Loosing color SPS (1 Viewer)

[emixa]

Good evening. I am posting this because I am sort of at a loss. At one point my tank parameter were good. Then now I am at the point of color loss and polyp loss. To start, here are my vitals..

Sal: 1.025
Alk:8.3
Cal: 510
Mag: 1440
Phos:. 06
Nitrates: 10

Last water change was 2 days ago; 15 gals. Water change done every week or 2 weeks at worse. The feeding is done by auto feeder to fish. Recently I have also noticed rust colored algae on the sand bed.. Thoughts?

 

[Ostentum]

Fish load? How often are you testing alk and what are the swings like. Temp? Are you dosing anything?

 

[emixa]

Pictures

Pictures

 

[emixa]

Fish consist of the following: yellow tang (2 in), rabbit fish (2 in), 2 clowns (1 in length), 3 in purple anthia, 3 smaller female anthia 1 in length, 1 ancilias angel. 75 in, 1 pyramid butterfly 2 in.

Alk has been constant at 8.3 for a few weeks now.

Running CaRx. I did clean out my reactor about a month ago from silt which required me to re-adjust setting as it caused my alk to fluctuate.

I also changed my bulbs a couple of weeks ago. Running 2 20k my radiums. Had to raise the lights due to intensity. Running a go reactor and biopellet reactor.

Do can old gfo cause reverse reactions? I was told by someone that gfo should not go bad. Then others say that it can.

 

[Diesel]

Following!

 

[Clownfish Chris]

I would suspect it is related to one or an aggregate all of the changes you listed. Stability and time are key. I noticed that after I clean the detritus off the bottom of my bare bottom tank, my sps loose color for a couple of weeks. I have since created a dead spot under neath some rock for it to accumulate. I suspect as it breaks down it provides balanced nutrients and all is well.

 

[emixa]

more pictures

So here are more pictures of the algae growing on the sandbed. I can vacuum it and then in a day or two, its back. You will also see an Oregon Tort that is slowly loosing color.

 

[Fish Keeper82]

What does this algae look like when the lights first come on in the morning? Is it the same all day? Does it appear very minimal in the morning hours then after 3 or 4 hrs of light on it looks like it multiplied?

 

[emixa]

What does this algae look like when the lights first come on in the morning? Is it the same all day? Does it appear very minimal in the morning hours then after 3 or 4 hrs of light on it looks like it multiplied?

So during the period when the lights are out, the algae as not as present. It's when the lights have been on for a few hours, when the algae starts to make its presence.

 

[Fish Keeper82]

You would need a microscope to positively ID. I suspect you have Dinoflagellates, specifically Amphidinium Dinoflagellets.
What are you testing nitrates with and is the kit expired by chance?

 

[emixa]

So I had/ have a suspicion that its dinos, but not sure. So the nitrates test is Salifert. Just bought a new test with expiartion of 2019. Its testing at 10, or a shade close to that.

 

[Naka]

Gfo can cause tip recession

How long is your light period
How old is your tank and size


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[emixa]

Gfo can cause tip recession

How long is your light period
How old is your tank and size

I have (2) separate lighting periods. I have atinics that switch on from 10 am - 2 pm and then on again from 5pm - 9:30 pm. My MH turn on separate times. (1) turns on from 1:00 pm - 8:00 pm and the other turns on from 1:15 pm - 8:15 pm.

The tank has been up and running since 2009. I moved from one house to another in 2013. I have had some hobbyist issues here and there but this one didnt start until about a month ago. At first i thought that it was because I used GFO that was really old. I was told that GFO does not go bad, then someone else told me that it does.

Thanks for the input.

 

[RR-MAN]

Hey Elton,

-Decrease your MH lighting period to 5 hours per day -more than that you are just wasting energy/more algae. You can leave the supplemental for a longer period.
-Also siphon out some of that crushed coral. Detritus builds up in crushed coral and overtime it causes problems.

 

[emixa]

Hey Elton,

-Decrease your MH lighting period to 5 hours per day -more than that you are just wasting energy/more algae. You can leave the supplemental for a longer period.
-Also siphon out some of that crushed coral. Detritus builds up in crushed coral and overtime it causes problems.

Hey man,

Thanks for the advice. So when dropping the light period, is this for good or for a transitional period of time? I know that there alot of hobbyist that will swear by the bare-bottom method. But in the case where one may like the whole sand bed scene, would you replace with a finer sand or are your thoughts on purely removing it to the point where you slowly result to a bare bottom floor?

 

[RR-MAN]

Hey man,

Thanks for the advice. So when dropping the light period, is this for good or for a transitional period of time? I know that there alot of hobbyist that will swear by the bare-bottom method. But in the case where one may like the whole sand bed scene, would you replace with a finer sand or are your thoughts on purely removing it to the point where you slowly result to a bare bottom floor?

Sure anytime.

I run mine 5-6 hrs a day permanently...mine usually comes on late in the afternoon so I can enjoy the tank when I'm home. I have some leds which I run for a little longer period of time before/after MH comes ON/OFF.

Personally, I don't like sand plus my tank with 2 MP60 and 2 MP40 - it will definitely cause a sand storm. My tank is BB.

If you prefer sand, go with a medium grain sand since you have SPS and higher flow. The smaller grain will cause a sand storm. Anything is better than crushed coral IMO.

 

[emixa]

Sure anytime.

I run mine 5-6 hrs a day permanently...mine usually comes on late in the afternoon so I can enjoy the tank when I'm home. I have some leds which I run for a little longer period of time before/after MH comes ON/OFF.

Personally, I don't like sand plus my tank with 2 MP60 and 2 MP40 - it will definitely cause a sand storm. My tank is BB.

If you prefer sand, go with a medium grain sand since you have SPS and higher flow. The smaller grain will cause a sand storm. Anything is better than crushed coral IMO.

All good points sir and much appreciated!!

I will look to adjust my timing as well. I want to say that perhaps, since the newly installed bulbs might also be a factor. Someone else recommended me to reduce the time on.

SO on the sand, I want to say that i didnt add crushed coral. it wasnt the fine one, but a step up. I still will try to check into that and maybe replace if possible to see if that helps. I thought that i read somewhere that some like to mix the fine with the medium grade. i probably need to add more sand sifting critters as well.