some corals thriving, others dying! help!

jayb12 · 10/30/2009, 06:30 PM

guys im not sure what im doing wrong here.

ive got a 250 gal system with 2 400 watt metal halides (20k)

some of my corals seem to be thriving amazinly,

my dunkins have put on about 8 new heads from a 5 head frag (aprox 1 month)
my red monti cap has almost doubled in size (aprox 1 month)
my frog spawn has doubled (aprox 1 month)
one candy cane frag with 6 heads has now grown 2 new heads and looking very healthy. (aprox 1 month)
H magnifica anemones has exploaded in size in 3 months, must have grown from 12" across to at least 18"
i started with 2 mushshrooms about 2 months ago and now i have 10

some of my corals seem to be dying strangely

another frag from the same colony (candy cane) seems to be loosing flesh at the base of some heads and just looks overall not healthy

i have a purple acro that i bought about a month ago and it seemed to be doing amazing, great blue polyps, but in the last few weeks i havent seen it bring out any polyps and today i noticed what looks to be algea growing on the very tips of the coral.

all my zoo's have stayed stable in 4 months i havent noticed any new heads and i can still pick the frag up and it hasnt attached to any rocks.
also got a leather coral ive had for over a year, it just dosent seem to want to open the way it used to, its much smaller now but the polyps still come out.

water:

1.024
amonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 20
calcium 540
alk 8dk
ph 8.1
mag 1400

i keep a weekly log of my water tests and have not noticed anything unusual, my nitrates were a bit high i started vodka dosing about a month ago and a month ago the nitrates were 50. they have been at 20 and decling fast for about a week.

romanr · 10/30/2009, 06:49 PM

sure about your calcium? Seems very high!

romsoccer12 · 10/30/2009, 07:08 PM

check your pH swings, bring calcium down a lot. are you running carbon?

jayb12 · 10/30/2009, 07:38 PM

ph has always been stable, same with alk, and yes im running carbon

im going to pick up a new calcium test tommorow, i have been doubting it latley...

how can i bring my calcium down? i always thought there really was not limit to calcium, just a minimum....

peteyp923 · 10/30/2009, 07:40 PM

what will a high calcium level do with acros losing tissue? I have read that dosing vodka can cause burnt tip on sps, which in turn will have algae growing on it after a while... i have not dosed vodka to be certain just making a observation from what i have read....

peteyp923 · 10/30/2009, 07:48 PM

also having high alk levels while dosing will cause burnt tips on ur sps. recheck ur alk levels. i use to use salifert for testing alk but when i switched to elos i realized my alk was way off.

luther1200 · 10/30/2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peteyp923

also having high alk levels while dosing will cause burnt tips on ur sps. recheck ur alk levels. i use to use salifert for testing alk but when i switched to elos i realized my alk was way off.

How do you know its not the ELOS kit that is off?

peteyp923 · 10/30/2009, 09:24 PM

Well because when i was using salifert alk tester the reading was always hovering around 6 dkh. so i increased my dosing of alk for about two weeks with my ph raising and still i got the same results with that tester. All my coral looked fine so it really bugged me. Went to the lfs got the elos test and the test results seems to fit with the health of my corals. does that makes sense?

gjk · 10/30/2009, 09:53 PM

I get very high readings with my Elos Alk, but more normal and consistent to eachother with Salifert and LaMotte Alk.

peteyp923 · 10/30/2009, 10:30 PM

interesting. why do u feel it more normal and consistent? maybe i just brought a bad test kit from salifert.

jayb12 · 10/31/2009, 12:14 PM

im using the seachem kit that comes in a little white box to test for mag and alk..

when my nitrates reach zero do you think my acro will recover from the burnt tips? i didnt know that vodka dosing could harm the corals...

ive been following the strict schedule posted online here and im up to 3.5 ml/ day

luther1200 · 10/31/2009, 12:58 PM

Do you have a good skimmer?

