sps bleaching from the top and bottom....getting tired of this

amir basis

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a several of my acropora corals are beginning to bleach , some from the top and some from the bottom, and it's the third time it's happening to me and always the same senario : the tank looks great, goos coral growth, water stable and clean, fish having a blast, bring additional few corals, everything is good for a week or two, new corals starts to suffer, old corals also begin to suffer, colonies end up in the trash. i'm really starting to wonder if this hobby is simply
over my head.

i've attached a short video of the the corals for you get a sense of the tank.
parameters:
DKH: 7
cal :450
mag: 1650
no3 :5ppm
po4: 0.04
triton 7 core dosing
cheato refugium

feeding : fish eat twice a day (pellets, frozen, nori..) and the corals i direct feed 2-3 times a week with vitalis sps coral food, as well as dose daily KZ aminos and corals vitalizer.

when everything started i thought that there might be too much light in combination with high ALK, so i reduced the light to very low (almost ambient room light), my ALK was 7 anyhow so didn't do any changes there, and dosed a little phosphate and nitrate to increase nutrients. a week after and nothing seemed to help and things are still going south

as for ICP test, i did send one but by the time i'll get the results probably everything will be gone.thought may be to do 100% water change.

so if anyone has any idea what is going on, then by all means please share.



 
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MichaelReefer

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a several of my acropora corals are beginning to bleach , some from the top and some from the bottom, and it's the third time it's happening to me and always the same senario : the tank looks great, goos coral growth, water stable and clean, fish having a blast, bring additional few corals, everything is good for a week or two, new corals starts to suffer, old corals also begin to suffer, colonies end up in the trash. i'm really starting to wonder if this hobby is simply
over my head.

i've attached a short video of the the corals for you get a sense of the tank.
parameters:
DKH: 7
cal :450
mag: 1650
no3 :5ppm
po4: 0.04
triton 7 core dosing
cheato refugium

feeding : fish eat twice a day (pellets, frozen, nori..) and the corals i direct feed 2-3 times a week with vitalis sps coral food, as well as dose daily KZ aminos and corals vitalizer.

when everything started i thought that there might be too much light in combination with high ALK, so i reduced the light to very low (almost ambient room light), my ALK was 7 anyhow so didn't do any changes there, and dosed a little phosphate and nitrate to increase nutrients. a week after and nothing seemed to help and things are still going south

as for ICP test, i did send one but by the time i'll get the results probably everything will be gone.thought may be to do 100% water change.

so if anyone has any idea what is going on, then by all means please share.



Alk is very low. What is your PH?
 

kingjames_dc5

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Alk is low. What’s your salinity and ph? I have a acropora coral in my tank and have had an amazing amount of growth form this guy in just a few weeks I’m running my alk at 11ppm at the moment.
 

KrisReef

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I have an opinion/ hypothesis:

Adding new coral to a tank causes stress, maybe competition for nutrition or chemical warfare that lowers the health of all inhabitants.

No science, just repeated observations of similar situations as what you have described.

Healthy corals,
Additionally coral(s)
RTN by all corals.

Usually some survivors, (Right?)

Suggest you stop adding for a few months and get the tank growing again. After that, Add new corals 1@A time and with longer time period between additions.

Just a theory/opinion.
 
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amir basis

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haven't check my PH actually , but i can check with a very accurate ph-meter at my work as soon as i get there. i update on that.
 

MichaelReefer

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haven't check my PH actually , but i can check with a very accurate ph-meter at my work as soon as i get there. i update on that.

Part of your issue is def your alk...If you're doing SPS you generally speaking want to be 8.1-8.4.... Make sure if you raise it you do it SLOWLY.
 
