SPS help needed...(Classic title) :)

[JohnnyTabasco]

I'm seeking a bit of help. I'm pretty new to SPS but have ben in the hobby for quite some time - so I got the basics

I have had some issues with SPS in my tank - especially when acclimating it to the tank.
I can't figure out if it's the light or the chemistry of the water. The corals seams to bleach or just look rly sad in general.

I tried these corals over the last 3 month:
Monti cap - it just slowly gets pale and then bleach.
Montipora digitata - it bleached in the middle of the stems but now seams to have ben stable for some time. But the tissue has not regenerated where it bleached.
Green bali slimer - seams to do ok, but tips have gotten some white and I'm afraid it will go down hill.

The light is a AI hydra 26 and I put it on acclimation down to like 30-40% intensity with 20 days run time.
I don't own a par meter btw - so I cant give you par readings.
The light is inside a reflector - that might affect something.
It's 13 inch above the water.
Here is a picture:


Here is a screenshot of my normal lighting situation without the acclimation on:


Here are the facts on chemistry. It has ben stable like this since I started trying out SPS.
Tank age: 3 years and running BB

Salinity: 35ppt with a calibrated refractometer
Temp: 77 - 79(24-25.5) with a calibrated taylor thermometer
PH: 7,9 -8.1
PO4: 0,01 - 0,04 (hanna URL phosphorus) here are the last 4 readings (2 a month) 2 - 18 - 2 - 4. I always check 3 times with the same sample
No3: 2.5
Alk: 8,5 - 8,9
CA: 425
MG: 1350


I run a standart setup with a small skimmer, a reactor with a bit or AF zeolit and rox 0.8 carbon, filter floss, bio media and kalkwasser in the ATO. I do 10% WC every weekend and once in a while dose amino acids.
At the moment I'm also dosing Coral snow and KZ cyano clean. I had a small patch of cyano that I'm taking care of.

I hope some one can spot something that might be wrong. I know my Po4 might be a bit low - could that have to do with it?

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

Here are some shots of the corals I'm talking about.

 

[Luno]

The only things I see out of all of the information you have given.

- I'm not sure what your dosing for cyano but nothing dosing for cyano often "good" for sps. Sure healthy long term sps can deal with it but will most likely be putting a strain on newer additions.

- I see you have a mushroom and some other soft coral in the FTS. The mushroom particularly creates chemical warfare that sps really don't like. People that run mixed reefs often run carbon to counter this.

- if the tissue loss I can see in one of your photos was not there when you first bought the coral I would suggest something in the tank is causing this and it's not a lighting issue

- you say your alk is stable and your sure of that alk swings are a major factor in stn and rtn

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

The only things I see out of all of the information you have given.

- I'm not sure what your dosing for cyano but nothing dosing for cyano often "good" for sps. Sure healthy long term sps can deal with it but will most likely be putting a strain on newer additions.

- I see you have a mushroom and some other soft coral in the FTS. The mushroom particularly creates chemical warfare that sps really don't like. People that run mixed reefs often run carbon to counter this.

- if the tissue loss I can see in one of your photos was not there when you first bought the coral I would suggest something in the tank is causing this and it's not a lighting issue

- you say your alk is stable and your sure of that alk swings are a major factor in stn and rtn

Yeha I run carbon - and it's that high quality rox 0.8.
The cyano treatment is KZ's cyano clean. They say it's a bacteria and is harmless to all corals. The problem also started before the treatment.

 

[Luno]

Also when something's going wrong and you can't figure it out a triton test is never harmful

 

[Luno]

Sorry wrote that before realizing you responded. But if that's the case even with carbon the mushroom still could be a possibility. I'd say do a triton test if you can, you will learn a lot from one

 

[Luno]

Triple post and sorry for that. A par meter never hurt anyone maybe ask around here if someone is close by that has one that is willing to lend or come help you. But as a general rule and I say this very generally many other things factor if an sps isn't getting sufficient lighting it will brown, if it's getting too much it will bleach so if the sps isn't doing either of these things I still wouldn't put lighting as a priority on the list of possible problems

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

No problem, I appreciate the inputs!
I don't think it's the toxins from the soft corals. From what I have read it only inhibits growth.
There is one more thing that I'm going to test before getting the ICP test. I have some old Tupperware in my sump. I know it's a long shot, but I suspect that they might omit elements. I use them for the bio media, but I have order some mesh bags as a replacement.

