SPS Browning tips need some advice

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#1
So guys im having issues again with Brown tips on some my SPS. I have a 90gl cube and i do 15gl water changes every week. Maybe im doing to much water in a change.
I use red sea regular salt and it mixes at about 8.1dkh.
My parameters are as followed
NO3 1 - 2 ppm
PO4 0.02 maybe less barely changes color on red sea test.
CA. 380ppm
Alk 7.3 DKH
MG 1380
Nitri - 0
ammonia 0
I run the small brs reactor with mainly carbon in it but some GFO mixed.
Also have a fuge with Calurpa growing.
I Dont believe it to be ALK since my water change water is only 8.1 but maybe it could be since im doing more than 10% water change. maybe i should only start doing 10gl ??
Or could it be that maybe i used a bit to much GFO since i did change that out last time.
Not 100% sure what do you guys think.
 
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#2
IME browning is usually related to higher phosphate levels.

If you are able to grow calurpra and have it not go sexual you do have nitrate and phosphate present.

Also, an alk of 7.3 is on the low side. That would be a cause of concern for me. I would dose to get that up to at least 8, and figure out how much you need to dose to make sure that number is never below 8. You might need daily dosing if your system demands it.

To low of alk will cause problems as well, but IME usually bleaching before browning.

HTH
 
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#3
higher alk was giving me way more problems before since my system a fairly low on nutrients. Someone else said i might be starving the corals. The suggested removing the GFO and seeing what happens from there since i barely get any change when doing the phosphate test.
 
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#4
I second pledosophys comment on alk being too low which can cause a low ph, making the environment too acidic for any marine animal. My understanding is that an sps dominant tank should have an alk of 10 & above. Also noticed that CA is low too. Here’s a publication from Red Sea that might help a bit:
https://www.redseafish.com/blog/enhanced-coloration-or-accelerated-growth/

Would also help to take a look at temps, flow, lighting, any trace elements that are dosed into the tank & an inspection of all equipment to make sure everything is grounded. Sometimes a problem comes from a place that is least expected. Hopefully it helps & good luck.
 
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#7
Do the tips look dead?
No not really still have growth on some of my sps, coraline seems to be dying out and getting lighter also. its weird. i reduced the GFO i had in reactor and provably going to try to do only 10gl water change this week. seems like after last water change the tips got worst. I serisouly dont think is lighting as im running reebreeders LED at max output 55 % on blue and 10 on whites, corals where growing and doing fine before the last couple weeks. SO im thinking im starving them.
 

TwoFish

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#9
What's your par? Could be a lighting issue too low. Aim for an average of 250 and keep nitrates around 1-5ppm and phosphates at less than 0.1 but not zero. Alk seems too low imo. Try to match your salt. For my tank a simple filter pad and skimmer with live rock seems to keep my acros happy and colorful. Try to skim more wet and see if that helps but only change one thing at a time for a few weeks so you know if its working or not
 
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#10
What's your par? Could be a lighting issue too low. Aim for an average of 250 and keep nitrates around 1-5ppm and phosphates at less than 0.1 but not zero. Alk seems too low imo. Try to match your salt. For my tank a simple filter pad and skimmer with live rock seems to keep my acros happy and colorful. Try to skim more wet and see if that helps but only change one thing at a time for a few weeks so you know if its working or not
not sure what par is but everything has been fine just took a turn a couple weeks ago, i actually just got reagents for my hannah chcker and turns out po4 is actuallyhigh so it might be that. im working on it.
 

TwoFish

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#11
Nutrients were probably haywire. Keep the ratio stable and the tank should level itself as long as you don't change anything with food or filtration.
 
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#12
well i think i may have found the issue, turns out my APEX temp probe lost calibration, the actual temp in the tank was down to about 74f' I slowly been bringing it back up to 78 and everything is starting to look good again. i added a second temp probe just to keep an eye on everything better.
 
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#13
I tested my tank last night and my p04 is .14 that is not high. A couple of my tips browned out on me when I had alk running at 9.8 my calcium reactor caused alk to jump almost 1 dkh. Browning tips in my cases have always been do to alk burn which high lighting par, low nutrients, and higher alk has always been my issues when browning.
 

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