I have a 90 gallon setup for almost a year. temp 80, s.g 1.025, ca 440, alk 8, mag 1450 nitrates and ammonia 0 using all elos kits. My ph is always between 8.0 and 8.3. Now its a dominant sps tank some things do ok in there some don't. Cali tort, pink lemonade, blue milli, yellow scroll, unkown acro, wild acro, green slimer, chips acro, sunset monti and flower petal all do fine. Things that don't Peach digi, yellow porites, blue iris, purple plasma, plum crazy, blue stylo and tuquoise stag. I can't figure out what is wrong sometimes tips are receding sometimes there is tissue missing in the middle of my coral and sometimes bleaching its all crazy. I run carbon and replace every 2 weeks. Elos planet II 150w de mh and 4 39w blue's. Flow i have 2 tunze 6105's. My nassarius snails don't move around much and that is weird also. Phos also reads 0 forgot to mention that. Sorry for something being so long but trying to give as much info as possible if anyone has any idea's i would really appreciate it. This has been going on over 6 months.
Very frustrated need a lot of help!
- Thread starter jfingers8
- Start date
iv been in the same boat- its real depressing because once you start to see the polpy extension to go down alittle bit then there health goes real fast. what people are going to ask is did your lk shift or mag shift. : / being in the same boat i was getting sick of it and just threw out mostly every coral : / got sick of staring at colonies i grew from nubs that started at tip burned and never stopped burning.
yea : / what i think is wrong with my tank being alittle over a year old, something has built up in the tank- my sps have tip burn and also lose tissue in the middle of the branches that always face the light- even tho my lights wernt changed and arnt to powerful my sps tissue seems to be weak. also do you get like blown algae grow on the dead spots fast?
LifeAquatic
New member
Double check the params with new test kits. If they come out the same I would raise the alk slightly to 8.6-9 dkh with a calcium level at 440. Mag is a bit on the high side. I would let that drop to 1350-1400. If that doesnt work check your lights. When was the last bulb replacement? Everything else seems ok. You should be on track to a healthy tank.
no pests or anyone nipping mine here- mine started like 6 months ago cause of an alk swing but its been normal for months which is why i think you should go out and buy a healthy coral frag and see what happens. my idea is that my corals that were affected are not strong enough to recover which is weird because iv had corals recover over burnt tips in a few days . i bought a tenuis frag and so far so good for 2 weeks it still has full polpy extension all its strong color but im awaiting to see if it encrusts over the plug. what i dont get is where the brown algea that covers the corals be from a buildup of something other then phosphates or nitrates and is that hurting the coral even more?dont mean to thread jack you but it seems more people are helping now that the search is working properly.
Should i go a month without replacing the carbon because i only use one cup full at a time? I don't use any GFO. For fish i have 6 anthias, lubbock's wrasse, spotted mandarin and pink spot goby so no nippers. No AEFW and even if that was the case it doesn't solve the issue for my blue stylo, peach digi and yellow porites.
LifeAquatic
New member
How often do you change water? Maybe you arent gettting enough trace elements. Changing carbon every two weeks can really pull a lot out of your water. If I was changing carbon every two weeks on my tank I would start doing weekly water changes. Other then that make sure you rinse your carbon well. Carbon dust can cause some of the symptoms you describe. If water changes arent the case I would raise Alk and lower Mag. Here are params that work very well for me. I get tremendous growth from SPS.
Alk 8.3-8.6, cal at 420-430, mag at 1350-1400
Alk 8.3-8.6, cal at 420-430, mag at 1350-1400
02REDZ28
New member
I imagine that you have a sump system on here somewhere....
What's your total volume?
I'd stop messin with daily 1G changes and start routine weekly 25-30 gallon water changes. Even with daily changes, you're only changing maybe 30% of your water a month....
What kind of protein skimmer do you have?
How quickly do you start to see problems in new corals?
What's your total volume?
I'd stop messin with daily 1G changes and start routine weekly 25-30 gallon water changes. Even with daily changes, you're only changing maybe 30% of your water a month....
What kind of protein skimmer do you have?
How quickly do you start to see problems in new corals?
I have about 100 gal of total volume, i do 10% a week with the daily water changes and i have a octopus skimmer not exactly sure the model since its about 5 years old but it works very well. I see the problems start about 1 to 2 months in. I run a fuge also with cheato and live rock in it.
LifeAquatic
New member
One gallon a day might not be enough. Thats only 1/3 of your water volume. I change roughly 50% every month. Heavy carbon use and low water change percentage might be your issue. You might be stripping your water.
OzarksReef
Member
The problems you describe with the corals don't sound like lighting, but I think a single 150 with 4 39-watt T5's on a 90-gallon is a problem for long-term success with SPS. Your water params sound fine. +1 on doing weekly water changes of a more substantial volume - 30 gallons sounds like a bit much to me though - maybe 15-20%.
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