fishnut321 · 10/31/2009, 01:10 PM

i have a feeling that your readings may be off as well. From my understanding, calcium pushes alkalinity levels down with higher levels of calicum. I have a hard time figuring you would be able to maintain those levels without some sort of precipitation and fluctuations. What are you dosing to maintain thses levels?

jayb12 · 10/31/2009, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishnut321

i have a feeling that your readings may be off as well. From my understanding, calcium pushes alkalinity levels down with higher levels of calicum. I have a hard time figuring you would be able to maintain those levels without some sort of precipitation and fluctuations. What are you dosing to maintain thses levels?

i dont really have a high load of corals yet so im not really dosing much other then what comes from my water changes

im using 8.4 by seachem to keep my alk and ph stable (i only dose it maybe once a month)

i think im going to buy all new test kits, there getting old anyway..

peteyp923 · 10/31/2009, 10:24 PM

hey jay it really might be a good idea to change out some old test kits. also, im curious on why you are dosing vodka? do u have a algae outbreak? you should check out this forum man its very informative on vodka dosing.http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...+your+coral%3F

Flipper62 · 10/31/2009, 10:47 PM

I'm going to say get some new test kits.

I personaly dont like the Elos or the Seachem kits.

I use like a combo of the API and Salifert kits

Also a Calcium level of 450 or so may be the normal average but 540 is not really that bad.

The salt I use is Oceanic Natural Sea Salt...It starts out in a new water mix at 580.

jayb12 · 10/31/2009, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peteyp923

hey jay it really might be a good idea to change out some old test kits. also, im curious on why you are dosing vodka? do u have a algae outbreak? you should check out this forum man its very informative on vodka dosing.http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...+your+coral%3F

im dosing vodka because its hard for me to keep my nitrates down to a safe level where corals will thrive. im housing a panther grouper, lionfish and a clowntrigger, all messy eaters. i cant afford the salt to do weekly water changes, its just too big of a system to tackle more then once a month

10/30/2009, 06:30 PM	#1
jayb12 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: niagara falls, canada Posts: 552	some corals thriving, others dying! help! guys im not sure what im doing wrong here. ive got a 250 gal system with 2 400 watt metal halides (20k) some of my corals seem to be thriving amazinly, my dunkins have put on about 8 new heads from a 5 head frag (aprox 1 month) my red monti cap has almost doubled in size (aprox 1 month) my frog spawn has doubled (aprox 1 month) one candy cane frag with 6 heads has now grown 2 new heads and looking very healthy. (aprox 1 month) H magnifica anemones has exploaded in size in 3 months, must have grown from 12" across to at least 18" i started with 2 mushshrooms about 2 months ago and now i have 10 some of my corals seem to be dying strangely another frag from the same colony (candy cane) seems to be loosing flesh at the base of some heads and just looks overall not healthy i have a purple acro that i bought about a month ago and it seemed to be doing amazing, great blue polyps, but in the last few weeks i havent seen it bring out any polyps and today i noticed what looks to be algea growing on the very tips of the coral. all my zoo's have stayed stable in 4 months i havent noticed any new heads and i can still pick the frag up and it hasnt attached to any rocks. also got a leather coral ive had for over a year, it just dosent seem to want to open the way it used to, its much smaller now but the polyps still come out. water: 1.024 amonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 20 calcium 540 alk 8dk ph 8.1 mag 1400 i keep a weekly log of my water tests and have not noticed anything unusual, my nitrates were a bit high i started vodka dosing about a month ago and a month ago the nitrates were 50. they have been at 20 and decling fast for about a week.

10/30/2009, 06:49 PM	#2
romanr Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Ocala, Florida Posts: 1,568	sure about your calcium? Seems very high! __________________ Raul Roman Marion Ocala Reef Enthusiasts (MORE) member Check us out on FB and RC. Current Tank Info: 150 DD cube mixed reef, 30G sump, Eshopps S-150 cone skimmer, 400W Radium MH, 156W Wavepoint T5, Internet accessible ACIII controller , Vortech MP10 w/ Icecap battery backup, Mini-Arctica chiller, Katalyst fueled reactor fed to Octopus BH800S skimmer

10/30/2009, 07:08 PM	#3
romsoccer12 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: ohio Posts: 2,625	check your pH swings, bring calcium down a lot. are you running carbon? __________________ Colin R Current Tank Info: 3rd tank working fine!(29gal oceanic biocube) 5-6months old

10/31/2009, 12:58 PM	#12
luther1200 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NJ, shore Posts: 4,376	Do you have a good skimmer? __________________ Matt, 65G reef tank Current Tank Info: 65g reef, mix of sps, lps, few softies. Hoping to upgrade within the year.

