HELP! MY SPS ARE PALING AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO

[Greenstreet.1]

Ty so much for the advice! It seems like Cyano is something I've ALWAYS battled with. I really don't understand it at all! My corals are happy and my nutrients seem in line?
I recently bought a spectrapure silica buster DI cartridge to see if that was my problem but it almost seems like it's gotten worse! Just on my sand bed but it still bothers me! I want white sand!!! Lol
Corals are doing great! [emoji3]

Same issue.

 

[Russ265]

So how do we get phosphates up JUST enough? I'd rather not dump a lot of food and wait for it to go from food to phosphates. Is this where amino acids come into play? Or, is all that amino acid stuff $$$ hype? Is over feeding where it truly is at?

just feeding fish and / or corals will introduce enough phosphate ime.

the only exception to this is if you have gfo overdose where you are binding it before it can be used in the media.

 

[Mattrg02]

I'll keep dosing nitrates and wait for phosphates to gradually climb before I do anymore water changes. Hopefully this ordeal of paled out corals ends soon.

I noticed that a blue stag coral frag that turned brown now is showing fluorescent green tips. Is this a good sign?

 

[Russ265]

I'll keep dosing nitrates and wait for phosphates to gradually climb before I do anymore water changes. Hopefully this ordeal of paled out corals ends soon.

I noticed that a blue stag coral frag that turned brown now is showing fluorescent green tips. Is this a good sign?

yes. that is the beginning stages of recovery.
keep doing it.

get a before shot. then in 2 weeks do an after.

 

[twilliard]

Hi Russ from a completely pale acro back to normal color can it takes months although the growth tips now are showing the right color.
Will the body of it ever recover?
I will get a picture up once the lights are at peak

 

[Russ265]

Hi Russ from a completely pale acro back to normal color can it takes months although the growth tips now are showing the right color.
Will the body of it ever recover?
I will get a picture up once the lights are at peak

sps are quick to go downhill. they take longer to recover. keep nutrients stable and they will eventually go back.
this will take 3 months+ to get them to color back up. i usually see a noticeable improvement after 2 weeks, starting with the tips and then moving back towards the base. some areas can be more stubborn to color up than others,

do you have a before and after?

 

[twilliard]

Ya the acro on the left the main body color was the color of all my acros.
Ever since I started my no3 the tips are now the color you see

 

[Russ265]

Ya the acro on the left the main body color was the color of all my acros.
Ever since I started my no3 the tips are now the color you see

yeah. even the acro in the foreground is coloring up. this is my experience as well.
how long have you been dosing no3?

its a slow process but you are seeing the results already. just be patient and it will work it's way down.

 

[twilliard]

This is the end of the second week of dosing.
It holds a steady 5ppm

 

[Russ265]

This is the end of the second week of dosing.
It holds a steady 5ppm

yours are recovering much faster than mine then. although mine were bone white. lol

 

[ReefMadScientist]

I will report my tank params in a few at exactly 24 hours since I last tested.

I used Chemiclean 50% what the instructions said but at the end of the light cycle I noticed I still had red Cyano. I added 25% more last night so we shall see what it does

 

[Laynrockers]

This is contrary to what I have always been told.. I recently posted a thread about my RTN issues
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/help-rtn.209871/

What this post doesn't distinguish is all the other things that can cause this in SPS as mentioned in my thread, things like Vibrio, ALK swings ect. So my Nitrates and Nitrites are low how can I know with certainty this is the issue in my aquarium?

I have 300 gallons of water, 210g display, 40g frag tank, 90g sump. System is roughly 5 months old, very packed with corals and live rock. Running Chaeto in Sump, sock filters, big skimmer. Over 24+ fish..

whats wierd is I cant seem to get my ALK up. I am starting to dose every few days vs every two week. My CA went from 400 to 420. My ALK has remained the same 6.5

The help is appreciated. No-one likes loosing corals/$$

thanks

 

[Mattrg02]

This is contrary to what I have always been told.. I recently posted a thread about my RTN issues
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/help-rtn.209871/

What this post doesn't distinguish is all the other things that can cause this in SPS as mentioned in my thread, things like Vibrio, ALK swings ect. So my Nitrates and Nitrites are low how can I know with certainty this is the issue in my aquarium?

I have 300 gallons of water, 210g display, 40g frag tank, 90g sump. System is roughly 5 months old, very packed with corals and live rock. Running Chaeto in Sump, sock filters, big skimmer. Over 24+ fish..

whats wierd is I cant seem to get my ALK up. I am starting to dose every few days vs every two week. My CA went from 400 to 420. My ALK has remained the same 6.5

The help is appreciated. No-one likes loosing corals/$$

thanks

Alkalinity may need dosing throughout the day. You should be able to use an online dosing calculator to figure out how much you need.

I've got the opposite problem. Can't get it down from 10dkh. I use neomarine adjusted to 8dkh. My tank isn't using it up.

 

[Russ265]

This is contrary to what I have always been told.. I recently posted a thread about my RTN issues
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/help-rtn.209871/

What this post doesn't distinguish is all the other things that can cause this in SPS as mentioned in my thread, things like Vibrio, ALK swings ect. So my Nitrates and Nitrites are low how can I know with certainty this is the issue in my aquarium?

