Hydnophora help

Discussion in 'Coral Health' started by ingtar_shinowa, Apr 30, 2010.

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  1. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    im new to sps having recently placed a blue voodoo ~4-5" and a larger green hydnophora ~5-6" in my 55g reef tanks that is a few months old. I have good coraline growth coming in on the rocks and my glass lol. over the past couple days the tissue on the tips of the hydno have been receeding showing the white skeleton underneath. My acro looks great however, so I dont think its a water quality issue. My numbers are just a little low on Wednesday, using Seachem testkits they were:
    SG 1.021
    Temp 77.9
    MG 1125
    NO3 4 or less
    PO4 none registering
    ALK 2.0 Mel/Q
    PH 8.3 (end of photoperiod)
    Ca 350

    So I dosed with Tech-M, Seachem Reef Carbonate, and Kent Marine Liquid Calcium and my levels right now are:
    ALK 3.5
    PH 8.1 (start of photoperiod)
    Ca 400
    MG ~1200
     
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  3. Gexx

    Gexx Giant Squid

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    same thing happened to me. it only took a week for it to go completely white. some type of tissue necrosis i suspect.
     
  4. PackLeader

    PackLeader Giant Squid

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    Your SG is way too low for SPS. Bump that up to at least 1.023. I like to keep mine at around 1.026-1.028. Also, try to gt your calcium and MG up as well. Calcium around 450, MG around 13-1400
     
  5. bwalker9801

    bwalker9801 Zoanthid

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    +1 what he said
     
  6. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    In the process of getting both up. I have a bit of an RO flood and didnt want to raise it too fast. Im also going to lower the piece in the tank as people mentioned they like lower light
     
  7. PackLeader

    PackLeader Giant Squid

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    Sounds good. It might not be anything your doing at all. SPS can get RTS and go quickly without any fault to the hobbiest, and theres not much you can do once it starts. Just one of those things.
     
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  9. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    here is a pic of the guy
     

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  10. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    this is a better pic after i figured out the macro function on my camera
     

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  11. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    Hi Alex

    its difficult from the picture to see whats going on
    just checking the time lines
    your ALK was at 2 on Wednesday and on Saturday it was 3.5
    convert to DHK = x 2.8 thus
    Wed = 5.6
    Sat = 9.8

    thats a significant increase for a 3 day period and most advice would be not to raise it by more than 1 degree in any one day

    was the white on the tips prior to you adjusting ALK or has it appeared after
    as the white could be Alk burn IMO

    Steve
     
  12. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

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    hey thanks steve. you are correct. Im new to dosing and didnt realize how a little goes a long way with the reef carbonate. My first thought was a bit of alk burn as well. The tissues looks like it is no longer receding on the tips and i have lowered the colony to the bottom of my tank. I am still only getting full extension on a little patch near the base. The funny thing is now on my polyps nor my frogspawn reacted to the change. Heck my acropora seemed to flourish and im getting noticible growth under my not-so-spectacular lights. I'll keep you updated and later tongiht try to get a good macro pic of the tissue loss areas.