Mentor

[scabbedwings616]

I went to reefapolooza this weekend in New York and sat in on Ryan as a guest speaker. He said that it is good to have a mentor for the hobby and someone we can all relate to and get thru some of the hard times in the hobby. I am at this point where I can’t for the life of me keep acros and tired of spending the money and killing them. I need help and guidance so that I can make my acros grow. I have been in the hobby for almost 3 years and my 90g tank is almost 3 years old now. I have had success in the past with acros and had them growing but then all of a sudden something just happens and they die. I don’t want this anymore and need help.

 

[scabbedwings616]

I went to reefapolooza this weekend in New York and sat in on Ryan as a guest speaker. He said that it is good to have a mentor for the hobby and someone we can all relate to and get thru some of the hard times in the hobby. I am at this point where I can’t for the life of me keep acros and tired of spending the money and killing them. I need help and guidance so that I can make my acros grow. I have been in the hobby for almost 3 years and my 90g tank is almost 3 years old now. I have had success in the past with acros and had them growing but then all of a sudden something just happens and they die. I don’t want this anymore and need help.

I am looking for someone that has had this happen before and can help me get them growing again.

 

[tupes]

Im by far a sps expert but I'll lend a hand where I can. We will also tag the #reefsquad to get some assistance.

For starters Can you post a photo of your tank?

Also please give us all the water parameters that you know, Ca, kh, mg, po4, no3. If you test for others please give those too. At least this will get us started.

 

[scabbedwings616]

Dkh 9.4
Calcium 440
Po4 .12
Apex controlled system as well.


#reefsquad

 

[jda]

Having a mentor can be pretty hard since most people won't fully invest 100% into what the mentor does, rather still pick and choose from here and there whatever fits their narrative. The only true characteristic that spans all tanks and approaches is patience.

Mentors have to kinda line up philosophically. You might want to post up tank size, equipment, etc. and see if anybody that you want to follow is in the same vein. I mentor some locals, but only if they mostly line up with what I do (natural methods, NSWish parameters, MH, CaRx, heavy import and export of food, etc.) - I would have no idea how to mentor somebody with a nano, apex, radion, etc.

If you don't find anybody, then some of the best who have written a lot is Steve Weast and OregonReefs and Coppolino who has a nice thread on RC for you to browse - the don't interact, but they have left a lot of info out there to browse and read.

 

[BestMomEver]

I may be speaking out of turn, but I’d bet there are lots of folks here that would be honored to serve as your mentor/helper. There are so many qualified folks here. I’ve seen someone has already called the reef squad. Look through member photos or the thread on full tank shots (FTS) and find the tank you love, then ask that person to help you.

 

[Brew12]

I went to reefapolooza this weekend in New York and sat in on Ryan as a guest speaker. He said that it is good to have a mentor for the hobby and someone we can all relate to and get thru some of the hard times in the hobby. I am at this point where I can’t for the life of me keep acros and tired of spending the money and killing them. I need help and guidance so that I can make my acros grow. I have been in the hobby for almost 3 years and my 90g tank is almost 3 years old now. I have had success in the past with acros and had them growing but then all of a sudden something just happens and they die. I don’t want this anymore and need help.

I'm sorry about your troubles. A feel a local mentor is extremely valuable. Mentoring via a forum is much more challenging.

Since you have been able to keep them in the past, I would start by looking to see what has changed. It looks like you use T5 lighting. How often do you replace the bulbs? Could they be old and not producing the correct PAR/Spectrum? Have you done an ICP test on your water to check for contamination? Do you regularly clean your pumps to make sure your still have good flow in your tank?

 

[scabbedwings616]

I appriciate that and the referrals. I need some help and I get people won’t spend 100 percent of their time. I get that we all have lives besides our tanks. Ryan from brs said reach out and find someone that shares the same kinda interest and all. I though I would start here.

 

[SPR1968]

I’m sure we will get you some SPS experts shortly, but just looking at your parameters your phosphate looks a little high at 0.12 (good target very low at 0.03ppm) as does your alkalinity which is a little raised. But, it depends on what your trying to achieve

The SPS I keep hate high phosphate for sure, as do many of my other corals so I keep it very low

 

[scabbedwings616]

I'm sorry about your troubles. A feel a local mentor is extremely valuable. Mentoring via a forum is much more challenging.

