algae growing on tips of SPS

[2002sod]

help please any input would be helpful
I have algae growing on the tips of 4-5 SPS like blue torts

the tanks has been running for over 10 years with a lot of sps
the millies and montiporas do not seem to be effected but my hydro has the same algae green spots on it

frags in my sump are not effect
I have 2 blue tip stags that don’t seem to be effected
I don see any bugs ?

tank is 150 sump 120gal
lighting 2 20k mh 6 vho
calcium is 400
kdh 6-7
salinity 1025
nitrate is 0
phos below .1
mag 1100

thanks

[xian]

You may want to try and eliminate all traces of phosphate. It may not seem like much but .1 ppm is the beginning of a problem.

You are in that realm of the hobby where little things can cause big problems.

[2002sod]

thank you

you are correct I have put some Kent phos remover
in but I been here before without his problem

I cut tips and clean some others
and the algae grew right back on them

my temp from the summer months of 82
has dropped to 78 for the winter

could it be that certain corals don’t like that temp ?

and then someone said that high alk cause this ???

thanks

[xian]

I have a similar problem with my Pink Bird's nest. However, I'm concerned about your Acros and Hydnophora.

The algae is growing on parts of the skeleton that are not covered by tissue. Bird's nest and some montis have tips with no tissue so algae can grow there, although it shouldn't

Acros's and Hydnos shouldn't have bare spots. I think you may want to address that problem first. Especially since the Hydno is such a fleshy coral.

I don't have alot of answers for you but how old are your bulbs?

[2002sod]

yes
algae is growing on parts of the skeleton that are not covered by tissue


it seems like that where the coral is growing
no tissue is covering it
instead algae is growing in its place

just changed one MH the VHO are about 3 months old

[xian]

double post

[xian]

I would go with the easiest fixes first

Drs Foster and Smith has phosban reactors for sale about 30 bucks. I run two in series filled with carbon.

Second it never hurts to do some water changes.

I know thats probably no the insight that you were looking for but its my best guess.

Sorry I can't help more.

[mysterybox]

Phosphates wrecked havoc on my tank twice. They did the same thing to my corals. Phosphates cause your corals to stop calcifying, so it's where most growth or highest metabolism occurs is where it starts IMO. Your fastest growers will usually die first IMO.

Phosphate reduction/ removal is most likely the answer. Get a refugium with Macro algae and CHANGE your media in phosphate reactor more often. Your media might be getting saturated in 2 weeks depending upon how much is bound up in your rocks, tank, algae, etc. Use less media, change every 2 weeks. Use a great test kit like DD merk, Hack, or colormeter or send to AWT.

You must export the same or more nutrients than you put in. Overfeeding, tap water, high phosphate foods, etc. Use a phosphate reactor with some phosar or ROWA or whatever, and something to lower nitrates like a fuge, AZNO3, or whatever.

check out:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/iss...st2003/chem.htm

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php
__________________
http://webpages.charter.net/mysterybox/

[2002sod]

Something I did not realize
It does seem like it’s going for the faster growing corals
That is very interesting

Thanks guys for the input I now have more confidence in what needs to be done
I just started the water changes
and will get more aggressive with some phosphate remover

I truly appreciate ALL of your inputs you are all great
for taking the time to help me

when your back is to the wall you start to lose confidence in what you are doing
I been running around in all directions

[mixed_reefer]

Your alk is a bit low, thats known to cause tip issues on sps.