Not sure what is wrong with my chemistry

[Kaiser]

i ended up adding a piece of my bubblegum digi to my tank last week as well as my sunfire grafted cap, and they started to bleach within a couple of days. I also started to notice my acros losing tissue on their tips within a couple of days after that. I immediately tested everything and my phosphate came up 0 and my nitrate came up 5. I doubled my feeding and started dosing aminos again to try and increase phosphate thinking it was due to low nutrients. This didn't seem to help at all so I sent in an Triton ICP and an N-DOC in to be sure that I wasn't missing something (the N-DOC hasn't come back yet) and I just now got my results. I also stopped the extra feeding and the aminos due to thinking it possibly could be doing more harm than good if there is some underlying issue. I'm not exactly sure what's wrong as nothing seems out of the ordinary to my eye. I did read that high barium is nothing to worry about. Maybe someone can help break this down for me and help me get my tank back in order. I'll link the ICP. Thanks

Alk is currently 7.11
Calcium is currently 469
Magnesium is 1374
Salinity is 35.8
PH is 8.35
Nitrate is 5
Phosphate is 0 according to hanna checker (not the ULR), however the ICP seems to read some.

 

[dwest]

i ended up adding a piece of my bubblegum digi to my tank last week as well as my sunfire grafted cap, and they started to bleach within a couple of days. I also started to notice my acros losing tissue on their tips within a couple of days after that. I immediately tested everything and my phosphate came up 0 and my nitrate came up 5. I doubled my feeding and started dosing aminos again to try and increase phosphate thinking it was due to low nutrients. This didn't seem to help at all so I sent in an Triton ICP and an N-DOC in to be sure that I wasn't missing something (the N-DOC hasn't come back yet) and I just now got my results. I also stopped the extra feeding and the aminos due to thinking it possibly could be doing more harm than good if there is some underlying issue. I'm not exactly sure what's wrong as nothing seems out of the ordinary to my eye. I did read that high barium is nothing to worry about. Maybe someone can help break this down for me and help me get my tank back in order. I'll link the ICP. Thanks

Alk is currently 7.11
Calcium is currently 469
Magnesium is 1374
Salinity is 35.8
PH is 8.35
Nitrate is 5
Phosphate is 0 according to hanna checker (not the ULR), however the ICP seems to read some.

Bleaching in a couple days is strange. Possibly high lighting. Any ideas on PAR or provide your lighting source. I agree that if your ICP results are accurate, then phosphate levels are ok. Also, how old is the tank and any other corals growing?

 

[Kaiser]

Bleaching in a couple days is strange. Possibly high lighting. Any ideas on PAR or provide your lighting source. I agree that if your ICP results are accurate, then phosphate levels are ok. Also, how old is the tank and any other corals growing?

Par towards the top, which is where my acroberry that is losing its tips was around 440 with the t5s on, My walt which is also losing tips is around 300 par, the montipora that were dying were likely in the mid 200s. However that would be accurate only on the first few days as the moment the Sunfire cap started looking pale, i turned off the t5s and turned the radions to 50% (they had been at 100% for a while), and the bleaching on the acropora actually started a couple days after that, meaning that the high par (I agree that 440 is a bit high but the coral didn't show stress until after I had already turned down the lights. The tank is a year and 5 months old. The tank has been an on and off struggle since the beginning, but I occasionally get growth. I thought the tank was finally doing well so I moved the two montis from my other tank. I do seem to have issues with getting any coloration out of my walt disney besides a non-fluorescent green so I wonder if there is something underlying that is making the problem worse.

 

[dwest]

On paper, these corals should be growing. A tough one. I have nothing else other than lowering the light levels just as you have done.

 

[Kaiser]

As you can see, it grows and extends polyps, but doesn't look all that healthy. Same with the acroberry and ATL Joleen

 

[Kaiser]

On paper, these corals should be growing. A tough one. I have nothing else other than lowering the light levels just as you have done.

I'll stick to that. It's incredibly discouraging to have this many issues with my "dream tank" and not have a clear reason as to why. My 36 gallon is doing wonderful but my 160 gallon is a bunch of trouble.

