Corals ain't doing good

[Bored_shrimp]

I got a 40 breeder that's been up and running for a bit less than a year now and I've got some coral in it that aren't doing good. I've been trying corals for a bit and haven't had much luck. I've got two different types of zoas and a thing of green star polyps and those are doing fine, in fact I think I see a new polyp starting to grow on the zoas. I also have a duncan coral that might be dead, if not it's trying to get there, I had two things of pulsing xenia and those both melted and died, I have a clove polyp that was covered in algae that I had to remove and it also had an aiptasia by it, I removed the aiptasia too and haven't seen anymore in the tank. I've got a finger leather that hasn't been doing too hot for awhile now, has kept on living, but hasn't looked what I know it can look like, it stays shrunk and small. I've also got a gorgonian coral too. It's also always closed like the cloves, duncan, and leather. They used to be doing good, but then they've declined. But yeah, zoas are always open and so is the gsp. I'm honestly not sure why they're doing what they're doing my parameters are all in mostly good ranges I think, I did test them, they're as follows:
Calcium:420
Kh: 11
temperature: 78-80
salinity is about 1.024 give or take a .001
Nitrate and phosphate have been zero, but I've been trying to get those up a little bit by feeding a little bit heavier so the corals have that of what they need of those.
Ph7.9-8.0(kinda low, I know)
The light I have is the one of those current LEDs and I run it about 11 hours a day and have blues at about 90 I think for daylight and whites anywhere from I think 60-70%. The red and green I have running pretty low right now.
I have also changed my salt I'm using recently, I've changed to the red sea coral pro salt. I did kinda a big water change compared to normal and I think it shocked them a little bit, I am still doing weekly water changes to slowly change out the water, about 10 to 20% now, the first one was about 50%, so probably too much. I don't ever see any of the fish picking at the corals either, they leave them alone. Can someone provide some insight maybe to what I need to do to get my corals back on track, I still believe a few of them can definitely be saved if given the right parameters or whatever I'm missing, others I have some doubts about though. Also I'm not sure about my lighting schedule or intensity, can someone please help a bit with that and say yeah it's alright, or nah, you needa change it. Oh yeah, the tank also is just coming out of a green hair algae outbreak, the algae is receding quite fast now due to the clean up crew I was able to get and the RO/DI system I was able to get too. I had high silicates in my water which I think is what caused my algae growth, mainly cause the algae liked to take off after water changes and I had to fight it a lot. Help would be much appreciated, it's a bit annoying that this is happening, I really just want to learn how to take care of corals and get a tank full of em, but with problems like this I can't. If I lacked information tell me what it was and I can probably get it.

 

[Bored_shrimp]

I also had been dosing vibrant for the algae problems too if that means anything.

 

[Kaze]

I would check all equipment in your tank to see anything that is rusting, including your light bracket screws. Also get an ICP test to see any problem with your water.

 

[lavoisier]

Be patient and hang in there. A tank less than a year old is still relatively new. As you know, our systems are incredibly complex. The fact that are having success with some of your corals is a great sign. Most all of us have experienced the trials you are now faced with. Try to resist fixing multiple things all at once.

An ICP test is a good idea to test for any outliers in your water. Did all of your losses occur at the same time? What is the turnover rate in your DT? How often are you testing? Are you using an RODI and is your TDS 0?

 

[Super Fly]

sorry to hear about the coral loss, it can be frustrating. Sounds like your water is too clean if xenia and other softies aren't happy, they like dirty water. If it was me, I'd stop doing water changes until NO3 and PO4 are detectable around 5 and 0.04 while maintaining temp of 78 and salinity at 1.025... oh also the Alk of 11 seems high, try to maintain at 7-8
I'd let the tank settle/establish itself and once on cruise control then consider SPS corals. Do regular tests and carry out water change when NO3 or PO4 increases otherwise dont do any WC. GL and be patient, u got this

 

[iamacat]

First thing is bring that dkh down to 8ish. That’s a big issue for you, much harder to stabilize a system with dkh higher than 9 in my experience

 

[vetteguy53081]

Some levels need tweaking but a few questions:

- what test kits are you using ?
- Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet?
- have you calibrated any of your test equipment ?

recommended:
Temperature 76-79
Salinity 1.025
Ph 8.2
Nitrate < .04
Phosphate. < .04
Alk. 8-9
Mag 1300
CA. 440

 

[Bored_shrimp]

Be patient and hang in there. A tank less than a year old is still relatively new. As you know, our systems are incredibly complex. The fact that are having success with some of your corals is a great sign. Most all of us have experienced the trials you are now faced with. Try to resist fixing multiple things all at once.

An ICP test is a good idea to test for any outliers in your water. Did all of your losses occur at the same time? What is the turnover rate in your DT? How often are you testing? Are you using an RODI and is your TDS 0?

sorry to hear about the coral loss, it can be frustrating. Sounds like your water is too clean if xenia and other softies aren't happy, they like dirty water. If it was me, I'd stop doing water changes until NO3 and PO4 are detectable around 5 and 0.04 while maintaining temp of 78 and salinity at 1.025... oh also the Alk of 11 seems high, try to maintain at 7-8
I'd let the tank settle/establish itself and once on cruise control then consider SPS corals. Do regular tests and carry out water change when NO3 or PO4 increases otherwise dont do any WC. GL and be patient, u got this

Some levels need tweaking but a few questions:

- what test kits are you using ?
- Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet?
- have you calibrated any of your test equipment ?

