Milli and acro... no polyp extension. Ideas?

[cr500_af]

I have seven SPS frags which are puzzling me. Two red milli, five various acros. I've had them for 1 to 5 weeks, depending on the frag in question.

All are colored OK, showing no signs of dying or bleaching... just never see any polyps. On most (including the two milli frags) I saw great polyp extension in their previous environments. I started them low in the tank not wanting to nuke them, as two definitely came from under T5s, and a couple more I don't know for sure about. My lighting is 2x250w MH on a 90g. Bulbs are less than three months (Phoenix 14ks if it matters).

I've slowly raised the frags higher, and now even in the upper 20% of the tank I've got "bald" SPS. They are all in medium high to high flow.

All of my other SPS (all corals, actually) are doing fine.

Params as of tonight:
Temp: low 80.4 high 81.2 in last 24 hrs
SG 1.026
pH 8.2
Ca 450
Mg 1100
Alk 3.5
No ammo/trites/trates. My nitrate kit is API, so I realize I have some, but they aren't enough to read on a kit that isn't "low range".

The alk is the only thing I have to dose regularly... using BRS alk to bring it up. It was higher but dropped a little as I did a 15-20g water change in the last couple of days, and that seems to be common with Seachem salt from what I hear.

Any suggestions?

 

[ralph atl]

don't worry about light. not an issue.

phosphates & trates might be too high? what about indirect & random flow, they love it? your calc, mag, and alk are all fine. not an issue.

 

[cr500_af]

Just tested phosphate, somewhere between 0 and .25ppm. Truthfully looks closer to 0 than .25. It should be low; I not too long ago battled a dino outbreak and totally restructured my feeding habits and began using a Phosban reactor, solving the problem.

As far as flow, I'm working on the random part by switching to powerheads that will allow me to use the wavemaker function on my RKL. Right now I have two Koralia 4s in the tank and the frag rack is not in the direct flow, but close to it.

It will be at least Monday before I can run down a high end nitrate test kit.

 

[ralph atl]

what test kits for alk & phosphate?

 

[ralph atl]

alk is meg/L I assume?

 

[cr500_af]

Seachem for the alk, and unfortunately the phosphate is also API. That kit is also on my shopping list. I, like most people, bought those before I knew better. They were actually recommended by a sponsor who is no longer a sponsor, and I took his word for it. He also praised Seaclones, but that's another story for another day.
Nitrate and Phosphate are the only two I have yet to replace.
As a point of interest, of the ones I have replaced, their alk was the only one that was screwy. It read 11dkh when Ansley's kit (I forget the brand) read 5.5dkh. As far off as that one was, all the others were pretty good.
And yes, alk is meq/L.

 

[ralph atl]

seachem test kits suck, imho. API for Nitrates & phosphates same.

API for ALK, isn't bad.

go get yourself some elos kits. please do yourself a favor. you won't regret trusting your results more.

 

[ralph atl]

also, are they expired?

 

[cr500_af]

mysterybox;386671 wrote: seachem test kits suck, imho. API for Nitrates & phosphates same.

API for ALK, isn't bad.

go get yourself some elos kits. please do yourself a favor. you won't regret trusting your results more.

I plan to do that... but funny you said the API alk isn't bad, I was probably editing my post as you were typing. The alk was WAY off when tested against first Ansley's kit and then another members Salifert.

 

[cr500_af]

mysterybox;386672 wrote: also, are they expired?

No, the API is still well within date and my Seachem and Salifert kits are almost brand new.

 

[ralph atl]

wait.............how did you acclimate phosban? how much are u using? how long? how often do u change it?

 

[ralph atl]

Salifert is fine except for phosphates.

 

[cr500_af]

First, while it's a Phosban reactor it's another company's phosphate media... don't have the info handy as I read the directions and tossed to box. It comes in media bags (actually made for canisters); their suggestion was two bags (for my water volume) to be changed every two weeks.

I started with a little less than 1/2 of one bag, and have slowly increased at each two-week change up to the one bag. I'm still using 1 (or 1/2 what they suggest for my volume) since I had read about the importance of not taking it too fast.

What never dawned on me until you asked was that while I eased my system into it, these frags came in after the "acclimation". Possible cause? If it matters, some other SPS (a couple of ORA birdsnests, among others) also came in to my tank after this was begun and are very happy.

 

[ralph atl]

Get some gfo from bulkreefsupply.com and use that reactor. I'm afraid that 1/2 might be too quick in lowering the amount of phosphates. Just remove some more and wait and see. But get some better test kits in the meantime either salifert or elos.

 

[cr500_af]

Let me make some major corrections. I consulted my dayplanner/log and realized that's why I keep it; my memory sucks.

The media is Fluval ClearMax (formerly Phos-X). I started with the recommended amount for 27 gallons in my 110g system. Recommended change interval is 6-8 weeks ("or sooner depending on system requirements"), and I just did the second change (which means the third set of media) increasing each time until now. The time frame has been 4 weeks between changes. I am still using a light dose (enough for twice that, or 54 gallons).

 

[ralph atl]

Assuming it's iron based gfo. You are using too much to begin with. Get some gfo from brs that u can measure correctly and cheaper. I would use a quarter of that bag, acclimate over a 3 month period.

 

[cr500_af]

Product info just says "resin". Let's assume for a moment that you're on to something here. I've taken three months to acclimate up to a 1/2 "dosage". In this scenario, do you "de-acclimate" just as slowly or just go cold turkey? I'm going to do some more reading but looking to formulate a game plan if it turns out I need to back it off or quit it altogether.

 

[cr500_af]

One more thing... some Google work shows that ClearMax contains at least some GFO.
That being the case, BRS' instructions call for 2g/gallon at the start, acclimating up to 3-5g/gal. The amount I started with was less than 1g/gal, working up to a max of a little under 2g/gal over a few months.
Still thinking acclimation? If so, why when the amount used was so conservative?

 

[lilrobb]

And what about the bald corals that were introduced after the reactor was started?

 

[jeep9783]

My milli's don't show good pollip extension unles they are in super high flow