Whats going on with this sps?

[Pola0502ds]

I manage a reef tank at a local elementary school and we have this SPS coral in the pic because that is usually all green. But as you can see by the pic the tips are turning white. It first started to show a little white and at that point i thought it was just growth but its getting worse and worse. What usually causes this? Too much light? This thing started off as a very very small frag and its bigger that a softball now in a years time.

 

[Pola0502ds]

I just noticed we have a piece if this that broke off a long time ago placed 6" off the bottom and the same thing is happening. Not sure if its the light? We have reef breeders LED lights on it

 

[re76]

Any changes recently? Alk swings? Decreasing nutrients? New lights?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yea a bit weird. Could be me growth. But check the alk and nutrints. High alk low nutrints are not good.

 

[hybridazn]

Usually burnt tips are caused by alk swings. Are you dosing or dependent on water changes?

 

[ReeferBee]

Salty is right. High alk with low nutrients is to blame for the alk burnt tips. Swinging alkalinity cause RTN or STN from the base up, ESPECIALLY in birdsnest.

 

[Pola0502ds]

We did just add a doser a few months ago to a few weeks to get dialed but has been running smooth since. Is that what we are looking at? Burnt tips? For sure?

The nurtrients in the tank has been consistant since it started which are extremely low and sometimes u detectable which i hate seeing.

No new lights or major changes except adding a doser. Im thinking thats what it is.

 

[hybridazn]

Where is the alk at currently?

 

[Pola0502ds]

Its at 8 now.

 

[reefrf]

Its at 8 now.

Did the alkalinity have a recent swing? Like in the last 30 days or so?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

We did just add a doser a few months ago to a few weeks to get dialed but has been running smooth since. Is that what we are looking at? Burnt tips? For sure?

The nurtrients in the tank has been consistant since it started which are extremely low and sometimes u detectable which i hate seeing.

No new lights or major changes except adding a doser. Im thinking thats what it is.

another pic, and do they look burned? the pic for us I think is a bit hard to tell. Could possibly be growth.

 

[Pola0502ds]

Im not at the school often so i will have to take another pic when i get there again.

Im embarrassed to say this but there has been a alk swing within the past few months that might explain this. The tank had been up and running for over a year before we got the funds to purchase a doser. Prior to that we handled keeping up with the alk, calc, and mag through weekly water changes. But the problem was that the water changes were not enough. I do manage the tank but i can only do so much based on the time i have and with the funds the school has. I would constantly say the alk and calc has got to be super low, we need to buy test kits and start dosing by hand but it never happened. After we got the test kits and doser i found out the alk was around 6. Started dosing and brought it up to 8 over a week or so. At least a week. The school didnt see an urgency for dosing and testing because the tank was literally thriving. Everything was colorful and growing like weeds so even i thought water changes was enough. When we found out the alk was at 6, my mind was blown that any sps could even be alive. So maybe that is the cause. If it is, how do i fix it. I have a chunk of this in my tank and its beautiful, doing well. No white tips.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Im not at the school often so i will have to take another pic when i get there again.

Im embarrassed to say this but there has been a alk swing within the past few months that might explain this. The tank had been up and running for over a year before we got the funds to purchase a doser. Prior to that we handled keeping up with the alk, calc, and mag through weekly water changes. But the problem was that the water changes were not enough. I do manage the tank but i can only do so much based on the time i have and with the funds the school has. I would constantly say the alk and calc has got to be super low, we need to buy test kits and start dosing by hand but it never happened. After we got the test kits and doser i found out the alk was around 6. Started dosing and brought it up to 8 over a week or so. At least a week. The school didnt see an urgency for dosing and testing because the tank was literally thriving. Everything was colorful and growing like weeds so even i thought water changes was enough. When we found out the alk was at 6, my mind was blown that any sps could even be alive. So maybe that is the cause. If it is, how do i fix it. I have a chunk of this in my tank and its beautiful, doing well. No white tips.

if its become stable its likely to correct itself.

 

[re76]

What salt do you use? If it's one of the really high alk mixes that could explain it. Low nutrients and the low to high alk swing are how I have killed many sps when I was first starting.

 

[Pola0502ds]

Instant ocean and that salt does have high alk. Our nutrients are very low too