Reef Parameters Question

[bluereef250]

I've been in the reef hobby for 5 years now and have always stuck to LPS and soft corals. I have a few SPS in my tank now and have not seen any growth in them over the past few months. I have also noticed some algae growing on the Pavona. I have a green slimer, red digitata, green Pavona and red monti cap (newly added). I am dosing Tropic Marin all for reef. The tank is a Red Sea Reefer 250. Lights are 2 AI Prime HDs and 1 Hydra 32. I've always tested my parameters with the Salifert test kits, but recently sent my water to Saltwateraquarium.com and these are the results.
I'm also dosing 5ml NOPOX per day.

These are my parameters:
ALK 122
PH 7.8
PHOS 0.3
CA 456
MG 1453
AMMO 0.2
NITRATE 0.0
NITRATE 16

I will attach some pictures. Thanks for any help!

 

[Timfish]

Stop the NoPox and be sure to do water changes. It's a form of carbon dosing and is adding labile DOC to promote microbial growth. It's anybody's guess if the microbial growth being promoted is beneficial or detrimental to corals. If you want to read up on DOC here's a data bomb:

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Microbial view of Coral Decline


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)


Indirect effects of algae on coral: algae‐mediated, microbe‐induced coral mortality

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onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Influence of coral and algal exudates on microbially mediated reef metabolism.
Coral DOC improves oxygen (autotrophy), algae DOC reduces oxygen (heterotrophy).

Influence of coral and algal exudates on microbially mediated reef metabolism

Benthic primary producers in tropical reef ecosystems can alter biogeochemical cycling and microbial processes in the surrounding seawater. In order to quantify these influences, we measured rates of photosynthesis, respiration, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exudate release by the dominant...

peerj.com

Role of elevated organic carbon levels and microbial activity in coral mortality

http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2006/314/m314p119.pdf

Effects of Coral Reef Benthic Primary Producers on Dissolved Organic Carbon and Microbial Activity
Algae releases significantly more DOC into the water than coral.

Effects of Coral Reef Benthic Primary Producers on Dissolved Organic Carbon and Microbial Activity

Benthic primary producers in marine ecosystems may significantly alter biogeochemical cycling and microbial processes in their surrounding environment. To examine these interactions, we studied dissolved organic matter release by dominant benthic taxa and subsequent microbial remineralization in...

journals.plos.org

Pathologies and mortality rates caused by organic carbon and nutrient stressors in three Caribbean coral species.
DOC caused coral death but not high nitrates, phosphates or ammonium.

http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2005/294/m294p173.pdf

Visualization of oxygen distribution patterns caused by coral and algae

Visualization of oxygen distribution patterns caused by coral and algae

Planar optodes were used to visualize oxygen distribution patterns associated with a coral reef associated green algae (Chaetomorpha sp.) and a hermatypic coral (Favia sp.) separately, as standalone organisms, and placed in close proximity mimicking coral-algal interactions. Oxygen patterns were...

peerj.com

Biological oxygen demand optode analysis of coral reef-associated microbial communities exposed to algal exudates
Exposure to exudates derived from turf algae stimulated higher oxygen drawdown by the coral-associated bacteria.

Biological oxygen demand optode analysis of coral reef-associated microbial communities exposed to algal exudates

Algae-derived dissolved organic matter has been hypothesized to induce mortality of reef building corals. One proposed killing mechanism is a zone of hypoxia created by rapidly growing microbes. To investigate this hypothesis, biological oxygen demand ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Microbial ecology: Algae feed a shift on coral reefs

Microbial ecology: Algae feed a shift on coral reefs - Nature Microbiology

Human pressures on coral reefs are giving macroalgae a competitive advantage over reef-building corals. These algae support larger, and potentially pathogenic, microbial populations that are metabolically primed for less-efficient, yet faster, carbohydrate remineralization, perpetuating a...

www.nature.com

Coral and macroalgal exudates vary in neutral sugar composition and differentially enrich reef bacterioplankton lineages.

Coral and macroalgal exudates vary in neutral sugar composition and differentially enrich reef bacterioplankton lineages - PubMed

Increasing algal cover on tropical reefs worldwide may be maintained through feedbacks whereby algae outcompete coral by altering microbial activity. We hypothesized that algae and coral release compositionally distinct exudates that differentially alter bacterioplankton growth and community...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Sugar enrichment provides evidence for a role of nitrogen fixation in coral bleaching

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onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Elevated ammonium delays the impairment of the coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis during labile carbon pollution

Elevated ammonium delays the impairment of the coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis during labile carbon pollution

Labile dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a major pollutant in coastal marine environments affected by anthropogenic impacts, and may significantly con…

www.sciencedirect.com

Excess labile carbon promotes the expression of virulence factors in coral reef bacterioplankton

Excess labile carbon promotes the expression of virulence factors in coral reef bacterioplankton - The ISME Journal

Coastal pollution and algal cover are increasing on many coral reefs, resulting in higher dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations. High DOC concentrations strongly affect microbial activity in reef waters and select for copiotrophic, often potentially virulent microbial populations. High...

www.nature.com

Unseen players shape benthic competition on coral reefs.

Unseen players shape benthic competition on coral reefs - PubMed

Recent work has shown that hydrophilic and hydrophobic organic matter (OM) from algae disrupts the function of the coral holobiont and promotes the invasion of opportunistic pathogens, leading to coral morbidity and mortality. Here we refer to these dynamics as the (3)DAM [dissolved organic...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Allelochemicals Produced by Brown Macroalgae of the Lobophora Genus Are Active against Coral Larvae and Associated Bacteria, Supporting Pathogenic Shifts to Vibrio Dominance.

