Kessil AP700 & SPS

minus9 · Feb 24, 2019

Makers Marc said:
Tip burn on portions facing my ap700s only are getting frustrating. 3rd wave of acros this is happening too, usually takes 2 wks to show signs.

Low placement. Lights are 12 inches from water, frags are 18 inches from surface, so 30 inches away. Look at how mild my kessil programming is.

So annoying.

Got corraline booming everywhere. Other than doing an ICP test, the lighting is the only thing I can think of.

Alk = 7.3-7.5
Po4 = .03-.07

Tank is on month 15. Dont know what else to do.

I would do an ICP test to rule out heavy metals. That's what happened to me. After removing the metals via cuprisorb and correcting my ro/di unit (incorrectly routed) my issues with metals have subsided. Also, if you don't have a deep tank, then the slight diffusers are nice at combating hot spots, especially if you have your lights close to the water?

Gablami · Feb 25, 2019

I certainly don’t think your problem is too much light. At 30 inches away, 18” deep, and at ~30% power with a relatively short peak period, you’re probably too low on the light as opposed to too much. Coralline grows in relatively lower light I think. The top areas of my rock work don’t grow coralline as readily.

I suspect it is not a light issue. I think your light intensity is on the lower side, and even if that were the problem, it usually doesn’t cause thinning of tissue at the tips within 2 weeks. I’m guessing that the previous batches, the acros eventually died?

Triggreef · Feb 25, 2019

I'm think your problem is too little, and possibly spectrum related. I run ap700 with 6 more kessil 360 and all are nearly full blast. That covers a 3x4 foot area, 200g tank. Almost all the way to the blue with everything. 4 to 5 hr at peak with fast cut on and off. More than that you'll fight algae too. (irregardless of type of light).

View attachment 20190220_120442.jpg

Triggreef · Feb 25, 2019

Also without a par meter it's all guess work. For reference at peak power in that picture I'm at a little over 300 par at the top of the acros. About 120 to 140 on the sand.

Makers Marc · Feb 25, 2019

minus9 said:
I would do an ICP test to rule out heavy metals. That's what happened to me. After removing the metals via cuprisorb and correcting my ro/di unit (incorrectly routed) my issues with metals have subsided. Also, if you don't have a deep tank, then the slight diffusers are nice at combating hot spots, especially if you have your lights close to the water?

Thx for ur reply. If there are metals though then why are only certain tips (those pointed in direction of lighting) that show burn?

Forgot to add that I do have the slight diffusers on already.

Makers Marc · Feb 25, 2019

Gablami said:
I certainly don’t think your problem is too much light. At 30 inches away, 18” deep, and at ~30% power with a relatively short peak period, you’re probably too low on the light as opposed to too much. Coralline grows in relatively lower light I think. The top areas of my rock work don’t grow coralline as readily.

I suspect it is not a light issue. I think your light intensity is on the lower side, and even if that were the problem, it usually doesn’t cause thinning of tissue at the tips within 2 weeks. I’m guessing that the previous batches, the acros eventually died?

Corraline is growing on the top of my rock (highest point is roughly 18 inches from pucks) and the bottom as well.

Yes, the other batches got the tip burn on certain sections, that soon grew algae on it, then within a few wks completely rtn or stn'ed.

Makers Marc · Feb 25, 2019

Triggreef said:
Also without a par meter it's all guess work. For reference at peak power in that picture I'm at a little over 300 par at the top of the acros. About 120 to 140 on the sand.

I got it. And plan on renting one soon. Only reason I didnt is b/c after reading dana riddles, BRS reports on the par/spectrum of the fixture, thought I had enough reference points from others PAR charts.

Makers Marc · Feb 25, 2019

Forgot to ask also. If metals were an issue, wouldnt my urchins and shrimps be suffering too?

I guess my GAC bag in the sump may not be sufficient either to rid the system of it.

Other variables important to inform yall:

-2 marine pure blocks in sump since day one
-20 total fish
- run 1/2 cup of gfo in brs reactor changed monthly

minus9 · Feb 25, 2019

Makers Marc said:
Forgot to ask also. If metals were an issue, wouldnt my urchins and shrimps be suffering too?

I guess my GAC bag in the sump may not be sufficient either to rid the system of it.

Other variables important to inform yall:

-2 marine pure blocks in sump since day one
-20 total fish
- run 1/2 cup of gfo in brs reactor changed monthly

Carbon isn't an effective way of removing heavy metals. Unless your phosphate is ultra high, leaving gfo in 24/7 can lead to issues regarding sps. Depending on the metals, some inverts and sps can tolerate the levels, but not for extended periods. My urchins were immune to the metals, but certain snails didn't make it. An ICP test will at least shed some light on the problem (hopefully).

Gablami · Feb 25, 2019

As you probably already know, diffusers drop the PAR further, 20-30%. Not sure how many ap700 you have over what size tank, but your lighting sounds low. If it’s really low, it can kill acros, but generally I’ve found that low lighting causes them to brown out and do nothing. No encrusting, etc.

Have you had any successful acros thriving yet? If not, this becomes one of those “why can’t I keep acros” threads where it could be a number of issues.

If all else looks fine and is stable, your tank may just need more time to “mature.” Get a par meter and get the middle third of the tank in the 200-300 range, and give it more time, testing with an acro frag every couple months.

Triggreef · Feb 25, 2019

Makers Marc said:
Thx for ur reply. If there are metals though then why are only certain tips (those pointed in direction of lighting) that show burn?

Forgot to add that I do have the slight diffusers on already.

Heavy metals can be very common in tanks having issues. All sorts of issues. By in general burnt tips are usually from alk increasing too quickly or too much.

Triggreef · Feb 25, 2019

Makers Marc said:
Forgot to ask also. If metals were an issue, wouldnt my urchins and shrimps be suffering too?

I guess my GAC bag in the sump may not be sufficient either to rid the system of it.

Other variables important to inform yall:

-2 marine pure blocks in sump since day one
-20 total fish
- run 1/2 cup of gfo in brs reactor changed monthly

Better to test with icp test as someone else stated. Cheaper in the long run than consistently losing frags and you'll know affirmatively what's really going on.

My experience with gfo and icp testing and sps has been that gfo really does leach large amounts of iron and it causes tissue loss and recession in sps, problems with zoas, problems with lps. I used gfo for a long time and even tried aluminum based po4 control to counteract gfo. That doesn't work either. Your better off with high po4 than you are using that garbage. My tank has done so much better since eliminating those materials from my systems. Ten fold

Makers Marc · Mar 16, 2019

Got my Triton icp back. Only Tin is elevated to an area of concern. Scared me till I realized tons of postings about it, so I guess I can try cuprisorb or water changes. But jury is still out if thats the main cause.

Triggreef · Mar 18, 2019

Makers Marc said:
Got my Triton icp back. Only Tin is elevated to an area of concern. Scared me till I realized tons of postings about it, so I guess I can try cuprisorb or water changes. But jury is still out if thats the main cause.

I'd bet when you get that number down. .. You see improvements.

Might want to check for something rusting somewhere. Rusty hardware around sump, dropped razor blade in the tank somewhere etc. See if you can find where it's coming from.