What parameters are major SPS bleachers????

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#1
I am still having trouble with water parameters to keep SPS. My first few starter frags have bleached and having trouble pinpointing the issue. Right now my temp is stabile, ph good, salinity 1.24, nitrates 20ppm, and low phos. Also my alkalinity is good. Any ideas what might be bothering the coral? Could increasing or decreasing salinity a point or two after water changes bleach? I noticed my salinity was a little low and increased it on Sunday and now I notice the bleaching. Any ideas would be helpful.
 
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#2
Your tank isn't "perfect" with the nitrates and phos, but you should still be able to keep some beginner sps. The salinity change is a little drastic. I keep mine at 1.025-1.026. What's your alk and calcium at? Also what lights and settings? Have a pic of the tank?
 
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#4
Nitrates & phosphate a big no-no!! Lol
Wrong I can't speak for nitrates cause every time I've tested mine they were undetectable. But I do know the newest craze is people dosing nitrates.
But for phosphates
See this red planet

Right there in that pic my po4 was some where in between 0.36 and 0.64 as of a Red Sea test kit.
My sps looked the best when my po4 was at its highest.
Even now your seeing a lot of long time reefs saying phosphates aren't as bad as we have all been told.
 
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#5
Wrong I can't speak for nitrates cause every time I've tested mine they were undetectable. But I do know the newest craze is people dosing nitrates.
But for phosphates
See this red planet

Right there in that pic my po4 was some where in between 0.36 and 0.64 as of a Red Sea test kit.
My sps looked the best when my po4 was at its highest.
Even now your seeing a lot of long time reefs saying phosphates aren't as bad as we have all been told.
Speaking for myself, that's not the case!! I have a few sticks in my tank and they did not start doing well until my nitrates & phosphates were practically gone. They looked like sh!t for a long time until I started running GFO, now they are looking better them ever!
 
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#6
Speaking for myself, that's not the case!! I have a few sticks in my tank and they did not start doing well until my nitrates & phosphates were practically gone. They looked like sh!t for a long time until I started running GFO, now they are looking better them ever!
Gotcha but my tank was way dif. Here was my ASD rainbow milli when my po4 was at its highest

Here it's was when my po4 got down to 0.08

Also my growth was way better with high phosphates. This was that same asd milli a little over 4 months before that first pic
 
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#7
Gotcha but my tank was way dif. Here was my ASD rainbow milli when my po4 was at its highest

Here it's was when my po4 got down to 0.08

Also my growth was way better with high phosphates. This was that same asd milli a little over 4 months before that first pic
I have a garf bonsai that was looking like crap! bout 2 months after I got the GFO going I started noticing it looking a lot better, now about 5 months later running the GFO its looking awesome!! Best polyp extension & color I've had on it since I got it, I was a bit concerned for my zoas though being how they are know to like a bit of nitrates but the end result has been the same. I think I'm getting better growth now as well
 

Smite

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#8
I've read about people have amazing tanks with insane phosphate levels. Great color and growth. I haven't seen one with nitrates all the way at 20ppm. Usually over 10, your not going to have much success.

Also you didn't mention your lighting schedule.

Get an ato, salinity swings aren't good for anything in the tank.
 
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#9
+1 on lighting.

Maybe [MENTION=4195]Emac909[/MENTION] has killer lighting schedule/equip that his sps flourish under And they can stand the po4 and nitrates. Conversely maybe [MENTION=7881]Greaser9999[/MENTION] has a lighting schedule/equip that causes slower growth and corals are more affected by the water parameters.

What test kits are you guys using. Red Sea vs. salifert or ATI? You could test your own tank with 3 different kits and not get even close to the same measurements.

Interested to know because I too haven't been successful with sps but lps isn't a problem at all.
 
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+1 on lighting.

Maybe [MENTION=4195]Emac909[/MENTION] has killer lighting schedule/equip that his sps flourish under And they can stand the po4 and nitrates. Conversely maybe [MENTION=7881]Greaser9999[/MENTION] has a lighting schedule/equip that causes slower growth and corals are more affected by the water parameters.

What test kits are you guys using. Red Sea vs. salifert or ATI? You could test your own tank with 3 different kits and not get even close to the same measurements.

