Poor PE on my torches

[Corey Shelk]

Hey everyone, can someone help explain why these torches aren’t fully extended? The black torch has a fair amount but the Aussie gold strip has essentially none. They were added 2-3 weeks ago. The tank is about 6-7 years old. It’s a 125 gallon. Most of the other corals and the clam added at the same time as these are already fully extended and look wonderful.

Tank Parameters:
Magnesium ~1400ppm
Calcium ~640ppm
KH in dKH >15
Alkalinity in meq/L 5.36
Specific Gravity 1.027
pH ~8.5 (it was higher than 8.4 and less than 8.8 on API test kit)
Nitrate 10ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Lights 3 Artic-t247 spanning the tank

it’s a friend of mine’s tank so I’m not there watching it 24/7 but they keep me updated and the gold stripe has looked miserable the entire time. They were originally placed in the coral with lower light and less flow but both hated it there and since moving to this more central spot with more flow and more light the black has started extending. My thoughts are maybe they’re still adjusting to a new tank or too high of alkalinity? The calcium is pretty high which is why we added some more LPS and a clam a few weeks ago (knowing they love calcium for their skeletons, etc) and it’s since gone down to this lower level. It used to be higher than 700. They change the filter socks every 2-3 days and are very good about weekly water changes and cleaning out the skimmer as well. They also started feeding phytoplankton and Reef Energy Plus Complete Coral Nutrition about 3 times a week. I don’t have a par meter for an exact measurement but I would say the torches are probably at the 300-400 par range

Does anyone have a more concrete guess?

 

[Corey Shelk]

Oops forgot to post pictures. The first is from behind and the second is from the front. Excuse the heavy purple I can’t find their coral lense.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Alkalinity is too high would be my guess

 

[Tamberav]

Alk and calcium are too high. I don’t see how they could get this high without dosing unless your salinity measurement is wrong and the salinity is also high. Other causes I guess could maybe be using tap water.

What do you test salinity with?

 

[Corey Shelk]

Alkalinity is too high would be my guess

That’s what I’m thinking too, do you know how I can fix that? And also why the other corals aren’t showing any issues with the alkalinity?

 

[Tamberav]

That’s what I’m thinking too, do you know how I can fix that? And also why the other corals aren’t showing any issues with the alkalinity?

Idk what other corals you have but torches can be sensitive.

What do they check salinity with? They need to get an accurate reading and then slowly remove tank water and replace with RODI to drop it slowly as to not shock anything.

Are they maybe topping off evaporation with salt water? It needs to be topped off with fresh water as salt and minerals do not evaporate, only water does.

 

[Corey Shelk]

Alk and calcium are too high. I don’t see how they could get this high without dosing unless your salinity measurement is wrong and the salinity is also high. Other causes I guess could maybe be using tap water.

What do you test salinity with?

The Milwaukee MA887 Seawater Refractometer

 

[Corey Shelk]

Idk what other corals you have but torches can be sensitive.

What do they check salinity with? They need to get an accurate reading and then slowly remove tank water and replace with RODI to drop it slowly as to not shock anything.

Are they maybe topping off evaporation with salt water? It needs to be topped off with fresh water as salt and minerals do not evaporate, only water does.

A lot of hammers, a frogspawn, two different blastos, lots of mushrooms and Xenia, a solid clump of GSP, a finger leather, and umbrella leather, 3 different anemones, and a maxima clam

 

[Tamberav]

The Milwaukee MA887 Seawater Refractometer

I would calibrate it using calibration fluid if they have not recently as they can’t drift.

Also see my post above about if they are topping off evaporation with salt water or fresh water.

 

[Corey Shelk]

I would calibrate it using calibration fluid if they have not recently as they can’t drift.

Also see my post above about if they are topping off evaporation with salt water or fresh water.

Yep sorry, I just realized I forgot to answer that! They top off with RODI freshwater

 

[Tamberav]

Yep sorry, I just realized I forgot to answer that! They top off with RODI freshwater

and they so not dose anything right? No 2 part or Ph buffer?

 

[NowGlazeIT]

That’s what I’m thinking too, do you know how I can fix that? And also why the other corals aren’t showing any issues with the alkalinity?

Vinegar will lower alk but I’m not sure on the dosage amount

 

[Tamberav]

Sounds like it is probably the case that salinity is too high. They need to calibrate and or verify with a second tester/source.

 

[Tamberav]

Also if they are using API kits. It’s time to invest in better kits like Salifert, hannah, or Red Sea.

 

[Corey Shelk]

and they so not dose anything right? No 2 part or Ph buffer?

Yep no dosing, they have a calcium doser but they said it no longer works. Maybe it still doesn’t and they don’t know it and that could be the increased calcium?

 

[Corey Shelk]

Also if they are using API kits. It’s time to invest in better kits like Salifert, hannah, or Red Sea.

They’re out of town right now, so I’ll talk to them about it when they get back. What’s wrong with API? And I’ll ask them about the calibration fluids

 

[Tamberav]

They’re out of town right now, so I’ll talk to them about it when they get back. What’s wrong with API? And I’ll ask them about the calibration fluids

They are not very accurate and the ranges on them are pretty poor. It’s a rough idea but people generally buy something better.

You could bring a water sample to the LFS that should have a refractometer to test with.

 

[Corey Shelk]

They are not very accurate and the ranges on them are pretty poor. It’s a rough idea but people generally buy something better.

You could bring a water sample to the LFS that should have a refractometer to test with.

Yeah that’s a fair point, I’ll mention it to them! And yeah I can see it they’re able to do that