This might be a little long but figured I'd give all of the information so I can get some great feedback. I have had my Red Sea Reefer 425XL (~100g) up for 2.5 years now. My parameters over the past two months have been the following:
Salinity: 1.026-1.027 (Calibrated Refractometer)
Alk: 7.7-8.3 (Trident, tested 4-6 times daily no more than a 0.1-0.2 swing a day)
Cal: 390-430 (Trident, tested 2-3 times daily)
Mag: 1300-1350 (Trident, tested 2-3 times daily)
NO3: ~3 (NYOS, has always had a little color, checked weekly)
PO4: 0.05-0.12 (Hanna, checked weekly)
Potassium: 380 (Checked mid May)
Temperature: 78-79 (Has peaked to 80 from 78 within a few hours)
Ph: 8.1-8.5 (Use a CO2 scrubber on the skimmer)
The issue I have been having is tips starting to die off on some acropora while others seem to thrive. I have also noticed some thinning skin around the bases on some as well. The two main culprits I have narrowed it down to is my temp swings of roughly 2 degrees in a day (note that this has happened occasionally if it is hotter outside, but I have since dialed it into 78-79 with a blower fan), or the use of some BRS ROX carbon (1/2 cup) that I hadn't used in quite some time. At first I thought the problem might've been low nutrients, but I do have some bubble algae and my glass gets dirty after about 1-2 days and has always been like that but I did dose a little bit of Brightwell Neonitro. I don't run any GFO, just filter floss, a fuge with chaeto and rubble rock, and a skimmer 24/7. Flow is provided by two MP40's running at 85% reef crest, an MP10 at 100% reef crest, and a Red Sea Reefwave 25 at 100% reef crest. Lighting is provided by a G4 XR30 Pro, G4 XR15 running AB+ and an Aquaticlife T5 hybrid.
Here are some pictures showing the issues I am having as of the past month or so. Any comments/help would be great. I can also provide other information if needed.
The colony below seems to be unphased by the recent problems seen above.
Salinity: 1.026-1.027 (Calibrated Refractometer)
Alk: 7.7-8.3 (Trident, tested 4-6 times daily no more than a 0.1-0.2 swing a day)
Cal: 390-430 (Trident, tested 2-3 times daily)
Mag: 1300-1350 (Trident, tested 2-3 times daily)
NO3: ~3 (NYOS, has always had a little color, checked weekly)
PO4: 0.05-0.12 (Hanna, checked weekly)
Potassium: 380 (Checked mid May)
Temperature: 78-79 (Has peaked to 80 from 78 within a few hours)
Ph: 8.1-8.5 (Use a CO2 scrubber on the skimmer)
The issue I have been having is tips starting to die off on some acropora while others seem to thrive. I have also noticed some thinning skin around the bases on some as well. The two main culprits I have narrowed it down to is my temp swings of roughly 2 degrees in a day (note that this has happened occasionally if it is hotter outside, but I have since dialed it into 78-79 with a blower fan), or the use of some BRS ROX carbon (1/2 cup) that I hadn't used in quite some time. At first I thought the problem might've been low nutrients, but I do have some bubble algae and my glass gets dirty after about 1-2 days and has always been like that but I did dose a little bit of Brightwell Neonitro. I don't run any GFO, just filter floss, a fuge with chaeto and rubble rock, and a skimmer 24/7. Flow is provided by two MP40's running at 85% reef crest, an MP10 at 100% reef crest, and a Red Sea Reefwave 25 at 100% reef crest. Lighting is provided by a G4 XR30 Pro, G4 XR15 running AB+ and an Aquaticlife T5 hybrid.
Here are some pictures showing the issues I am having as of the past month or so. Any comments/help would be great. I can also provide other information if needed.
The colony below seems to be unphased by the recent problems seen above.