saw on this site that I liked.
Thanks again.

 

[2dawghouse]

I really cant see a raise in ALK by .7 or so being the culprit. Even though an increase in ALK from 9.0 to 10.0 isnt a raise of 1 but a 10 fold increase of neutral pH of 7.0.

Anyways, nothing else has changed huh? Did the frags that started to bleach start on one side of the tank the move to the other? Did newer frags bleach first? How bout species of acro, did one species go first then other species follow?

What bout stray current in the tank?
Do you have any LPS or Anemones?
Nitrate spike maybe? Refugium crash first?

Need much more info!

 

[tynman]

Its weird its not just one side of the tank. One that happened o er night without any signs was a purple monster. I had that one for over six months if not closer to a year went. So others I watched the skin peal off little by little. Right now I have a trial color Afro that is spots of skin missing. A milkier that I have had for over a year and it grows like crazy a branch is started. To turn white. Others are like enchinats and lukani. I don't know the name of them.
Someone has said to me that the alk is to high and using.bio pellets the alk should be 7.5 to 8 so I don't know that might be the problem cause they say.with the pellets and higher.alk the coral rtn.

 

[markie mark]

What's your temp? I had a giant temp spike happen over nite do to me leaving my fans off and not cutting them back on the next day and had some serious rtn...didn't notice you say what your temp was?

 

[2dawghouse]

That is true bout using the pellets. You want to keep the ALK in the 8 range or so. Did you stop using the pellets then start again? That will also cause RTN.

And yes rapid temp change will eat SPS up. If you have a controller (APEX, RKE), check the history log and see if you had a temp spike.

 

[Bigcefa]

show pics please, sounds like maybe you got aefw bite marks your seeing on your trial color afro

 

[2dawghouse]

I was thinking flat worms as well. But I was thinking for all his SPS to get devoured that quickly it must be very infested and should be noticed on the sides?

 

[abrian]

Double check your salinity while you are hunting the cause. I had my refractometer get out of whack between calibrations and my tank crept up to 1.030 and I lost several pieces before I figured it out. Everything else was spot on and it drove me nuts for a while trying to track down the problem.

 

[rmalone]

If I wasn't bald I would go out today and get a tri-color afro. But I agree the symptoms described sound like either alk issues or temp excursions.

 

[tynman]

What's your temp? I had a giant temp spike happen over nite do to me leaving my fans off and not cutting them back on the next day and had some serious rtn...didn't notice you say what your temp was?

My temp is all ways around 78 in the summer I run a chiller. In the winter I dont run anything cause my tank runs hot with the pumps in the sump .

 

[tynman]

That is true bout using the pellets. You want to keep the ALK in the 8 range or so. Did you stop using the pellets then start again? That will also cause RTN.

And yes rapid temp change will eat SPS up. If you have a controller (APEX, RKE), check the history log and see if you had a temp spike.

Yea Im going to have to bring it down when I kept it in the 9's everything looked fine. I checked it today and it was 11.3 so I have to slow my doser down cause the colar that died lest alk is being use.
I put the pellets in and just add but I never stopped using them.

 

[tynman]

I was thinking flat worms as well. But I was thinking for all his SPS to get devoured that quickly it must be very infested and should be noticed on the sides?

I dont think its that cause 1 I dont see anything on them. 2 I see the flesh coming off the sps. 3 I have lots of other sps in the tank.

 

[tynman]

Double check your salinity while you are hunting the cause. I had my refractometer get out of whack between calibrations and my tank crept up to 1.030 and I lost several pieces before I figured it out. Everything else was spot on and it drove me nuts for a while trying to track down the problem.

Ill check that tonight..

 

[tynman]

OK salt was a little high 36 ppt and I keep it at 34 at the full.
How do I lower the Alk?
I am also going to turn down my profilux doser a few MLs.
Here are a few pics of the tank a few months ago.