Troubleshooting SPS problems

My process for troubleshooting SPS coral problems

[@billyboo3819]

Good approach to isolating and solving the problem

[@OCNcheffy]

I had this exact issue. Turns out GFO was the cause of all my problems. I've stopped managing GFO and increase nitrate dosing to hit around 20ppm. This increase of nitrate and not managing phosphate control created a natural reduction of phosphates as the SPS were no longer pissed off from the bouncing of phosphate the GFO was causing. SPS almost all recovered in a few weeks and after removing GFO, and my current nutrients/chemistry are the following: Alk - 7.8 Calcium - 450 Mag - 1400 Nitrate - 15ppm Phosphate .15 Also, running your tank at 8.5 dkh with such low nutrients would also cause burnt tips. Try dropping your alk to 7.5 and clip your burnt tips.

[@TheBioReef]

thanks for your thoughts Chris - yeah i am actively trying to up the nitrates. I don't have any GFO at all, and i am reducing the amount of time that my fuge is on, just to try to keep as much of the nutrients in the water column as possible.

[@redteg9053]

I had similar issues after a long power outage; acros would get burnt tips and then slowly start receding at the base (ultimately RTN). I started dosing prodibio biodigest biweekly to recharge the good bacteria in the tank and started the reef moonshiner method…things started to bounce back after the first month.

[@TheBioReef]

thanks for tip... interesting about the similarities. perhaps it was just the stress of the power outage... that is one frustrating part of the hobby, its really difficult to untangle the drivers of sps decline, from all the other changes that are happening at the same time.

[@PatrickJewellTheGreat]

This hobby is so humbling. When you’ve think you have it all figured out, you have something like this knocking you down. Which keeps the hobby interesting and fun, and frustrating! Lol There is no doubt in my mind that you are incredibly good at what you do. We seen how amazing your previous tanks were. Have you thought about pH? I had a bad problem with STN and I got it under control when I started dripping kalkwasser. My pH was boosted. So this suggestion of mine isn’t so much on the discussion of growing corals faster, but pH influence on the biome. So it’s thought that more pathogenic bacteria lives and lower pH water. So raising your pH could limit that population.

[@TheBioReef]

yeah excellent point about the PH. i am using kalk in a reactor to keep it within 7.9 to 8.1 as i noticed that my ph was lower when i first set up the tank. I kinda of expected some problems early on as i moved corals from a well established stable system to a new tank... but i am optimistic that things will recover

[@PatrickJewellTheGreat]

@@TheBioReef yeah no doubt in my mind. Kalkwasser drip at night was considered old school, but it’s coming back with a fury.

[@TheBioReef]

right now i have my rodi system push water into my kalk reactor, so kalk input is directly tied with evaporation. i'll probably do something more advance, but for now, it is working nicely to keep Ph in a decent range

[@PnCBio]

Great video!

[@TheBioReef]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@gabesreef]

You got this. I'm sure you'll have it figured out soon enough

[@TheBioReef]

thanks Gabe!

[@TreasureCorals]

Hey, just look at that!😀

[@TheBioReef]

fun times at Dimos :)

[@jules2545]

Hi, I have a 20 gallon cube that has been up and running for 13 months now. I run my tank to the recommends of BRS. it is a mixed reef with decent lighting an A360X and resonable flow. In Oct 21 I added a Green slimer and a Forest fire. The Forest fire is basing out nicely but the Green slimer has done absolutely nothing with respect to growth. The colour is lovely and the polyps look good. Both of these corals are at the same level in the tank. I am not sure if my slimer likes or dislikes its current location. These are my first SPS.

[@TheBioReef]

Is the slimer basing out ? It’s good that it is looking good. Sometimes sps take a while to grow when moved. How much par is it getting ? You can try moving it to a brighter spot in your tank.

[@jules2545]

@@TheBioReef Its not doing anything at all. I was told it is a fairly low light SPS? Next to it the Forfest fire is basing out big time.

[@TheBioReef]

@@jules2545 my slimer loves par… I wouldn’t call it a low light acro

[@jules2545]

@@TheBioReef I shall adjust slowly upwards and see how it gets on. How long a photoperiod do you have please?

