What causes this? (with pic)

[Chriskid]

go to MH, i found that a more natural light source for the sps , will deem them more forgiving, even if its not the real prob. at a minimum it will buy you more time to figure it out.

 

[NeverlosT]

doubt it is your lights. why would you lose the flesh at the base quickly like that from light? Lights will lead to bleaching or brown out, not rapid tissue recession at the base of an acro. You either have alk issues, some other toxic element, or pests of some sort would be my guess.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

low kh causes that as it allows ph fluctuations. yiur perameters are out of sync

sent from my galaxy s3

 

[waverz]

Got the the results back from the water sample I sent in.

Ammonia (NH3-4) Good 0.02 0.000 - 0.050 mg/L
Nitrite (NO2) Good 0.013 0.000 - 0.100 mg/L
Phosphate (PO4) Good 0.01 0.000 - 0.250 mg/L
Nitrate (NO3) Good 1.3 0.000 - 25.000 mg/L
Silica (Sio2-3) High 0.6 0.000 - 0.500 mg/L
Potassium (K) Low 132 350.000 - 450.000 mg/L
Ionic Calcium (Ca) Low 78 100.000 - 300.000 mg/L
Boron (B) NA NA 3.000 - 6.000 mg/L
Molybdenum (Mo) Good 0.1 0.000 - 0.120 mg/L
Strontium (Sr) Good 7.3 5.000 - 12.000 mg/L
Magnesium (Mg) Good 1150 1100.000 - 1400.000 mg/L
Iodine (I) High 0.1 0.030 - 0.090 mg/L
Copper (Cu) Good 0.03 0.000 - 0.030 mg/L
Alkalinity (meq/L) Low 2.3 2.500 - 5.000 meq/L
Total Calcium (Ca) High 470 350.000 - 450.000 mg/L
Iron (Fe) NA NA 0.000 - 0.010 mg/L

It is my understanding that Alk is typically low in ULNS and usually runs closer to NSW levels which is 2.5 meq/l.

My K level seems VERY low, could that be the issue?

If I don't see any sort of healing or improvement in a few weeks I'll try switching back to metal halides.

 

[waverz]

dbl post

 

[power boat jim]

You show .030 mg/l copper. It should be undetectable as far as I know for coral. I would do a search on copper levels to be sure.

 

[waverz]

You show .030 mg/l copper. It should be undetectable as far as I know for coral. I would do a search on copper levels to be sure.

Here's something I read in the chemistry forum.

A little history may help understand the copper level in our tanks. Dr. Craig Bingman has studied this in the past. His findings were that our tanks range between 10 ppb - 80 ppb copper. Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley tested his tank and his copper level was around 15 ppb

.030 mg/l = 30 ppb so although my levels are borderline high according tot he water tester, I don't think it's to far out of line.

 

[power boat jim]

Wish I had a better idea as to what the problem is. Once you have ruled out the impossible look at the improbable. Hope you can get to the bottom of this soon.

 

[Chriskid]

your k is real low, however i dont think that would do it. are you going to add some? if it is you should see improvement relativity quickly

 

[waverz]

your k is real low, however i dont think that would do it. are you going to add some? if it is you should see improvement relativity quickly

I think doing 15% weekly water changes should replenish fairly quickly. I suppose I could add some.

 

[bobssecrtsn]

Well i replied in your other thread but i guess you havent responded. well you should try testing Alk for 4 days straight and see if there is any fluctuation ..

 

[stevedola]

I would start with water changes and a lot of them. Buffer your ALK/MAG up (alk to atleast 2.7 and Mag 1300-1350) and stop carbon dosing. That would be my suggestions.

 

[salman01]

+ 1 to wc