SPS white areas

[Macdaddynick1]

Tank been up for 8 years. I had the WD for 2 years from small a plug .
Alk has been constant at 10.2 to 10.5 I test pretty often .
Phosphate I use use Red Sea test and always get a zero reading. I try to feed a ton with still zero.
Nitrate is always very low too max is 2ppm.
I been in hobby a very long time and never had this issue before. I have always used tropic marin salt but recently change to Reef crystals since I read so many people use it just fine . Maybe I shouldnt have changed but I refuse to blame the salt.

I will take a crack at it. You grew this acropora for two years without issues using Tropic Marin salt. Then you moved to reef crystals. Your PO4 is 0 your NO3 is low by today’s standards. You switched the salt to reef crystals which has higher alkalinity than most salts. My guess it’s higher than TM. You begin experiencing issues. My guess would be that it is caused by the salt switch. I personally use regular instant ocean due to lower alkalinity. In my experience, acroporas would grow good in low nutrients but as soon as you switch things especially alkalinity they start dying off. Unlike acros that are grown in higher po4. Base up RTN is usually alk and po4 issues. Sometimes just dosing po4 will stop it in its tracks. I would break down the colony into smaller pieces, they handle change much better than a fully established colonies. Just my .02

 

[Quoc Vu]

Thanks for the feed back. I been reefing for so long and still keep learning new things from fellow reefs. I still have half a bucket of reef crystals . I still plan to use it until the bucket is gone and see if my reef will adapt to it .if I see more corals reacting bad to it then I will consider switching salts. TM salt was great while it lasted but my hook up for commercial grade bag is gone so I had to find an alternate.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Thanks for the feed back. I been reefing for so long and still keep learning new things from fellow reefs. I still have half a bucket of reef crystals . I still plan to use it until the bucket is gone and see if my reef will adapt to it .if I see more corals reacting bad to it then I will consider switching salts. TM salt was great while it lasted but my hook up for commercial grade bag is gone so I had to find an alternate.

Regular IO is the best IMO good alkalinity too. I would just raise po4 slightly it will make your life so much easier.

 

[X-37B]

Went back and reread the thread.
I don't think it's the salt but related to high alk and low nutrients.
I missed the 10 alk.
I have ran my alk at 7-7.5 for years with lower nutrients. Po4<.1 no3<5.
Higher alk levels need higher nutrients.
Feed the system more or dose no3 and po4 to bring them up is what I would do.
I would also look at why your ph is that high and is it accurate?
That seems odd as most fight low ph.
My system is a 150 60×30×21 with 9 fish and currently 1 year old. I feed the fish heavier than most at around 5-6 cubes a day in volume.
My WD in the previous pic was only 9 months old from a frag when it went in.
I still believe it's bacterial driven in many systems but what causes it and where did it come from is the mystery.
It may have been on the edge and changing the salt may have been what caused it to stn.
This was my last handheld test and it matched the current icp I sent out.
Do you have a FTS?
And my current 1 year old system.

 

[Quoc Vu]

Went back and reread the thread.
I don't think it's the salt but related to high alk and low nutrients.
I missed the 10 alk.
I have ran my alk at 7-7.5 for years with lower nutrients. Po4<.1 no3<5.
Higher alk levels need higher nutrients.
Feed the system more or dose no3 and po4 to bring them up is what I would do.
I would also look at why your ph is that high and is it accurate?
That seems odd as most fight low ph.
My system is a 150 60×30×21 with 9 fish and currently 1 year old. I feed the fish heavier than most at around 5-6 cubes a day in volume.
My WD in the previous pic was only 9 months old from a frag when it went in.
I still believe it's bacterial driven in many systems but what causes it and where did it come from is the mystery.
It may have been on the edge and changing the salt may have been what caused it to stn.
This was my last handheld test and it matched the current icp I sent out.
Do you have a FTS?
And my current 1 year old system.

That is some great info. I know for sure my Alk is hi but the PH I think is off prob need a new probe. You love that Hanna nitrate and Phos checkers? I use the one salifert and the colors are so hard to get a good reading. I really do appreciate everyone’s feed back it is pointing me in the correct direction. I will do an ICP, get a new probe and figure out how to bring my Alk down since I really don’t want to dose Nitrate and Phos. Thanks for the advice. I rather run ULN than dose anything .

 

[X-37B]

That is some great info. I know for sure my Alk is hi but the PH I think is off prob need a new probe. You love that Hanna nitrate and Phos checkeres? I use the one salifert and the colors are so hard to get a good reading. I really do appreciate everyone’s feed back it is pointing me in the correct direction. I will do and ICP, get a new probe and figure out how to bring my Alk down since I really don’t want to dose Nitrate and Phos. Thanks for the advice. I rather run ULN than dose anything .

Hanna for the win, lol.
I prefer low nutrients too and feed heavy. I use a no3 reactor to keep it under 5. You can dial in any no3 number you want with one.
Small amounts of phosphate minus when needed.
All my systems are live rock based.
I have used IO regular for years but had an issue with one bucket and never went back. I like blue bucket with an alk of 8.

 

[eggie]

Have you try blowing with turkey baster see if something comes out of it ?

 

[SeaDweller]

It's shaded areas. All of the tissue loss in where the natural shadow is.

It’s not from shading, that’s not the issue here.

 

[Troylee]

Went back and reread the thread.
I don't think it's the salt but related to high alk and low nutrients.
I missed the 10 alk.
I have ran my alk at 7-7.5 for years with lower nutrients. Po4<.1 no3<5.
Higher alk levels need higher nutrients.
Feed the system more or dose no3 and po4 to bring them up is what I would do.
I would also look at why your ph is that high and is it accurate?
That seems odd as most fight low ph.
My system is a 150 60×30×21 with 9 fish and currently 1 year old. I feed the fish heavier than most at around 5-6 cubes a day in volume.
My WD in the previous pic was only 9 months old from a frag when it went in.
I still believe it's bacterial driven in many systems but what causes it and where did it come from is the mystery.
It may have been on the edge and changing the salt may have been what caused it to stn.
This was my last handheld test and it matched the current icp I sent out.
Do you have a FTS?
And my current 1 year old system.

This!! It’s not the salt! I use reef crystals and always have! Love the stuff lol.. when I start getting Stn I raise my phosphates and it stops.. I’ve had a few issues this year but higher nutrients normally cures it.

 

[Quoc Vu]

I really do appreciate all the feedback. You guys have really educated me . I am doing tests and looking into my nutrient issues and will report back my results in this thread in a few months. I refuse to blame it on the salt .

 

[NuckChorris]

I’d love to know why this happens too.

I recently got an ATI ICP test, and my score came back at 80%. The missing 20% was mostly due to elements like manganese and potassium. Interestingly, ICP tests don’t seem to like high alkalinity — they want it around 8.

That said, one of my acros developed a white spot that eventually spread across the whole colony. Now my rainbow milli is starting to show a white spot as well.

Everything else in the tank looks fine, which makes this even more confusing.

My Walt Disney now has no poly extensions.

I am going to switch away from Reef Crystals to a salt with an Alk at 8.

That’s why I use regular instant ocean. When I tried reef crystals my alk kept creeping up and I try to stay around 8.

 

[CHSUB]

Nutrients too low? Mine are many times lower and never have problems. Alk to high? Doubtful, higher than mine but not overly high and is it the absolute value or a single component of many that make up alkalinity? Higher Alk needs higher nutrients or whatever? Imo, completely antidotal and based on hobby observation. Reef Crystals salt? Widely used with great success…