why can't I keep acros???

Hendersonracing

Hendersonracing

Active member
ok I have had my 300 gallon reef tank for about 7 months now....I have tried several acros and they keep bleaching.....I have a few frags that have done really good but the millis I have had are looking bad....someone said because lack of nutrients....another said mabe phosphates.....I have alot of coraline algae on the locks and its starting on the glass...I do 35 gallon water changes weekly....I use to run a phosban reactor but I stopped when they said it may bleach acros....any help is appreciated....I don't know what else to do??


water parameters

I run a calcium reactor

alk 11dkh
cal 450
mag 1350
nit0
nitra 0
phos 0-detectable
ph 8.3

oh yeah I also have a 60 gallon refugium with cheatomorpha :confused:
 
What brand phosphate test? But if it's a moderately decent test, that is close enough. Sometimes it takes about a year before a tank wants to let sps thrive.

Bleaching is "usually" too low of nutrients or too high of lighting. With a good size fuge, you should have the food necessary I would think. Have you tried starting them off on the sand and then moving them up in the rockwork?

Also, what type of sps have you been trying? Some are tough even for very established tanks wheras others seem to grow in any tank i.e. monti caps.
 
I have some montis that are growing like crazy....I have lost 3 montipora millipora colonies????I have 3 250 watt mh 10,000k and 4 72" atinics.....The millis looked really good for a month then started loosing their pe? also I use saleifert kits only....I started the colonies up top do you think that could have been it???also a few of the frags I have had for a while were bleaching this morning....I stoped adding phto about 2 months ago....and just stared back because someone said thet would replenish the loss of nutrients??
 
also on the flow I used 3 2600 seio pumps in the main tanks and 2 110 seio pumps in the refugium...I ralso run carbon 24/7..could that be an issue?
 
Picture326.jpg
 
I honestly question whether you have enough light over a 300. As a comparison, my SPS tank has 2x250 10Ks and it's just a 75. Although you said you are putting the SPS near the top which in this case would probably be better.
Ask at your source what their typical survival rate is for people getting their stuff. It could always be a supplier side problem too.
What's your temperature?

And no, that doesn't look like RTN to me.
 
It's not the lighting. 3 250w halides is plenty. Millipora is also less light demanding. I agree about questioning the source of your corals, and how stable your tank is as far ast temp and pH swings.
 
What's the flow like? Also, I might get flamed for this, but try reducing the water changes. It doesn't look like you've got too many fish, so maybe the SPS are nutrient starved.
 
The algae in the corals use nitrates as a fixative if I remember correctly (much like terrestial plants). Thus they require some in order to do their job, but not a ton. As far as other nutrients, water changes really wouldn't eliminate them and would probably serve to add them (calcium, etc). I would say cut them back simply to save cost and time, but that's your prerogative.

Would still help if you gave us your temp ranges and stuff. Check to see if your pH falls at night, etc. While parameters may remain in a good range, a significant swing is always a problem.
 
Re: why can't I keep acros???

There are 2 things you mentioned that I found were a problem with SPS in my tank:

1. Phosphate Absorbers
I lost many colonies due to the overuse of this stuff. I think the reason is that it actually works too well and can starve your acros of phosphate. They DO need some phosphate and if it is completely removed from the tank (or very nearly so) the acros can bleach. There were a few threads on this topic a while back when the phosphate absorbers (Rowaphos and PhosBan) started gaining popularity in the hobby...do a search on RC and take a look.

2. Wild colonies
I might be wrong, but it looks like you are buying wild colonies from Live Aquaria as opposed to buying "captive grown". Wild colonies have been much harder for me to keep alive than the captive grown specimens.

Not sure if these are the problems but at least it gives you a few more possibilities. Good luck.:)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9155067#post9155067 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hendersonracing
ok I have had my 300 gallon reef tank for about 7 months now....I have tried several acros and they keep bleaching.....I have a few frags that have done really good but the millis I have had are looking bad....someone said because lack of nutrients....another said mabe phosphates.....I have alot of coraline algae on the locks and its starting on the glass...I do 35 gallon water changes weekly....I use to run a phosban reactor but I stopped when they said it may bleach acros....any help is appreciated....I don't know what else to do??


water parameters

I run a calcium reactor

alk 11dkh
cal 450
mag 1350
nit0
nitra 0
phos 0-detectable
ph 8.3

oh yeah I also have a 60 gallon refugium with cheatomorpha :confused:
Click to expand...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9155365#post9155365 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterOfJustice
Are they bleaching, or RTN? High alk values can sometimes cause RTN.
Click to expand...

What would be considered a good alk range for SPS? At what level is the alk 'too high'?
 
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