[@TheBioReef]

@@jules2545 12 hours. Good luck

[@tommycristaldi9037]

I was in the same boat. Had high aluminum. I’m running brightwell Purit in a reactor and changing my diy lid. It’s an aluminum one but after I’ll send an ICP to see if that worked.

[@TheBioReef]

Did you seem any effects on the corals ?

[@tommycristaldi9037]

@@TheBioReef so they lost some color and some of the coral tips did have brownish algae on some times. Now they are starting to color up and encrust. Polyp extension is improving. Also I started two weeks ago using KZ Coral booster.

[@TheBioReef]

@@tommycristaldi9037 interesting - very good to know, thanks for sharing!

[@miguelwall2128]

Alkalinity swing!?

[@amcginnis1234]

A lot of fired ceramic or pottery products contain a high percentage of aluminum. So that could be frag plugs or potentially some pieces of equipment/etc.

[@TheBioReef]

interesting, thanks Andrew

[@marcosherrera675]

Do you think the aluminum is coming from the red sea salt? I've been using that same salt for a year. I did a icp test back in February. I didn't see high aluminum in my test results. But I did see a lack of iodine and other trace elements. So I started using red sea trace colors. I don't use it every day like I should because I don't completely trust triton . I think in part they try to sell you their method. But that'd just my opinion. But I do notice lower trace elements in red sea salt mix. I don't like changing salts if I can help it so I'm going to stick with the Blue bucket for now. My sps are doing well for now. They are incrusted but not growing upward yet. But they are not getting as much light as they should be getting so I'm not surprised. Keeping acans and low light lps in the same tank as high light acropora is a challenge for me but I try and find a balance as much as possible. Your tank looks beautiful bro. Nice work.

[@TheBioReef]

Thanks for the info Marcos. Yeah, I figured that it probably makes some sense for Red Sea to No having everything in their salt so you have to buy the other additives

[@rolisreefranch]

I've had high aluminum due to running phosguard (which is aluminum based) with no ill results. It was 10 times BioReefs level as determined by ICP, gradually reducing over time and waterchanges.

[@acidtester303]

Do you use gfo , if so maybe the rap8d drop in phosphates caused the burnt tips

[@TheBioReef]

Nope don’t run gfo

[@eddyortiz8110]

I'm thinking your tank was beginning to be steady and stable,being a fairly new Reef and then boom the storm throws a wrench in that stability just freaked everyone out,it will bounce back and water changes is a good idea. I tell ppl in freshwater plants, once you plant it? Do Not Move it!! It will just ruin them ,I know its completely different but same idea. ✌💜🐟

[@TheBioReef]

Thanks Eddy!

[@MereReef]

When i kept acros i had them in 80X water flow i felt like i needed even more but if you notice your LPS are blwoing around too much they can get stressed. When you get those brown tips etc which ive had i dosed hydrogen peroxide incase it was a disease of some kind i dosed every day at night when algea was at its weakest and the corals over time recovered and grew tissue where it was lost..

[@TheBioReef]

Thanks for the tips!

[@ceippert]

I like that coral at 7 seconds.. 3 branches and red yellow orange look. What is that ?

[@TheBioReef]

RR Magma 🔥

[@lincolntowns1480]

Could too low of par cause these symptoms? I’m having similar problems

[@kenedicharco5963]

I just had a question. My sps coral is bleached almost completely. Only the very tips have any sign of life. Would fraging the branches be beneficial or should I just wait if it jumps back? Any advice would be helpful

[@TheBioReef]

Not a bad idea. I try to frag off healthy branches tips when I see signs of a problem. It may not do anything, but you are not risking much

[@andrewsdrmike]

I finally found a big piece of Miyagi tort!

[@TheBioReef]

nice! congrats

[@reefone6591]

Not really convinced that the Al concentration was the culprit for the burn tips and algae growing in the coral tips; sounds more a PAR or high Alk issue to me.

[@TheBioReef]

Thanks Felix. Yeah hard to really know what caused this. Probably a combination of little things that made the sps unhappy

[@colinmccallum6425]

Guy on a UK Facebook group was having problems in his tank,turns out his brute bin was leaching zinc

[@TheBioReef]

interesting! will have to re look at my ICP tests

[@robertpoorman3592]

would poly filter help remove the aluminim

[@TheBioReef]

I just checked and it does... will be looking to get some... thanks for the tip man!