Since you have been able to keep them in the past, I would start by looking to see what has changed. It looks like you use T5 lighting. How often do you replace the bulbs? Could they be old and not producing the correct PAR/Spectrum? Have you done an ICP test on your water to check for contamination? Do you regularly clean your pumps to make sure your still have good flow in your tank?

Pump I clean out every 6 months. Clean my protein skimmer when it gets stuff collected in the bottom. Lights were changed in July 2018. I’ve never done an icp test.

 

[Demonic]

I second the ICP test. This can rule out a contamination very quickly. It’s always a best guess type thing when your setup can’t be seen in person. This way takes the guessing out of the equation.

My first thought was medication of some sort in the tank/rock.

 

[tupes]

Pump I clean out every 6 months. Clean my protein skimmer when it gets stuff collected in the bottom. Lights were changed in July 2018. I’ve never done an icp test.

T5 bulbs should usually be changed 8months +/- depending how many hours they are. When I had t5 I swelled bulbs 6-8 months. It makes more difference than you would think.

I would definitely recommend an ICP test.

 

[Brew12]

Pump I clean out every 6 months. Clean my protein skimmer when it gets stuff collected in the bottom. Lights were changed in July 2018. I’ve never done an icp test.

I think an ICP test is the next best step then. If flow and lighting are good, that pretty much leaves the water. It seems expensive to pay for the test but to me it's easy to justify when you look at the cost of the coral you are losing.
Since you are familiar with BRS, they do offer the kits.

 

[BestMomEver]

IMO, the things most critical to reef tank success are movement, lighting, parameters, and nutrients, in that order. So tell us what you have in the way of movement and light. You have coralline algae growing which is good. I can’t tell, but is that hair algae on the back wall? Also, do you have a sump? Skimmer? Refugium? What do you dose? Have you ever sent in an ICP test?

 

[BestMomEver]

BTW, do your acros bleach from the top down, or the bottom up? Do you dip them? What fish do you have?

Edit... I see you have a Gyre and MP pump. I have a 90 and have 4 pumps... MP40, MP10, Tunze, and gyre..... tons of flow.

 

[scabbedwings616]

T5 bulbs should usually be changed 8months +/- depending how many hours they are. When I had t5 I swelled bulbs 6-8 months. It makes more difference than you would think.

I would definitely recommend an ICP test.

I have heard that and watched a lot of the videos about changing out lights and all. The par difference isn’t much even with time. Only dimmable ones burn out quicker. I could be wrong but I have another tank that has one digi in it and it is fine and the bulbs are over 2 years old. It’s mainly a zoa and acan tank so lights aren’t that important.

 

[scabbedwings616]

BTW, do your acros bleach from the top down, or the bottom up? Do you dip them? What fish do you have?

The tips seem to grow algea. I snip that and it happens again. But some just completely bleach. Magnificat fox face, unicorn tang(hope there aren’t any tang police here), diamond goby, swallowtail angel, lawnmower Belen today, orange shoulder tang.

 

[scabbedwings616]

BTW, do your acros bleach from the top down, or the bottom up? Do you dip them? What fish do you have?

Edit... I see you have a Gyre and MP pump. I have a 90 and have 4 pumps... MP40, MP10, Tunze, and gyre..... tons of flow.

Mp40, maxspex gyre, cor-20 with the random flow generators on them. Core runs at 50 percent. Apex controlled

 

[BestMomEver]

I’m sure we will get you some SPS experts shortly, but just looking at your parameters your phosphate looks a little high at 0.12 (good target very low at 0.03ppm) as does your alkalinity which is a little raised. But, it depends on what your trying to achieve

The SPS I keep hate high phosphate for sure, as do many of my other corals so I keep it very low

There are so many ways to do this. I also run very low phosphate but my dkh stays between 9 and 10, which is where I like it. I would try to lower phosphate a bit.

BTW, we’ll uncover this but there is no one single answer. It’s like an onion. We’ll unpeeled it till we get to that place that’s right for your tank. Time....

 

[Demonic]

The tips seem to grow algea. I snip that and it happens again. But some just completely bleach. Magnificat fox face, unicorn tang(hope there aren’t any tang police here), diamond goby, swallowtail angel, lawnmower Belen today, orange shoulder tang.

What light fixture do you have?