needing some SPS help

[ashr]

Hey hey


So I'm looking for some feed back on some SPS issues I've had in the past month or two with one of on my large SPS colonies.

I noticed this after my doser has stopped working and my Alk dropped.
As the picture shows the coral should be a deep green but I have had a lot of the large parts turn to a light blue and looks to be dying. If i was to pinch the tips of these parts they would disintegrate between my fingers.

Any thoughts would be welcome!

As of the other day ( i didnt have my doser running for a week due to lack of chemicals)

Alk 5
Calc 450
Mag 1400
Salt 1.027/28
temp anywhere from 76f-80f

http://i.imgur.com/m10O9mh.jpg


As of now I have clipped most of these parts off in hopes they will start to grow new and become healthy again. Also I don't have any issues with another coral as far as I can tell.

[KPG007]

I few tips that may help:

- Get your Alk back up! If left low for an extended time you'll get all kinds of issues.
- Flow. Millies and Acros usually like lots of flow. Get more flow on it and see if you get better polyp extension.
- Light. Maybe the corals are just too high up in your tank, causing them to fade or change colour?
- Coral on the way out. I've got great corals, but I've lost more then I care to admit. Some were big healthy colonies that died for no real reason.

More than likely its your low Alk. As for the soft tips, most new growth is quite soft and hards up over time.

Good Luck!
Kelly

[ScubaSteve]

I'm not totally sure of the cause but I've had that before as well and, as you noticed, it has almost always associated with low alkalinity/low pH (btw, what is your pH at?). If your parameters are back to normal, it may be possible that it is a protozoan or bacteria that is causing it. I have an A. plana that is doing something similar at the moment (but in my case it starts at the base and extends as a well defined streak down a branch, causing the tissue to turn hard and the skeleton to be soft and crumbly). It's not a disease that has been described in peer-reviewed literature yet but I've found mentions of it in various papers and they tend to point toward bacteria or protozoans that actively penetrate and erode the skeleton.

[ashr]

Thanks for the reply! I will take some of that advise and see what i can come up with. the alk, is such a pain in the butt haha.

I will switch some of my flow around and see if I can get more on that side.. thing is I have so much flow in there all ready haha. I would love to have a 2nd MP10 and have one on each side.. that would be awesome :)

I also need to switch my lights as I had a couple go on me and needed to replace those. Im going to replace all others ASAP