SPS question

[christyf5]

Interesting, I had this problem as well earlier this year. Just the tips were affected and I noticed on a couple of corals that I accidentally brushed up against that the tips were very crumbly not hard like they should have been. I also noticed that if I broke the tips off just to where the tissue was they'd heal up pretty quickly but then later on other ones would have the same issue. I can't remember what I chalked it up to at the time, low alk perhaps. Never thought of potassium but I think I might get a kit just to scope it out even though I'm not having the issues now.

I did add a bucket of Seachem into the mix at some point after this happened, maybe it has better K+ levels than IO on its own.

[Oceanic]

Seachem reef salt does have higher K+ than Instant Ocean. IME most peoples tanks are somewhat K+ deprived when using certain salts and nutrient reduction systems.

I highly recommend the KZ Kalium test kit even though it can be hard to read sometimes. Using ZEOvit Pohl's K-Balance STRONG Potassium is what I use to raise the potasium.

Originally Posted by christyf5

Interesting, I had this problem as well earlier this year. Just the tips were affected and I noticed on a couple of corals that I accidentally brushed up against that the tips were very crumbly not hard like they should have been. I also noticed that if I broke the tips off just to where the tissue was they'd heal up pretty quickly but then later on other ones would have the same issue. I can't remember what I chalked it up to at the time, low alk perhaps. Never thought of potassium but I think I might get a kit just to scope it out even though I'm not having the issues now.

I did add a bucket of Seachem into the mix at some point after this happened, maybe it has better K+ levels than IO on its own.

[niloc16]

thanks for the input guys. i never thought of potassium i need to get a kit. low nutrients! wow and i keep getting told i've over stocked the fish.

ph 8.0
mg 1380
ca 500
dkh 10
po4 slightly detectable with elos kit
no3 undetectable

i run a big bag of carbon all the time and i also run the phosban reactor full of rowaphos all the time. both are changed out roughly once a month or when i remember

the thing that sucks is that my favorite pieces of the ones effected, as usual!

[Ya Dude]

as precaution i would turn off carbon + phos ban for now

[Ya Dude]

also if you dont use Zeo theres no need to test for K
zeoliths are the cause of potassium depletion

[Reefer Rob]

With all those fish in your tank it's definitely not a lack of nutrients. Burnt growth tips could be a sign of iodine depletion.

[Snappy]

Originally Posted by Ya Dude

also if you dont use Zeo theres no need to test for K
zeoliths are the cause of potassium depletion

I don't disagree that the zeolite depletes potasium but corals do use it and if you don't replenish it you may have problems in a well stocked sps tank. I don't run zeo but still dose with Kbalance daily and I think it makes quite a difference in the overall health of my corals. I also dose iodine, strontium and several other trace elements.
Colin, there are so many variables to what the cause could be, whether it's one thing or a bunch combined it's hard for us to tell here. I would give some hard thought as to what may have changed in your routine, etc. If that isn't the case I would test as many parameters as possible and see where that takes you. How old are the cartridges for your RO and when was the membrane last changed? Also why are you running carbon 24/7? Do you have a lot of softies and LPS in your system? If not the carbon is probably just pulling out some trace elements, etc. If you are skimming heavy I doubt you need the rowaphos unless you're seeing an algae build up. It's not always easy to get the right balance but sps still needs some nutrients to thrive.

[Oceanic]

MY TURN!!




I agree, you don't have to run Zeolites to be low in potasium, any tank can be low in potasium for a number of reasons. The potasium may never get as low as a zeovit tank; however, the levels may still get low enough in combination with another low or missing element causing issues such as tip regression. Iodine is also another idea and is easily fixed. I dose two drops of Lugols every monday and friday to keep some free iodine available for the corals.

I run carbon passivly in a filter sock and works perfectly. Using carbon in a reactor can be too aggressive if run 24/7 with a high flow rate.

Originally Posted by Snappy

I don't disagree that the zeolite depletes potasium but corals do use it and if you don't replenish it you may have problems in a well stocked sps tank. I don't run zeo but still dose with Kbalance daily and I think it makes quite a difference in the overall health of my corals. I also dose iodine, strontium and several other trace elements.
Colin, there are so many variables to what the cause could be, whether it's one thing or a bunch combined it's hard for us to tell here. I would give some hard thought as to what may have changed in your routine, etc. If that isn't the case I would test as many parameters as possible and see where that takes you. How old are the cartridges for your RO and when was the membrane last changed? Also why are you running carbon 24/7? Do you have a lot of softies and LPS in your system? If not the carbon is probably just pulling out some trace elements, etc. If you are skimming heavy I doubt you need the rowaphos unless you're seeing an algae build up. It's not always easy to get the right balance but sps still needs some nutrients to thrive.

[Chin_Lee]

I had problems awhile back when I forgot to dose my iodine weekly. I started again and whenever I dose with iodine i get a good reaction of expansion with my softies. I also use Lugols and I'm too cheap to get an iodine test kit. So I've been dosing 3-4 drops of Lugols every week to 600g of water volume. One tank is heavy LPS and another tank is heavy SPS.
Oceanic - whats your water volume to Lugol drops ratio?