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amir basis

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Alk is low. What’s your salinity and ph? I have a acropora coral in my tank and have had an amazing amount of growth form this guy in just a few weeks I’m running my alk at 11ppm at the moment.
well, since i'm using most of the time pure sunlight ( my tank is in a greenhouse in my garden), i keep relatively low Alk to avoid burning tips (i guess thats not working ha lol).
salinity is at 35.5 ppt, and ph i dont know but will check soon when i get to work where i have a very accurate PH meter.
 

MichaelReefer

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well, since i'm using most of the time pure sunlight ( my tank is in a greenhouse in my garden), i keep relatively low Alk to avoid burning tips (i guess thats not working ha lol).
salinity is at 35.5 ppt, and ph i dont know but will check soon when i get to work where i have a very accurate PH meter.

Soooooo you have no lights?.... You're just going off of sunlight?
 

landlubber

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you didn't mention what the level was at when you felt your alkalinity was too high.
regardless, my assumption is that the alkalinity issue you experienced is usually delayed in its effect and you're seeing the result of it now.
 
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amir basis

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I have an opinion/ hypothesis:

Adding new coral to a tank causes stress, maybe competition for nutrition or chemical warfare that lowers the health of all inhabitants.

No science, just repeated observations of similar situations as what you have described.

Healthy corals,
Additionally coral(s)
RTN by all corals.

Usually some survivors, (Right?)

Suggest you stop adding for a few months and get the tank growing again. After that, Add new corals 1@A time and with longer time period between additions.

Just a theory/opinion.
you'r absolutely spot on with your discerption!
i've also thought of that, but then again i also increased my nutrients import (no3, po4, coral food etc..within reason) and adjusted my major and minor elements supplementation.
i do believe though thats it's the addition of corals is destabilizing something, no doubt, but what?
i really doubt that it's some sort of element (like iron/iodide ...), but i might be wrong.
 

kingjames_dc5

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Probably biological, imo.
Their is still alot we dont know about what causes it in our systems.
7 dkh is not low.
It works in the ocean and has worked well in my systems for years.
Your right 7 isn’t low for mixed reef tank for sps coral do need a bit more. So I’ve read. IMO any coral can acclimate to any system with due time. Everyone runs different numbers in there tanks. Some with great success and others not so much. I say you need to run with the numbers that work in your tank. Right?! That’s why we test frequently and monitor so we can find that oh soooo sweet spot.
 
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amir basis

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Soooooo you have no lights?.... You're just going off of sunlight?
i do have a LeD strip that i use during the evening time and during winter/autumn when sun radiation is low.
the greenhouse is covered with a shade canopy that reduces greatly the light intensity . still, the corals have been doing great with the sunlight so far until all the trouble begun.
 

coralfishreef

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7 for Alk is acceptable. My tanks run around 7 - 7.5.

Have you checked your PAR? From my experience Acropora can appear to be fine for 4-6 weeks all while starving from either light or nutrients.

This is similar to how cut flowers can look beautiful for days or sometimes more than a week, but eventually they all die.

After 4-6 weeks the corals will STN or sometimes RTN and then you’re left guessing, and you’ll usually start messing with Alk, nutrients, flow, lighting, etc…
 
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X-37B

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Your right 7 isn’t low for mixed reef tank for sps coral do need a bit more. So I’ve read. IMO any coral can acclimate to any system with due time. Everyone runs different numbers in there tanks. Some with great success and others not so much. I say you need to run with the numbers that work in your tank. Right?! That’s why we test frequently and monitor so we can find that oh soooo sweet spot.
My tank is 90%+ sps and no they do not need anything higher than 7dkh. If they needed more the ocean would have a higher dkh.
With that said most run higher dkh with great success and their is nothing wrong with a higher dkh level.
Stability is key to whatever levels you run.
20210701_194911.jpg
 

tehmadreefer

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i do have a LeD strip that i use during the evening time and during winter/autumn when sun radiation is low.
the greenhouse is covered with a shade canopy that reduces greatly the light intensity . still, the corals have been doing great with the sunlight so far until all the trouble begun.
So basically no lighting? I would fix that to start!
 

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