SPS growing algae on tips?

[slythy]

My bubblegum seems to have stopped growing and has had the tips covered in algae.

salinity 35
Alk 8.0
Calcium 430
Mag 1400
Po4 0.03-0.08
Nitrate 3-10

i have to dose po4 and nitrates so it varies a little bit
Any ideas why? Its in decent flow with good par.

 

[billyocean]

Is that a bubblegum digi?

 

[Dburr1014]

My bubblegum seems to have stopped growing and has had the tips covered in algae.

salinity 35
Alk 8.0
Calcium 430
Mag 1400
Po4 0.03-0.08
Nitrate 3-10

i have to dose po4 and nitrates so it varies a little bit
Any ideas why? Its in decent flow with good par.

Something is not right.
How the favia?
Are you using gfo but dosing po4 also?
I'm just going to back threads you started.
How old is your tank?
How is all the other coral doing?
Is alk swinging?
Need to be honest to help you.

 

[slythy]

Is that a bubblegum digi?

that is what i was told

Something is not right.
How the favia?
Are you using gfo but dosing po4 also?
I'm just going to back threads you started.
How old is your tank?
How is all the other coral doing?
Is alk swinging?
Need to be honest to help you.

Absolutely, I am not afraid of looking bad on the interwebs haha

The favia I ended up throwing out, it kept getting worse and worse I honestly dont know if my foxface was picking at it or something but it by far receded the most.

I am not using GFO or carbon or any chemical media, I have a Refugium and a skimmer thats it.

My tank was started in May of this year so its still new.

My torches and Acros are all happy, polyps out and growing. Although not fast there is definate growth. I have a Green slimer, Carolina Reaper, Bill Murray, Taquila Sunrise, Bonsai, and digital fire frags that are all growing. I have 2 torches, 1 goni and a Octospawn that are all fully extended. An orange branching monti that has double in size easily, a rainbow monti thats fully out but not growing fast. and lastly a ricordia that seems happy.

My alk when I went on vacation for 2 weeks, did end up dropping over the course of a week by 0.5dkh and I dosed it back up to 8.0 in 1 go as that was what my tank sitter could do. Maybe that made a few things unhappy also im sure my PO4 and NO3 probably got close to bottoming out. I dont recall but I know I did a water change, and dosed when I got home.

I know I did have a batch of Saltwater that did drop my alk down to 7.6 and I dosed it back up so lately I have been testing my new water to know if I need to dose it back up. But there hasnt been anything larger than that as a swing, but maybe thats enough?

Below is a few days of Alk from my trident. Its cal'ed off of my water and a Salifert

 

[TCK Corals]

My bubblegum seems to have stopped growing and has had the tips covered in algae.

salinity 35
Alk 8.0
Calcium 430
Mag 1400
Po4 0.03-0.08
Nitrate 3-10

i have to dose po4 and nitrates so it varies a little bit
Any ideas why? Its in decent flow with good par.

Very sorry that your Digi looks unhappy definitely looks like it's seen better days.

A few questions that may help troubleshoot what's going on:

1. "Decent flow with good par"... What are the par values at the peak, and just how much flow is it getting? Algae can set in on frags if the flow is too great and flesh is blown literally off the coral... The coral also looks bleached... especially at the tips. Alk looks good, so perhaps light burn?

Probably not it but that's the first thing that came to mind:

2. What test kits are you using for the readings in post 1?

3. You mention that you dose po4 and nitrates... any chance you know what the peak levels are right after dosing, and how much they spike/drop between doses?

4. Any chance you have an ICP or another reputable test for trace values?

Edit: 5. If all of the other inhabitants of the tank are thriving, check for pests

 

[Reef and Dive]

SPS tips are the more sensible area of these corals, where there are more free radicals and stress.

Some common reasons:

- not enough flow and too much light (possibly the case)
- too low nutrients
- tank too young for SPS
- alk spikes (possibly not the case)
- low potassium
- other stressors in the water / contamination

 

[slythy]

Very sorry that your Digi looks unhappy definitely looks like it's seen better days.