10/31/2009, 10:47 PM	#16
Flipper62 Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Naperville, Il. Business Owner, President & CEO Posts: 3,045	I'm going to say get some new test kits. I personaly dont like the Elos or the Seachem kits. I use like a combo of the API and Salifert kits Also a Calcium level of 450 or so may be the normal average but 540 is not really that bad. The salt I use is Oceanic Natural Sea Salt...It starts out in a new water mix at 580. __________________ If todays automobile had followed the same development as the computer, A Rolls Royce would cost $100.00. It would get a million miles per gallon, but it would explode once a year killing everyone inside." Current Tanks... 90 gal Reef... My awesome Office BioCube....( 180 was on hold ..no time ) ... The 180 gal has been sold...Yay..yay..yay. Hobby Experience: 19 years Reef...22 years FW

10/30/2009, 07:38 PM	#4
jayb12 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: niagara falls, canada Posts: 552	ph has always been stable, same with alk, and yes im running carbon im going to pick up a new calcium test tommorow, i have been doubting it latley... how can i bring my calcium down? i always thought there really was not limit to calcium, just a minimum....

10/30/2009, 07:40 PM	#5
peteyp923 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Philly/NYC Posts: 70	what will a high calcium level do with acros losing tissue? I have read that dosing vodka can cause burnt tip on sps, which in turn will have algae growing on it after a while... i have not dosed vodka to be certain just making a observation from what i have read....

10/30/2009, 07:48 PM	#6
peteyp923 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Philly/NYC Posts: 70	also having high alk levels while dosing will cause burnt tips on ur sps. recheck ur alk levels. i use to use salifert for testing alk but when i switched to elos i realized my alk was way off.

10/30/2009, 09:24 PM	#8
peteyp923 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Philly/NYC Posts: 70	Well because when i was using salifert alk tester the reading was always hovering around 6 dkh. so i increased my dosing of alk for about two weeks with my ph raising and still i got the same results with that tester. All my coral looked fine so it really bugged me. Went to the lfs got the elos test and the test results seems to fit with the health of my corals. does that makes sense?

10/30/2009, 09:53 PM	#9
gjk Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Daphne, AL Posts: 185	I get very high readings with my Elos Alk, but more normal and consistent to eachother with Salifert and LaMotte Alk.

10/30/2009, 10:30 PM	#10
peteyp923 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Philly/NYC Posts: 70	interesting. why do u feel it more normal and consistent? maybe i just brought a bad test kit from salifert.

10/31/2009, 12:14 PM	#11
jayb12 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: niagara falls, canada Posts: 552	im using the seachem kit that comes in a little white box to test for mag and alk.. when my nitrates reach zero do you think my acro will recover from the burnt tips? i didnt know that vodka dosing could harm the corals... ive been following the strict schedule posted online here and im up to 3.5 ml/ day

10/31/2009, 01:10 PM	#13
fishnut321 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Warrensburg, Mo Posts: 763	i have a feeling that your readings may be off as well. From my understanding, calcium pushes alkalinity levels down with higher levels of calicum. I have a hard time figuring you would be able to maintain those levels without some sort of precipitation and fluctuations. What are you dosing to maintain thses levels?

10/31/2009, 10:24 PM	#15
peteyp923 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Philly/NYC Posts: 70	hey jay it really might be a good idea to change out some old test kits. also, im curious on why you are dosing vodka? do u have a algae outbreak? you should check out this forum man its very informative on vodka dosing.http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...+your+coral%3F