SPS healthy or starting to have an issue?

[Dolfan-Mike]

This is a picture of the Green Slimer Jan 14th

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

Why did you turn off your bio pellet reactor? That should be done slowly or it can cause issues on its own ime. Can we see a picture of the healthy coral?

Well the pump went out, I've got an impeller ordered and should be here tomorrow.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Did that happen after you already saw issues with coral?

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

No the coral did seem to start to struggle before the pump went out. Today at lunch I got the biopellet reactor up temporarily with a Maxijet so that is getting back online now.

 

[melanotaenia]

How long has your tank been setup?

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

How long has your tank been setup?

Tank in this configuration has been in place and running for about 18 years! Was mainly Fish/LPS until about 1 year ago and started with a few SPS in October of last year.

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

Well, I got my Hanna checkers tonight and made my first tests. I'm fairly confident that I did these correctly but I think I'll try again tomorrow.

Findings
ALK = 9.2
PO4 = 0.18

So I do show some PO4 but not too much, but I think in this equation that 9.2 ALK is a bit high? I still only have an API NO3 test and it shows straight yellow so I think that is as close to zero as possible without better testing.

So just not sure where I go from here to try and help this coral for sure.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Check for pests? The under side of the coral has black spots but the pics too blurry. It looks like it stressed from the bacterial shift when your biopellet reactor was off. The other coral looks light colored as well. What lights are you using? Sorry if I missed it. I would get a salifert kit to check for no3 because if it is very low it will cause problems especially while using a carbon source. Is the coral getting worst than when you took the first pic?

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

I dipped the coral about 4 days ago just in case there were some pests that I didn't notice. You probably missed it in the first post but lighting is Current LED combined with 2 T5 39w with ATI Blue and Coral Plus. I'll probably switch to Salifert testing to see if I can get better NO3 data.

 

[Bon Koo]

I don't have much of the typical long hair algae, but I have been battling a bit of cyno. I did a test last night both PO4 and NO3 showed zero using API testing. I'm thinking immediately I might help by moving that Green Slimer to try to help it.

You can refer to Api test kit . But I will not use for accurate reading. I suggest hanna phosphate reader and salifert nitrate test kit

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

You can refer to Api test kit . But I will not use for accurate reading. I suggest hanna phosphate reader and salifert nitrate test kit

Post #27

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

Ok, well current update is I have moved the SPS to a different location that I think may have additional flow. I just checked ALK with the Hanna checker and I'm at 9.4. I start running an airstone at night to try to maintain PH with additional air exchange and reduce the amount of Kalk that would be added. Still looks like the ALK is a bit high I think at this point. From what I understand an ALK value more around 8.5 with the lower nutrients would be more ideal?

Other thoughts on what to do here?

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

Current picture, the one branch looks so much like it is covered in Cyno!

 

[BobbyOtto]

The guy who said your tank appeared dirty is right. Group think on this site is really strong and a little too one sided imo My example is everyone said your tank was too clean and they were all wrong and the guy who highlighted something he noticed on your post was just glazed over while everyone jumped on saying the wrong thing.

 

[h2so4hurts]

The guy who said your tank appeared dirty is right. Group think on this site is really strong and a little too one sided imo My example is everyone said your tank was too clean and they were all wrong and the guy who highlighted something he noticed on your post was just glazed over while everyone jumped on saying the wrong thing.

Welcome to the internet.

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

Well let's try to start with one simple thing. The red patch on the branch of the SPS coral. Have others seen this in their systems at some time? Were you able to recover from this?

 

[thaistalyn]

Well let's try to start with one simple thing. The red patch on the branch of the SPS coral. Have others seen this in their systems at some time? Were you able to recover from this?

Yes to both - I have seen both cyano and hair algae on the dead tissue of a coral. I have also recovered from the situation and seen others recover.

As you stated, start with one simple thing. Eradicate the cyano in the tank. There are a few methods, but chemiclean worked best for me. You can use a soft toothbrush on your coral, but it will just comeback until you eradicate the cyano.

I'm not sure where the poster above thought people said you have a clean tank, I got the message loud and clear from the advice so far that your tank is "dirty". What that means is that NO3 and PO4 are high, but they are taken up by the algae growth in the tank (and browning corals) so your kits may show them bottomed out.

Next, go after cleaning up the high NO3 and PO4 issues, while cleaning up the tank algae issue. Increase or bigger Skim, refugium, rowphos, matrix, etc... Work on getting Nitrates and phosphates lowered. Add a large clean up crew and use some elbow grease and water changes to clean up the algae. Once cyano is clear and algae is maintained easily by the crew, start paying attention to how much nitrate and phosphate change based on your feeding and husbandry schedule. Adjust your feeding and husbandry schedule to dial in the optimal levels of No3 and PO4 that produce healthy, colorful corals.

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

Well, this coral is still not looking well. I do have some green hair algae and cyno that I'm battling. I added a diamond goby about 4 weeks back and he is going a great job on the sand and it looks far better, most of the cyno there is gone. Still some on rocks.

With the Hanna checker I got a reading of .28 yesterday on my PO4, I wouldn't think that is too far off. Also, the ALK with a Hanna checker was 9.5 I think that is probably a bit high?

Any other thoughts on things I should consider?

 

[ScottB]

I believe you should consider:

a) Don't make system changes for the sake of any one coral.
b) When making system changes, do so at a glacial pace.
c) .28 PO4 is a bit high, but the cyano likely is coming from the nutrient imbalance; high PO4 versus 0 NO3.
d) Consider dialing down the pellet reactor over time to get some nitrate. This should help control cyano. API kit is OK for nitrate measurement in the 5-80 range. Higher NO3 will lower PO4.
e) The slimer's tips lost tissue and the cyano or algae will cling. Cut it back to live flesh.

SPS really dislike change. Go super slow and track your changes.

 

[Dolfan-Mike]

I believe you should consider:

a) Don't make system changes for the sake of any one coral.
b) When making system changes, do so at a glacial pace.
c) .28 PO4 is a bit high, but the cyano likely is coming from the nutrient imbalance; high PO4 versus 0 NO3.
d) Consider dialing down the pellet reactor over time to get some nitrate. This should help control cyano. API kit is OK for nitrate measurement in the 5-80 range. Higher NO3 will lower PO4.
e) The slimer's tips lost tissue and the cyano or algae will cling. Cut it back to live flesh.

SPS really dislike change. Go super slow and track your changes.

Thanks for the input.

I did some overall cleaning today, pulled some rock out to srub algae and cyno off and then back in. I did restart my GFO reactor about 3 days ago so I'll look at the PO4 to see if I get a slow drop, I'm thinking if I could get to a .18-.21 I'd be in better shape?

I think that ALK is a bit high at 9.5 but not sure how I can pull that down slowly. I can try reducing my kalk dose but then my PH is going to drop as well?