Torch Losing Color - Water Parameters Question

[AndrewBrusca]

Hi All,

Love the forum! Question regarding a torch losing color, my water parameters, and best next steps.

I have what started as a dragon soul torch, but has since lost any yellow streaks and the tentacles are becoming what I would describe as translucent (please see pics below, same torch with different lighting.) The green tips are actually still green, but there has been color loss. I don't know if this torch is fully bleached or just not thriving. It still opens fully and is otherwise behaving normally.

Please see my water parameters below. From what I can tell, my calcium and Magnesium are low. I frequently dose for both Alk and Calcium throughout the week, but it appears the calcium isn't increasing. Likely because my Magnesium levels are so low?

Also, my nitrates might be too low. Can anyone advise on best next steps to stabilizing this tank so that my other torches don't lose color?

As of now I'm planning on dosing for Magnesium until I get up to 1250+ / raising calcium until it gets to 400+ / Increasing Nitrates closer to 10.

For Magnesium and Calcium I am using B-Ionic ESV products. To increase Nitrates, should I use Brightwell NeoNitro? Or is it better to increase coral feedings with things like Reef Energy AB+ - Phyto, etc.

Nitrates: 0-1
Calcium: 310
Alkalinity - 8.6
Magnesium - 1080
PH - 8.2
Salinity - 1.025
Phosphates - .03
Temperature - 78
Lighting is a Radion XR-15 on the LPS / Softies template at 42% intensity.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Spare time]

"Nitrates: 0-1"

There ya go lol


I would bump up a daily dosage of the reef energy. I would also raise calcium and mag to at least 400ppm and 1300-1400ppm respectively (as this gives some wiggle room for test kit error margins).

 

[xWascallyWabbit]

Mag of 1000 is pretty low. In addition to above I'd bump um mag to 1300-1400

 

[AndrewBrusca]

Will increasing the use of a food like reef energy cause my phosphates to rise simultaneously? I'm assuming somewhat yes, but that maybe it isn't that simple?

I'm dosing the max daily amount of magnesium in the mornings now. My question is, should I pause dosing Alkalinity while I work to raise my Calcium level? Or will that result in my alkalinity potentially dropping too low?

Or does it make sense to dose Alkalinity and Calcium at the same amounts so they both continue rising until optimal levels?

Thanks everyone, I'm trying to work quickly to get my parameters straight before my Euphilia stresses further

 

[Dburr1014]

Get your mag in line first and test cal and alk before dosing.
Mag can come up pretty quickly, no need to go slow.

 

[AndrewBrusca]

The instructions on the ESV B-Ionic solution I'm using to raise Magnesium says I can raise mag 1.5 MLs per gallon per day. Which effectively raises my mag 15 ppm per day.

Do you think I can go faster because it's Magnesium?

While I'm raising the Magnesium, should I stop dosing Calcium and Alkalinity?

 

[Dburr1014]

Personally, I would would raise it quicker.
Dose in the morning and at night. 30 ppm a day is still safe.

Calcium and mag work together sort of.
I would dose alk but not calcium. But do check calcium. I think you will find it raises also.

 

[kbnh]

A big water change could bring up your parameters to normal levels without having to dose so much and not wait as long, if you have reef roids or something similar you can raise the nitrates and phosphates using those products just be careful not to overdo them as they can spike nutrient levels very high if overdosed, use less than directed, about half or less the amount suggested

 

[AndrewBrusca]

Okay, I was reading another Reef2Reef thread regarding how fast you can raise your Mag and they referenced the following calculator and that basically 100 PPM per day is a safe limit. With that said, maybe I'll just go with 30 ppm per day like you mentioned and test in a couple days..

The ESV B-Ionic solution comes in 3 separate bottles for alk/cal/mag. Is the general thought here that I should get my Mag between 1300-1400 before dosing more alk or cal?

Apologies for all the back and forth. Looking forward to not being a total noob forever.

 

[Spare time]

Will increasing the use of a food like reef energy cause my phosphates to rise simultaneously? I'm assuming somewhat yes, but that maybe it isn't that simple?

I'm dosing the max daily amount of magnesium in the mornings now. My question is, should I pause dosing Alkalinity while I work to raise my Calcium level? Or will that result in my alkalinity potentially dropping too low?

Or does it make sense to dose Alkalinity and Calcium at the same amounts so they both continue rising until optimal levels?

Thanks everyone, I'm trying to work quickly to get my parameters straight before my Euphilia stresses further

Reef energy should have little to no phosphate. Red sea doesn't say specifically what all is in it but its some mixture of aminos, carbs, fatty acids, and vitamins, and the first three definitely have no phosphate. If you notice a phosphate issue, you can try a purely amino acid based product.

Dosing calcium on its own is fine. You don't need to dose both if one is low (or high).

And magnesium I usually just dose right to where I want it. I haven't seen an issue with dossing a hundred ppm at once or so.

 

[AndrewBrusca]

Thanks Spare Time!

You answered a lot of my uncertainties all in one shot.

Given you said Reef Energy won't impact phosphate, I'm going to focus on that for raising nitrates atm. I don't mind where my phosphates are currently. So I'll let them rise somewhat naturally while focusing on boosting my Nitrates via Reef Energy.

I'll get that Mag up soon hopefully and thanks for confirming I can dose Calcium and Alkalinity separately as needed. I'll test all 3 again soon to ensure nothing crazy happens. Thanks everyone!

