About to Quit

Cell

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I understand why you've taken the actions you have thus far, but consider with all the changes ie. Prime in, 80% water change, added rock etc...you are moving further from the stability you should be striving toward. I'd wager your QT hasn't changed much if at all lately. I'd move the declining corals back to the QT if you are sure they were flourishing there, get a fish or two for the DT and just run it for awhile with no major changes. Let it mature a few more weeks, then move a single, inexpensive frag into the tank and see how it goes.

Consider the difference in lighting intensity between a Coralife stock light that these frags are used to compared to 2x AI Prime HD's which can burn your house down, when transferring corals between the two. You may need to do a LONG acclimation or really dial the Primes down for awhile.
 
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Apollo7235

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marine pure leaches aluminum.
I replaced all of my blocks with seachem matrix.
haven't lost a single coral since.
Wow, I didn't know that. I noticed yesterday that the blocks are now soft and swollen... Maybe that could be the issue? The gems certainly are not that way, though. They are actually still hard and growing coralline on them.
 
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Apollo7235

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I understand why you've taken the actions you have thus far, but consider with all the changes ie. Prime in, 80% water change, added rock etc...you are moving further from the stability you should be striving toward. I'd wager your QT hasn't changed much if at all lately. I'd move the declining corals back to the QT if you are sure they were flourishing there, get a fish or two for the DT and just run it for awhile with no major changes. Let it mature a few more weeks, then move a single, inexpensive frag into the tank and see how it goes.

Consider the difference in lighting intensity between a Coralife stock light that these frags are used to compared to 2x AI Prime HD's which can burn your house down, when transferring corals between the two. You may need to do a LONG acclimation or really dial the Primes down for awhile.
Okay, then that's what I'll do, I guess. Back in the QT for the corals. Good Lord. Poor things. I hope they survive this.

The AI's are on 30-day acclimation mode beginning at 15%. I can't imagine that would have hurt them considering they're on the sand bed, right?
 

sp1187

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Wow, I didn't know that. I noticed yesterday that the blocks are now soft and swollen... Maybe that could be the issue? The gems certainly are not that way, though. They are actually still hard and growing coralline on them.
I didn't know it either when I put them in my system.
not saying this is your current issue. but it will be long term.
you've gotten some solid advice from others here already.
patience.
 

dvgyfresh

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I kno most of the advice has been given , my 2 cents would be to turn the lights up to 100% on DT, move corals to Qt and buy 3-4 fish to put into DT, your tank looks very sterile and clean for being 3 months old. Turning lights up and introduce fish will bring changes to yr DT like algae ect , the steps you need to go through to house coral , I think your tank is cycled but hasn’t gone through the biological cycle of algae (uglies)
 
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If it was me, I would put the stuff back into your QT and just add a couple fish to your display tank and then let it ride for awhile. You are rushing right now trying to put stuff into your DT that doesn't belong in there yet clearly.
I keep saying this, but I will say it again. I have 2 gobies and 2 pistols doing very well in my tank right now. I am not rushing anything, I have literally gone through the 30-day quarantine phase of each of my corals and waited out the cycle on my tank.
 

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This tank is too sterile. I would suggest keeping the light intensity low for a while and the skimmer off if there is one. Just keep the flow strong with the powerheads. Feed some liquid foods, lightly, twice a day and get some algae and bacteria populating in there. Don't worry if it starts to look funky; you need biological activity happening in there. You can get some clean up crew going down the road once the tank is more alive.
 
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Apollo7235

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I didn't know it either when I put them in my system.
not saying this is your current issue. but it will be long term.
you've gotten some solid advice from others here already.
patience.
I will take them out then. No need to add an aluminum deficiency to my problems.
 

TnFishwater98

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Order some real LR from the Gulf, just a small amount 10lbs or so. That should get everything off and running. You might want QT the LR for a little while just to make sure no crazy hitchhiker is on board.
 

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I have had 3 marine pure blocks in my sump for 4 years now.
They provide my bacteria with a huge home and I feed them with a carbon dose.

You numbers look on point except for Alk, so perhaps you just gotta manage the ugly stages, manually keep glass and rock clean for several more months until you have enough diversity and population......over the years.....it wasnt until about 7-9 months before the system totally stabilized in terms of chemistry and nutrient import/export was balanced.
 
