Bio Pellets bleached tips

[Mopar32985]

Hey guys hoping some of you may be able to help me. I'm running bio pellets about 200 ml in a 70 gallon system and after adding the last 50ml I have been experiencing some bleached tips on some of my acros. This has been happening over the past week or so. My alk was up around 10.2 which is now down to 8.0. I was wondering if I should remove some or I there is anything else I can do. Here are my parameters as of about 5 min ago.

 

Nitrate 5

Calcium 425

Mag 1320

Alk 8.0

Ph 8.0

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

-Chance-

[overklok]

Most likely you are seeing the result of your alkalinity hovering around 10 to start. Once you get to an ULNS alkalinity becomes an issue. I experienced the same problem with SPS dying. I ditched the bio pellets and all carbon dosing, everything looks better than ever now. A good indicator of nutrient levels are soft corals, if they look pale, most likely you are starving the corals. Did your SPS start to lighten up in color before you noticed the burned tips? Heavy skimming and frequent water changes are the best methods of nutrient control, in my opinion.

Edited May 14, 2011 by overklok

[F&Fmgr]

nitrate at 5ppm doesn't sound so ultra low to me.

 

do dose a 2 part or 3 part?

 

if so when did you test in relation to dosing.

if so when did you notice problems in relation to dosing?

 

i have found that once any scleractinian corals grow, that alk swings and pH swings between dosing causes problems.

[Mopar32985]

Most likely you are seeing the result of your alkalinity hovering around 10 to start. Once you get to an ULNS alkalinity becomes an issue. I experienced the same problem with SPS dying. I ditched the bio pellets and all carbon dosing, everything looks better than ever now. A good indicator of nutrient levels are soft corals, if they look pale, most likely you are starving the corals. Did your SPS start to lighten up in color before you noticed the burned tips? Heavy skimming and frequent water changes are the best methods of nutrient control, in my opinion.

Thanks for the info. I have been thinking about pulling it off my system. But I also don't want to pull it before it gets to completely establish it's self. Thanks again.

 

-Chance-

[Mopar32985]

nitrate at 5ppm doesn't sound so ultra low to me.

 

do dose a 2 part or 3 part?

 

if so when did you test in relation to dosing.

if so when did you notice problems in relation to dosing?

 

i have found that once any scleractinian corals grow, that alk swings and pH swings between dosing causes problems.

Yea my nitrates even with bio pellets has never gone below 2.5. Right now I am dosing brightwell reef code a and b. But I have not been dosing part b due to I wanted to get my alk down lower. I also dose magnesion because it seems to drop lower than the others. As for my ph it likes to stay around 7.9 to 8.0. Thanks for your comments

[Coral Hind]

Have you done anything that would increase light on the corals such as new bulbs, added carbon, or done a large water change?

[Mopar32985]

Have you done anything that would increase light on the corals such as new bulbs, added carbon, or done a large water change?

No I have been running the same light it's a 6 bulb t5 over a 38. The light sits about 3 inches above water. I did have carbon but removed t when I started running the bio pellets.

 

-Chance-

[F&Fmgr]

Yea my nitrates even with bio pellets has never gone below 2.5. Right now I am dosing brightwell reef code a and b. But I have not been dosing part b due to I wanted to get my alk down lower. I also dose magnesion because it seems to drop lower than the others. As for my ph it likes to stay around 7.9 to 8.0. Thanks for your comments

 

 

Some others have touched on O2 vs CO2 levels in our houses, maybe you should keep the alk at 9-11 to keep the pH higher because of the amount of CO2 in your home.

 

Also, get some standard from origami for yopur alk test...it may be lower than the test says

[Mopar32985]

Some others have touched on O2 vs CO2 levels in our houses, maybe you should keep the alk at 9-11 to keep the pH higher because of the amount of CO2 in your home.

 

Also, get some standard from origami for yopur alk test...it may be lower than the test says

The strange part is I used to keep my alk between 10 and 11 dog and my ph from the beginning has always been 7.9. O have also tried many different products to keep it higher. It would go up for a day then drop back down to the 7.9. So I dunno if I should try and remove some of the bio pellets or pull it out of my system for good. I'm using salifert for my test kits except for my ph that's API. Thanks again for your input.

 

-Chance-

[Mopar32985]

Just dosed some of my 2 part to bring my alk up some and later I think I'm going to remove some of my bio pellets. I have only been running them for a little over a month.

[Mopar32985]

Well today I was looking at my tank and slowly watching the tips on a select few of my acros start to bleach and decided that's it and removed my bio pellets I hope I made the right move. I guess time will tell.

 

-Chance-

[Amuze]

Getting to the cause of these things can be tricky and changing too many things at one time can cause more harm. Get your Alk up and keep it up and stable. Watch your Ca and Mg levels closely when dosing 2part. It can creep up on you or shift. It can also cause salinity to creep up slowly, so look into that too. As for PH, are you running a light that turns on at night when your lights shut off? If so, how large is your sump? If the sump is too small, it may not be enough water volume exposed to light at night and could cause the lower PH swings. Also look at your flow. Are your sps possible losing tissue due to damage from too much flow or from sitting in one constant direct of flow? All are things to look at, but it's best to keep the tank stable and see if things start to look better before making a ton of changes at one time. Also, you might want to cut the tips off to prevent algae from growing on the tips. What skimmer are you running? You can try getting more air into the skimmer to keep the PH up too.

Edited May 20, 2011 by audible

[Mopar32985]

Getting to the cause of these things can be tricky and changing too many things at one time can cause more harm. Get your Alk up and keep it up and stable. Watch your Ca and Mg levels closely when dosing 2part. It can creep up on you or shift. It can also cause salinity to creep up slowly, so look into that too. As for PH, are you running a light that turns on at night when your lights shut off? If so, how large is your sump? If the sump is too small, it may not be enough water volume exposed to light at night and could cause the lower PH swings. Also look at your flow. Are your sps possible losing tissue due to damage from too much flow or from sitting in one constant direct of flow? All are things to look at, but it's best to keep the tank stable and see if things start to look better before making a ton of changes at one time. Also, you might want to cut the tips off to prevent algae from growing on the tips. What skimmer are you running? You can try getting more air into the skimmer to keep the PH up too.

Thanks man I really appreciate all te info you just provided. All my levels were very stable just lowered my alk because of the tips bleaching on me. Now my alk is back up at about 10. The bio pellets have been off for 2 days now and I have noticed a huge difference in the tank sps are out more than they have been in long time. I'm now getting great polyp extension. I guess the thing is everyone's tank is different and just didn't work good in mine. Thank you all that contributed to this post.

 

-Chance-