 

[Spare time]

Thanks Spare Time!

You answered a lot of my uncertainties all in one shot.

Given you said Reef Energy won't impact phosphate, I'm going to focus on that for raising nitrates atm. I don't mind where my phosphates are currently. So I'll let them rise somewhat naturally while focusing on boosting my Nitrates via Reef Energy.

I'll get that Mag up soon hopefully and thanks for confirming I can dose Calcium and Alkalinity separately as needed. I'll test all 3 again soon to ensure nothing crazy happens. Thanks everyone!

Reef energy may impact phosphates, but I would think it should be pretty little if it does contain any.

 

[AndrewBrusca]

Makes sense, I plan to use reef energy daily and check back in on nitrates in a couple days.

I feel like reef roids will have too much impact and I'd rather increase my nutrients at a safer clip. I do plan on using benefeef once a week bc several corals just really like it even though it is unlikely to factor in on nutrient levels too heavily.

 

[AndrewBrusca]

It sounds like I can basically dose a stronger amount of Mag than the directions say to expedite raising Mag without irritating my corals?

Can I dose calcium at higher amounts than the instructions recommend? B-Ionic esv calcium says to dose 8MLs daily based on my tank size which is 33 gallons not including the sump.

 

[Uncle99]

Do the recommended dose, wait 24, test.
Repeat daily until you 1350-1400ppm
MG does take a lot of product to raise, but don’t overdue it.
Same with CA and watch Alk as well, Alk level may decrease as CA rises. Keep a watch. CA, 420-450 ish, Alk your pick.
Nutrients fine right now. Trace is there. I’d stabilize these 3 first, then, let’s see where nutrient are.
Get these parameters on target and most importantly, keep them stable and unchanging no matter when tested.

 

[AndrewBrusca]

I wanted to update this thread, no worries if nobody wants to chime in. But figured I would share as I try to get my parameters in line. Couple quick questions at the bottom.

I tested Mag/Alk/CA again morning January 4th, and my results are as follows. I also put the change from my previous test on January 2nd in brackets below.

Mag Test Results 1.4.22 - 1100 (+20) - I did this test twice, the first test reading was 1200. However, I feel the second test was more accurate, which came in at 1100 and reflected what I expected to see. I had dosed 180 MLs over 2 days to achieve this increase of roughly +20 give or take.

Alkalinity Test Results 1.4.22 - 8.1 (-0.5) - I had stopped dosing Alkalinity for these 2 days because it was the only parameter that was in line with my target range.

Calcium Test Results 1.4.22 - 330 (+20) - I dosed 8 MLs to get this +20.
----------------------------------------------

Magnesium dosing going forward: Given these modest changes, I'm hoping I can increase the volume of dosing to speed up this process. I dosed MAG at 110 MLs yesterday which based on my tank size is supposed to equate to an increase of 30 PPM. I'm thinking I will aim to dose 200 MLs per day going forward since this barely moved the needle.

Alkalinity Dosing going forward: My alkalinity dropped when I stopped dosing it for two days, so I am going to go back to dosing this at about 8 MLs a day, which is what the ESV B-Ionic bottle recommends.

Calcium Dosing going forward: Calcium increased by about 20 after I dosed 8 MLs yesterday.

Can anyone confirm what they think is a higher daily maximum I can dose for Calcium? The ESV B-Ionic instructions recommend a starting dose of 8MLs per day based on my tank size of 33 gallons. It also says not to exceed 1 ML per gallon of each component (alk/cal) within a 24 hour period. Can I get away with dosing 20 MLs of calcium a day?

Also, I'm dosing manually by hand bc I haven't gotten an automatic doser just yet. Trying to do it gradually over the course of the day so I don't irritate coral.

Thanks all! I'm trying to be patient with fixing my parameters, but I'm trying not to be too too slow, because I don't want my torches to lose any more color.

 

[AndrewBrusca]

Hi All,

A lot of my water parameters are now in line with what coral torches should be happy with. Below is an update on my current parameters after a week of dosing. If anyone is open to taking a look, I have 2 questions regarding these details. No worries if not

Magnesium: 1470 (Previously 1080) - I overshot the mark on this, but my understanding is it shouldn't upset my torches and acans.
Alkalinity: 8.2
Calcium: 345 (Previously 310) This is the only parameter that is still not within my target range. Aiming for 400 - 460)
PH: 8.2
Nitrate: 10-12 (Previously '0')
Phosphates: 0.07

In Summary: I overshot Magnesium, so I will stop dosing that and let it normalize through weekly water changes and continue to monitor.

For some reason, my Calcium has been slowest to rise despite daily doses of roughly 10 MLs of ESV b-Ionic. I will continue dosing Alk/Cal in roughly even portions if not slightly more Calcium until these numbers are in line. Hopefully, they rise with more stability now that Magnesium levels aren't through the floor. Any other tips on getting Alk/Calcium in line other than to just continuing testing/dosing?

I dosed NeoNitro from Brightwell at around 9 MLs a day to get my Nitrates up to 10-12. Now that Nitrates are in my target range, will I still need to dose NeoNitro periodically like once a week? I'll continue testing and adjusting, but was just wondering if people dose things like NeoNitro regularly to maintain Nitrates or if they generally remain stable for more than a week at a time once in line.

The purpose of all this was to get my Torches staying healthy and colored up. Is there anything else I should be considering as it relates to their health besides feeding/light/flow and the above parameters?

Thanks for any help!
Andrew