Allelochemicals Produced by Brown Macroalgae of the Lobophora Genus Are Active against Coral Larvae and Associated Bacteria, Supporting Pathogenic Shifts to Vibrio Dominance - PubMed

Diverse microbial communities associate with coral tissues and mucus, providing important protective and nutritional services, but once disturbed, the microbial equilibrium may shift from a beneficial state to one that is detrimental or pathogenic. Macroalgae (e.g., seaweeds) can physically and...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Macroalgae decrease growth and alter microbial community structure of the reef-building coral, Porites astreoides.

Macroalgae decrease growth and alter microbial community structure of the reef-building coral, Porites astreoides - PubMed

With the continued and unprecedented decline of coral reefs worldwide, evaluating the factors that contribute to coral demise is of critical importance. As coral cover declines, macroalgae are becoming more common on tropical reefs. Interactions between these macroalgae and corals may alter the...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Macroalgal extracts induce bacterial assemblage shifts and sublethal tissue stress in Caribbean corals.

Macroalgal extracts induce bacterial assemblage shifts and sublethal tissue stress in Caribbean corals - PubMed

Benthic macroalgae can be abundant on present-day coral reefs, especially where rates of herbivory are low and/or dissolved nutrients are high. This study investigated the impact of macroalgal extracts on both coral-associated bacterial assemblages and sublethal stress response of corals. Crude...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Biophysical and physiological processes causing oxygen loss from coral reefs.

https://elifesciences.org/articles/49114.pdf

Global microbialization of coral reefs

Global microbialization of coral reefs - Nature Microbiology

Analysis of 60 sites in three ocean basins suggests that overgrowth of fleshy algae on coral reefs supports higher microbial abundances dominated by copiotrophic, potentially pathogenic bacteria via the provision of dissolved inorganic carbon.

www.nature.com

 

[FrugalReefer]

 

[Timfish]

Oooooops! My bad! Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[Fish Styx]

Greetings and welcome to the reef! I think @Timfish has you covered

 

[Ocean_Queenie]

Hello & Welcome

 

[1112-425XL]

 

[bluereef250]

I will stop the NOPOX and increase my water changes. I’ve been doing 20 gallon water changes once a month.

Should I increase All for Reef to raise alkalinity? The SPS at the top are thriving but have not grown and do not have white tips showing growth.

Thank you!

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here!

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've been in the reef hobby for 5 years now and have always stuck to LPS and soft corals. I have a few SPS in my tank now and have not seen any growth in them over the past few months. I have also noticed some algae growing on the Pavona. I have a green slimer, red digitata, green Pavona and red monti cap (newly added). I am dosing Tropic Marin all for reef. The tank is a Red Sea Reefer 250. Lights are 2 AI Prime HDs and 1 Hydra 32. I've always tested my parameters with the Salifert test kits, but recently sent my water to Saltwateraquarium.com and these are the results.
I'm also dosing 5ml NOPOX per day.

These are my parameters:
ALK 122
PH 7.8
PHOS 0.3
CA 456
MG 1453
AMMO 0.2
NITRATE 0.0
NITRATE 16

I will attach some pictures. Thanks for any help!

Dont worry about nitrite level with your tank Unless sky high and I would pull off Nopox which is often an alternative and not a solution. Numbers look decent and Po4 needs to come down to .08-.1)

Some effective methods are (teaspoon of GFO), skimmer, salgae scrubber and daily 2 galln water changes.
Are you using tap water by chance?
Akso overfeeding can be a cause as well as use of reef roids coral foods

 

[dstockwell]

Welcome to the Reef

 

[paragrouper]

 

[00W]

All I can say is welcome Welcome to R2R!

 

[Pvtgloss]

 

[zheka757]

Welcome toR2R!

 

[SPR1968]

Very nice and welcome!

 

[Seansea]

Numbers look decent and Po4 can actually go up a little (to .08-.1)

He posted .3. Not .o3. That is a little high for sps but ive heard people keep it at .5 and sps are fine.

Just give the sps time. If they are not bleaching then they are just biding time until they take off. Those are pretty good growers. Dont move em around. Every time you move em you set em back.

 

[vetteguy53081]

He posted .3. Not .o3. That is a little high for sps but ive heard people keep it at .5 and sps are fine.

Just give the sps time. If they are not bleaching then they are just biding time until they take off. Those are pretty good growers. Dont move em around. Every time you move em you set em back.

Y see this now on computer screen versus phone.

 

[bluereef250]

Dont worry about nitrite level with your tank Unless sky high and I would pull off Nopox which is often an alternative and not a solution. Numbers look decent and Po4 needs to come down to .08-.1)

Some effective methods are (teaspoon of GFO), skimmer, salgae scrubber and daily 2 galln water changes.
Are you using tap water by chance?
Akso overfeeding can be a cause as well as use of reef roids coral foods

I am running a skimmer and have tried GFO in a media bag in the past with no change. That's one reason why I was trying NOPOX, but I will start doing 20 gallon water changes every 2 weeks and see if that makes a difference. I also have a RODI unit with a TDS meter that I make my water with. I feed pellets or frozen food once a day. My fish are:
1 yellow tang
2 clownfish
1 damsel
1 coral beauty
1 purple dottyback
1 diamond goby

Thanks!