Is 0.7 Phosphates enough to turn encrusting corals white?

ReefKeeper666

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Hi again everyone. So for the past few weeks my encrusting corals have been getting white patches on them. First I thought it was purple they were turning but I had an Ah-ha moment the other day. I turned up the whites and down the blue for like 45 seconds to look at the corals and saw the patches of discoloration were white and not blue. I had a concern it could be my new AI prime 32HD lights that Are only 48 days on the tank (which I also used the acclimation 30 day setting for them When Installed) so I dropped the levels a little and put Cool whites at 5 pct. only. My next concern was Alkalinity rising. But last night my new Hanna Phosphate and Alkalinty testers came In. I checked my water twice with each tester and got the same results both times on both tester. My Alkalinity is at 7. My phostphates are 0.70. In the past weeks using my old API kits I was getting anything from 7-10 on alk and 0-.50 On phosphates. So hopefully I’m one step closer to solving this problem. All my other corals including my birds nest which is SPS are doing well. It’s just the encrusting corals Favia, montiporia, burning banana that are Turing white In patches. Is the high phosphates my problem?
 

Timfish

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I would say no. It would be advisable to lower your phosphates just be sure not to strip all of it out. Here's some links on phosphates and corals:


An Experimental Mesocosm for Longterm Studies of Reef Corals

Phosphate Deficiency:
Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching:

Ultrastructural Biomarkers in Symbiotic Algae Reflect the Availability of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Particulate Food to the Reef Coral Holobiont:

Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates

Effects of phosphate on growth and skeletal density in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata: A controlled experimental approach

High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata

Phosphorus metabolism of reef organisms with algal symbionts
 

Spieg

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My guess (without much info to go on) would be more along the lines of too much light. Maybe dial back intensity a little and/or shorten the duration.
 

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I would bet the issue is alkalinity. large daily swings are never good. I would test daily till you get your dosing correct and stable. I recently overdosed my tank and had 2.50 PPM of phosphate and had no issues with my SPS accept I did notice it seemed to slow growth. It’s now back down to .05.
 
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I would bet the issue is alkalinity. large daily swings are never good. I would test daily till you get your dosing correct and stable. I recently overdosed my tank and had 2.50 PPM of phosphate and had no issues with my SPS accept I did notice it seemed to slow growth. It’s now back down to .05.
With Hanna checker alk looks stable so far
 

Waters

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What kind of lights did you have prior to changing to your current lights? Did the spectrum or intensity change drastically? Making any changes with LEDs can cause issues unfortunately....even with acclimation.
 

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Alk is on the low end but if it’s stable it doesn’t sound like the issue. The only change you really made this past month sounds like the lights. I would suspect that first.
 

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With Hanna checker alk looks stable so far
Sounds good, your original post stated it was anywhere between 7/10 that’s way to big a swing. Hopefully it was an issue with the test. Usually beaching from light will cause the entire coral to rapidly bail its polyps. alkalinity stress shows up as patch’s. plus you used the acclimation sitting for a month so I seriously don’t it’s an issue with lighting. Remember the devils in the details;)
 
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ReefKeeper666

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Sounds good, your original post stated it was anywhere between 7/10 that’s way to big a swing. Hopefully it was an issue with the test. Usually beaching from light will cause the entire coral to rapidly bail its polyps. alkalinity stress shows up as patch’s. plus you used the acclimation sitting for a month so I seriously don’t it’s an issue with lighting. Remember the devils in the details;)
Yes but that was with an API kit. Using the Hanna checker it is coming up 7 daily. Tested twice on the first day as well. Already ordered more reagents.
 

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where are these corals located height wise in tank compared to corals that are healthy?... any pix
 
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So some interesting news. 2 days after reducing my lights as messed up looking as my burning banana coral is about 30 mins before my lights are supposed to be out(so lighting is very low) I noticed some of its polyps are actually out!
 

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