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

[zoasaholic]

I have similar issue, sps (acropora) STN from the tip after 2 weeks in the tank Montipora will brown out and die LPS are doing fine , DKH ~8-7.5 No3 ~10 p04 ~ 0.08 and tank been running over few years. test and found out par is too low(~150 par) under 6 bulbs ATI T5(all the sps are at the bottom of the tank)
Low par caused my sps to STN from the tips..
The reasons I know it the light , because I low my T5 to get above 200 par nothing else is changed . buy some test sps it doing fine got good PE and grow
Par meter is your best friend if you going keep sps .if water parameters is in check

 

[Mystikal]

Lighting might be the issue…

then you have a BB tank. Do you have any bio load in the sump? Sand? Rock? Mud?

greenhouse would work, in theory with hardy sps.
My tank is fairly new <6m,
Alk is around 7.5-8.5, no issues so far. I’ve lost one frag of SCOP because of a skimmer mishap, but that was it.
Your led strip would only be sufficient for soft corals. Try buying a cheap led and I could put money they will bounce back.
Then you can upgrade to something like ATI lol.

 

[amir basis]

Thanks to all for the help
I don’t really understand why sunlight isn’t enough? , I mean nature does what nature does best , right?
In the green house they get more than 6 hours of direct sunlight( through a shading canopy , otherwise it’s really too much light ).
I also thought that’s too much light is usually the cause of burnt tips, first time I hear the opposite applies as well.
Also, it still doesn’t explain why the corals been doing well until I buy additional new ones. Something in introducing new corals is destabilising the tank, IMO.

As for bio load, aside from the 5 fish I have (1 emperor angelfish, 1 yellow tang, 2 clown fish ,1 cardinal and two shrimps) I have a chaeto refuge in the sump. Could my bio load simply be too low? It does explain maybe why upon increasing The corals quantity things starts to deteriorate

 

[Pico bam]

Thanks to all for the help
I don’t really understand why sunlight isn’t enough? , I mean nature does what nature does best , right?
In the green house they get more than 6 hours of direct sunlight( through a shading canopy , otherwise it’s really too much light ).
I also thought that’s too much light is usually the cause of burnt tips, first time I hear the opposite applies as well.
Also, it still doesn’t explain why the corals been doing well until I buy additional new ones. Something in introducing new corals is destabilising the tank, IMO.

As for bio load, aside from the 5 fish I have (1 emperor angelfish, 1 yellow tang, 2 clown fish ,1 cardinal and two shrimps) I have a chaeto refuge in the sump. Could my bio load simply be too low? It does explain maybe why upon increasing The corals quantity things starts to deteriorate

I believe that the coral my have become adjusted to higher par sense sense they entered aquariums from the ocean. Also your mag is high (not sure if this effects anything). I find one of the largest killers of sps to parameter swings. I am no expert but make sure you keep the levels steady I personally find best growth around 7 dkh alk but thats mostly my for shroomys. Hope this is helpfull.

 

[SamMule]

Couple of things....
1: your tank is in a greenhouse. I see no mention of temperature. Are you sure the tank is not getting too hot? Seems keeping a stable temp in a greenhouse would be a nightmare.

2: Light..... Do you live near the equator? I believe the vast majority of corals collected for our use come from around there. The further you get from it, the more varied your sunlight will be in both intensity and duration.

I would put the tank in a temperature stable environment with consistent lighting and see how it does.

 

[stephj03]

Agree with above. What's the hi/low temp in the tank from night to day?

 

[stephj03]

Are these aquacultured corals or are they wild/Mari that your LFS is shipping in?

 

[davidcalgary29]

2: Light..... Do you live near the equator? I believe the vast majority of corals collected for our use come from around there. The further you get from it, the more varied your sunlight will be in both intensity and duration.

I also think that this might be an issue. If OP is in Israel, then I would think that that's a pretty high latitude to be using natural sunlight for a SPS tank, even with coral reefs growing in the Red Sea a little further south. Maximal extent of coral reefs are at around 32 degrees north in Bermuda, aren't they? I'd love to see some PAR readings in the tank itself under natural sunlight at different times of the day (and year).

 

[amir basis]

Couple of things....
1: your tank is in a greenhouse. I see no mention of temperature. Are you sure the tank is not getting too hot? Seems keeping a stable temp in a greenhouse would be a nightmare.