 

[dwest]

As you can see, it grows and extends polyps, but doesn't look all that healthy. Same with the acroberry and ATL Joleen

Have you ever checked that brown stuff on the sand under a microscope? I’m wondering if those might be dinos. It’s definitely hard to tell what I‘m looking at.

 

[Kaiser]

Have you ever checked that brown stuff on the sand under a microscope? I’m wondering if those might be dinos. It’s definitely hard to tell what I‘m looking at.

I haven't looked at it under a microscope, although I thought it might be dinos. Could that be causing my issues somehow?

 

[Kaiser]

Here's a better photo

 

[Henryb9]

Your nutrients are low! And how is your Alk, did you have any major swings? Try to cut the corals on the parts there not bleaching so you can save them. After that do a 30% water change! What is your daily feeding consist of?

 

[Flux Capacitor]

How are you testing ALK? The tips burning lead me to think an ALK issue.

Just out of curiosity did you start the tank will all dry rock?

 

[Cassian]

Following along as I have been battling something very similar for months. I also have that stuff on my sand

 

[Kaiser]

How are you testing ALK? The tips burning lead me to think an ALK issue.

Just out of curiosity did you start the tank will all dry rock?

Your nutrients are low! And how is your Alk, did you have any major swings? Try to cut the corals on the parts there not bleaching so you can save them. After that do a 30% water change! What is your daily feeding consist of?

Alk is tested via a Hanna Checker + Neptune Trident, I got my neptune trident hooked up about 5 days ago and that hasn't seen any spikes in alk, so it seems pretty stable. I did start with Real Reef Dry Rock, however at a year and a half old I'm not sure if the age is the problem. I am currently feeding the BRS homemade frozen reef chili recipe, a chunk about the size of a quarter once a day, I have 5 tangs, a diamond goby, and a bangaii cardinal. I was trying to feed twice a day and dose aminos once i added the frags but I got scared off when things started heading south.

 

[Flux Capacitor]

Did you switch to having the apex dose based off the trident? I still feel like it’s an alk thing based off your photos.

 

[Kaiser]

Did you switch to having the apex dose based off the trident? I still feel like it’s an alk thing based off your photos.

Nope, I don't even have a doser on the tank yet as It doesn't suck up enough to even be able to dose in the first place. It's possible alk was at 8 previously and dropped but I forgot to write down and remember what I had gotten the week before.

 

[DMG Reef]

I had this issue last summer and it was from dino's. I lost 3 acro frags and an anemone. I didn't get a microscope to identify the strain, but my acros looked like yours. The dino's will attach to the tips and suffocate the coral. I got rid of them in less than a week after adding a UV sterilizer.

More than likely, your PO4 bottomed out at some point causing the dino's to take hold. Your parameters are all great except for the PO4.

Good luck.

 

[Kaiser]

I had this issue last summer and it was from dino's. I lost 3 acro frags and an anemone. I didn't get a microscope to identify the strain, but my acros looked like yours. The dino's will attach to the tips and suffocate the coral. I got rid of them in less than a week after adding a UV sterilizer.

More than likely, your PO4 bottomed out at some point causing the dino's to take hold. Your parameters are all great except for the PO4.

Good luck.

darn, not looking forward to more plumbing, i have no idea how i would implement a UV into my setup

 

[dwest]

darn, not looking forward to more plumbing, i have no idea how i would implement a UV into my setup

I would do a search for a microscope and get one. You can get them pretty cheap. Mine was only $12 but there likely better option now on amazon. Once they are ID, if you have them, UV will help only some strains. In the meantime, be sure to be running GAC to help remove dino toxins.

 

[Flux Capacitor]

BRS did a good video on how to get rid of them, might be worth a watch. I would for sure ID them before going through all the trouble and expense of adding the UV.

 

[DMG Reef]

darn, not looking forward to more plumbing, i have no idea how i would implement a UV into my setup

I just picked up a Green Killing Machine at Petco for about $60. No plumbing required, plug and play. I got the 24-watt for my 112 gallon tank but you could get by with the 9-watt for a 20L tank.

I do realize that some reefers spend a lot on UV to run them constantly but I just wanted to clean up the dinos. I removed the UV within 2-3 weeks and haven't needed it since. I do agree that you should get a scope to verify dinos before taking any action.