Tank healthy, sps not?

[bb]

Hi everyone,

Need some help diagnosing this. My tank profile 6 months in. 180 DT, 30 gal remote dsb, 30 gal fuge with cheto, 75 gal sump. Running SRO ext 3k. Gfo and carbon. 400 watt 20k with some atinic and blue plus t5 sup.

0 amm
0 no2
5 no3
0 phos
1420 calc
7.2 alk
1300 mg
Everything in my tank, clam, zoas and a duncan are thriving. That said for the last few weeks my sps have been looking worse and worse. Their color has been fading around the edges and I don't see their polps. As of today I think it's safe to say they are Past the point of no return. It's only 2 frags. The question is why?

Around the time they started to decline was when I started dosing using brs two part. My Alk seems to flux a lot? When I first dosed I got it up to around 8. I didn't test for a week or two and didnt dose more. I have very few corals and I was busy with work. Low and behold two weeks later, last weekend it was down to 6. I have gradually brought it back up to 7.2. Is this the problem or is it something else? I have trouble understanding why the corals have been worse for the last week when I got it back in range? Or was the damage done?

 

[YoungREEFA]

dose 3 times a day probably and the lighting?

 

[YoungREEFA]

nvm lighting is fine

 

[Steve Wright2]

what have you got in terms of flow in that set up,bb

parameters seem OK, albiet a a bit on the low side for Alk
I assume the calcium is a typo

Stability Promotes Success, is one of the keys with SPS

so target an alk level between 7 and 11, and then dose divided into as many portions as practical, to ensure that there are never any rapid fluctuations

a full tank shot also often helps in these conditions, so we can asses neighbouring corals
corals positioning in terms of flow, etc etc

Steve

 

[Palting]

Your SPS may be bleaching or developing STN/RTN. Without pics, it's hard to say whether they are beyond the point of no return. There are quite a few things that SPS prefer that LPS (Duncans, zoas) don't really care about. It could be that one or all of these are missing or inadequate, and could explain why your SPS are not doing well.

1. Lighting. If you check my sig, I have 762 watts on my 150 gal. If your total wattage is 400 watts in your 180, that may be one of the reasons SPS are not doing as well.
2. Flow. SPS love high flow, the more random and chaotic the better. What's your total flow?
3. Stable parameters, especially alk. I lost all my coralline and some SPS developed STN when my alk went down below 7 dKH. I suggest keeping the alk constant at least at 8dKH to give yourself a margin of error, and test frequently until you can figure out what your consumption is and therefor what your dosing needs are. In my tank, the SPS seem to thrive best at an alk of 8, calcium of 440, mag 1330. I keep it stable via a combination of fully saturated kalkwasser via ATO plus 2 part dosing with a BM doser.
4. Nutrient levels. Here, LPS and SPS are diametrically opposite. SPS love low nutrients, LPS love high nutrients. Difficult to quantify nutrient levels, so it's hard to say where the happy medium is. In my mixed reef, I coral feed 3 times a week for the LPS/sofites, then take the nutrients back out again with aggressive skimming and mechanical filtration the rest of the week for the SPS. Seems to work for me.

HTH!!

 

[bb]

Nvm?

Flow is provided by about 1000 gph on my return along with two mp40s on the back wall.

Lighting- the tank is 36x36x30 and the corals are about 10-14 inches below the water line. 1-400watt mh in a sifilgio plus a total of 140 or so in t5.

I have few fish so I don't feed heavy, I don't think it's due to nutrient rich water.

I'll try to post pics tomorrow.

I never dose for more then 30 min and have never raised my alk more then .5 in a day. I am working on getting it higher. I'm concerned though because while I can't be certain the corals look worse after i dose? Like right after? I'm going to throw out the batch I have and make another one.

Yes, the 1420 is a typo...

Thanks for the feedback so far!