I have 300 gallons of water, 210g display, 40g frag tank, 90g sump. System is roughly 5 months old, very packed with corals and live rock. Running Chaeto in Sump, sock filters, big skimmer. Over 24+ fish..

whats wierd is I cant seem to get my ALK up. I am starting to dose every few days vs every two week. My CA went from 400 to 420. My ALK has remained the same 6.5

The help is appreciated. No-one likes loosing corals/$$

thanks

sorry. i didnt know this was an stn/rtn thread.

before anything. give me a full shot of your display tank.

what are you dosing in ml daily vs 2 weeks?

what does your magnesium test for?

this thread is more along the lines of after you have mastered alk/mag/calcium synergy.

 

[twilliard]

This is why I use the plum xl3
It doses 24 hours a day drop by drop of all required elements
Can't get any more stable than that!

 

[Laynrockers]

sorry. i didnt know this was an stn/rtn thread.

before anything. give me a full shot of your display tank.

what are you dosing in ml daily vs 2 weeks?

what does your magnesium test for?

this thread is more along the lines of after you have mastered alk/mag/calcium synergy.

Well based on you response in my thread, and you posting this thread shortly thereafter is all seems relative. I am not sure what it is, that is why i am reaching out to the community.

My system is relatively new, and while i seem to be having great success on many fronts, i am loosing SPS and an Acan recently. The SPS are loosing tissue or turning white overnight. Most of them are newly cut frags (withing 2-5 weeks).

I have been dosing 2 part (a and b) for CA and ALK. MAG test 1500. Sorry if i misunderstood, this thread seemed dead on to mine. Both my nitrates and nitrites test 0 and based on the rest i though this could be the issue, since i consider myself proactive is having a clean tank, 30 gallon weekly water changes with 300g total water volume, rinse my socks weekly and skimmer weekly, have chaeto in my refugium growing like crazy. Any help is appreciated.

Kris

thanks.

 

[twilliard]

Well based on you response in my thread, and you posting this thread shortly thereafter is all seems relative. I am not sure what it is, that is why i am reaching out to the community.

My system is relatively new, and while i seem to be having great success on many fronts, i am loosing SPS and an Acan recently. The SPS are loosing tissue or turning white overnight. Most of them are newly cut frags (withing 2-5 weeks).

I have been dosing 2 part (a and b) for CA and ALK. MAG test 1500. Sorry if i misunderstood, this thread seemed dead on to mine. Both my nitrates and nitrites test 0 and based on the rest i though this could be the issue, since i consider myself proactive is having a clean tank, 30 gallon weekly water changes with 300g total water volume, rinse my socks weekly and skimmer weekly, have chaeto in my refugium growing like crazy. Any help is appreciated.

Kris

thanks.

Wow just a beautiful tank! Congrats on such a build.
The 0 no3 and 0 no4 is concerning.
I now swear by a tank needs some form of both.
Those macros just love to eat up no3

 

[Russ265]

Well based on you response in my thread, and you posting this thread shortly thereafter is all seems relative. I am not sure what it is, that is why i am reaching out to the community.

My system is relatively new, and while i seem to be having great success on many fronts, i am loosing SPS and an Acan recently. The SPS are loosing tissue or turning white overnight. Most of them are newly cut frags (withing 2-5 weeks).

I have been dosing 2 part (a and b) for CA and ALK. MAG test 1500. Sorry if i misunderstood, this thread seemed dead on to mine. Both my nitrates and nitrites test 0 and based on the rest i though this could be the issue, since i consider myself proactive is having a clean tank, 30 gallon weekly water changes with 300g total water volume, rinse my socks weekly and skimmer weekly, have chaeto in my refugium growing like crazy. Any help is appreciated.

Kris

thanks.

i gave a pretty lengthy response and still believe you need more than 0 nitrates in the column.
you have chaeto growing so you have some, but it is perhaps possible that chaeto is outcompeting the column.
turn gfo off. keep alk below 9 at all costs. try 7.5-8.5 and that should slow your losses.

alk above 9 is better for high nutrient systems with enough light and nutrients to photosynthesize quickly.

hth

edit do NOT dose no3. i believe po4 could be the limiting contributer. i need to see your nitrate kit against the white of the card in 6500k light.
is your gfo running still?


this is why i hate api kits. see how my api looks bright yellow with a tinge of orange? i have 2ppm no3 though.

 

[Mattrg02]

How critical is it that nitrates and phosphates stay steady like alkalinity?

Right now, phosphates are zero on my Hanna despite removing my gfo.

Nitrates are dosed once my API test turns yellow.

Do I need a better nitrate test, or is it fine to dose such that my API test stays light orange?

 

[Russ265]

How critical is it that nitrates and phosphates stay steady like alkalinity?

Right now, phosphates are zero on my Hanna despite removing my gfo.

Nitrates are dosed once my API test turns yellow.

Do I need a better nitrate test, or is it fine to dose such that my API test stays light orange?

keep it yellow with a very slight tinge of orange. i know that isnt scientific but you dont have a very granular kit.
no3 can swing but when dosing if you introduce too much at once i have seen corals recede for a couple hours.
just feed your fish as normal for po4 and turn gfo on if you see a rise beyond .08