 

[yevgenb]

Most likely you have very low PAR - I have 26hd with 100% blues/35-40% whites, 9 inches above water line - Par is about 300-350 at the very top of the tank, 150-200 at the bottom.
Raise you light with slow acclimatization to higher light levels - for monties you will need 2-3 times more light

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

Most likely you have very low PAR - I have 26hd with 100% blues/35-40% whites, 9 inches above water line - Par is about 300-350 at the very top of the tank, 150-200 at the bottom.
Raise you light with slow acclimatization to higher light levels - for monties you will need 2-3 times more light

How big is your tank?

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

Most likely you have very low PAR - I have 26hd with 100% blues/35-40% whites, 9 inches above water line - Par is about 300-350 at the very top of the tank, 150-200 at the bottom.
Raise you light with slow acclimatization to higher light levels - for monties you will need 2-3 times more light

And corals don't bleach in too low light?

 

[madweazl]

Most likely you have very low PAR - I have 26hd with 100% blues/35-40% whites, 9 inches above water line - Par is about 300-350 at the very top of the tank, 150-200 at the bottom.
Raise you light with slow acclimatization to higher light levels - for monties you will need 2-3 times more light

Two to three times more than what? At about 250 PAR, my red monti cap starts to expel zooxanthellae and will begin to bleach and die off. On the flip side, it also grew uninhibited in 75 PAR.

What are you using for flow within the tank? I see one smaller power head in there (PP8?).

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

Two to three times more than what? At about 250 PAR, my red monti cap starts to expel zooxanthellae and will begin to bleach and die off. On the flip side, it also grew uninhibited in 75 PAR.

What are you using for flow within the tank? I see one smaller power head in there (PP8?).

I have two of the sw 2 from jebao and the return also puts out a good amount of flow.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

When doing cyano treatment it's highly recommended to apply strong aeration in the system ... for at least the next 48 hours or so

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

When doing cyano treatment it's highly recommended to apply strong aeration in the system ... for at least the next 48 hours or so

Thanks, but this is again the KZ cyano clean. You dose for 8 weeks. It's a bacteria that out competes the cyano - according to KZ.
But I'll try to increase flow on the surface

 

[Sea MunnKey]

Mine was a one time treatment as required. I use an air stone to supply aeration as recommended. After treatment I'd do at least 20% water change.

 

[reefwiser]

Things to do :
Do find a Par meter , local club or stores have them.

How often are you checking Alk? Need to do it on a regular basis.

Keep new corals on the bottom of the tank for 4 weeks before moving them higher in the tank.

What is the alk of the water that the corals are coming from? Stress of any kind can cause mortality.

What fish do you have I don’t see any in the images?

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

Things to do :
Do find a Par meter , local club or stores have them.

How often are you checking Alk? Need to do it on a regular basis.

Keep new corals on the bottom of the tank for 4 weeks before moving them higher in the tank.

What is the alk of the water that the corals are coming from? Stress of any kind can cause mortality.

What fish do you have I don’t see any in the images?

I check alk often. Like 4 times a week. I have two clownfish.
Don't know the alk of tanks they came from.
Some of the corals that are bleaching/getting pale are infarct still on the bottom.

 

[reefwiser]

That is why I asked about getting a Par meter. LED’s have hot spots and you may be sitting your corals under them without you even knowing.

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

That is why I asked about getting a Par meter. LED’s have hot spots and you may be sitting your corals under them without you even knowing.

I'm looking