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Thank you all for the help and advice. I guess I will wait to pull the plug. I set up a fish QT a few days ago, so I will tell hubby to pick out some fish and get them ready to join my watchman and neon gobies in my display.

I moved all of my corals back into QT. Hopefully they will recover and things will go better next time I attempt the transfer...... I guess the third time is the charm, right?

If I can bring my poor tubastrea back again, just call me the NPS whisperer...

IMG_0379 2.JPG
 

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a couple of those corals already look like they are feeling a bit better in the qt. I also see that rock peaking out in the bottom left looks covered in algae so i would say bacteria is prob more stable in that tank as well for whatever reason
Thank you all for the help and advice. I guess I will wait to pull the plug. I set up a fish QT a few days ago, so I will tell hubby to pick out some fish and get them ready to join my watchman and neon gobies in my display.

I moved all of my corals back into QT. Hopefully they will recover and things will go better next time I attempt the transfer...... I guess the third time is the charm, right?

If I can bring my poor tubastrea back again, just call me the NPS whisperer...

IMG_0379 2.JPG
 

dedragon

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Maybe putting the frags into the qt aquarium gave that qt some different bacteria that your dt didnt have before and the qt might have become stable. Idk hard to say, but you made a great move asking for help and moving those corals back
 

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Corals never do well in early systems. They struggle with ever changing chemistry of the water.

Lock all 8 parameters into the ranges and ensure they do not move. Keep this going for a few months in a row, so when you test weekly, each number has moved, as little as possible.

Then add softies and LPS and continue to maintain all 8.
When you see coralline algae, you can add SPS.

Best Sun Coral I have ever seen.

Just relax, make sure you can test, make a worksheet and record findings.
 

GHOSTLY

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Well guys, I am sorry to say, I’m really considering quitting this hobby. I am so far beyond frustrated with this stupid tank that I literally don’t even know what to say. I have 7 corals that are all slowly dying in my DT while they were thriving in my QT, for now the second time. I don’t get it. I don’t know what to do. My tank is a 38-gallon that is a few months old. Tests show nothing wrong with the water, both pistol shrimp and my gobies are doing great, I use the same RODI water in both tanks with the same salt mix and keep them at the same temperature and salinity.

I added 6 pounds of cured live rock to my display to try and help things along and I’ve added bottled bacteria more times than I can count. I turned down my lights to 15% when I added the corals and they are still dying.

It just makes no sense. I have done water change after water change and it makes no difference. I’m at the end of my rope. If I pull all of my corals out again and put them back in quarantine, what the heck is even the point of having a display?

I don’t know. Somebody please pull me off the edge before I jump and tear it all down.
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if your about to quit I would give the coral away and do more research. Im new too but ripping apart would not be a viable option
 
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Apollo7235

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a couple of those corals already look like they are feeling a bit better in the qt. I also see that rock peaking out in the bottom left looks covered in algae so i would say bacteria is prob more stable in that tank as well for whatever reason
This is literally the exact same thing that happened the first time I tried the move. Immediately after I placed them back in the QT, they started extending again.

just seriously boggles my mind that this new little tank can sustain what the other can’t.
 
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Apollo7235

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Maybe putting the frags into the qt aquarium gave that qt some different bacteria that your dt didnt have before and the qt might have become stable. Idk hard to say, but you made a great move asking for help and moving those corals back
Thank you, I appreciate the support. I am seriously so disappointed that this happened again. It’s so disheartening.
 
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Apollo7235

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Corals never do well in early systems. They struggle with ever changing chemistry of the water.

Lock all 8 parameters into the ranges and ensure they do not move. Keep this going for a few months in a row, so when you test weekly, each number has moved, as little as possible.

Then add softies and LPS and continue to maintain all 8.
When you see coralline algae, you can add SPS.

Best Sun Coral I have ever seen.

Just relax, make sure you can test, make a worksheet and record findings.
Thank you for the compliment on my sun coral. I work really hard to keep all four of my NPS healthy, so watching them wither has been extremely difficult. I sincerely hope I can bring them back from this (again).

It’s just crazy that everything does so well in a 10-gallon that is literally only a month and a half old that I seeded from the tank that can’t seem to sustain anything but fish and inverts.
 

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