Bad Sps

Shireef

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hello everyone , sorry for the long post , I have a tank that is running for 4 months , but there is a problem with my sps corals , they are not growing and some easy species are start to dying . coloraiton is fine , i dont have any tissue lost expect caliendrum and birdsnest , evern my acroporas are fine , but they dont have grow out tips. I am doing water twice in a month and doing weekly tests.
my parameters are:
SG 1026
KH 8.0
CA 440
MG 1335
PO4 0.11
NO3 5
my lighting is 6*54watt t5 , i bought it second hand , the t5s were already on it and the man i bought the fixture said ' t5s are 3 months old, i can prove it ' .
combination is 3*blueplus, 1*coralplus 1*actinic 1*purple plus.

I have mp40 and 2*hydor koralia 3g (5000 liters per hour )
also i have a small cyano problem , just on my rocks not on the sand.
my lps corals doing great they are growing , opening well , but i cant say the same things for my sps corals. what can be my problem , i do also have coraline all over my rocks but still i dont see any consumption on kh mg and ca.
 

moreef

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Also your not going to see a lot of growth at all in 4months. I assume you haven’t had the frags in that long? My tank has nearly identical numbers and is only month and half old except all my rock is from previous tank that was up for over four years. If you started with dry/dead rock my guess is either pest issue or more likely tank not ready for sps.
 
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Shireef

Shireef

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Also your not going to see a lot of growth at all in 4months. I assume you haven’t had the frags in that long? My tank has nearly identical numbers and is only month and half old except all my rock is from previous tank that was up for over four years. If you started with dry/dead rock my guess is either pest issue or more likely tank not ready for sps.
in first 2 month , i had really great growth with caliendrum , at the same time my no3 got 0 and my po4 got little bit higher , after that i never saw any consumption or growth , just my lps are growing a little , i used dry rock and sand , also any tips gor cyano? thank you btw.
 
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Shireef

Shireef

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Ive always had better coral growth with closer to ULN parameters.
Agreed though 4 months isnt the correct time for SPS.I like to keep my po4 aroun 0.1 it is more easy to keep this level stable and my lps are more happy with it.
 

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I’ve always found that with a younger tank, it’s better to try to keep nitrates and phosphates just detectable. I figure it has to do with bacteria populations reaching an equilibrium within the system. In a nutshell, I think your parameters are good for a 1 year old plus tank. But until you reach that point, I’d try to keep nitrates around 2ppm and phosphates around .04ppm. Even better is if you can dose aminos & phytoplankton weekly for your corals while keeping those numbers stable. You’ll probably have to increase your water change frequency/volume to achieve that. I’m also running a 6-bulb t5ho and I can tell you for a fact, lighting is not the issue here.
 

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here are a few pieces of advice from my own experience.
1. you will be far more successful if you wait. As said 4 months isn’t really ready for sps. I was in the same boat and was able keep them alive for a bit but then they started dying off. It wasn’t until my tank was covered in coralline algae and I was able to keep stuff stable did I finally succeed with sps. Somewhere around the 1 year mark.
2. I have a frag in my system I bought 18months ago....it’s finally starting to throw out branches. i Don’t know why but some frags take time to settle in And once they do they will start growing providing you give them stability With parameters and lighting.
3. you see your frags everyday. i say this because I was going through some old photos and as was Take aback by how small some Coral looked even as early as October. And I was like why aren’t my frags growing.

my advice here is keep what you have and wait....provide the coral with stable no3, po4 , alk, cal, mag. your parameter look fine. In time coral will grow. Wait a few more months before adding any more sps.
 
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Shireef

Shireef

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I’ve always found that with a younger tank, it’s better to try to keep nitrates and phosphates just detectable. I figure it has to do with bacteria populations reaching an equilibrium within the system. In a nutshell, I think your parameters are good for a 1 year old plus tank. But until you reach that point, I’d try to keep nitrates around 2ppm and phosphates around .04ppm. Even better is if you can dose aminos & phytoplankton weekly for your corals while keeping those numbers stable. You’ll probably have to increase your water change frequency/volume to achieve that. I’m also running a 6-bulb t5ho and I can tell you for a fact, lighting is not the issue here.
thank you for feedback , then i just have to wait for a more settled tank , also any tips for cyano or it will dissepear when the tank got settled
 
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Shireef

Shireef

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here are a few pieces of advice from my own experience.
1. you will be far more successful if you wait. As said 4 months isn’t really ready for sps. I was in the same boat and was able keep them alive for a bit but then they started dying off. It wasn’t until my tank was covered in coralline algae and I was able to keep stuff stable did I finally succeed with sps. Somewhere around the 1 year mark.
2. I have a frag in my system I bought 18months ago....it’s finally starting to throw out branches. i Don’t know why but some frags take time to settle in And once they do they will start growing providing you give them stability With parameters and lighting.
3. you see your frags everyday. i say this because I was going through some old photos and as was Take aback by how small some Coral looked even as early as October. And I was like why aren’t my frags growing.

my advice here is keep what you have and wait....provide the coral with stable no3, po4 , alk, cal, mag. your parameter look fine. In time coral will grow. Wait a few more months before adding any more sps.
thank you , then I need to be more patient
 

Saltyreef

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thank you for feedback , than i just have to wait for a more settled tank , also any tips for cyano or it will dissepear when the tank got settled
Cyano can be tricky but sometimes more flow in that area is all thats needed.
Some persistant cyano i had from a dirty sand bed needed intervention by removing and rinsing.
EM works well too but some dont like incorperating chemicals where elbow grease works just as good.
 

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thank you for feedback , then i just have to wait for a more settled tank , also any tips for cyano or it will dissepear when the tank got settled
Cyano should go away with time provided proper flow (i.e. powerheads) and husbandry.
SPS in a four month old tank with dry rock is a risky proposition, it is better to wait at least six months; with dry rock, I would wait at least a year.
 
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Shireef

Shireef

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Cyano can be tricky but sometimes more flow in that area is all thats needed.
Some persistant cyano i had from a dirty sand bed needed intervention by removing and rinsing.
EM works well too but some dont like incorperating chemicals where elbow grease works just as good.
well i bought my mp40 2 days ago and it gives a really wide and nice flow pattern , now all of my rock work is getting flow , maybe this might be solution , thank you again .
 
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Shireef

Shireef

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Cyano should go away with time provided proper flow (i.e. powerheads) and husbandry.
SPS in a four month old tank with dry rock is a risky proposition, it is better to wait at least six months; with dry rock, I would wait at least a year.
thank you , i am going to monitor cyano with a higher flow and wait for to tank settle
 

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thank you for feedback , then i just have to wait for a more settled tank , also any tips for cyano or it will dissepear when the tank got settled
The cyano will tend to disappear if you maintain low but stable nitrates and phosphates. A little way to speed up your tank’s maturity and get rid of the cyano is to periodically dose beneficial bacterial.
 

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