Hello all,
Dealing with some odd bleaching which has continued to escalate over the past 2 months or so. Monti's are very pale in the centers but some edges show new growth and great color. Usually bleached spot will appear in the middle and grow outward. Any thoughts? Picture shows the start of all these headaches around 2 months ago.
Tank parameters:
Temp: 76.8-77.4
Salinity: 35ppt-35.9ppt
Alk: 165-175ppm
Ca: 400-440
Mag: 1350-1450
PO4: 0.02-0.15
NO3- : 4-5
NH4: 0.01-0.02
NO2- : 0.001-0.005
K:400-440
Largest swings would be Alk drops ~10ppm (0.5dkh) over 2/3 days as I am manually dosing it. PO4 is controlled using LaCL3 and experiences major swings post dose or once dose has lost its efficacy, swings about 0.1ppm during that time. As for other parameters, I'd say flow is pretty poor (5x tank volume) and indirect and the colonies are getting PAR between 40-110.
Had an ICP test done recently which showed nothing alarming but a high Lanthanum concentration at 0.012ppm but I'm dosing for it so that makes sense.
My guesses so far as to what's causing this are:
1. Too little light
2. Dirty RODI ~20TDS
3. LaCL3 precipitation issues (dripped through 100micron sock)
4. Too large of PO4 swings/ lack of nutrients
Would appreciate any advice or discussion
Happy Reefing,
J
Dealing with some odd bleaching which has continued to escalate over the past 2 months or so. Monti's are very pale in the centers but some edges show new growth and great color. Usually bleached spot will appear in the middle and grow outward. Any thoughts? Picture shows the start of all these headaches around 2 months ago.
Tank parameters:
Temp: 76.8-77.4
Salinity: 35ppt-35.9ppt
Alk: 165-175ppm
Ca: 400-440
Mag: 1350-1450
PO4: 0.02-0.15
NO3- : 4-5
NH4: 0.01-0.02
NO2- : 0.001-0.005
K:400-440
Largest swings would be Alk drops ~10ppm (0.5dkh) over 2/3 days as I am manually dosing it. PO4 is controlled using LaCL3 and experiences major swings post dose or once dose has lost its efficacy, swings about 0.1ppm during that time. As for other parameters, I'd say flow is pretty poor (5x tank volume) and indirect and the colonies are getting PAR between 40-110.
Had an ICP test done recently which showed nothing alarming but a high Lanthanum concentration at 0.012ppm but I'm dosing for it so that makes sense.
My guesses so far as to what's causing this are:
1. Too little light
2. Dirty RODI ~20TDS
3. LaCL3 precipitation issues (dripped through 100micron sock)
4. Too large of PO4 swings/ lack of nutrients
Would appreciate any advice or discussion
Happy Reefing,
J