White tips on my SPS - Bleaching or Growing?

[cbitsiaras]

Hello everyone,

I am very new to the SPS world with only a year of experience and need your help. 5 months ago i set up a new system which has not been doing so well initially. I decided to take it easy for a couple of months and keep things monitored closely before i add anything more.

My tank is 757L and my paramaters are:

T: 27C (80.6F)
pH: 8
Ammonia <0.25
NO3: 5
NO2: 0
Alkalinity: 120 ppm (6.72dKH)
Salinity: 1.0245
Calcium: 471
Magnesium: 1425
TDS:0-1

I dose 2ml of vodka, 1ml of phosphate remover and 3 drops of ZEOBak (bacteria)

I got 4 Ecotech Radion placed 25cm (10in) from the surface and running Jonathans graph.

3 weeks ago I bought an SPS to try how things are going in the tank. For the past 10 days i start seeing white tips. I cannot understand if they move downwards but if they do they do it very slowly. I have read that high alkalinity is related somehow with white tips but my alkalinity is at the lower.

Do you have any good ideas of what is going on? Below are some pictures to give you a better understanding.







Thank you in advance for your time.

Warm regards,

Dino

 

[phantomg23]

growing

 

[Jay uk]

Not growing, it's burning maybe from vodka.

What KH test kit are u using?

And what is your po4?

 

[scrapz]

from the slime, i would say burnt tips

 

[galleon]

burning. It is NOT growth.

 

[epicurus84]

The tips are burned. Usually high KH is the problem together with carbon dosing.

I would do some failry big water changes. and see if it stops. Also i would use an ohter KH test kit to make sure it's not too high. Since you are right about the KH.

I've seen a Dutch tank with the same problem solve it by balancing out the water parameters with faily big changes (corals can react to the change in chemistry also).

 

[cbitsiaras]

growing

Not growing, it's burning maybe from vodka.

What KH test kit are u using?

And what is your po4?

from the slime, i would say burnt tips

burning. It is NOT growth.

The tips are burned. Usually high KH is the problem together with carbon dosing.

I would do some failry big water changes. and see if it stops. Also i would use an ohter KH test kit to make sure it's not too high. Since you are right about the KH.

I've seen a Dutch tank with the same problem solve it by balancing out the water parameters with faily big changes (corals can react to the change in chemistry also).

Burnt tips is what i also feared. I am using 2 different test sets to be sure that the measuring is as accurate as it can get. One is the Digital Hanna Instrument Alkalinity test meter and the other one is the Salifer kH/Alkalinity test set. Both measures very close and at the levels close to the lower natural sea levels (around 7dH/125ppm).

The phosphates have been fluctuating from 0.00-0.46 but for the past 3 weeks they have stabilised at 0.00-0.02.

I dosed vodka based on these instructions: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/

I have recently been operated at my lower spine and not able to lift any weight so i will need to weight for my partner to come back from work end of this week to do the water change.

1.In the meantime is there anything that i can do? (e.g. stop dosing vodka).
2.Is the coral in danger and if the white tips will continue moving downwards would it help if i cut them off?


Guys THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for finding some time and replying to my enquiry. I really appreciate it!


Warm regards from rainy Copenhagen,


Dino

 

[AdrianPotocki]

Hello

What kind of saltz you use ?
And this "1ml of phosphate remover" is from RedSea ?
And last question - you dose 3 drops ZeoBak daily ???

 

[cbitsiaras]

Hello

What kind of saltz you use ?
And this "1ml of phosphate remover" is from RedSea ?
And last question - you dose 3 drops ZeoBak daily ???

Salt: Coral Marine Easy Mix - GroTech
Phosphate remover: Sea Klear Phosphate Remover CR
ZeoBak: 3 drops daily. I got 757L (200galons). If I follow the instructions of 1 drop per 25galons twice weekly is 2+ drops a day.


What are you recommendation Adrian?

Thanks for your time.

 

[AdrianPotocki]

I just looking reason.
I have similar situation in my tank
Few corals have white top..

 

[tuawcxs]

Since the alk is aready low and the PO4 is low I would put the colony at tank bottom and screen shade it and slowly over a month or 2 increase the corals light exposer.

 

[cbitsiaras]

Since the alk is aready low and the PO4 is low I would put the colony at tank bottom and screen shade it and slowly over a month or 2 increase the corals light exposer.

The colony has turned a bit purple-ish brown probably due to adjustment on the light and water flow but do you think it will help the white tips if i adjust the Radion fixture a bit higher (more distance to the colony). I am just a bit cautious to start moving things in case i will affect other "creatures" in my tank.

 

[goldfin]

I was also thinking the lighting might be the issue. I'm also using LEDs. Different sps can react very differently depending on their previous lighting. I started out with only about 50 watts over the tank and still had a few corals that initially had to be shaded for a few days.

 

[epicurus84]

one thing you do NOT want to do is stop dosing wodka. If you ever want to stop dosing wodka you want to decrease it slowly.

I don't know if thats the problem. A water change is just something to remove dirt and stuff and get stable water in.

It's not the solution permanent, but it could solve it. I've only seen this at High KH or KH swings. So my knowledge was limitied to that.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Any angelfish?
Alk is to low I would shot for 8.0
Temp should be 77 to. 81
Calcium 400 to 500
Salinity 1.025
Mag 1250
Vodka how much and why are you carbon dosing?
The acro looks nice but it is also streesed out. Did you do any big water changes? Can you post a full tank shot so we can see what else is going on?

 

[cbitsiaras]

Any angelfish?
Alk is to low I would shot for 8.0
Temp should be 77 to. 81
Calcium 400 to 500
Salinity 1.025
Mag 1250
Vodka how much and why are you carbon dosing?
The acro looks nice but it is also streesed out. Did you do any big water changes? Can you post a full tank shot so we can see what else is going on?

No angelfish. Vodka i had to start dosing because there was a pick on the NO3 (25). i followed this guidance for dosing: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/

I do 10% water change every 10-15 days.

Here is a small video i did less than a month ago. Last week all of the sudden i lost both LPS :/



I am still trying to identify what has gone wrong. I know that it is still a baby tank but things have been going wrong and cant identify the direct source. If you are interested i have posted another thread with the current issues i am having and here is the link.. this might help understand better.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2211539&page=13


Thank you so much for your time in helping out

All the best,

Dino

 

[scrapz]

If all your testing is coming out with optimal results and all other corals are fine, sometimes the best thing to do is just let it settle. The coral itself just may be stressed and could use a week or two to adjust. Too many changes can cause tankwide problems..

 

[agv180]

corals are growing!

but should raise the alk with a buffer

 

[cbitsiaras]

Update

Update

Update> The acro is definitely not growing. Today at the weekly maintenance of the tank i blast some stream towards it to clean some debris trapped in its branches and in some parts the tissue went off, not completely but pretty much so. Half of the coral is still healthy. Extension is good in both parts.

What do you suggest I do?


Thanks guys for all the help

Dino

 

[mandarinfanatic]

Update> The acro is definitely not growing. Today at the weekly maintenance of the tank i blast some stream towards it to clean some debris trapped in its branches and in some parts the tissue went off, not completely but pretty much so. Half of the coral is still healthy. Extension is good in both parts.

What do you suggest I do?


Thanks guys for all the help

Dino

dose amino acids ,vitamin supplement and move it lower in tank to recover