Quote:
Originally Posted by pinkreef
do you use vertex?
thats the one they are using in the particular tank. may be a fluke
but it is happenning since they added the vertex biopellets in a reactor
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What's in there now is 100% the Bulk Reef Supply brand, though for about a year before this all started there was a blend of Bulk reef supply and Vertex in there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StirCrazy
why would "sps guys" purposly keep a low alk tank, alk is one of the main building blocks in coral growth, if anything we would tand to keep it higher.
I agree with Brad, that swing over weeks isn't a factor, but what was you max alk level or do you know. I have seen big tanks done in by Alk burn but it wasn't realy fromt he level just going to high, but rather the Alk up powder not being mixed properly and landing on the corals. kinda looks like the tips start to melt and get stringy. I tried to find some pictures of the sump/dosing set up you have to see the locations you add your stuff, but couldn't find any. you young kids put so much stuff into your tanks now days it makes it hard anyways, GFO, Bioballs, ect....
also another thing is temp, it will do the same thing, have you had any spikes laitly? here is a pic of what temp did to my tank years ago
it started out with just the tips like an Alk burn then the rest started slughing off here was the end result.
Steve
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Those pictures made me feel sick. I would have quit if that happened to me, though I'm headed there just in much slower motion. My Apex logs the temp of my tank but it only stores 7 days at a stretch, I try and download it at least once a week, but I've got a couple of gaps in the month of April. My the highest temp I've got a record for since the beginning of April was 26.5 and my lowest temp was 25.00. It only got up to 26.5 once on a sunny day when I wasn't home so all the windows in the house were closed and my cleaning lady closed all 4 upper cabinet doors (I usually leave the office side doors open to keep my radions cool).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reef Pilot
Also... hope it is not your cowfish getting a taste of your corals, and then chewing on the SPS tips when he gets hungry...
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I'm gonna be real honest, he's definitely started doing that to one colony that's been pretty hard hit by all of this and he's not helping at all. However, his chew marks are very distinctive looking, and very different from what's happening to the rest of the corals. When he bites it he leaves the tips looking crushed and tapered, and he's only been biting the tips of that one colony. While growth tips on the rest of them are dying, the skeleton underneath isn't damaged, and in many places there will still be a little bit of tissue right at the tip while a ring around it will die (or just a small chunk of tissue on every single corallite cup will die, making it look like it's been raked over a cheese grater). Most of my stag corals are also losing whole patches of tissue at random places along the branches, in places his mouth couldn't reach if he tried. I work from home right next to the tank as well, so I'm pretty sure I'd see him doing it it if he was causing this much damage.
That one coral he nibbles on handled it no problem before this all started because it's huge and he preferentially chews on one or two branches, but at this point it's half dead. The two issues working together are going to send it over the edge I'm pretty sure. If I could find a good home for this fish, I'd do it, but alas no one seems to want a 10", definitely not reef safe cowfish lol.
I picked up a poly-filter pad and put it against a baffle in my sump so that 100% of the water in my tank has to flow through it. I'm not sure how much heavy metal there needs to be in the water to cause a noticeable colour change, but we'll see what it looks like tomorrow.