Acros no pe

[scotty333]

Guys,

I have about 10 acros that none show polyps , I have 8 montis that show half polyps and put a stylo frag in today that is all polyps straight sway

My last icp showed high barium (110, limit 10) and slight high silicates (300 , should be max 200)

Other than this my doc analysis showed total organics high .

Since that I’ve done water changes that total 65% volume of nsw

Params are
Params now are

Temp 26
Salinity 1.026
Ph 8.2
Kh 7
Calcium 400
Mag 1275
Phosphate 0.05
Nitrates 6.5
Orp 350

Lighting is minimum 350 par and max 450 , flow is 70-80 x volume with no direct flow , I can baste my rocks and nothing comes away

Filtration is skimmer , filter wool , carbon ( changed 2 weeks), dsb with caluerpa that’s not grown for last 2 weeks because there was some cyano which has now gone due to reduced photoperiod

I feed mysis, nori and 2 types of phyto

What am I doing wrong ? Anything I can try like reducing the light to see if the polyps reach out? I don’t know what I can do

 

[Solo McReefer]

Are they growing, putting on skeleton?

 

[scotty333]

One purple branching is growing , slowly

 

[scotty333]

This is the last icp and n-doc

Triton Lab Showroom - Explore this water test results and click on the image above.​

Someone wants to show you the water test results and shared this link to the evaluation. Click on the image above to explore the water test results.

Triton Lab Showroom - Explore this water test results and click on the image above.​

Someone wants to show you the water test results and shared this link to the evaluation. Click on the image above to explore the water test results.
Previous icp

Triton Lab Showroom - Explore this water test results and click on the image above.​

Someone wants to show you the water test results and shared this link to the evaluation. Click on the image above to explore the water test results.

 

[scotty333]

Tank shot

Been running 8 years but started again in march , full rescape and water changes


300 litre display
100 litre sump

 

[scotty333]

Fish list

Paid of clowns
Pair bangaiis
Mandarin
Pink and blue spot goby
Firefish
Bellus angel
Flame angel
Lemonpeel angel
Ruby head fairy wrasse
Mckoskers fairy wrasse
Leopard wrasse
Melaniarus wrasse
Half black mimic tang
Regal tang

Loads of snails, crabs , urchin, starfish

I recently got rid of a fox face as I caught him biting my plating monti but never saw him near an acro

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Flame and lemon peel angel never nip?

 

[scotty333]

Flame and lemon peel angel never nip?

No
Lemon peel just added 2 days ago

 

[scotty333]

More info

I’m running 7 doser heads ,

Triton Core 7 base elements
Vodka ( not running yet while water changes)
Lanthium chloride ( not running yet while water changes)
Iodine ( not running yet while water changes)
Head 8 will be Red Sea ab+ once I’ve dialed in my lanthium chloride

 

[PeterErc]

Check the acro for white or red bugs

 

[ReefStable]

The first question I'll ask is what kind of PAR do you have on the acros you're looking at?

The next thing I would do up up the flow. I am running 2 MP40s and a Jaebo Gyre in a 40 Breeder for my acros. Flow is one of the biggest keys to polyp extension.

The toughest battles I see in your tank are:
1) You're running a mixed reef. So if you crank the par up to where acros are happiest, and amp up the flow to the same, you may lose a lot of other coral such as the Leathers or chalice.

2) There is a LOT of hair algae. And while the algae itself isn't a problem, that indicates high Nitrate/Phosphate levels. This may also play a part.

Largely, I'm a fan of the "Back to the Basics" idea. 80% or more of the problems seem to be solved with stability and proper environment.

Now, that said, you may have to simply say "good enough" if you want to keep a mixed reef. My Euphillia tank is 210 gallons and has less flow than my 40 breeder for the acros. My goni and mushroom 34g only has an MP10 at about half strength. It's all about setting up the right environment or accepting the best you can do for everything when kept together.

I know it's not the simple "fix this" Answer you were hoping for, but it's the best answer I can provide.

 

[scotty333]

Check the acro for white or red bugs

All clean mate

 

[scotty333]

The first question I'll ask is what kind of PAR do you have on the acros you're looking at?

The next thing I would do up up the flow. I am running 2 MP40s and a Jaebo Gyre in a 40 Breeder for my acros. Flow is one of the biggest keys to polyp extension.

The toughest battles I see in your tank are:
1) You're running a mixed reef. So if you crank the par up to where acros are happiest, and amp up the flow to the same, you may lose a lot of other coral such as the Leathers or chalice.

2) There is a LOT of hair algae. And while the algae itself isn't a problem, that indicates high Nitrate/Phosphate levels. This may also play a part.

Largely, I'm a fan of the "Back to the Basics" idea. 80% or more of the problems seem to be solved with stability and proper environment.

Now, that said, you may have to simply say "good enough" if you want to keep a mixed reef. My Euphillia tank is 210 gallons and has less flow than my 40 breeder for the acros. My goni and mushroom 34g only has an MP10 at about half strength. It's all about setting up the right environment or accepting the best you can do for everything when kept together.

I know it's not the simple "fix this" Answer you were hoping for, but it's the best answer I can provide.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate your help here.

