Think I Realized What the Deal is.

paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Okay so my montipora cap is now showing signs of bleaching, after being in the same spot for 5 months. It was growing so fast, and then I started seeing a green tint on one area of it, and the color progressively fading. I moved it higher in the tank in an attempt to save it but we'll see.
Today 2 frags of monti digitata are coming and Ive been stressing over what could be the SPS-killer in my tank. Ive come down to just not enough light. I mean, its a 150 watt DE metal halide. Its a 24 gallon aquapod, so its not like its too deep. The sps in the tank Ive usually put a little to the side from the center, maybe theyre just not getting enough light exposure?
Thoughts?
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by paintballer768
http:///forum/post/2664952
Okay so my montipora cap is now showing signs of bleaching, after being in the same spot for 5 months. It was growing so fast, and then I started seeing a green tint on one area of it, and the color progressively fading. I moved it higher in the tank in an attempt to save it but we'll see.
Today 2 frags of monti digitata are coming and Ive been stressing over what could be the SPS-killer in my tank. Ive come down to just not enough light. I mean, its a 150 watt DE metal halide. Its a 24 gallon aquapod, so its not like its too deep. The sps in the tank Ive usually put a little to the side from the center, maybe theyre just not getting enough light exposure?
Thoughts?
How are your params? Calc, mag, dKH specifically.... what type of salt do you use? What is your water change regiment? Temp? There's more to it than lighting.
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Just tested the tank.
Ammo - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - <5
pH - 8.2 (lights came on almost 3 hrs ago)
Calcium - 440
Alkalinity - 3.2 meq/L (possibly higher because its a color comparison chart)
EDIT: Just saw a chart online and according to that, my dKH is about 9.
I havent tested for magnesium ever.
Water change regiment is anywhere from 10-15 gallons every 1 to week and a half.
Temp is running constant at 76.
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Originally Posted by PerfectDark
http:///forum/post/2664985
Hows the flow? They like a ton of flow. Moving it can cause added stress too.

Lemme take a picture of this splitter thing I got at the LFS. It has the same effect as putting your thumb over the exit of a hose type of thing, but a few of them. Its very good flow in the tank, Im not really worried about that.
The reason why I thought lighting is because its a single bulb, and Ive been putting my SPS on the sides of the tank (not too far over, but off center definitely).
 
smokingreefer

smokingreefer

Member
50% water change seems like a lot to do every week.
I would definitely make sure it is getting enough flow. I have mine sitting in front of a hydor 2 and directly under a 250mh...doing nice so far
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Originally Posted by smokingreefer
http:///forum/post/2665430
50% water change seems like a lot to do every week.
I would definitely make sure it is getting enough flow. I have mine sitting in front of a hydor 2 and directly under a 250mh...doing nice so far

When looking at my tank from the front, the flow goes in a clockwise motion. Its definitely getting great flow, the best spot in the tank for flow. The frags of digitata arrived today and look beautiful so I hope itll hold.
Next time I get water change water Ill test it first to see (this weekend Im getting more water). If that turns out to be the source of my problems, what do you all suggest I do?
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
definitely not the light unless you have bad bulbs, but it doesnt sounds like it.
i have 2x150w on a 65g which is 24" deep. my sps are in the top half or so of the tank and are doing very very well.
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Originally Posted by GatorWPB
http:///forum/post/2665859
definitely not the light unless you have bad bulbs, but it doesnt sounds like it.
i have 2x150w on a 65g which is 24" deep. my sps are in the top half or so of the tank and are doing very very well.
I dont think I have bad bulbs either. In July Im going to buy a Phoenix 14k bulb for it because I heard theyre very nice.
I totally forgot to mention, but there was some salt buildup on the glass cover, between the bulb and the water surface. I took it down and scraped it off and the glass looks good as new. Hopefully thatll help.
The montipora is basically lost I think. Still has plenty of polyps, but some algae is growing on it now. Ill attach a picture in a bit, its on the other computer.
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
Do you test for phospates? That could be another issue as well. I know that a lot of people run their temps a little higher than that as well. I don't know that the temp is causing it to bleach, just a thought.
 
