Sps issue

[scabbedwings616]

No matter what I do I cannot get my acros to grow. Some acros are good, and some are not. Monti cap are not doing well either. Parameters are as fokkow. Dkh 8-9 and not a huge swing at all might go up one day then down the next but nothing more than .5, calcium 440, mag 1460, po4 between .04-.11. I don’t run gfo that often and now I won’t do it cause it’s stripping my nutrients in the tank. I run my refugium light 24/7. My zoa and other lps are thriving and growing like crazy with a lot of poly extension. It is a 90g tank with a calcium reactor. I run a chiller on the tank so temp isn’t an issue with 3 different heaters on my apex(you ever know). Mp40 one side, maxspec gyre 250 on the other. Both run thru my apex. Any help with this to make this good. I’m also thinking of doing bare bottom as I have sand in the tank now.

 

[JCOLE]

What is your lighting setup and have you measured PAR?

 

[scabbedwings616]

Aquatic life t5 6bulb. I’ve changed out bulbs about 2 months ago. All ati bulbs. Mainly blue+

 

[melanotaenia]

I would bring your Mag down slightly. How are your NO3 levels?

 

[scabbedwings616]

Last I checked it was 0 but that is api test and was a month ago.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

You need a little no3 in there. I think you should have your fuge light on for 12 hours, 20 hours at the most. I bet your acros will perk up now that you’re not going to run gfo. How much and how often do you feed?

 

[melanotaenia]

Last I checked it was 0 but that is api test and was a month ago.

low nutrients make Acros sad. Try to get it up a little, and see how they respond.

 

[scabbedwings616]

You need a little no3 in there. I think you should have your fuge light on for 12 hours, 20 hours at the most. I bet your acros will perk up now that you’re not going to run gfo. How much and how often do you feed?

I feed the tank daily with mysis. I also dose 2.5ml of Brightwell amino acid daily.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I feed the tank daily with mysis. I also dose 2.5ml of Brightwell amino acid daily.

How much mysis? In my 50 gallon cube I feed 1/2 sheet of nori, 1” square of rods, 2 cubes of PE mysis, 3 mls of acropower and 5mls of bio enhance from quantum. My fuge light and skimmer are only on for 12 hours while the display lights are off. My no3 is between 20-30 and my po4 stays around 0.15-0.25. Check out my threads to see what my acros look like.

 

[scabbedwings616]

How much mysis? In my 50 gallon cube I feed 1/2 sheet of nori, 1” square of rods, 2 cubes of PE mysis, 3 mls of acropower and 5mls of bio enhance from quantum. My fuge light and skimmer are only on for 12 hours while the display lights are off. My no3 is between 20-30 and my po4 stays around 0.15-0.25. Check out my threads to see what my acros look like.

2 cubes mysis daily and every other day I do that and nori. I also broadcast feed my corals twice a week. You said this before. I have been doing that to see what happens. Daiky 2.5ml of amino acids.

 

[homer1475]

I'm thinking low NO3 as nothing else seems to be off.

If your NO3 is low, and keeping your ALK so high could be an issue as it will cause ALK burns on the tips of acros.

I personally would get a more reliable test kit(at least one that can measure below 0 - 10 ppm like a red sea pro kit), and drop my ALK down to more natural levels like around 7 to 7.5DKH.

I would also ignore the MAG comment, my mag has been in the 1600 range for well over 2 years(I never add any it just sits at a high level) and I have 0 issues with montis, or acros. Heck we used to bring mag up to around 1600 to combat bryopsis years ago, and no ever had an issue back then either.

 

[melanotaenia]

I'm thinking low NO3 as nothing else seems to be off.

If your NO3 is low, and keeping your ALK so high could be an issue as it will cause ALK burns on the tips of acros.

I personally would get a more reliable test kit(at least one that can measure below 0 - 10 ppm like a red sea pro kit), and drop my ALK down to more natural levels like around 7 to 7.5DKH.

I would also ignore the MAG comment, my mag has been in the 1600 range for well over 2 years(I never add any it just sits at a high level) and I have 0 issues with montis, or acros. Heck we used to bring mag up to around 1600 to combat bryopsis years ago, and no ever had an issue back then either.

Keeping MG near NSW is a good rule to follow; some may have success at different levels, and it is not to suggest this is the reason for issues. Maybe high Mg works for you, but I have never seen positive results personally from levels as you describe.

 

[homer1475]

Keeping MG near NSW is a good rule to follow; some may have success at different levels, and it is not to suggest this is the reason for issues. Maybe high Mg works for you, but I have never seen positive results personally from levels as you describe.

Then you haven't been around the hobby for very long.

Like I said, we used to raise MAG to around 1600 to combat bryopsis with brightwells(until they changed the formula and it no longer works to combat bryopsis) and no one ever had an issue with MAG that high.

Show me one tank that has an issue that can be explained by high MAG? I know of some tanks that run in the 2000ppm range and they have 0 issues as well. High MAG causes 0 issues and just allows for more CAL and ALK to reside in the water column without precipitating out.

 

[najer]

As above, get those nitrates up some, your acros will love you for it.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

2 cubes mysis daily and every other day I do that and nori. I also broadcast feed my corals twice a week. You said this before. I have been doing that to see what happens. Daiky 2.5ml of amino acids.

I apologize if I repeated myself, but I don’t see that I had commented on this thread before.