urgent help

[seaweed]

alot of my acro sps are getting burnt tips with algae growing on volume of water 1100l

sg 1.025
cal 400
kh7
mg 1320
nitrate 0.05
po4 last tested 0.04

i put them in and then awhile later get these tips, will attach pic

lights 8 x 80watt ati power module

3 x tunze 6101

what can b causing this its urgent pls

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Nutrients as in Nitrates and Phosphates too high and feeding the algae.
Water changes and better filtration

 

[seaweed]

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[seaweed]

 

[seaweed]

i am currently running the deltec a851 skimmer what else to reduce

 

[seaweed]

been using the aqua medic salt is that any good , otherwise i can get reef crystals

 

[seaweed]

 

[Herefishyfishy]

What are the rest of the numbers?
Also what is the fish load and feeding?
Any lighting changes?
Where are the corals located in the tank?
Are some doing better than others?
A refugium will help, the macro algae competes with the nuisance algae for food.

 

[seaweed]

what other numbers u waqnting
was using the 6 x 54watt power mod and upgraded to the 8 x 80watt could b that i suppose

only certain corals

they are higher in tank

using prodibio from tomorrow

heavy fish load bout 35 fish tank is 1000l

feeding ocean nutrition pellets 3 x a day

 

[seaweed]

could it be too much flow or to little flow reaching the corals

 

[Herefishyfishy]

What is the temp?
Water turnover such as what are your pumps?
When and how much was last water change?
Rarely does too much flow causes algae.
Are tips dying and then getting algae growth? As in any fish nipping?

You know that is not a lot of light in such a big tank to be growing SPS

 

[spongebob lover]

i'm not an expert but may be the flow is not being enough for the corals dood.
i don't know how big are your water changes but doind big water changes would help too .

 

[seaweed]

well the tank is 550 high

uhm the tips start turning brown and brittle

i have 3 x 6101 tunze and a 12000l return pump

50l water change sunday

 

[Herefishyfishy]

OK, overall poor coral health appears to be the diagnosis.

50L on a 1000L system isn't a water change.
Your lighting is too low and your nutrient levels too high.
You have a too many fish in there with corals, to not be doing frequent large water changes. Get a refugium going and step up the changes or put up with these type results on the corals.

 

[Jan]

what test kit are you using for your alk? sometimes burnt tips means too high of alk, then algae can grow on the dead areas. same can occur if you have an ionic imbalance of some other kind due to poor salt mix, wrong salinity, or not enough frequency of water changes (or too much additives). anyway it might not hurt to double check your alk test results with a different brand of test.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Jan with a huge fish load and bare minimal water changes, the odds of having too high of alk is highgly remote. This is basically a fish tank that had SPS added to it. For all he knows, the fish (or inverts) also nibble on the coral tips

 

[spongebob lover]

do you run carbon?
i'd run some carbon and some phosphate media too imo

 

[Jan]

Jan with a huge fish load and bare minimal water changes, the odds of having too high of alk is highgly remote. This is basically a fish tank that had SPS added to it. For all he knows, the fish (or inverts) also nibble on the coral tips

yep....unless he's adding lots of ReefBuilder or something

 

[plack]

How long have you had these corals for ?

1000 liters = 264 gallons [US]

Your Water circulation is around 18 X it should be more like 30x + That wont be cheap to fix.

Your dkh is balanced just a bit lower than most people leave it at I'd say shoot for 9.( Don't add to much at once do it slowly over 2-3 days )

(http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html)

Placing the coarls so that there is not Direct flow blowing straight at them yet making a strong current alternating if possable in there area may help.

200 Liters plus 20% of your sump and or refegium volume changed every 2 weeks is an average water change in good conditions in your case it should be more.


More bigger water changes like 35 % total volume. one or two phosphate reactor's ( two little fishies) And more water circulation.

Now lastly if those lights were right above the coarls it might help. I think a 250 watt Double ended pendant right above them would do better ( I have the same corals with this lighting above them and growwing) It's the intensity of halides thats better T-5's or vho may work depending or water clarity and the distance from the light !


See this link to see what someone with one of the best tanks out there uses for his 1150L tank wich is not all that much smaller than yours .

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-05/totm/index.php


This is his circulation ( its at 156 X ) to give you an idea you dont have to have this much but it shows that a tank like yours could benefit from allot more flow ( my 750 Liter tank /sump is at 43X I have only 8 fish )

- Tunze Wavebox 6212 x 4
- Tunze Turbelle Stream 6301 x 2 (side position)
- Tunze Turbelle Stream 6201 x 2 (back position)
- Tunze Multicontroller 7095

I love the type of corals you have . I've got some myself.

I recently decided to try lowering my salinity to 1.021 to see how it affected things as I always seem to buy corals from stores with lower salinity. well I now have some white coarls and due to wet skimming I had gone to1.020 ( Ouch) I gradually brought it back up and the remaining living coarls are finally coming back to life !!

Everyone has struggles in this hoby no matter how much equipment or experience ya got !!!

Good luck

Paul

 

[spongebob lover]

i agree with paul, you got a lot to do dood .