To much flow for SPS symptoms

[Dbondaruk]

Hello I been battling stn corals not looking happy and all the above... I have my tank stable..water parameters are good.can someone post pics or explain what a SPS would look like or act if it was getting to much flow... Met tank is 190 gallon. 5foot by 27 inches by 27.
For flow I have (2) MP40's. (2) TUNZE 6105.
Thank you

 

[Logzor]

I don't have any good pictures but the SPS branches will flatten somewhat under extremely high flow or the coralite area will become cupped, assuming the flesh doesn't get torn off. Usually STN from the bottom up is a different issue.

 

[Dbondaruk]

I don't have any good pictures but the SPS branches will flatten somewhat under extremely high flow or the coralite area will become cupped, assuming the flesh doesn't get torn off. Usually STN from the bottom up is a different issue.

thanks also what could this be... i fed my fish today and alot of corals had this little slime streams coming out from the poylps. i cant win in this hobby. tried everything. have couple open threads. honestly thinking of throwing in the towel. seems impossible for me to keep a sps tank.

 

[msaba]

the 'slime' may be polyp extension which may be normal with feeding, pics would be most helpful as well as tank parameters. the devil is always in the details...

Mark

 

[Dbondaruk]

 

[Dbondaruk]

 

[Dbondaruk]

Some details.....
Flow 2 mp40 2 TUNZE 6105
Last night I turned off the 2 tips zest overnight.this morning lil frag in front completely rtn
Protein skimmer is a reef octopus pov dc2 with a new 3500 pump on it. Last week it dumped about 1/4 of my ski mate back into tank and was not operating for abut 4 days. Now it is running fine.
My temp goes from 77.8 to 78.5 from night to day.
Lights are T5 ATI 8 bulb 48 inch. Light hangs 8 inches off of water line.

 

[markalot]

Pictures aren't clear enough to diagnose. Looking at the log I suspect it's the unstable Alk. The rise to 9 around Christmas and then bouncing around is not good. I suggest picking a low target, like 7.5, and trying to hold it there consistently. The sudden Alk increase might also be a symptom of something else, perhaps a pest slowing coral growth? Good clear closeups help diagnose this IMO.

Finally, if NO3 and PO4 are really 0 then acros will starve and slowly fade away unless you have excellent export AND are feeding heavily on a regular basis.

Just my thoughts, good luck!

 

[Dbondaruk]

I'm slowing dropping it now to 7.5
But couple frags I got from a friend like 1 week ago. Which one of them was the one that rtned. He is having trouble with his tank as well

 

[plyle02]

Pictures aren't clear enough to diagnose. Looking at the log I suspect it's the unstable Alk. The rise to 9 around Christmas and then bouncing around is not good. I suggest picking a low target, like 7.5, and trying to hold it there consistently. The sudden Alk increase might also be a symptom of something else, perhaps a pest slowing coral growth? Good clear closeups help diagnose this IMO.

Finally, if NO3 and PO4 are really 0 then acros will starve and slowly fade away unless you have excellent export AND are feeding heavily on a regular basis.

Just my thoughts, good luck!

Just reviewing your journal for testing, and I agree 100% with Mark on this one, alk should be stable, like less than .5dkh swing from day to day. Dosers and CA RX help to make it even less, which is something that sps prefer. Your corals look starved too, perhaps the increase in alk with low nutrients irritated and started this event? Flow is the least of concerns with acros, they love it, as long as it is not directly in front of a PH... Get the alk stable, find your dosing sweet spot, and maybe choose a salt that mixes at your desired levels, 7.5 is a good spot to be for lower nutrients... Red Sea not pro, BW Neozeo, Tropic Marin Pro, or something that mixes lower in alk will help you big time

 

[SoloGarth]

To much flow for SPS symptoms

I agree pics aren't clear enough. Also as long as you aren't blowing flesh off there isn't too much flow.

I don't feel that slow alk changes (SLOW) are a big deal. My tank goes between 8-10 over the course of weeks as I adjust my Rx. I haven't had any detrimental effects. Great color and growth.

Starving corals is a pretty common problem now. We have great tech to remove nutrients now and a lot of people still have the "feed every other day" mind set.

