Trouble with the Birdsnest...

[TanksDad13]

I got this not too long ago from SaltyGram and it looked great!!! August 15th was the last pic i took of it and it looked great there too...

Kept it up high since I got it...

I did some tweaking on my lights and took some PAR readings about a week ago and now it looks like this...

The bottom of the coral still looks good with a ton of PE and color... am I frying it? I have a Blue Mili at the same level and it still looks great... Just in case, I moved it to the sand in the front where I could keep an eye on it.

 

[ItzJustinN]

what kind of tweaking did you do and what kind of lights

 

[TanksDad13]

I switched from the 120 to the 80 degree lens on my XR15 and tweaked up to the attached par levels. I'm pretty sure I just roasted it... I have dialed the intensity back down to 60% and couldn't tell you what the par was before.

 

[mpcart]

Not sure what happened as I can't really see anything in the "now" pictures. However, my advice is to stop "tweaking". You have a tank all set up, you have a nice light, you have some nice corals. Let them be. It takes a while for everything to get acclimated and constant adjustments to the environment don't help.

I suppose it's one reason I like MH. No tweaking is possible. Just on then off.

Good luck and have patience.

-Mike

 

[TanksDad13]

Not sure what happened as I can't really see anything in the "now" pictures. However, my advice is to stop "tweaking". You have a tank all set up, you have a nice light, you have some nice corals. Let them be. It takes a while for everything to get acclimated and constant adjustments to the environment don't help.

I suppose it's one reason I like MH. No tweaking is possible. Just on then off.

Good luck and have patience.

-Mike

Great advise! I just got excited with the new light!! Like a big 'ol kid!

 

[mpcart]

I know the feeling. Got a new slimmer a little while ago for no reason. It's hard not to fiddle with things. If you have to do it, then I'd focus your energy on your water parameters.

-Mike

 

[TanksDad13]

I'm all over my water!! I test alk every day. Calc, po4 and nitrates every other. Mag once a week and change 5 of the 20 or so gallons every weekend...

 

[Pife]

What is your alkalinity at? I'm not saying you didn't roast the tips but in my experience high alk burns the tips.

 

[TanksDad13]

I'm following the Red Sea Foundations program for accelerated growth for SPS corals and frags...

ALK-

 

[TanksDad13]

if you look in the red circles, you can see where I've lost polyps

 

[u4ick]

Yes, you've "burned it"....more accurately it's wore out from being in the hot sun all day....

Plus your KH is too high IMO if your gonna do SPS AND have low nutrients.
Didn't see a No3 reading, but if No3 is low, 5 or less, then I would be letting the KH settle in to around 9.

Also if that is the ORA green birds nest, it's pretty hardy and can take some abuse. It will most likely recover just fine.

 

[TanksDad13]

Yes, you've "burned it"....more accurately it's wore out from being in the hot sun all day....

Plus your KH is too high IMO if your gonna do SPS AND have low nutrients.
Didn't see a No3 reading, but if No3 is low, 5 or less, then I would be letting the KH settle in to around 9.

Also if that is the ORA green birds nest, it's pretty hardy and can take some abuse. It will most likely recover just fine.

My No3 is never above 5, I use the API test and its usually just a TINY bit more orange than the 0 indicator. Although I am having some trouble with Po4 and some green hair algae right now. If 9 is the goal for SPS, why in the world would RS recommend over 12 as a target (I included a shot of their recommended levels earlier)? In your experience what are the IDEAL parameters for a mixed reef, skewed more towards the SPS side of mixed?

 

[Schplitter]

You KH is too high. You played with the lights too much and that coral likes lower light hen can be moved up higher slowly. That's why it looks like that.

Let your KH drop to 8-9 over a few weeks. Keep it there. Check your KH ALWAYS at the seams time of day. You will get different readings if you check at different times of day.

Leave your lights alone if at all possible. You also seem to be changing a lot of water. That doesn't help with the water stability unless you areatching the new waters paramet exactly to your tack water parameters.

 

[TanksDad13]

OK, group questions. I have been keeping my salinity about 1.025-1.026.

1 - ideas on how much water to change weekly? I use red sea pro salt and mix 5 gallons at a time, so 5 gallons is easy to do. From what I have heard, the water does not store well once mixed; like 2-3 hours.

2- Those of you who have SUCCESS with SPS under LEDs, what are your suggestions for ideal parameters. I havent had much trouble keeping things pretty stable. I DO typically measure at the same time ~9-10am ish.

 

[u4ick]

I would only mix up what you plan to use for 1 water change.
You do not have enough coral in your tank to warrant the amount of water change you are doing if your reasons are to keep trace elements up.
I would keep water changes to 1-2 gallons. In fact you might want to stop and do those changes only if and when No3 starts to climb a bit.

Like Schplitter says, stability is what you're looking for. Even bad stable water is better than good water with too large of changes. 20gal is very easy to change parameters, and can sometimes be a challenge to maintain stability.

I have kept that same coral looking very well with Calcium at only 300 (not on purpose mind you) and Mag at 1150. Very slow growth of course but it did just fine.

Also I would say that the narrow optics is what the main issue was when you were "tweaking". I'd say put the wide angle lens back in, you don't need to be "focusing" your lighting on such a shallow tank.

If your Po4 is high....which is odd considering the amount of water changes you've been doing....then deal with that on it's own.
Perhaps try using Pura Pad if it's applicable in your filter. I think you'll find that very effective at maintaining good water quality in that size of a system.

...and to answer your question about target levels for a mixed reef.
9
450
1350

SPS only then you can start going lower if you feel like walking the line to try and squeeze out every bit of color you can. If No3 is allowed to rise to 5-15 then KH can go a bit higher, but not necessary. The higher the KH in conjunction with the lower the nutrients (No3) then you will tend to see burning tips. LPS and softies are ok with it if you can feed heavy.....but again such a small volume of water this can be a challenge.

You're trying to find your tanks sweet spot.
This can only be done with patience and very few slow changes.
Time must be given to be able to observe the changes you've made, to know weather or not they are doing anything, and in which direction you're headed.

Let the tank settle in where it wants to be.....fighting it will only drive you crazy and cost you way more than it needs to.

 

[Tigé21v]

I suppose it's one reason I like MH. No tweaking is possible. Just on then off.


-Mike

lol... exactly. I, for one, already have enough "distractions".

 

[TanksDad13]

Like always, GREAT advice. Thanks guys!