SPS help... need some experienced eyes...

helitaiwan963

New member
Ok, so I ventured into the realm of SPS corals after I transfered everything into my 75gal over the summer from a 7 year old 29gal softies tank. Parameters were stable for the 3 months I was as school so over thanksgiving break, i took advantage of the black friday sales and a few local reefers deals and purchased a few SPS frags...

-need ID Green SPS mini colony from MCF
-neon green birdsnest from fishbeard
-green milli frag from fishbeard
-Orange Digi frag from Advanced aquatics
-Pocllipora mini colony/frag from advanced aquatics

Anyway, after 3 weeks the Mystery sps from MCF is doing great with good polyp extention, so is the green birdsnest and the pocclipora frag. The pocclipora has some dieoff/browning towards the bottom of the frag but I've read thats normal cuz the bigger top of the coral covers the light for the lower part of the coral.

Now the problem is, the orange digi and green milli frags have blotches of white. I can't tell if it's bleaching or if they are STN... I've taken pics best i could with the DSLR but I admit they arent the best. I gotta play with white balance...but u can see where they're getting white on the frags.

Problem SPS:

Orange Digi
DSC_0198-3.jpg


Green Milli:
DSC_0197-2.jpg

DSC_0196-2.jpg


ID Please?
Mystery SPS from MCF
DSC_0199-2.jpg


Mystery coral/sps from badgus when i bought that maxi carpet nem:
DSC_0195-2.jpg



Thanks everyone!
Eric
 
PS: the milli is a tiny like .75" frag so it was hard to photograph. but it's doing the same thing as the digi frag. the digi frag u can see where there is white spots versus the peachy, skin color where it's still live.


-Eric
 
What are your water parameters like we need some Numbers? Also check for pest like Monti eating Nudies or even AFEW or Red or Black Bugs... Also are you dosing anything?
 
I need to but more test kits. What test kits u think I should get. I wanna get more accurate kits rather than my cheapo api kits. But what are the essential kits I should be testing for when doibg sps.

Also, dosing Kent liquid calc, iodide, tech m mag, strontiym and molbydem, and super dkh when needed.
 
I would test for alk, cal, and Mag, but I would also check for Nitrate and Phosphate... If you can I know MWCF does free water parameter checks see if they can check your water for you if your close to them or willing to take a drive, if not Tropic Marine make some good simple test or Hanna Checker work out great...

I would also stop dosing until you know what your Water parameters are, your only doing more harm than good if your just dosing without knowing...
 
You could be having issues if you don't have adequate flow, sps need good water movement to keep foreign material off their skin. It's not about adequate flow, but proper powerhead placement so the flow is directed where needed. If that Mille doesn't make it, I have another decent branch with your name on it once you figure out what the issue is. Don't be discouraged, sps is a pretty complicated balance of many variables. Look at marks tank, something just as simple as a test kit misreading his alk, and all that hard work gone in a flash.
 
You could be having issues if you don't have adequate flow, sps need good water movement to keep foreign material off their skin. It's not about adequate flow, but proper powerhead placement so the flow is directed where needed. If that Mille doesn't make it, I have another decent branch with your name on it once you figure out what the issue is. Don't be discouraged, sps is a pretty complicated balance of many variables. Look at marks tank, something just as simple as a test kit misreading his alk, and all that hard work gone in a flash.

Thanks George! I'll gladly buy that frag from you again as it's certainly not your fault it's dying or anything. I loved it the few days when i was still home and it was doing awesome.

I'll be purchasing new kits soon... got other goodies i gotta buy first... ASM G2 skimmer and a melves reef RODI :)

Then the salifert kits.


-Eric
 
I won't hear any of that buy it again nonsense! If it dies I would be happy to give you another piece. Just sort out what's wrong, once those things are put in check, you'll be surprised how resilient those corals are, they should bounce right back if it's not too late!
 
haha, i don't think i'll change ur mind on that so looks like that's my only choice... hehe, i could use a few more zoas if u got the little frags again.
 
I've got a couple little frags of zoas, nothing new from last time you were here, and nothing special. You know you want cheap sps frags anyways! Those soft corals just take up space!!!
 
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