recommended:
Temperature 76-79
Salinity 1.025
Ph 8.2
Nitrate < .04
Phosphate. < .04
Alk. 8-9
Mag 1300
CA. 440

To answer the questions my testing kits are the API test kits which I have heard are not the most accurate, but it's what I have and can afford at this moment cause I'm only in high school and there's a pandemic, so jobs and money are limited. I do use RO/DI water. My test equipment that can be calibrated has been calibrated. Yes, I do measure 0 TDS in my RO water. So my alk was high then. I though it might be a bit. Next thing of salt I buy will be one that mixes to a lower alk then. All my coral losses were kinda staggered but did happen much around the same time, like maybe a month give or take a bit apart. I do have the Red Sea coral nutrition AB+, would that be a good thing to start dosing more since my nutrient levels are low? I haven't been dosing it too often cause I'm definitely trying to make sure the green hair algae doesn't come back. I test my water about every 1-3 weeks, pretty inconsistent on that, mainly cause they always are the same just about. I have considered an ICP test, I just need to get around to ordering one. I can probably get one when I get the different salt with the lower alk. I'll probably switch to the other red sea salt with the lower alk. If I'm doing my math right my tuenover rate of the water in my aquarium is 11 times an hour with just the wave maker I have. That doesn't include the output from the protein skimmer and filter though if those amount to anything. I also have another question, should I turn off my skimmer until my nutrient gets a little higher? Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.

 

[vetteguy53081]

To answer the questions my testing kits are the API test kits which I have heard are not the most accurate, but it's what I have and can afford at this moment cause I'm only in high school and there's a pandemic, so jobs and money are limited. I do use RO/DI water. My test equipment that can be calibrated has been calibrated. Yes, I do measure 0 TDS in my RO water. So my alk was high then. I though it might be a bit. Next thing of salt I buy will be one that mixes to a lower alk then. All my coral losses were kinda staggered but did happen much around the same time, like maybe a month give or take a bit apart. I do have the Red Sea coral nutrition AB+, would that be a good thing to start dosing more since my nutrient levels are low? I haven't been dosing it too often cause I'm definitely trying to make sure the green hair algae doesn't come back. I test my water about every 1-3 weeks, pretty inconsistent on that, mainly cause they always are the same just about. I have considered an ICP test, I just need to get around to ordering one. I can probably get one when I get the different salt with the lower alk. I'll probably switch to the other red sea salt with the lower alk. If I'm doing my math right my tuenover rate of the water in my aquarium is 11 times an hour with just the wave maker I have. That doesn't include the output from the protein skimmer and filter though if those amount to anything. I also have another question, should I turn off my skimmer until my nutrient gets a little higher? Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.

The reason I questioned what test kits were my suspicion of api being the one as numbers don’t seem normal.
What you can do until you get a better one is to take a good sized water sample to a trusted LFS and have them test the water for you and see what results they get and to compare with yours

 

[LegendaryCG]

Running carbon? Could be toxins or heavy metals in the tank.

 

[Super Fly]

To answer the questions my testing kits are the API test kits which I have heard are not the most accurate, but it's what I have and can afford at this moment cause I'm only in high school and there's a pandemic, so jobs and money are limited. I do use RO/DI water. My test equipment that can be calibrated has been calibrated. Yes, I do measure 0 TDS in my RO water. So my alk was high then. I though it might be a bit. Next thing of salt I buy will be one that mixes to a lower alk then. All my coral losses were kinda staggered but did happen much around the same time, like maybe a month give or take a bit apart. I do have the Red Sea coral nutrition AB+, would that be a good thing to start dosing more since my nutrient levels are low? I haven't been dosing it too often cause I'm definitely trying to make sure the green hair algae doesn't come back. I test my water about every 1-3 weeks, pretty inconsistent on that, mainly cause they always are the same just about. I have considered an ICP test, I just need to get around to ordering one. I can probably get one when I get the different salt with the lower alk. I'll probably switch to the other red sea salt with the lower alk. If I'm doing my math right my tuenover rate of the water in my aquarium is 11 times an hour with just the wave maker I have. That doesn't include the output from the protein skimmer and filter though if those amount to anything. I also have another question, should I turn off my skimmer until my nutrient gets a little higher? Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.

I started w API and quickly learned there are much better kits out there... yes, I'd try reducing skimmer run time while increasing feeding to bring up nutrients first. If u r tight on $, then I'd try the ole fashioned Instant Ocean salt instead of Red Sea which is almost double the price. BTW, r u dosing, i.e. 2part or kalk?

 

[Bored_shrimp]

Running carbon? Could be toxins or heavy metals in the tank.

I started w API and quickly learned there are much better kits out there... yes, I'd try reducing skimmer run time while increasing feeding to bring up nutrients first. If u r tight on $, then I'd try the ole fashioned Instant Ocean salt instead of Red Sea which is almost double the price. BTW, r u dosing, i.e. 2part or kalk?

I am running some carbon Legendary, I have it in a media bag running through my filtration. I'll go turn off my skimmer now then Fly. I'm only getting the small buckets that mix 55 gallons, they're below 30$ on BRS. The instant ocean is actually about the same price where I am as the buckets online are, there's not much price difference. Instant ocean is also supposed to mix to a high alk and lower is where I need to go I think. I am not dosing any two parts or kalkwaser, I do have the red sea AB+ so that's something that has everything in one bottle and I am going to start dosing that.