Interested to know because I too haven't been successful with sps but lps isn't a problem at all.
I run a 4bulbs T-5 fixture with built in timer, run 2 ATI blue+ for 12hr and 1coral+ and purple for 7hr I believe, don't remember exact light schedule. I have a salifert test kit for phosphates, ATI for nitrates. This is actually the first time I'm having somewhat success with sticks, I bought a few others and placed them in the same rock next to the bonsai and hoping for the same outcome!!
 
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+1 on lighting.

Maybe [MENTION=4195]Emac909[/MENTION] has killer lighting schedule/equip that his sps flourish under And they can stand the po4 and nitrates. Conversely maybe [MENTION=7881]Greaser9999[/MENTION] has a lighting schedule/equip that causes slower growth and corals are more affected by the water parameters.

What test kits are you guys using. Red Sea vs. salifert or ATI? You could test your own tank with 3 different kits and not get even close to the same measurements.

Interested to know because I too haven't been successful with sps but lps isn't a problem at all.
I was running gen 1 radion at 100% 10 hours a day. With 1 hour ramp up and down. So the lights were on 12 a day. All my text kits r the Red Sea pro bla bla bla. But like i did say I could never detect any nitrates at all. So that may b a key factor with high phosphates
 

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#13
It seems that alk, ca, nitrates, phosphates and lights all combine for a healthy tank full of sps. More intense lights with higher alk, higher nitrates and phosphates and the reverse with less intense lights have been suggested but nothing really proves that . I believe tanks find their happy zone and are unique upon themselves. Some of the factors that provide uniqueness are likely DOC's (dissolved organic compounds) and bacteria both total amount and perhaps types or strains.

As to specifics of the op, ideally you want salinity, alk, nitrates and phosphates in a pretty narrow range. The key word is stability. It really requires frequent and consistent testing. Testing is a pain and test kits are hobbyist grade and questionably reliable and accurate. But test kits and observation is the best we have. I like Hanna checkers for alk and ultr low phosphorous. Salifert for nitrates or Red Sea pro. Buy a good refractometer like Veegee and make sure you purchase a calibrating standard solution (35ppt) for it. An ATO helps with keeping salinity dialed in. A doser or calcium reactor helps with alk and calcium. Chiller, fan and heater for temperature control. Adequate pumps for flow, sps need good flow. Lights and a lighting schedule that will provide adequate light without frying corals. Want to make sure you are also using good RO/DI water.
 

xthunderx

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#14
A few easy ways to bleach SPS:

1. Drop phosphates super fast.
Scenario: You haven't been keeping up with GFO, all of a sudden you realize you have high phosphates. Shoot! You add 2 cups of HC GFO, phosphates plummet. A few days later bam! Bleached corals.

2. Increase Clarity too quickly with Carbon
Scenario: You haven't been keeping up with carbon, you drop 2 cups of ROX carbon, all of a sudden your water is crystal clear. PAR jumps up significantly and BAM!

3. Switching bulbs
Scenario: You change bulbs, similar to above...new bulbs means increased PAR. BAM! Bleached corals.

Those are the 3 that I think are too often ignored, and it only has to happen to you once. You live, you learn.
 
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#15
A few easy ways to bleach SPS:

1. Drop phosphates super fast.
Scenario: You haven't been keeping up with GFO, all of a sudden you realize you have high phosphates. Shoot! You add 2 cups of HC GFO, phosphates plummet. A few days later bam! Bleached corals.

2. Increase Clarity too quickly with Carbon
Scenario: You haven't been keeping up with carbon, you drop 2 cups of ROX carbon, all of a sudden your water is crystal clear. PAR jumps up significantly and BAM!

3. Switching bulbs
Scenario: You change bulbs, similar to above...new bulbs means increased PAR. BAM! Bleached corals.

Those are the 3 that I think are too often ignored, and it only has to happen to you once. You live, you learn.
BAM!!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

ReefCartel

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#17
I think its the Alk swings that bleach the SPS. The phos and nitrates will always be there even when undetectable by the hobby test kits. The ups and down in Parameters that kill sps. Oh and also tank maturity level. The more mature the more stable.
 

russ13

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#18
I started to lose color in my SPS tank when I was first playing with bio pellets. My nitrates wouldn't even read on a test and I had zero algae in my tank. I started to lose color a few months in my guess was that I had almost no nitrate in my tank.maybe?? Not sure. I broke the tank down soon after that. It's quite possible I was using way to many pellets for my 30 gallon tank. On my current tank I'm going to try a few SPS but this time I'm dosing kalk. We shall see how it goes
 

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