acro tips

[blindside]

Two tips on my acro have almost turned white! What can you do to prevent it all from going white?

[Gseclipse02]

2 of mine did also in the last 2 days no clue why

[aquasport24]

any pics.? b/c it can be burn tip or new growth.

[blindside]

Well this is my first acro. But I don't want it to die!

[blindside]

I do not really have a camera that can get that detail in a picture:( but ill try

[BigKGlen]

Might be due to the difference of ALK from where you got it and your tank. SLOWER acclumation in the future! Break off the tip(s) just below the white area(s).

[blindside]

HOW DO I BREAK OFF TE TIPS? WILL THIS AFFECT THE CORAL AT ALL? MIGHT IT BE TO CLOSE TO MY MH? IM ONLY RUNNING 150MH ON THIS TANK

[blindside]

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/002-1.jpg

[blindside]

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/001-1.jpg

[blindside]

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/001-2.jpg

[blindside]

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/CHAINA_/002-2.jpg

[blindside]

I KIND OF PUT A RED CIRCLE TO POINT OUT THE TIPS

[aquasport24]

Looks like STN (slow tissue necro). It can cause by a lot of things, stress, ph swing ,alk swing, temperture swing, lighting,etc....What are your water parameters? May want to cut those bad branches off and place the frag at the bottom of the tank and slowly move it up the ladder.

[blindside]

All parameters are good just tested, my calcium came out low for some reason at only 320! Geeze!
:( how would I cut the tips off? New to sps...

[BioCube14]

bone cutters ..what salt are you using? how much are you having to top off everyday?

[blindside]

I use tropic Marin. I top off every other day.

[ErikH]

Looks like new growth to me. Are there polyps coming out of them? If they are burned, they appear brittle on the ends, the white part will appear to have some cracks in it....

If you look at these pics, there is new growth on the tips. Unless it looks like it is cracking, don't touch it!

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x315/erikharrison/Fish/12-9-2008/DSC_0842.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x315/erikharrison/Fish/12-9-2008/DSC_0855.jpg

If it is alk burns, tell us what your alk is at!

[ErikH]

If it's not alk, it's lights, so move it down some.

[Bill S]

Mine always had white tips - and good growth. I wouldn't cut the tips off UNLESS it's STN - if the skeleton is actually showing. If there's flesh and/or polyps, leave it alone.

[blindside]

Ill check when I get home. I do not have an alkalinity test at the time. Now that I see those pictures up top, I feel more comfortable it might just be growth. Thanks scorpino. Ill check for polyps and flesh

[ErikH]

Mine always had white tips - and good growth. I wouldn't cut the tips off UNLESS it's STN - if the skeleton is actually showing. If there's flesh and/or polyps, leave it alone.

Bill, the second pic is the Paletta Lovelli that I got from you. It's growing at a rampant pace!

[Viet-Tin]

kinda hard to tell but it looks like new growth

[ReefPets]

Looks like that might be an ORA frag? If so that might be the issue. I got in an order from ORA and within no time all of the tips turned white. This did not happen with any of the other acros in the tank. I think something might be going on with ORA?? This is not a fact but only an opinion. Either way, the tips recovered in about 10 days of being in my tank. Now they are as healthy as can be....
Another possibility of burnt tips on acros is "ALK burn" which is when your ALK is too high. One other reason is if your Magnesium is too low.

[blindside]

Must be my mag levels. And yes it is an ORA frag

[blindside]

I moved the acro lower today, and bam! All its yellow skin on a few tips began to fly off with the flow, so now I have a few more white spots. And it goes down further this time not just the tips. Oh geeze. But I can still see fuzzy polyps in the area

[DrMark]

looks like an ORA Marshall island yellow fuzzy. also looks and sounds like stn for whatever reason. its a tough coral to cut the bad areas off of.

[blindside]

That it is. I just don't wanna kill it. Ha ill try what I can. My temp is at 76.8 if that causes any changes is sps coral?

[ErikH]

Please post your CA Alk and PH. Your temp is low, if it is lower at night, that is probably the reason.

[BioCube14]

that temp is fine. scorpino is right your need your water checked out. Also remember stability is key for sps if your doing a bunch of moving stuff around dipin your hand in the water a bunch that could stress it out as well

[ErikH]

Oh, I would also recommend keeping a log (unless you can remember these right off the top of your head) of your CA, Alk, and PH. I wouldn't buy any more SPS until you can maintain these levels on a consistent basis. EVERYTHING has the potential to cause problems with SPS, so until you get a tight regimen going, you will probably have trouble frequently. The size of the tank is also problematic for attempting SPS right off the bat, especially if you are newish to SPS. Also, your tank is a baby, give it some time to grow and mature. :)

[blindside]

I have tested what I could nitrate undetectable, as well as nitrite. Also my ph is undetectable. Calcium is at 460. Do not have a test for alk or mag. I just did a water change today. But miscalculated and now my salinity is at 1.027 so I will be bringing that down soon. My temp might change at night when the light goes off. I just put in a small heater so I hope that will help some. My plum milli looks fine on the other hand. Hopefully that one will continue to do fine.

[aquasport24]

Also my ph is undetectable.....what do you use to measure?

[aquasport24]

ph is always detectable. Make sure to bring up the temp. slowly.

[blindside]

Ha ha, sorry! I thought I was talking about phosphates! Woops! Ha my ph last time I checked was around 8.3? Not sure I will have to re test in a little bit! Sorry! Ha

[ErikH]

I have tested what I could nitrate undetectable, as well as nitrite. Also my ph is undetectable. Calcium is at 460. Do not have a test for alk or mag. I just did a water change today. But miscalculated and now my salinity is at 1.027 so I will be bringing that down soon. My temp might change at night when the light goes off. I just put in a small heater so I hope that will help some. My plum milli looks fine on the other hand. Hopefully that one will continue to do fine.


PH undetectable? UnPOSSIBLE!! :wink_smile:

You really need the Alk test, mg will cause you to dose more often if there is not enough in your system.

Check your PH and Alk during the day, then in the middle of the tank's night cycle. It could be swinging, which a fuge light that runs either 24/7 or at night helps keep them stable.

Move it low, and in an area of lower flow. See if the problem is light....

[blindside]

Ha ha, yes I am aware of the ph problem. Ha it was a mistske! :)

[blindside]

It is at 8.3 as stated above :)

[ErikH]

What is the placement of the coral? What type of lighting? Always remember that if you are buying a coral that "just came in", it has sat in a bag with 0 light. You may have torched it. Also, before that heater, I would bet your temp overnight was getting down to 70 or so, which would kill coral. There are tons of factors to keep in mind, that's another reason to keep a log!

[blindside]

Your right. We had just received them corals in our shipment. Ha dayam. I should have known better. Its now like 4 in above the sand bed. So its low now. And guess what! My heater somehow just broke in my return chamber! The glass was all over the place! Ugh! But not much. I was able to remove everything! Man... Ha this sucks.

[JimD]

Ya know, sometimes theres just no explanation, RTN, STN, sloughing, whatever, acros are very unpredictable. Most of the time theres not much you can do about it but sit back and watch. Anyone whos ever been into sps for any length of time will tell you, this is normal for hobby type aquariums. We never know where these things come from or how they were harvested. Best thing to do is to make sure your chemistry is correct and keep trying, eventualy, things will begin to come around. Since this is your first acro, use it as a learning experience. Even in the most complex, successful tanks, theres always some degree of loss, they didnt get that way overnight... Good luck...

[blindside]

Thanks for the kind words jimd :) this is certainly a learning experience. Ill just keep trying. It really is a nice acro. I think so. So hopefully it will pull through. Thanks for everyones help! Ill keep everyone updated! :) sucks that my heater exploded out of nowhere! Good thing I work at rca :)