Almost 1 Year Tank Anniversary! Help me Improve! Coral Growth Frustration

[ScoobyElla]

It has been 11 Months since I first set up the tank and got it wet!
FTP

I am kinda at a crossroads here on what to do with the tank. I have not seen much growth from my Corals, and am very frustrated. I have had all of these since November

I have 2 Zoa's that are in poor shape. They started going down hil about 2 weeks ago and now they are barely hanging on.
War Coral - was doing really good but now started to decay around the edges.
Chalice - Which is probably giving the best growth! And is very healthy IMO. I see other tanks and thier chalice grew much faster than mine.
GSP's which have not grown and was hoping they would bring more to the tank as I want it to grow everywhere
Hammer Corals - It was 3 heads for about 3 months and it has gone down to 2.

My most recent Tests (Saifert) which was last night before feeding was the following:
SG 1.026
Temp 78degrees
Ammonia - 0 - I dont test this usually but did when the corals were going down hill
Nitrates - 0 - I dont test this usually but did when the corals were going down hill
Nitrates - Less than 25ppm
PH - 8.1
Phosphate Less than .1
Alk - 7.7
Mag - 1350
Calcium - 250

I do a 15% Water Change Every 2 Weeks. I replace the HOB filters every 2 weeks at the same time. I run ChemPure every 3 months. I clean the HOB and Wave Makers every Month as well. I keep the front glass clean inside and outside and let the back and sides run wild.

Any other info needed should be in my Original Build thread which I update.

 

[Dcal]

calcium 1250 not 250? looks like youre getting some solid coralline growth on the back glass which is always a good sign. What light are you running as that might answer some questions. Another thing that jumps out to me is low flow bc the powerheads look small but that just might be perspective.

 

[PeterC99]

Are you dosing anything?

 

[ScoobyElla]

It’s 250! Saifert tests too but I’m going to retest Calcium again tomorrow.
I have (2) Jebao Wave Makers SOW-4. One located on the RIght Glass Pane (Back Top Right Corner) to run Flow along the back of the tank and then hit the 2nd Wave Maker which is on the Left Pane which flows water to hit the front center pane. I can adjust both flow power and length between "waves". See attached video

 

[ScoobyElla]

Are you dosing anything?

Not yet, B-ionic 2 parts was suggested to me. What are your thoughts?

 

[PeterC99]

Yes. You will notice significant improvement when you dose B-Ionic 2 part!

 

[ScoobyElla]

Yes. You will notice significant improvement when you dose B-Ionic 2 part!

Great thanks! I will look into this!

 

[PeterC99]

Great thanks! I will look into this!

Start ASAP, you will notice significant growth and coloration.

 

[ScoobyElla]

Start ASAP, you will notice significant growth and coloration.

Where can I find, how much to dose and when to stop dosing? Or is it once you start dosing you never really stop?

 

[PeterC99]

Where can I find, how much to dose and when to stop dosing? Or is it once you start dosing you never really stop?

Start small, few ml a day. Like any living organism, you will need to keep nourishing it everyday.

 

[reefer_87]

Where can I find, how much to dose and when to stop dosing? Or is it once you start dosing you never really stop?

I use the calcium part of the brightwell aquatics two part solution for calcium and the buffer for alkalinity dosing. My strategy when I faced mineral deficit was to slowly get the calcium levels from 350 to 450 over a 2 week period (add how much ever based on the formula approximately it's ppm increase required * gallons of water in tank * 0.051). After this test the newly mixed water and get it to 450 ish if less than that. These two should handle the deficit you have currently and deficit you face while performing water changes. For the deficit from coral growth, measure ca levels a specific day and after about a week measure it again and the difference is what you need to dose (divide the estimated ml from formula required by 7 and let your dosing pump churn that out every day). You can do the same for alkalinity but typically it's the same as calcium as the consumption rate is similar. Check your lights if you're not seeing growth despite good water parameters(I changed mine from current USA to reef breeders photon v2 and have seen very good growth since March). Try to get your nitrates around 5-10ish if you can (carbon dosing, regular filter sock cleaning, skimmer, adding seachem matrix substrate to my sump got my tank from 10-15 ish no3 levels to 2-5). But every tank is different. If you are getting coralline cover you are good and you could start with small changes instead of blaming the no3 levels.

 

[CanuckReefer]

The others have given great advise... my question is what are you actually feeding? Any roids ( or the like), or live phyto? I'd highly recommend the live phyto....won't foul up your tank as much as some stuff does, and I noticed a big difference once started a while back....

 

[Bribo12]

What lights are you running?