Drab acros and dead caps. IS it phosphate?

[mook1178]

So my acros all just seem drab in color, but decent ployp extension. I cannot seem to keep any monti caps I get alive. They seem to bleach and slowly die off.

My last set of parameters on Saturday were:
Alk--7.5 dKH
calcium--430 ppm
phosphate-- 0.29
nitrate 13.5 ppm
salinity 35.4 ppt

I have been fighting phosphates from 0.62 when I first decided to test and switch over to a more SPS dominate system. I have been using Phosbond to bring it down. However, I have seemed to plataeu in the 0.2x range. Am i fighting PO4 being released from the rocks now?
I change my Phosbond about once a week. SHould I change it every 3-4 days?

Other thoughts?
My alkalinity is a bit low but slowly climbing. So I am just going to let it climb before I dial back on my dosing. Raised from 7.3-7.5 in 4 days, so honestly may just be test variability as well.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Have you eliminated low lighting as a possibility? Low lighting would be the first and easiest guess for sps corals not thriving and and browning out.

 

[mook1178]

I have not truly measured par. However, I am running viparspectra at 60 % blues and 10% white. About 8-10in from the water surface. The Acros are all in the upper quarter of the water column.

Maybe I need to turn the whites up some.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How many watts is your light and what size tank, how many gallons? How long is your peak lighting period?

 

[mook1178]

165 w x 2
75 gal regular dimensions
10:30 am- 8:30 pm
Whites on from 11:30-5:00 pm

 

[Minifoot77]

Could over blast them with those lights too. Id try with a par meter

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I second the par meter, those are strong lights, its hard to guesstimate

 

[mook1178]

Hmm. I might have to take one home form work one day. I don't think anyone local has one.

What I am gathering though, is that you guys think it is light and not phosphate?

 

[Minifoot77]

Hmm. I might have to take one home form work one day. I don't think anyone local has one.

What I am gathering though, is that you guys think it is light and not phosphate?

Have you done an icp test ? Mine brown out a bit when my manganese and strontium and floride are low. I use oceamo and moonshiners

 

[mook1178]

I have not done an icp test. I keep up with water changes pretty well and the tank is any 18 months. I haven't been growing corals long in it. But it wouldn't hurt to get one done either

 

[Minifoot77]

I have not done an icp test. I keep up with water changes pretty well and the tank is any 18 months. I haven't been growing corals long in it. But it wouldn't hurt to get one done either

I would... what additives are you dosing now and how often do you do water changes? Do you have leathers or other soft corals? Do you run carbon?

 

[mook1178]

I have a large leather, some mushrooms and a ton of Zoas that I'm actively trying to get rid of. I run carbon.

Maybe the Zoas have used up some of those micro nutrients. Hasn't thought about that.

 

[Minifoot77]

I have a large leather, some mushrooms and a ton of Zoas that I'm actively trying to get rid of. I run carbon.

Maybe the Zoas have used up some of those micro nutrients. Hasn't thought about that.

Leathers are good for chemical warfare and if carbon/waterchanges are lacking the chemicals will build up

 

[mook1178]

Well nobody send to be agreeing with it being phosphate. I'll look into an icp and I may have find a par meter I can borrow.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

The drabness maybe. The Monti bleaching and dieing sounds very light related. So I'd lean that way to start as well.

Edit: try to drop p04 superslow. Tons of anecdotal evidence dropping it fast can be very harsh to corals.

 

[CHSUB]

phosphate-- 0.29
nitrate 13.5 ppm

This is very high nutrients for bright, colorful SPS under day light spectrum. If you run more blue and less white lights corals look better; also take pictures with a filter and you can duplicate what you see on-line.

 

[mook1178]

The drabness maybe. The Monti bleaching and dieing sounds very light related. So I'd lean that way to start as well.

Edit: try to drop p04 superslow. Tons of anecdotal evidence dropping it fast can be very harsh to corals.

I am dropping them by about 0.3 ppm per day. I think that should be slow enough

This is very high nutrients for bright, colorful SPS under day light spectrum. If you run more blue and less white lights corals look better; also take pictures with a filter and you can duplicate what you see on-line.

Even the nitrates?

 

[BryanM]

I highly doubt this is phosphate. Many of us think .1-.3 is perfectly acceptable.

 

[exnisstech]

All from small pieces

Last test on this tank was N 13 and P 0.04

This one N 29 and P 0.43 but has been over 0.9 never below 0.4

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Honestly its more likely from what youre trying to do to lower then phos level than the actual phos level. I've never killed a coral with high phosphate but I've killed corals by lowering it. Corals hate GFO.