What an I doing wrong?

[Freshtosalt]

As the title says...I don't know what I'm doing wrong and I'm at my wits end. I have a 225 gallon reef tank that has been up and running for two years this April. When the tank began, it was a softie tank and those got moved to a new tank because my tank was finally growing coralline algae like crazy and I wanted to jump into the world of SPS. I got Birdsnest because I heard they were good beginner SPS and I really like the look of them when they grow out into large colonies. So I ordered 17 frags and they were placed in the tank the beginning of November 2023. In the three months they've been in there, it seems the only successful thing I've grown in turf algae. Four out of the 17 frags seem to magically be doing ok, and I can't tell if the others are dead at this point or hanging on by a thread. Either way, definitely not thriving.

Here's all the info:
Tank Size - 72x26x24
180 gallon in display with 45 gallon Sump
Red Octo Skimmer

pH - 8.1-8.2 (Apex)
dkh - 8.2 ( Hanna Checker)
Calcium - 420 (Hanna)
Magnesium - 1350 (Red Sea)
Nitrates - 15.2 ppm (Hanna Checker) - Can't seem to get it lower than that, but it's stayed consistently at 15 for months.
Phosphates - 0.07 - 0.1 (Hanna) - I have to run GFO constantly to keep it at this level
Salinity - 35ppt (Apex)
Temp - 78-79 (Apex)


Red Sea Gyre Wave Makers x 2
Sicce Powerheads x 2

AI Hydra 32's x 4 - 12 hour photo period, with ramp up and ramp down, peak with whites on for 4 hours

Weekly 10% Water Change - Waterbox Reef Salt

Fish:
Pair of clownfish
Blue Hippo Tang
Yellow Tang
Tomini Tang
FoxFace
Six Line Wrasse
Pajama Cardinals - 5

PAR meter from my Apex says they're getting anywhere from 180-200. Lighting is where I struggle a bit because I can't seem to figure out if they're getting too much light or not enough. Online, stuff says birdsnest need 200-350, but one of the online places I ordered them from said they grow theirs in 100-200, so I'm very confused on what PAR number to shoot for. My lights are currently at 75%, so there's room to turn them up more.

So, my question is, what the heck am I doing wrong? Why are they dying? Too Much light or not enough light? Why am I suddenly having turf algae issues? I'm so frustrated because instead of having this nice gorgeous tank to look at, be proud of, and relax in front of, I have this hideous dead coral money pit that causes me nothing but stress and is now covered in algae! Should I just give up and remove all the birdnest and just chuck in some Pulsing Xenia and let it take over, go FOWLER, remove the dead birdsnest and try again with new frags? Half were purchased from WWC and the other from Queen City coral, but I have no idea if the frags that are doing ok are from which place. I know coral takes time to grow, but I figured in the few months they've been in there, I would have seen some glimmer of growth instead of a graveyard.

I've attached pictures in case it helps. Any advice or opinions are appreciated. Enjoy the pictures of my ugly money-pit.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

what par are they in now? Should definitely increase the lighting, high lighting and high flow. With that said, birdsnest is not really an easy coral, I would not judge your ability to grow sps coral based on birdsnest.

For easy sps I would suggest monti caps, digitata, leptoseris, pavona, tubinaria... I find they are more forgiving sps. But I would put sps in at least 250+ par.

 

[CrayHawk]

What are you using for source water? I ran into similar problems when I didn’t use rodi water.

 

[Freshtosalt]

what par are they in now? Should definitely increase the lighting, high lighting and high flow. With that said, birdsnest is not really an easy coral, I would not judge your ability to grow sps coral based on birdsnest.

For easy sps I would suggest monti caps, digitata, leptoseris, pavona, tubinaria... I find they are more forgiving sps. But I would put sps in at least 250+ par.

They're sitting between 180-200 PAR currently, so perhaps I should up the lighting a bit. Thank you for the other SPS suggestions!

 

[Freshtosalt]

What are you using for source water? I ran into similar problems when I didn’t use rodi water.

I have a RO/DI 5 Stage system from BRS, so I make my own water. My TDS does say its at 1 ppm instead of zero when I checked it earlier this week, so I have replacement filters and resin on the way that will be here on Thursday. Maybe that will help. Thank you.

 

[Digimes]

I dialed down the whites on mine. Flow was a big thing as well. How much/often are you feeding and any coral supplements you add?

 

[PocketGoose]

Do you dose?

My other thought is regarding flow - but you seem to have a good spread.

