Acros browning and having tip recession

[Taylor Harnden]

Hey everyone so Im at a loss right now.

System:

180g Acro dominant
3 ai vegas
1 ai hydra hd
3 ai sols
4 bulb 48in retro t5

Mag: 1400
Nitrates: 3-5
Phosphate: nearly undetectable
Calc 450
Alk 8.7


I also does vodka everyday. I have been dosing for 5 months now have everything has been great. I was running a 6 bulb 60in ATI Sunpower before switching back to LEDS ( I couldnt afford 10 bulbs every year)

So here is why I think im losing things:

Switching from t5 to LED and I set the lights on a setting to high
I did find my Calc was up in the 480 range with a low ALk around 8.4 ( I am currently lowering my calc)
My mag was low a month ago (1100) I brought it back up to 1400 over two days which may have been to fast.

what do you guys think?

Browning out due to not enough light or to much? LEDS are at 40% white for 5hrs per day and blues are up to 85%

Recession from high calc and adding to much mag to fast?

Is my alk to high for carbon dosing?

Im lost lol so many things it could be what would you guys do?

Currently I am letting my alk and Calc get back in line ( Calc 410 and Alk 7.4)

Opinions on Nitrates? ( undetectable or 5)

To much Light?

all Opinions welcome lol

 

[Lonny]

Pics? I just started vodka dosing so following along. I'm new my tank is only nine months old but it sounds like the only major change has been your lighting. Do you dose any supplements?

 

[Taylor Harnden]

I dose Part 1 and Part 2 and Vodka and thats it... I have 24 fish in my 180 so my corals get feed a lot of fish poopy... Ill try and post a pic shortly

 

[Taylor Harnden]

Here are some pics. U can see a couple pieces doing great but some brown or tips receding

 

[Taylor Harnden]

I had 4 amazing Mari colonies that all died first

 

[reeferfoxx]

You need some po4. Your Alk is good. Do your nitrates get out of control without vodka dosing?

 

[Taylor Harnden]

I'm assuming they will. I have a large bio load and I'm not a fan of water changes. I can lower my dosage of vodka if I need more p04. Why would some things brown out.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Best thing to do is get the correct balance, then see if your coral are still browning. Browning could be because of parameter swings. I wouldn't worry about lowering calcium.

Nitrates of 5 is good. Don't go any higher than 10. PO4 needs to be around 0.01 - 0.03. Maintain alk between 8.5 or 9 dkh and keep it there. Make sure your skimmer is running well and blow off the detritus off the rocks as often as possible.

Continue to vodka dose but watch your sump area for bacterial blooms. (white snot) You might need to supplement bacteria if that happens. Try and check po4 2 times a week and see if you can't get that number up. With carbon dosing you may need to feed more. Just dont go overboard.

 

[Taylor Harnden]

P04 is actually consistent at .08. Ok I'll keep everything stable. I had cyano in my sumo and I recently just cleaned it out a week ago. Receding tips??

 

[reeferfoxx]

Sorry. First you said PO4 was nearly undetectable? Now you say po4 is 0.08?? Ok. PO4 is too high. Too many DOCs. This is a different approach. You need to lower PO4 lol...

 

[Taylor Harnden]

Never thought .08 was high lol in my book .01 is nearly undetectable lol I just spitballing but my p04 has always been .08 and has never changed along with nitrates at 3-5. Everything was amazing for 3 months. Would you think something that never changed would cause this? I'm seriously asking cause I'm trying to pin point the source of the problems. Could it have been a combo of new lights and raising my mag to fast over two days?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Could it have been a combo of new lights and raising my mag to fast over two days?

It could be. What is done is done. I think your lighting is fine. What is your photoperiod? How long are your lights on for?

You really need to make sure your Alk, NO3 and PO4 are where they need to be. Acros aren't very forgiving. Too much organics can lower alkalinity.

 

[Lonny]

Brs says it's ok to give the entire dose of mag all at once. I did it and had no ill affects. Po4 is a little high but cyano would be my concern at that level. Like I said I'm new but the only major change it sounds like you've changed is lighting.

 

[Taylor Harnden]

It could be. What is done is done. I think your lighting is fine. What is your photoperiod? How long are your lights on for?

You really need to make sure your Alk, NO3 and PO4 are where they need to be. Acros aren't very forgiving. Too much organics can lower alkalinity.

Ya I know that all to well. My photoperiod is 8:30am -10:30pm. Blues ramp up to 85 and stay at 85 till about 7pm then ramp down. Whites ramp up to 40% from 11-6. 5 hrs of 40%. I'll raise my vodka slowly and bring down my nitrates and p04. I did have some little swings after I raised my mag back up. Maybe it was that a few weeks ago that did it

 

[Mark75]

You ever check par?

You have an interesting assortment of lights that appear to be mounted very high,...your par levels where the corals are may be a lot lower than you would think.:)

 

[Taylor Harnden]

Haven't gotten a par meter yet. The led lights are mounted at 14inches. Yes I'm actually trying to sell the 3 Vegas and then trade in the 3 sols for 3 hydra 26hds

 

[markalot]

My thoughts.

Stability is the most important thing in everything you do.

- PO4 of .08 is fine, try and keep it stable or slowly lower it but no sudden changes.

- KH of 8.7 is ok, I prefer a lottle lower, but again stability is key here. It should be 8.7 in the morning, 8.7 in the evening, and 8.y tomorrow.

- Calcium, I do not test, it will work itself out unless you are using an unbalanced 2 part solution like Red Sea, in which case I think it's 1/3 of the ALk dose. Look this up, I could be wrong.

Newer reefers like me, and possibly you, are destined to have brown half dead acros until we understand that change is what kills these guys. Change light slowly, change feeding routines slowly, change water params slowly, walk by the tank slowly (ok, I made that one up :D ).

When you change things too fast the results can be random since these corals have not evolved to handle many changes. Some acros will do just fine, some will brown out, some will die.

 

[Errattiq]

Also, have you swapped out your carbon recently? This happened to me when I swapped my carbon out all at once in a large quantity. Burnt the tips of my acros plus the additional clarity of the water increased light penetration into the water. This also happened when I changed my GFO all at once when I noticed phosphates in my water. By adding a large change of GFO I believe my water was stripped of the nutrients too quickly shocking the corals. Now, I have a ball valve to control flow when I change my carbon/GFO. I still change it all out at once but I slowly increase flow through the reactors over the course of a few weeks. Gradual change in parameters was the key for me. Now I don't have any issue

 

[Lonny]

Also, have you swapped out your carbon recently? This happened to me when I swapped my carbon out all at once in a large quantity. Burnt the tips of my acros plus the additional clarity of the water increased light penetration into the water. This also happened when I changed my GFO all at once when I noticed phosphates in my water. By adding a large change of GFO I believe my water was stripped of the nutrients too quickly shocking the corals. Now, I have a ball valve to control flow when I change my carbon/GFO. I still change it all out at once but I slowly increase flow through the reactors over the course of a few weeks. Gradual change in parameters was the key for me. Now I don't have any issue

That's very interesting. I never thought about that! I have a ball valve on my reactor but never adjust it. It makes sense especially if you have a more sensitive acro.

 

[Errattiq]

Absolutely! especially if it has been a while since you changed it out. I just recalled this post from a different forum as well, evidently running high alkalinity while carbon dosing causes burnt tips in acro! I think that's where your issue lies. If you want to take a read here is the link.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f...acropora-209477.html#/topics/209477?_k=6mqkfj