IME SPS do best when in a system with high nutrient input and high nutrient export.

What do you feed? Any carbon or bacterial dosing? How long is your photoperiod?

 

[SoloGarth]

Also if I can make a suggestion; ditch that book and get a logging ap. Much neater. I use one called Aquarimate. Being able to look at a graph is helpful.

 

[Dbondaruk]

I agree pics aren't clear enough. Also as long as you aren't blowing flesh off there isn't too much flow.

I don't feel that slow alk changes (SLOW) are a big deal. My tank goes between 8-10 over the course of weeks as I adjust my Rx. I haven't had any detrimental effects. Great color and growth.

Starving corals is a pretty common problem now. We have great tech to remove nutrients now and a lot of people still have the "feed every other day" mind set.

IME SPS do best when in a system with high nutrient input and high nutrient export.

What do you feed? Any carbon or bacterial dosing? How long is your photoperiod?

Thanks for the help fellas.. I feed rods food red pack.once a day and algae sheets once a day.i run carbon once in a awhile don't know why either. I have not used GFO in over 3 months. I dose bulk reef supply 2 part and bulk reef supply mag.my lights 2 blue plus bulbs on7 am to 7:30 pm. Rest of bulbs on 1 to 7. Thank you for the logging app I will look into it.i do not run a calcium reactor heard they are a pain.

 

[SoloGarth]

Thanks for the help fellas.. I feed rods food red pack.once a day and algae sheets once a day.i run carbon once in a awhile don't know why either. I have not used GFO in over 3 months. I dose bulk reef supply 2 part and bulk reef supply mag.my lights 2 blue plus bulbs on7 am to 7:30 pm. Rest of bulbs on 1 to 7. Thank you for the logging app I will look into it.i do not run a calcium reactor heard they are a pain.

That lighting period seems fine. Yes Calcium Rx are a pain. It is only my stubbornness responsible for my still running one. haha.

 

[Myka]

If you don't want to run a calcium reactor, then buy a doser. You don't need a 3 head doser if you don't want to fork out the cash. I used the Drew's Dosers from BRS on digital timers for years without a hitch. You could get away with just one for alkalinity if you really want, and add another for calcium later when you're going through more. The corals don't mind the calcium swing so much, but the alkalinity swing will kill you.

What kits are you using to test nitrate and phosphate? I'm not sure I believe they are "zero" by looking at your corals. IMO, those corals do not look starved at all. They look mad about something though. I'm not convinced that the alkalinity is causing the STN for you though because I don't believe that your NO3 and PO4 are "zero". The SPS can handle more alkalinity swing if the nutrients are higher.

Those look like cell phone pics. When you take pics, turn the blue channel off and set your phone camera's white balance to "cloudy" and you'll be able to get much better pics.

 

[SoloGarth]

Hard to tell from the pics but there doesn't seem to be ton of algae which I would expect if nutrients were high enough to be causing a problem for the corals.

 

[Dbondaruk]

If you don't want to run a calcium reactor, then buy a doser. You don't need a 3 head doser if you don't want to fork out the cash. I used the Drew's Dosers from BRS on digital timers for years without a hitch. You could get away with just one for alkalinity if you really want, and add another for calcium later when you're going through more. The corals don't mind the calcium swing so much, but the alkalinity swing will kill you.

What kits are you using to test nitrate and phosphate? I'm not sure I believe they are "zero" by looking at your corals. IMO, those corals do not look starved at all. They look mad about something though. I'm not convinced that the alkalinity is causing the STN for you though because I don't believe that your NO3 and PO4 are "zero". The SPS can handle more alkalinity swing if the nutrients are higher.

Those look like cell phone pics. When you take pics, turn the blue channel off and set your phone camera's white balance to "cloudy" and you'll be able to get much better pics.

Thanks. I do use a GHL 4 head doser for my alk cal and mag. I use salifert test kits for ALK>CAL>MAG>NITRATE. I use a hanna tester for my PHOSPHATE. I just started detecting a little hint of nitrate like a week ago. here i re took some pics i do have a nikon slr but i suck at taking pics.

 

[Dbondaruk]

 

[Dbondaruk]

 

[Dbondaruk]