[@robertpoorman3592]

@@TheBioReef no problem bro! im a long time fan of your stream

[@TheBioReef]

@@robertpoorman3592 awesome, thanks Robert

[@TattooedDancer91]

I really think you should switch your traces over to Tropic Marin, so you get your iodine et all. It's the easiest complete Trace element dosing :)

[@TheBioReef]

will have to check out this product... so its one bottle with all the trace elements in their proper ratios ?

[@TattooedDancer91]

@@TheBioReef It's two bottles, in ratio yes. You can mix them into your A and B so they don't require more dosing pumps. Or do it manually if you want. Concentration depends on what A and B you use. If you use something weird, it's best to contact TM and have them calculate for you. :)

[@TheBioReef]

@@TattooedDancer91 thanks for the tip!

[@mxrider887]

What is that group of damsel looking fish?

[@TheBioReef]

they are threadfin cardinals - lovely (and super inexpensive) schooling fish

[@recif_conde]

Aluminium can leach out of bioballs or artificicial rocks. the are used as a electrostatic source to attract microscopic organisms. the aluminium detected in icp is usually not dangerous. I suspect your burnt tips is due to potassium , try to keep it below the calcium levels. This causes burnt tips. are you dosing potassium or lygol? I am active on instagram if you need any more info on this :) cheers

[@TheBioReef]

interesting... i wonder if the aluminum is from my dry rock. i do dose Kn03 is i probably why my K is a bit elevated, but i didnt' think that 430 ppm K would be bad. but Calcium was near 400. I did order lygol for the iodine dosing. I am hoping to test the tank again in a week after my corrective actions have taken effect. thanks for the tip!

[@recif_conde]

@@TheBioReef Potassium and calium are close elements in periodic table. When potassium is more readily available than calcium it gets invovled in calcification process. The new growth is always in the tips, and that is what gets burnt. Easier way is to increase calcium levels to more than potassium and your problems solved, and give it time to stabilize. :)

[@TheBioReef]

@@recif_conde interesting, thanks for the tip!

[@hvalentino9573]

Hi guys have the same issue with aluminum... how do we get rid of it? polyfilter will work?

[@CoralEuphoria]

Interesting the Canadians having trouble at the same time. 🤔 Bioreef: Burnt tips Treasure Corals: Rusty pump Reef dudes: Torches receding Are Americans next?

[@TheBioReef]

Hahaha - some kind of global attack on North American reefs :)

[@CoralEuphoria]

@@TheBioReef queue the x files music

[@TheBioReef]

@@CoralEuphoria 😅

[@rolisreefranch]

@@CoralEuphoria sounds like another one of your academy award winning coral video intro's... lol

[@opethmike]

KENNY THE BLENNY!!!!!!!

[@TheBioReef]

Do you think Kenny is FXXXXXX with my sps when i am not looking 😅🤣😂

[@opethmike]

@@TheBioReef Kenny Fs with what he wants when he wants lol

[@TheBioReef]

@@opethmike Kenny / I don’t usually f with corals, but when I do, I prefer to f with SPS 😂

[@opethmike]

@@TheBioReef My lady lawnmower, Ms. Peck Peck, would like to know if Kenny is single.

[@TheBioReef]

@@opethmike 😂Kenny does not believe in monogamous relationships - only casual sex

[@justdabubbletip1452]

So nitrates are zero…

[@TheBioReef]

Yep they were

[@Reefahholic]

Are you on Facebook?

[@TheBioReef]

I am ‘Bio Reef’

[@Reefahholic]

@@TheBioReef I’m gonna send you a request.

[@jamesfoster947]

Biggest red flag is zero nitrates. You have really high flow and PAR, can’t run zero nitrates, corals need nutrients. Your system is supercharged for coral growth. Keeping nitrates higher keeps corals tissue healthier and will protect them from other param swings. You never mentioned ph that I recall. Ph fluctuations or low ph can definitely cause this issue.

[@PhongHuynh0981314893]

Too low nutrient and not feeding enough.