A few questions that may help troubleshoot what's going on:

1. "Decent flow with good par"... What are the par values at the peak, and just how much flow is it getting? Algae can set in on frags if the flow is too great and flesh is blown literally off the coral... The coral also looks bleached... especially at the tips. Alk looks good, so perhaps light burn?

Probably not it but that's the first thing that came to mind:

2. What test kits are you using for the readings in post 1?

3. You mention that you dose po4 and nitrates... any chance you know what the peak levels are right after dosing, and how much they spike/drop between doses?

4. Any chance you have an ICP or another reputable test for trace values?

Edit: 5. If all of the other inhabitants of the tank are thriving, check for pests

1: par is right around 240 or so there. The outlet for my sump is right by it. It should be right at 250gph flow and then it might see a bit from my mp40’s on each side of the tank. I thought about moving it :/

2: trident calibrated to salifert alk,cal,mag
po4 and no3 is ulr hanna

3: i do not, i normally dose a max of .04 phosphate and 5 nitrate a day directly into my mp40 over the corse of a minute or so.
i test around every 2 weeks and they wont be zero but they seem to be about half, it depends on how much cheato is in my fuge

4: no ICP since almost everything else (acros) are seemingly fine

5: all corals were dipped and i do have a pinkstreak thats always on the hunt but will keep an eye out.

Im thinking of moving it when i get home. I clipped off the parts with algae

SPS tips are the more sensible area of these corals, where there are more free radicals and stress.

Some common reasons:

- not enough flow and too much light (possibly the case)
- too low nutrients
- tank too young for SPS
- alk spikes (possibly not the case)
- low potassium
- other stressors in the water / contamination

-think it has ok flow and ~240par
-try to keep ~.06 phos and 10nitrate as a goal
-it is foe sure but most harder acros are happy :/
-is there a reliable test for this?
-i would guess i would have more coral sadness if this was the case.

Thank you both for the help! Ill see what it looks like when i get home in a week but i think im going to move it to a different spot to see if the polyps come out more or not

 

[Reef and Dive]

perhaps light burn

I had that same impression. I have SPS on 600 par and ok. Newcomers have bleached under 200. Sometimes they need a ton of time to adapt.

 

[Dburr1014]

1: par is right around 240 or so there. The outlet for my sump is right by it. It should be right at 250gph flow and then it might see a bit from my mp40’s on each side of the tank. I thought about moving it :/

2: trident calibrated to salifert alk,cal,mag
po4 and no3 is ulr hanna

3: i do not, i normally dose a max of .04 phosphate and 5 nitrate a day directly into my mp40 over the corse of a minute or so.
i test around every 2 weeks and they wont be zero but they seem to be about half, it depends on how much cheato is in my fuge

4: no ICP since almost everything else (acros) are seemingly fine

5: all corals were dipped and i do have a pinkstreak thats always on the hunt but will keep an eye out.

Im thinking of moving it when i get home. I clipped off the parts with algae



-think it has ok flow and ~240par
-try to keep ~.06 phos and 10nitrate as a goal
-it is foe sure but most harder acros are happy :/
-is there a reliable test for this?
-i would guess i would have more coral sadness if this was the case.

Thank you both for the help! Ill see what it looks like when i get home in a week but i think im going to move it to a different spot to see if the polyps come out more or not

Well, looks like you have some decent conditions. Sometimes a frag just doesn't make it for whatever reason.
Is your flow pretty random in that area?
Do you know what par that it came from?
Sometimes you need to try and replicate the conditions.
Looks like not to many polyps left on it. As a last ditch effort, maybe frag a piece and try in a different area?

I don't think a 0.5 alk swing would do it unless it was still stressed out.

 

[jhadaway]

I bought 4 digi's at the same time about 6 months into my build. What I found was nutrient bottom out would stress them out. I have a rainbow poci that also gets bald spots when the nutrients bottom out. Also, I have learned the hard way that what I think is too much flow isn't enough. I have a bird of paradise that stressed out and grew brown algea on the tips. This was definately not enough flow for me. I finally broke down and purchased 2 gyres for each side of the tank. All of my SPS responded immediately especially my acros. Good luck and be carefull not to over react to algae like I did. You can read it a thousand times on this site. "Nothing good ever happens fast ion a reef tank."