2: Light..... Do you live near the equator? I believe the vast majority of corals collected for our use come from around there. The further you get from it, the more varied your sunlight will be in both intensity and duration.

I would put the tank in a temperature stable environment with consistent lighting and see how it does.

You are right I forgot to mention,
1)-I have a 1/2hp chiller and a cooling vent and temp fluctuations are 24-25.3 degrees Celsius.

2)-I live in Israel(I.e the Middle East) so we have plenty of strong sunlight , we also have natural reefs at Red Sea down south, so I thing the sun intensity and spectrum is fine.

now, it’s worth mentioning I think that all
My corals are Australian since it’s the only exporting source allowed here in Israel due to international regulations.

 

[SamMule]

Interesting. That's actually slightly cooler than most people keep them over here. (I think 78-82F is the commonly "acceptable" range)
Doubt that's an issue...

Would still really be interesting to see some PAR measurements.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

You are right I forgot to mention,
1)-I have a 1/2hp chiller and a cooling vent and temp fluctuations are 24-25.3 degrees Celsius.

2)-I live in Israel(I.e the Middle East) so we have plenty of strong sunlight , we also have natural reefs at Red Sea down south, so I thing the sun intensity and spectrum is fine.

now, it’s worth mentioning I think that all
My corals are Australian since it’s the only exporting source allowed here in Israel due to international regulations.

I would love to hear par reading from in the water next to the corals to assure they are actually getting adequate light

 

[amir basis]

Interesting. That's actually slightly cooler than most people keep them over here. (I think 78-82F is the commonly "acceptable" range)
Doubt that's an issue...

Would still really be interesting to see some PAR measurements.

Agree, now that I think of it it’s incredibly stupid of me to set a sunlight System without monitoring par. The problem is I don’t have were from to get a par meter here. I’ll try to check maybe with laboratories equipment suppliers

 

[Tamberav]

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.

So do you have an explanation why this heavy SPS tank runs 4.8-5.4 alk and is beautiful?

Stability not numbers.

65 Gallon Reef Savvy Build aka *GemSavvy*

Beautiful colors!!

lareefclub.com

 

[amir basis]

Ph update:

i’v checked my Ph with a calibrated ph meter and it’s 8.04. Quit low isn’t?

 

[Mystikal]

Ph is fine, temp would be fine if it’s around 77-83

 

[ScottB]

I'd be looking at 2 things:

a) Light. Sunlight is very different between 32 degrees N and where those corals came from around 18 degrees S. Add to that the mention of "sun shade screening" over the greenhouse. Red Sea coral stock are very different from GBR.

b) Age of the system. When was it started and was the rock dead or alive?

 

[davidcalgary29]

. Add to that the mention of "sun shade screening" over the greenhouse. Red Sea coral stock are very different from GBR.

Perhaps the glass and screening are also reducing/eliminating certain wavelengths inside the greenhouse, even if lumens remain within an acceptable range. This is the perfect time to borrow a Seneye for its PAR meter.

 

[amir basis]

I'd be looking at 2 things:

a) Light. Sunlight is very different between 32 degrees N and where those corals came from around 18 degrees S. Add to that the mention of "sun shade screening" over the greenhouse. Red Sea coral stock are very different from GBR.

b) Age of the system. When was it started and was the rock dead or alive?

from my house to the nearest natural Cora reef it’s about 450km . I doubt that the sunlight there is different from where I am. That being said, you are right, GBR corals are from a whole other different region. And maybe it not hat possible getting them all thriving under my conditions :/
the sun shade screening is pretty white, maybe a little bit yellow due to dust on it(I should really clean it now that I mention it).

aa for the system’s age, it’s almost a year and a half, and started with dry rocks.
I would note that there is plenty of coralline algae growing all over the place and lots of pods can be seen at night.

 

[amir basis]

Perhaps the glass and screening are also reducing/eliminating certain wavelengths inside the greenhouse, even if lumens remain within an acceptable range. This is the perfect time to borrow a Seneye for its PAR meter.

That’s also what I’ve been thinking lately. Do you know a place that I can borrow from it a PAR meter internationally?

 

[davidcalgary29]

That’s also what I’ve been thinking lately. Do you know a place that I can borrow from it a PAR meter internationally?

I don't, unfortunately. Do you have a local reefing club? I'm sure someone would let you borrow theirs for a few days. If not, I'd check the marketplace here, or consider buying new. You don't need anything but a SUD for checking light levels.