Sps bleaching and slow growth, i give

flyin2jz

flyin2jz

New member
i have had tons of sps tanks but this one is a bare bones attempt. Its a 200 gal tank with 80lbs of rock and about 32 frags and colonies. Almost all expensive and im worried. I have very slow growth and the corals are all getting whiter by the day. I have 3 250w radiums, large swc skimmer, and a 60 gallon sump. Water seems good, no po4,nitrate,nitrite. Not sure the ph, calcium is 500 and alk is 14 per api tests. Im begining to think the api tests are wrong. I have been fighting a red slime algae problem after trying to use oyster feast. It was terrible. The stuff started the day after i used it and has been tough to get rid of. I bought a new ro kit and did about 5 33 gallon water changes in the last month and its still hangin on a little. Why are my corals bleaching white? I have always had a calcium reactor before but this time im just using kalk but i havent added in weeks because of how high the calcium and alk is. What would you do in this situation? here is my old tank so im pretty versed on keeping sps but im really struggling with little growth or color with this new tank.
IMG_0228.jpg
 
It could be your alk is too high. My sps started turning pale when my alk. got up over 11 recently.
 
Emperor,purple tang, yellow tang,powder blue tang, chromis. Never seen anything pick at the corals so I don't think it's the fish. I don't know if I can trust the API kit. It's never tested lower even after all the water changes. I use seachem salt.
 
I think I'm gonna buy another alk test kit and test it. How do I lower alk if it is high? I've never had this issue.
 
flyin2jz said:
I think I'm gonna buy another alk test kit and test it. How do I lower alk if it is high? I've never had this issue.
Click to expand...

Are you dosing anything? If you are just cut back until things get lower. 7-10 is better for alk. If you're running a low nutrient system, (carbon/gfo, vodka, zeovit, etc.), you need to lower the alk down to about 7.
 
I've had the same issue in the past with my tank.Things have changed for the better since adding new fish. I really think your tank has gotten too sterile and your corals are not getting enough food. Try adding more fish, unless you already have plenty, and start feeding the oyster feast again in smaller amounts more often. You might also try using something like kz coral vitalizer as another source of food. Good luck!
 
flyin2jz said:
I think I'm gonna buy another alk test kit and test it. How do I lower alk if it is high? I've never had this issue.
Click to expand...

I use API test kits with good results. I've checked them side by side with salifert and it tested the same.

You can lower your alk by changing to a different salt with a lower alk, OR just let it come down on it's own. Have you tested your fresh saltwater mix to see what it is?
 
ritter6788 said:
Are you dosing anything? If you are just cut back until things get lower. 7-10 is better for alk. If you're running a low nutrient system, (carbon/gfo, vodka, zeovit, etc.), you need to lower the alk down to about 7.
Click to expand...

Duh, sorry I just saw that you were using kalkwasser. That is what is driving the alk. too high. You've already stopped using the kalk so don't add any buffers for now until you get the alk down. BTW kalk will drive up your ph I would get a test for that also asap.
 
I have 4 big chromis,4 blue damsels along with the other fish all mediums. I just don't get why it didn't come down with water changes. The above tank I would do only 30gallons a month and it was a 260 and didn't add anything other than what came in on the calcium reactor. I'm affraid to add the oyster feast again because of the red sli
e algae issue I fought. It took over almost the entire tank in a month. I think I was adding too much though. I honestly think the alk is that high. I just can't believe it's the salt alone. I've only been using top off for the last month. No kalk at all and it's still way up there. Thanks for the replies.
 
id buy a new alk test and PH - either could cause bleaching, and they correlate. Also have a LFS check out the parameters to double check
 
im going to get another test kit for sure. Ive never had issues with corals turning this white and i was running zeo on the old tank and never got the pastels i have now. Is there a way to lower the alk if it is indeed that high?
 
sorry forgot to mention i run 250 w radiums, 3 on a 6ft tank and its only 20 in tall and 3ft wide and 6ft long so its really shallow. I wonder if my lighting cycle could be doing it. I run the lights from 8 am to 10pm.
 
yea reduce the lighting to 8 - 10 hrs. Also try feeding your sps rotifeast 2 times a day if your not doing zeovit . Gotta feed those suckers.


andy
 
API test kits are no good i only use Elo's now

from past experience the API's are off enough on alk and calc for things to go wrong
 
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