Tryee Pink Lemonade

jcarlilesiu

jcarlilesiu

Active member
So we were able to pick up a frag of tyree pink lemonade from MCF a month or so ago. Since acclimating it and putting it in the tank and then slowly moving it up to more intense light, the pink color has definitely increased. Additionally, the fuzzy polyps are constantly out. Overall, it seems happy.

Recently, the very tips of the coral have turned white. Overall, the rest of the coral remains pink with polyps still extended. Based on pictures online, it looks like new growth out of this coral is white and then after time it pinks up.

Is this true. It doesn't look like its bleaching to me, but I just wanted some other peoples experiences with white tips.
 
ColaAddict

ColaAddict

New member
White tips usually means that calcium is building up and SPS is growing. It could also mean alk is very high. If your parameters/alk are fine then usually just means healthy/growing SPS.
 
jcarlilesiu

jcarlilesiu

Active member
We have been struggling to get Alk up a bit. I was at about 2 and we have been buffering it up and are now around 3. Still a little low.

Unless our test kit is lying to us, I don't think we have high alk, if anything I think its low.
 
Scarlett778

Scarlett778

New member
Hey Nino! Just a heads up, the frag's you gave us are doing great, rainbow delights is already starting to change color! Thanks!
 
ColaAddict

ColaAddict

New member
Nice to hear frags are doing great. It's kinda weird that alk is low for you guys. you do weekly water changes and that should keep everything stable. maybe time to get a doser or use kalkwasser. you might also wanna get a hanna tester for alk. Gotta keep alk as stable as possible around 7-8 to keep SPS thriving.
 
Scarlett778

Scarlett778

New member
Yeah, I don't know why either. We've always had a problem with the Alk being low. I have started dosing, but it seems like it has to be a three times a week routine to keep it at least up to 3. We use the Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for salt.
 
ColaAddict

ColaAddict

New member
Scarlett778 said:
Yeah, I don't know why either. We've always had a problem with the Alk being low. I have started dosing, but it seems like it has to be a three times a week routine to keep it at least up to 3. We use the Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for salt.
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I dose alk everyday. If you read Marks TOTM dosing maintenance, I think he doses, like, 100ml a day of alk. so to simplify things, you might need to get a doser or use kalkwasser with your top off.
 
MMreef

MMreef

Active member
jcarlilesiu said:
We have been struggling to get Alk up a bit. I was at about 2 and we have been buffering it up and are now around 3. Still a little low.

Unless our test kit is lying to us, I don't think we have high alk, if anything I think its low.
Click to expand...
You might want to get new Alk kit,it is probably bad.If your Alk is really this low your SPS would not survive.Look into dosing two part Ca and ALK from BRS.When I started with SPS I dosed by hand every couple of days.At the begining it was only small amount.Now when I need to dose a lot, I just automated the whole system.I try to keep my Alk in 7-8 dKH range and Ca 420-450ppm.
 
pacmann117

pacmann117

New member
Mark- They are probably measuring in meq/L: where 2 would only be kind of low. Multiply meq/L by ~2.8 to get dKh.

Jake- If you are having a rough time adjusting alkalinity, check out your magnesium level. Magnesium essentially slows abiotic precipitation of calcium and alkalinity in the water. We have found this to be an issue many times, and an easy fix as well. Post a pic if you can, ours has gone through some funky stages before, I could let you know how yours compares.
 
Scarlett778

Scarlett778

New member
pacmann117 said:
Mark- They are probably measuring in meq/L: where 2 would only be kind of low. Multiply meq/L by ~2.8 to get dKh.
Click to expand...
You are correct. We are measuring in meq/L where the normal is around 4 I believe.

pacmann117 said:
Jake- If you are having a rough time adjusting alkalinity, check out your magnesium level. Magnesium essentially slows abiotic precipitation of calcium and alkalinity in the water. We have found this to be an issue many times, and an easy fix as well. Post a pic if you can, ours has gone through some funky stages before, I could let you know how yours compares.
Click to expand...
Sounds great. I will try and get a shot tomorrow and see if I can't get some magnesium test kit. I heard that they are expensive and inaccurate. I am guilty of not testing mag before. What do I need to know.
 
Scarlett778

Scarlett778

New member
One other point is that our Calcium is at 500 and thats why we are afraid to use kalwasser to try and resolve the problem with dosing.
 
pacmann117

pacmann117

New member
Yup, mag test kits are a pain in the butt. They aren't exactly inaccurate, but give the results in intervals of 100... so if you perform the test slightly improperly, (or read it wrong) the test could easily be off by at least 100. Less likely that Mg is you problem if your calcium is high.

Kalk dosing is not a good option if you want to raise your alkalinity or calcium, it is only suitable for maintaining levels. First, it will raise both Ca and Alk, in a non-consistent manner. Second, since Kalk produces Alk by reacting with CO2 in your tank, there is a limit (the amount of CO2) to the amount of alkalinity it can safely produce. Once it uses up the available CO2, your pH will go through the roof.

One good solution is to use an alkalinity supplement which has some advanced instructions... IE add X grams of supplement to Y gallons to raise Alk by Z. Simply add a measured amount, having just checked your alkalinity, and see how much it raises your alkalinity. If it comes out to what you would expect mathematically, then chances are you simply aren't dosing enough. If the measured alkalinity after dosing is much less than the expected alkalinity, then it is going somewhere else (like precipitating out) and Mg may be the culprit. (*edit- you would have to retest every couple hours to verify the alkalinity doesn't rise to the expected value, even if it is initially still low)

Hope that helps!
 
jcarlilesiu

jcarlilesiu

Active member
I just wanted to post an update here. We have been doing alk daily in small intervals. Yesterday before a water change alk was at 3.5 meq/l and our calcium has been coming down from over 500 to about 460 - 480. It's been a slow process to get everything in balance. mg is at 1200.

Thanks for everybody's help.

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt using Tapatalk
 
G

Greg

Member
This is one of my favs also. Not too many yellow/pink combos out there. Decent grower also.
Here's my frag.

 
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