got ta help me out pleaz

[Kwater]

my birds nest needs a little help, this is the most senior sps coral in my tank so there is no way im gona let him die. i have noticed that the base is starting to turn white and is losing some polyps. what is up???? he is still pretty small and he is halfway down in the tank under a 175 watt metal halide. my calcium is 160 ( im gona let that drop a little back to 150 or 140 ) and my alkilinity is 10 dkh. i have not tested my other perimiters yet but they should be fine. i have a bag of phosphate remover in my sump that i dont think is exousted yet so what could be going on u think??? thanx for all help. :)

 

[Kazarko]

My calcium is 400ppm and my dkh is 8.6(very low) and I think some have recommended dKH up around 10 like yours. if your calcium is only at 160 ppm I'm not sure that is enough.

 

[coolhandgoose]

Umm are you sure about that calcium number?? That is extremely low, I've never heard of anyone having calcium that low, it should be aroun 400ppm.

 

[lilduud]

+1 Kazarko i always keep mine at 420-440 ppm. and my dkh=9 or 10

 

[dcantucson]

I would also check your phosphates as they tend to be higher than recommended in a lot of our tanks.

 

[d2mini]

My calcium is 400ppm and my dkh is 8.6(very low) and I think some have recommended dKH up around 10 like yours. if your calcium is only at 160 ppm I'm not sure that is enough.

I wouldn't necessarily say 8.6 dkh is very low, i think that's closer to perfect for some people. Anywhere from 7-11 is a good range. I'd be more concerned about your calcium level. 400 is on the low side for a reef. I'd try to get that over 450. The OP's calcium level is unheard of low! :shock:

 

[daugherty]

Keep your dkh at 8-9 many sps will bleach or get birnt tips at 10 and above cal 400-450 mag 1300-1500 check nitrates

 

[BigH55]

Sounds like you need to be dosing some things. High Phosphates will interfere with the uptake of calcium in sps.

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, calcium should be between 400 and 500, ideally.

 

[Kwater]

sorry sorry sorry i ment to say 460 not 160 :p

that is a very intresting fact, y do corals bleech at a dkh of 10????
i allways thought that 8-12 dkh were optimul levels???

 

[daugherty]

sps can get burnt tips and bleach from a dkh above 10 not always but they can.

 

[d2mini]

My calcium went well over 500 recently and my sps have really been taking off. My clam is also growing fast.

 

[Kwater]

wow im going to let my alk drop down to nine then, i just wont dose for a little bit

wow that is cool, i never knew sutch a high calcium could have benifits like that :D d2mini

 

[reeffreak]

Isn't bleaching and losing polyps from the bottom up RTN?(rapid tissue necrosis)