privatejoker

privatejoker

Member
You may have monti eating nundies as well. You can keep the monti just trim off the areas that algae and keep the rest. My cap died in a few places from direct flow and its starting to grow back over the dead area.
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Originally Posted by cmaxwell39
http:///forum/post/2666429
Do you test for phospates? That could be another issue as well. I know that a lot of people run their temps a little higher than that as well. I don't know that the temp is causing it to bleach, just a thought.
I dont test for phosphates. Every 3 months or so I add a SeaChem Phosguard, which is supposed to remove them from the water. Last time I did one was a month or two ago.
And for the temp, the halides dont even raise the water temp so Im kind of happy for now. In the summer, we run the house at 81 in the day, so that with halides should heat it up a little during the daytime hours.
Originally Posted by privatejoker
http:///forum/post/2666471
You may have monti eating nundies as well. You can keep the monti just trim off the areas that algae and keep the rest. My cap died in a few places from direct flow and its starting to grow back over the dead area.
I doubt I have those. Ive seen it at night looking for other predators and havent seen anything on the monti. I might frag it and see but honestly its quite small to frag.
 
veni vidi vici

veni vidi vici

Active Member
Originally Posted by paintballer768
http:///forum/post/2664952
Okay so my montipora cap is now showing signs of bleaching, after being in the same spot for 5 months. It was growing so fast, and then I started seeing a green tint on one area of it, and the color progressively fading. I moved it higher in the tank in an attempt to save it but we'll see.
Today 2 frags of monti digitata are coming and Ive been stressing over what could be the SPS-killer in my tank. Ive come down to just not enough light. I mean, its a 150 watt DE metal halide. Its a 24 gallon aquapod, so its not like its too deep. The sps in the tank Ive usually put a little to the side from the center, maybe theyre just not getting enough light exposure?
Thoughts?
If its been fine for 5 months,same place ,same flow and the light bulbs are still fairly new i would look into water quality.Maybe time to change RO/DI filters ,membrane ,resin.... or you may have a pesky crab....Ive lost frags due to a crab picking at it.
Try checking TDS off of your RO or RO/DI and also phosphates.
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
http:///forum/post/2667137
If its been fine for 5 months,same place ,same flow and the light bulbs are still fairly new i would look into water quality.Maybe time to change RO/DI filters ,membrane ,resin.... or you may have a pesky crab....Ive lost frags due to a crab picking at it.
Try checking TDS off of your RO or RO/DI and also phosphates.
I now moved it a few inches higher, and across the tank. Theres more flow in this new area, and hopefully a pinch more PAR value. I know next month Im going to be buying a new bulb and I think it would be smart to invest in a phosphate meter, but I dont want to spend a fortune on one. Ill do some shopping around.
On the flip side, the digitata frags are beautiful and look to be adapting well to the new tank conditions.
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
This just hit me like a sack of bricks. Being the aquapod and such a small system, I think Ive been adding topoff water a bit too fast. I use distilled, and I add it to the back chamber with the pump in it, and usually I just add it and forget about it, but the past two days Ive been trickling it in the tank.
Is it possible that the low salinity water (the site where the distilled and saltwater are stabilizing out) is getting pumped around the tank before its done becoming normal salinity levels, and hurting my monti cap? That would explain why the acro died, because its got such close flow to the DT water entrance splitter.
 
veni vidi vici

veni vidi vici

Active Member
Originally Posted by paintballer768
http:///forum/post/2667379
This just hit me like a sack of bricks. Being the aquapod and such a small system, I think Ive been adding topoff water a bit too fast. I use distilled, and I add it to the back chamber with the pump in it, and usually I just add it and forget about it, but the past two days Ive been trickling it in the tank.
Is it possible that the low salinity water (the site where the distilled and saltwater are stabilizing out) is getting pumped around the tank before its done becoming normal salinity levels, and hurting my monti cap? That would explain why the acro died, because its got such close flow to the DT water entrance splitter.
I doubt it.
 
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