SPS struggles

[mseepman]

I was wondering if any of you SPS specialists had a tip for me on ways to better keep Acros.

I have a 70G mixed reef...and there are a variety of softies, LPS and SPS in the tank. My SPS usually does quite well, but I understand that mixing them with softies can make the job tougher.

Here is my issue and this only happens to my Acros. They will grow well for a while and then out of the blue, I will come down to my tank and see that the tips are growing algae. Eventually it will take over to the point where I need to trim back the coral and then things will be okay for maybe 3 weeks and it will start over.

When I get a new Acro, they might be fine for months, but then the algae on the tips happens.

I have a variety of other SPS and all of them are growing well and have been for over a year.

Here are my numbers:
water quality
SG 1.025
PH=8.2
Po4=0.01-0.05
No3=1
KH=8.5
MG=1200-1300
Ca=400

Any suggestions would be graat Thanks.

[fkshiu]

What's your flow?

[mseepman]

In the 70G (26" x 18" x 24"H) I am running a Quietone 4000 Return, 1 x 6025 Tunze nano, 1 x Vortec MP40W, 1 x Koralia3.

So I would figure lots of flow...in fact my softies aren't as thrilled with it as they could be.

The Vortech runs on random lagoon mode.

My lighting is 1 x 150W MH and 4 x 39W T5HO.

Growth is good, just suddenly the tips get algae

[fencer]

Something is burning the tips....too much nitrates / light ....try increasing your water changes and add some carbon

[mseepman]

hmm...I currently run my lighting like this:

T5HO - 8:00AM - 9:00PM
MH - 12:30PM - 7:00PM
Lunar LED 9:00PM - 7:30AM

As for nitrates...The tank is a 70G with 90lbs of rock plus(so about 50-55G) about 10G in the sump (after equipment). I change about 10G of water every 10 days in the form of two 5G water changes over that period.

I run two reactors, 1 with Carbon and 1 with GFO. Carbon is changed every 45 days and GFO is changed ever 60.

[Myka]

I don't think this will solve your troubles, but you could try using smaller amounts of carbon, and changing it out more often, like every 2-3 weeks. Your magnesium is a tad low too - should be 1350-1400 ppm.

Are there any maintenance things you do every 3 weeks or so since you're noticing the algae issues at that interval? Not necessarily immediately before the algae issue since it could take time for the corals to react.

[plutoniumJoe]

I had a similar problem. All parameters seemed OK but I was using a float style salintiy test. When I measured with a refractometer I found that I was up around 1028-1029. Once I brought it down everthing came back and the corals overgrew the algae tips.

Joe

[mseepman]

Hmm...interesting suggestions, thank you for the advice.

Myka, I will try to do the Carbon changes more often. I don't actually use that much in the reactor, maybe 3/4 cup of HC Carbon. As for things that co-incide with the issues...not really...the timing is just an approximation of how long it takes to go sour.

As for my salinity...I do have a hydrometer but I use a refractometer and have done so for about a year now. I will look into re-calibrating it just in case but I have a second tank (a nano) that doesn't have this problem with acros that I measure with the same refractometer.

Could my problems be somewhat related to having softies in the tank? Maybe more carbon, more often will take any possible toxins out better. I would think that if this was the issue, the other SPS would show the problem, but they don't.

I will try to up the Mag some and also do more water changes in case my Nitrates are the issue. Has anyone had good luck with the nitrate destroyer from Tailor aquatics?

[christyf5]

I found that whatever you have the least of (softies/LPS/SPS) will be most affected by the major population. I had a couple of softies in my tank when I was starting to really get into SPS. Both were doing poorly and were relocated to another tank. After that, the softies did fine and the SPS did much better. I found even running carbon that I had problems. However, this was before I discovered the brilliance of running carbon in a reactor.

I would try Myka's suggestion of smaller amounts of carbon changed more often. Overuse of carbon in large amounts can cause problems for SPS as well.

[mseepman]

Overuse of carbon in large amounts can cause problems for SPS as well.

