Coral not growing & looking bad

[1Matthew]

My coral has been doing really bad as of lately. Some have bleached and others have died. As for the past year I haven’t had many fish only 1 clown in a 60 gallon. The nitrates have been at 0 for the pst couple months and everything else seems pretty normal. I haven’t changed my lighting in a very long time so I don’t think that is the reason. My mushrooms have died, my trumpets shriveled, and my lobo is receding. Would getting some more fish help? What could fix this?

 

[AutumnReefs]

Post all of your parameters as well as test kits. 0 nitrate would be a reasonable cause. Feed more or dose amino acids.

 

[Llyod276]

More fish just means more DOC/DOS. Same with food. Test your water. If not using rodi, I would guess contaminants via ammonia and phosphates.

 

[AutumnReefs]

More fish just means more DOC/DOS. Same with food. Test your water. If not using rodi, I would guess contaminants via ammonia and phosphates.

Corals won't shrivel up from high phosphates, especially softies. Phosphate is more of an issue with slower growth and more brittle skeletons. Also, ammonia would not be likely since the op has 1 clownfish.

 

[AutumnReefs]

I accidently missed where you said one clown. I am 99% confident it is a lack of nitrate and possibly phosphate. That is just way too little fish for that size tank if you aren't given corals daily food supplies of the exact type of food they can eat.

 

[1Matthew]

I just purchased some fish and half a phosphate test my phosphates are 0.02 and nitrates practically zero, at 0.2

 

[1Matthew]

I also feed every so often reed roids

 

[1Matthew]

More fish just means more DOC/DOS. Same with food. Test your water. If not using rodi, I would guess contaminants via ammonia and phosphates.

I use RODI

 

[Timfish]

Phosphates should be higher. What are your other water parameters? (Out of curiosity, what do you test for regularly and how often?) Here's some videos you might find informative:

Forest Rohwer "Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas"


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

 

[AutumnReefs]

Phosphates should be higher. What are your other water parameters? (Out of curiosity, what do you test for regularly and how often?) Here's some videos you might find informative:

Forest Rohwer "Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas"


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

0.2 phosphate is high and should not be higher.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Check ur salinity. Double check. Have it checked by another source. Same with alk. Hths u
-d

 

[Timfish]

0.2 phosphate is high and should not be higher.

. . . my phosphates are 0.02 . . .

@AutumnReefs, 1Mathew said his phospahtes are at .02, not .2. Just FYI but .2 mg/l PO4 is what occurs naturally with upwelling. Research done at Southampton University in England over several years with a typical low nutrient system identified a threashold level of .03 mg/l PO4 to prevent phosphate deficiency in corals. Here's a quote by J. E. N. Veron and some links for those interested in reading more about phosphorus on reef systems:

"Imported nutrients are usually transported to reefs from rivers; but if there are no rivers, as with reefs remote from land masses, nutrients can only come from surface ocean circulation. Often this supply is poor, and thus the vast ocean expanses have been refered to as "nutrient deserts". The Indo-Pacific has many huge atolls in these supposed deserts which testify to the resilience of reefs, but the corals themselves may lack the lush appearance of those of more fertile waters. Many reefs have another major supply of inorganic nutrients as, under certain conditions, surface currents moving against a reef face may cause deep ocean water to be drawn to the surface. This "upwelled" water is often rich in phosphorus (.2 mg/l) and other essential chemicals." J. E. N. Veron "Corals of Austrailia and the Indo-Pacific" pg 30

https://www.cambridge.org/core/jour...reef-corals/AFB1CF4CB68823BD13AD254623FD3C7C#An Experimental Mesocosm for Longterm Studies of Reef Corals

Phosphate Deficiency:
Nutrient enrichment can increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching:
https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate1661
Ultrastructural Biomarkers in Symbiotic Algae Reflect the Availability of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Particulate Food to the Reef Coral Holobiont:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2015.00103/full
Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X17301601?via=ihub
Effects of phosphate on growth and skeletal density in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata: A controlled experimental approach
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098111004588
High phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/16/2749.full
Phosphorus metabolism of reef organisms with algal symbionts
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.w...98e60zfBEvx5IcIVGhmlpUYmzIJuqUNVm0sG8_0vth6lq
https://therichross.com/skeptical-reefkeeping-ix-test-kits-chasing-numbers-and-phosphate/
Sponge symbionts and the marine P cycle
https://www.pnas.org/content/112/14/4191
Phosphorus sequestration in the form of polyphosphate by microbial symbionts in marine sponges
https://www.pnas.org/content/112/14/4381

 

[Reefbuds]

You need some nitrates man! Finish out your fish stocking, should help a bit.