Couple of things to mention here, I’ve already stated in my original post that they’re recieving between 350-450 par so as far as I’m aware that’s ok , I checked the par at the lfs of each acro I bought and tried to replicate that, some were under 550 which I can’t achieve as I’m already at 100%

As for flow, well I have experimented with a monti digi frag from my colony in various locations like lower level and higher flow but makes no difference so I’m on the fence with that reason
And yes your right, my euphyllias wont appreciate ramping up my flow

I don’t have a single strand of hair or other algae currently so I don’t know where you’re looking but it’s not my tank picture.
I did 3 months ago have it before I added my acros ( 2 months 6-7 and 3-4 like 4-6 weeks ago)

My params are also listed but to save you scrolling I’ll put them again, 6.5ppm no3 and .05 po4
Po4 never rises past 0.1 or nitrates higher than 10

I’m not dismissing that for you you have success with flow being the main goal but I feel it’s not in my case

Thanks
Paul

 

[Ancient Mariner]

I take it you are checking for PE like at 2-3AM long after lights are out.

Some acros show PE more than others. And early in my reef tank development PE wasn’t present or prominent on the acros. As my tank matured (year 5 currently) PE has been more noticeable but mainly when I turn on the lights during my frequent bouts of insomnia. Some acros have very small polyps that are easily missed.

I will say as long as your Montipora/Stylophora/Pocillapora are growing with PE, stay the course. You may/will lose some acro frags but with time they too will thrive and show you PE everyone wants to see.

Your tank looks great. And despite being 8 years old, I would start the maturation clock on the restart date of March. I will guess that by next March your acros will be thriving.

 

[scotty333]

I take it you are checking for PE like at 2-3AM long after lights are out.

Some acros show PE more than others. And early in my reef tank development PE wasn’t present or prominent on the acros. As my tank matured (year 5 currently) PE has been more noticeable but mainly when I turn on the lights during my frequent bouts of insomnia. Some acros have very small polyps that are easily missed.

I will say as long as your Montipora/Stylophora/Pocillapora are growing with PE, stay the course. You may/will lose some acro frags but with time they too will thrive and show you PE everyone wants to see.

Your tank looks great. And despite being 8 years old, I would start the maturation clock on the restart date of March. I will guess that by next March your acros will be thriving.

Great advice!

Firstly no I’ve no sat up till 2-3am so don’t know if they’re out at night but in the lfs they were all singing and dancing during the day

The one thing I disagree on is the whole “ maturity” topic , I’m more towards it’s the maturity of the new person and not the tank, by this I mean I’ve been reefing on and off for 25 years but never kept a whole load of acros so this is new to me but keeping water isnt

Thanks for your 2 cents , I’m with you on the wait it out though , couple of things I’m working on is stabilising nitrates and phosphates from swinging 10-5 or .1-0.4 , not sure nutrient swings are an issue so much as kh which never swings more than .2 if I do a water change

 

[Pod_01]

Vodka ( not running yet while water changes)
Lanthium chloride ( not running yet while water changes)

Any particular reason you are using these? Your values NO3/PO4 look good and these will remove them.
I do carbon dosing to promote bacteria so corals have alternative food source.

Head 8 will be Red Sea ab+

AB+ is amino, with your stocking and NO3 above 1 ppm I would not use it. Amino can promote other undesirable things.

Filtration is skimmer , filter wool , carbon ( changed 2 weeks), dsb with

I use GAC and I use 2 tablespoons per 60gal in a filter cup, changed every 4 weeks.
You do have lot on filtration, I only use skimmer and GAC. I like the fish poop to stay in the system.

Also from my experience I find acros and montiporas don’t like sinking PO4. Especially if you go from 0.05 to 0.01, I always have bad things happening. I like when my PO4 is 0.1-0.5, nothing bad happens there. NO3 I try to keep above 1ppm.

I believe in feeding fish so they can provide the proper coral food. These days I settled on pellets (FM soft Multi mix). I feed 3/4 times a day and the fish are plum.
With other food types like frozen, nori I find that other things start to accumulate in the water column and the NO3/ PO4 was lot more unstable.

I would do small changes and see if things improve.

Good luck,

 

[scotty333]

Thanks
I’m aiming for stability now , just a few things to iron out but within the next week I’ll have everything stable

 

[UMALUM]

With higher organics I don't think it would hurt to experiment with bumping up your alk as well as your mag. Is the dead corraline from exposure to air or have you noticed a decline since your reboot?

 

[scotty333]

With higher organics I don't think it would hurt to experiment with bumping up your alk as well as your mag. Is the dead corraline from exposure to air or have you noticed a decline since your reboot?

Cheers
Now my wc are done (475 litre total) about 75% nsw which is kh 7 I’ve now added a ml to the triton dosing to bump it up to 9 which will take a few weeks I’d say , calc and mag will rise in balance , I hope

The 2 little spots of coralline on the left were exposed to air 4 times this last week but since the reboot all my rocks are purple whereas prior to the reboot they were dirty brown colour so it’s a good sign to me

 

[scotty333]

Just as I thought, new additions are ok
The ones that have been through a few swings must be resettling in