Is this because too many of the nutrients that they feed upon are taken out of the water?

[Myka]

If you're considering TA's Nitrate Destroyer check out Vodka dosing, which is essentially the same idea - provide a carbon source.

I would also up the water changes. I have found that 20% every 2 weeks works better than 10% every week, but that's just my tank. Try playing around with that a bit, and see what you can achieve. People under estimate the Power Of The Water Change!! :D

I wouldn't be surprised if your softies are affecting the SPS...your leather is quite large. Mixed reefs are much more difficult than dedicated tanks.

[fencer]

Change your carbon every 30 days and back off your GFO...use it when you need it as for me I use it when my PO4 spikes, very rare for it to do that. If it were the softies the whole corals would be dying and not just the tips. Increasing the water changes should offset the nitrates. What is the temp of the tank?

[Ya Dude]

I would guess your flow to be insufficient if algae is able to grow on coral tips that readily.

[mseepman]

Hmm...I will try to adjust my water changes to see if that helps.

I tried doing a little vodka dosing once before but didn't see much of a response by the tank. This scares me a little as many people talk about the long term effects being less than stellar.

As for my flow being insufficient, I can't believe that as I have crazy turnover...maybe even too much!

[Drock169]

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb230/drock169/P1020505.jpg

My 40 has lots of softies, some lps and the SPS are growing very well, theres no carbon running in it, just a really good skimmer, there is detectable nitrates, maybe around 1 or so, so I dont think you low nitrates are an issue. I dont test for PO4 but i'm sure theres some in there. I also doubt your Mg would be the issue. I do a water change maybe once a month.

I just try to keep it simple, Deltec mce-300, maxi-jet mod for flow, and a 250w halide, plus 5 or 6 fish i dont remember.

My question for you is, are all of the Sps being affected or just certain ones? Are they in the direct path of the flow?
As for vodka dosing, I dont recommend it, I experimented on my large tank when it was full of sps and it worked for a good while but I experienced most of the problems that VSV dosers experienced.

[Lance]

Mark, I've been having the same problems lately. Same scenario as you're having. Coral is doing fine and then starts to accumulate algae on the tips. The weird thing though is that corals right beside it are fine; which leads me to believe that it is not a flow or lighting problem. Very confusing.

[marie]

Are you dosing 2 part (or kalk) as your calcium/alk supplement? If so is it possible that the acros that are getting tip burn are in direct contact with the alk (or kalk) before it gets dispersed by the flow?

[mseepman]

Marie...I think you might have hit the nail on the head!!!!

I have been dosing c-balance for the past 6 months and I put the additives in near the acros that are being affected because of the great flow there.

The same acros were doing great before but not growing as much. When I started the additives, I saw growth increase because my numbers got to where they needed to be....

See, I knew I should have asked this on here ages ago. Hopefully your suggestion helps me out.

[sphelps]

Here are my numbers:
water quality
SG 1.025
PH=8.2
Po4=0.01-0.05
No3=1
KH=8.5
MG=1200-1300
Ca=400


Can you share a little more information regarding what kind of test kits you are using, how often you test, how you maintain these levels, and how stable these levels are. Quite often what you're experiencing results from low or high alkalinity, I suspect there's more to your KH=8.5.

[mseepman]

The numbers for me have been quite consistant since I started dosing 2 part.

I use Salifert test kits but I have Hagen (ugh!) backups that I confer with if I have to.

I test about every 20 - 25 days now, but before it was once per week.

I'm hoping that by moving my dosing entry point for Alk that I can stop this problem. The Acros that this has happened to were doing awesome before and it's a shame to see what's happened.

[christyf5]

Good call Marie!! :biggrin:

[Myka]

Ya, good call Marie! I just burned my Stylo last week by dosing into my Wavebox chamber which shoots directly at the Stylo. Dangit.

[marie]

.... Hopefully your suggestion helps me out.

I'll keep my fingers crossed :biggrin: