SPS issue

[epicfatigue]

Morning guys,

My tank is just over a year old and I finally bit the bullet and got myself some SPS.
They were looking amazing for the first two weeks and now I think I am loosing them.

I had them pretty high in my tank I am wondering if the light was to powerful so I have since moved it low and turned lights down

Tank size 5 foot
FLOW 3X mp40 left right and rear
Viaspectra light X 4

Tank parameters
Temp 25deg C
Nitrate 4.3
Salinity 1.025
Alk 8.4
Calcium 550 ( turned of dose pump so it can slowly fall )
Mag 1350
Phosphate dropped to 0 but bounced it back up normally 0.5

I have checked at night I cannot see anything eating it.

My torch coral and BTA are both happy is it doomed ? What can I do ?

 

[Uncle99]

What were the settings on those Viperspectra?
can push 800 Par easy full out.

 

[epicfatigue]

I had them on 80.
Since turned them down to 40

 

[sculpin01]

When in doubt, ICP and Aquabiomics testing is what I would recommend. The 0 phosphates blip may be the issue, but it’s best to exclude other possibilities.

 

[ss30]

Is your Po4 really 0.5 or 0.05?

 

[epicfatigue]

Sorry normally 0.05 did an ICP everything perfect.

 

[sculpin01]

I would expect that to be related to bottoming out phosphate then. Maybe get some new cheap and hardy specimens to try?

 

[epicfatigue]

I would expect that to be related to bottoming out phosphate then. Maybe get some new cheap and hardy specimens to try?

My bta and torch are happy

 

[undermind]

My bta and torch are happy

SPS are not the same as BTA / torch

I don't mean that in a snarky way, it's just a fact. In my experience, phosphate movement is a cause for trouble with SPS as much as Alkalinity stability. In fact, I'd say perhaps SPS are even more sensitive to sizable changes in phosphate over a short period of time than changes in Alk.

That said, I don't know if a .05 swing is enough to cause problems in an otherwise healthy stable tank. I'd be curious how fast the change occurred, and how long it was bottomed out.

 

[Uncle99]

I had them on 80.
Since turned them down to 40

40, Perfect, this is where I am as well, pushes 350 at the top.

 

[undermind]

We're all guessing here of course, but my guess at the "issues" is high lighting or the Phosphate change.

It's quite possible that those SPS came from a tank with a much different lighting environment. And I also find that corals can handle more extreme lighting changes if the tank has been running stable and happy for a long time. Conversely, I find that lighting shock is more common when a tank has lacked stability running up to that point, and it's usually too much light (rarely too little light is a problem over a 2 week period).

For the phosphate side, I'd be curious to hear more about that part

Overall though, I'd say the best advice is to keep working and working toward better and better stability. It's kind of boring advice, but it's what I did early on and it definitely works.

 

[epicfatigue]

My phospates were stable at 0.06-0.05 my dose line got air in it and stopped pumping for a week. So I would have hit zero in a day or two and stayed like that for a week.

 

[sculpin01]

High lighting usually causes uniform bleaching (except in shaded areas) with delayed tissue loss. The pic above demonstrates patchy tissue loss particularly on margins and tips with patchy bleaching. The tissue loss on margins and growth tips is characteristic of low nutrients, especially low phosphate, as these are sites of most rapid growth where phosphate is used rapidly. In addition, I do not see a significant amount of coralline algae in the supplied pic. Coralline won't grow without consistent nutrients.

 

[epicfatigue]

High lighting usually causes uniform bleaching (except in shaded areas) with delayed tissue loss. The pic above demonstrates patchy tissue loss particularly on margins and tips with patchy bleaching. The tissue loss on margins and growth tips is characteristic of low nutrients, especially low phosphate, as these are sites of most rapid growth where phosphate is used rapidly. In addition, I do not see a significant amount of coralline algae in the supplied pic. Coralline won't grow without consistent nutrients.

I have a massive amount just not at the depth I moved it to because I was worried flow was to high and light was to bright. Do you think it is a goner ? I have raise nutrients back up. Should I run a higher phosphate level ?

Currently on 8 nitrate and 0.08 phosphate

 

[Reefer Matt]

If that is a montipora, I'd check for monti eating nudibranches.

 

[sculpin01]

I have a massive amount just not at the depth I moved it to because I was worried flow was to high and light was to bright. Do you think it is a goner ? I have raise nutrients back up. Should I run a higher phosphate level ?

Currently on 8 nitrate and 0.08 phosphate

I tend to run moderately high nutrients in my tank (5-10/0.15-0.3 for nitrate/phosphate). Higher phosphate has a protective effect on corals but can lead to algae growth. Most mature tanks reach an equilibrium between coral/coralline growth and nutrient levels, such that filamentous algae is outcompeted by the coral/coralline nutrient usage. As many things in this hobby, equilibriums of that sort are best approached slowly.