 

[Reefer Matt]

They're sitting between 180-200 PAR currently, so perhaps I should up the lighting a bit. Thank you for the other SPS suggestions!

That par is plenty for sps, imo. I don’t see much of a cuc. How many snails, etc do you have? I also agree more flow may be needed.

 

[Freshtosalt]

I dialed down the whites on mine. Flow was a big thing as well. How much/often are you feeding and any coral supplements you add?

I feed the fish twice a day, Nori and frozen food (mysis shrimp, marine cuisine, and LRS Chunky), and I rotate between those. It's about 2 cubes a day.

I test ALk and Calcium almost daily and dose Alk every day (coralline algae seems to use a lot if it) and calcium when it's needed. I test magnesium too but that seems to stay fairly stable with weekly water changes.

 

[Freshtosalt]

Do you dose?

My other thought is regarding flow - but you seem to have a good spread.

I have to dose ALK daily and calcium usually about once a week. No amino acids or anything special like that for the coral though. Any suggestions?

 

[KrisReef]

Is that man-made rock or ocean derived rock? Looks like man-made and the lack of diversity in microbes may be hindering progress?

And maybe a shorter ramp up and longer peak period would help decide if the coral wants more light?

Sorry, these tanks can be a huge source of agony, even for the "pros."

 

[Freshtosalt]

That par is plenty for sps, imo. I don’t see much of a cuc. How many snails, etc do you have? I also agree more flow may be needed.

Oh yes, there are 10 large turbo snails in there that have been in there for about 2 years but don't seem at all interested in the new turf algae and there's 12 hermit crabs.

 

[KrisReef]

Do you have an auto-top off for evaporation replacement? If no, get one.

 

[cdemoss01]

DO NOT GIVE UP! You CAN make this tank look good! I was like this a month or two ago with hair algae and removed it. I believe in you!

 

[PocketGoose]

I have to dose ALK daily and calcium usually about once a week. No amino acids or anything special like that for the coral though. Any suggestions?

Do you manually dose? No recommendations on this front - I was on the train of putting all sorts of junk in the tank..I stick with Ca/Alk/Mg via kalk and A4R (controlled with dosing pump) now and feed heavily(LRF, Oysterfeast, phyto and 1xweekly shot of RedSea AB) and export heavily and have never tested less.

I ask about flow because I have only recently fell into my short bit of success keeping SPS and I specifically made sure to provide a heafty amount of flow to hard corals. It made a worlds difference in my opinion and I think is often underestimated.

 

[Freshtosalt]

Is that man-made rock or ocean derived rock? Looks like man-made and the lack of diversity in microbes may be hindering progress?

And maybe a shorter ramp up and longer peak period would help decide if the coral wants more light?

Sorry, these tanks can be a huge source of agony, even for the "pros."

Yeah, it was dry rock when it started two years ago, the CaribSea Life Rock tree things. So perhaps some pods or something put in there?

 

[Freshtosalt]

Do you have an auto-top off for evaporation replacement? If no, get one.

Yes, there's a 5 gallon ATO by the sump, so salinity stays consistent at 35 ppt. I check salinity almosy daily as well.

 

[Reefer Matt]

What is your source water? Have you tested a fresh batch of saltwater?

 

[Freshtosalt]

Do you manually dose? No recommendations on this front - I was on the train of putting all sorts of junk in the tank..I stick with Ca/Alk/Mg via kalk and A4R (controlled with dosing pump) now and feed heavily(LRF, Oysterfeast, phyto and 1xweekly shot of RedSea AB) and export heavily and have never tested less.

I ask about flow because I have only recently fell into my short bit of success keeping SPS and I specifically made sure to provide a heafty amount of flow to hard corals. It made a worlds difference in my opinion and I think is often underestimated.

Yes, I manually dose. I test with my Hanna checkers every morning and dose based off of those numbers,

For flow, I have two Red Sea Gyre 45, set at random wave, so anywhere from 10%-90% switching every 20 seconds, and then two Siccee powerheads lower down to keep stuff suspended off the bottom.

4 powerheads total which seems like it should be plenty...?

 

[Freshtosalt]

What is your source water? Have you tested a fresh batch of saltwater?

Water source in a 5 stage RODI from BRS with Waterbox salt. I haven't tested my saltwater in a while, but the TDS from the fresh RODI water was at 1 ppm on Sunday, so I ordered replacement filters from BRS which have shipped and will be here Thursday to get it back to 0 TDS hopefully.