Alk levels suggestions

[wowdude11]

Hey everyone.
I got two tanks running. First is my 40 gallon and my 130 gallon. My 40 gallon I have only put sps in there and my 130 has more of a mixed reef.

In my 40 gallon I’m using a 4 bulb t5 with blue+ and 2 ai prime 16.
My parameters seem pretty steady the last two month
Alk 7.4-7.6
Calcium 420-430
Phosphate .04-.06
Nitrate 12-15

All the above tested with Hanna. The salt I use is tropic marine pro.

Here is my issue, I have bought 10 sps for my 40 gallon 5/10 have survived. The same thing happens all the time. Tips turn white then a few hours later it’s a white skeleton. I have been doing some reading and from what I have gathered because the low alk and high Par (250-330) the tips die and so does the rest of the coral.

So my question is should I A)add alk and raise it to the 8-8.3 level ?
Or B) switch salts to something with higher alk in the 8+ range.

Anyone have suggestions or any advice I would appreciate it


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[joseserrano]

Check your Alk checker. Could be off, but coral peeling within the hour is much more concerning (Alk high or low wouldn’t do this), this sounds like a crazy contamination, off salinity, or temperature.

 

[BgFish]

Red Sea blue bucket is I believe 8.5 dkh.
But sounds like something else. Too intense lighting, salinity, temp, stray voltage - something. To die in a few hours seems odd to me even with too high par or too low alk.

 

[wowdude11]

Sorry I meant. Once I see the white tips a couple hours it’s dead. For example I had a asd milli for 2 weeks fully extended. One morning it had a white tip. End of day 90% of it dead


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[BgFish]

What do you keep your mag at?

how long has the 40 been running?

In my experience - usually burned tips are from too high alk like 9-10+Dkh. Also with too intense lighting.

check for rusting equipment or Stray voltage - could also be a cause. Good luck

 

[joseserrano]

Sorry I meant. Once I see the white tips a couple hours it’s dead. For example I had a asd milli for 2 weeks fully extended. One morning it had a white tip. End of day 90% of it dead


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My remarks still stand.

 

[wowdude11]

What do you keep your mag at?

how long has the 40 been running?

In my experience - usually burned tips are from too high alk like 9-10+Dkh. Also with too intense lighting.

check for rusting equipment or Stray voltage - could also be a cause. Good luck

The 40 gallon about 5 months.
How could I check for stray voltage.
I’ll be sending icp test tomorrow I guess that will tell me if something is rusting


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[sorinwilcox]

So what I have noticed, when you add new frag and or frag your coral, your alk goes up or down depending. And the consumption is thrown off. Depending if the frags are fresh cuts they have an easier chance or RTN and STN when being added to a new tank. The alk drops about one point for me with 8-10 frags.

I would say test before hand and after to see if there is a swing? Also this might occur over the next few days

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[joseserrano]

So what I have noticed, when you add new frag and or frag your coral, your alk goes up or down depending. And the consumption is thrown off. Depending if the frags are fresh cuts they have an easier chance or RTN and STN when being added to a new tank. The alk drops about one point for me with 8-10 frags.

I would say test before hand and after to see if there is a swing? Also this might occur over the next few days

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Add frags all the time. This is not it. What icp test are you using OP?

 

[wowdude11]

Ok so salinity I was using a Hanna checker. Recalibrated it’s reading 35.2. Used a refractometer and it’s 35. So I’m good on that.

I’ll by a salifert alk test kit tomorrow to compare.

Temp is always stable. My hydros control keeps everything within .8 degrees

Not sure how to test for stray voltage


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[joseserrano]

https://www.google.com/search?q=how...rium&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari