Coral problems

[wkopplin]

A few of my corals have been turning white near the tips. The polyps are still extended and have color. The are mostly the digitada's that are doing it. Nothing is close by that would sting them.

The only change in my system is that my CA reactor has been offline for a week due to a pump burnout. I have been dosing B-Ionic in ther interim until my new pump shows up on Monday.

PH has been holding its own between 8.2 and 8.4 and temp has been constant at 80. Salinity is fine. I have one turning white in the main tank and one in the coral prop tank, so I am thinking it is a water quality issue, but I cannot find anything wrong. I plan to do a dkH test tomorrow, maybe that has dropped due to the lack of the reactor.

I will also run an ammonia and nitrate test just in case and double check the calcium, but I highly doubt there will be an issue as far as ammonia / nitrate are concerned.

Any other ideas?

[StephenA]

White tips indicate growth on some corals.

[NaCl_H2O]

Blake, is your circulation reduced while waiting for the new pump? Coluld this be contributing??

[matt]

If it's just the tips, that's new calcification. You might want to keep an eye on alkalinity; that's what calcium reactors really keep high. But it sounds like your corals aren't bleaching, just growing.

[Tim Marvin]

No, these are actually dieing on the tips. I'd try some carbon after your water change and get the reactor back online as soon as possible. Something is out of balance. Thanks for letting me see your set-up, great looking tank! It is still a very young tank and it will start taking off soon!

[wkopplin]

The reactor will be back online tomorrow. I don't think the circulation has been cut down much, but it will be back at full strength tomorrow as well. I mixed some water last night and am doing a fairly healthy water change. I will throw some carbon in there.

I ran the alkalinity test and that has dropped, so that might be the problem. I dosed some B-Ionic again, but I think I was dosing way too little and with the reactor being down it fell.

Tim,

That one with the center piece that looked bad, it colored up to full colors about an hour later. I think the polyps had not expanded yet due to the lights being off. It looks fine again today, so might just have been a light thing. The other two are still not looking so hot.

[Tim Marvin]

You going to go through little trials for another 6 months probably. Usually after a year the tank gets pretty settled in and just gets better with age up to about 4-5 years then things can start to go wrong again. Occassionally tradeing out sand and rocks for new stuff will keep the tank system thriving for you for many years! Good luck and great set-up!