Corals Dying

[Nate5154]

For the past few months i’ve gone through many corals and every time they always have died, I don’t know what is going wrong at all and it’s starting to feel like i should stop trying because i’ve had no success.

My parameters are
35 ppt salinity
10 ppm nitrates
0.5 ppm phosphates
7.3 DKH
450 calcium
1320 magnesium

My flow isn’t too strong, My tank is at the right par according to my par tester, I’ve tried acclimating corals to light through the app over multiple days, ive tried putting them in partial shade at the bottom of the tank and slowly moving them up, ive tried constant 20% weekly water changes, pretty much everything and my corals still end up dying within a couple weeks. They always look good the first day I put them in and then by the second day the polyps will shrink or retract, the color will fade and be dull, right now my hammer is shrunk and the arms are clear. I have no clue what i’m doing wrong so if anyone might have an idea of something else I can try I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[edsbeaker]

Hi Nate,
Sorry that you are having so many issues. Let’s try and sort it out.
Please give us some more information. Some of the things that would be helpful to know are what size tank, how long it’s been set up, are you using RODI or tap water, what fish are you keeping, and what kind of corals have you tried? Also Is the tank brand new, or has it been preowned?

 

[Nate5154]

Hi Nate,
Sorry that you are having so many issues. Let’s try and sort it out.
Please give us some more information. Some of the things that would be helpful to know are what size tank, how long it’s been set up, are you using RODI or tap water, and what kind of corals have you tried? Also Is the tank brand new, or has it been preowned?

The tank is brand new, It’s a 15 gallon cube but it’s not an AIO so I run a fluval canister. I only have used rodi water, it’s been running for around 8 months, and i tried a toadstool leather, zoas, duncan, hammer, birds nest, montipora, and leptosis. Most of these I tried at different times too so I didn’t just put all in at once, these are all corals i’ve tried throughout months. For lights i’m using 2 orphek reef day plus lights and 1 blue plus in the middle of those two.

 

[Johnd651]

Just more questions

Do you dose? Water changes? Feeding? Fish? Sump? Reactors? Top off?

 

[Johnd651]

The tank is brand new, It’s a 15 gallon cube but it’s not an AIO so I run a fluval canister. I only have used rodi water, it’s been running for around 8 months, and i tried a toadstool leather, zoas, duncan, hammer, birds nest, montipora, and leptosis. Most of these I tried at different times too so I didn’t just put all in at once, these are all corals i’ve tried throughout months. For lights i’m using 2 orphek reef day plus lights and 1 blue plus in the middle of those two.

Not saying it's the cause, but smaller tanks like that are much more subject to parameter swings. Do you have your parameters over time?

 

[edsbeaker]

The tank is brand new, It’s a 15 gallon cube but it’s not an AIO so I run a fluval canister. I only have used rodi water, it’s been running for around 8 months, and i tried a toadstool leather, zoas, duncan, hammer, birds nest, montipora, and leptosis. Most of these I tried at different times too so I didn’t just put all in at once, these are all corals i’ve tried throughout months. For lights i’m using 2 orphek reef day plus lights and 1 blue plus in the middle of those two.

OK! What types of fish do you have, and are you adding any types of products to your tank, like alkalinity, calcium, or anything else?

 

[Nate5154]

Just more questions

Do you dose? Water changes? Feeding? Fish? Sump? Reactors? Top off?

I don’t dose anything just the weekly water changes, I feed a mix of mysis, red plankton, and baby brine once a day. I have 2 clownfish and a goby, no sump, no reactors, and yes top off

 

[Nate5154]

The tank is brand new, It’s a 15 gallon cube but it’s not an AIO so I run a fluval canister. I only have used rodi water, it’s been running for around 8 months, and i tried a toadstool leather, zoas, duncan, hammer, birds nest, montipora, and leptosis. Most of these I tried at different times too so I didn’t just put all in at once, these are all corals i’ve tried throughout months. For lights i’m using 2 orphek reef day plus lights and 1 blue plus in the middle of those two.

Not saying it's the cause, but smaller tanks like that are much more subject to parameter swings. Do you have your parameters over time?

Yea I have a spreadsheet and like a graph of it, I’ve been able to keep them all pretty steady just because nothing has really taken up the minerals in the water and im doing weekly water changes with the same salt every time (instant ocean reef crystals)

 

[edsbeaker]

I don’t dose anything just the weekly water changes, I feed a mix of mysis, red plankton, and baby brine once a day. I have 2 clownfish and a goby, no sump, no reactors, and yes top off

Great!
How often do you check your parameters, and what test kits are you using to test them?

 

[Johnd651]

Yea I have a spreadsheet and like a graph of it, I’ve been able to keep them all pretty steady just because nothing has really taken up the minerals in the water and im doing weekly water changes with the same salt every time (instant ocean reef crystals)

Which test kit brand?

 

[Nate5154]

I don’t dose anything just the weekly water changes, I feed a mix of mysis, red plankton, and baby brine once a day. I have 2 clownfish and a goby, no sump, no reactors, and yes top off

Great!
How often do you check your parameters, and what test kits are you using to test them?

I check my parameters I would say every couple weeks just because I don’t really ever change anything and they are usually the same. I use saltiert for alkalinity, magnesium, calcium, and pH. I use api for nitrate and phosphate, though I have heard they aren’t too accurate. I did recently hear that the fluval filter phosphate remover pads may be bad for the tank so I just took that out yesterday, and I usually run like a full pretty big bag of carbon so I just today started running like a half bag of carbon. Here’s a picture of two corals I currently have that aren’t looking good

 

[Nate5154]

I don’t dose anything just the weekly water changes, I feed a mix of mysis, red plankton, and baby brine once a day. I have 2 clownfish and a goby, no sump, no reactors, and yes top off

Great!
How often do you check your parameters, and what test kits are you using to test them?

I check my parameters I would say every couple weeks just because I don’t really ever change anything and they are usually the same. I use saltiert for alkalinity, magnesium, calcium, and pH. I use api for nitrate and phosphate, though I have heard they aren’t too accurate. I did recently hear that the fluval filter phosphate remover pads may be bad for the tank so I just took that out yesterday, and I usually run like a full pretty big bag of carbon so I just today started running like a half bag of carbon. Here’s a picture of two corals I currently have that aren’t looking good

I am also using a Jabeo SLW-5 Wavemaker + a little bit of movement from the return pump of my canister

 

[Johnd651]

So the only thing with running carbon and stuff is how often do you change it? It has been known to leach contaminants back in. Also what type of rock did you start with?

 

[edsbeaker]

I’m sorry that you have to answer questions from both of us! I’m trying to systematically work out what the problem may be, so just bare with me!

Do you have a lot of coralline algae growing in the tank yet?

 

[Nate5154]

So the only thing with running carbon and stuff is how often do you change it? It has been known to leach contaminants back in. Also what type of rock did you start with?

I started with marco rock, and i change carbon every 2-3 weeks

 

[Nate5154]

I’m sorry that you have to answer questions from both of us! I’m trying to systematically work out what the problem may be, so just bare with me!

Do you have a lot of coralline algae growing in the tank yet?

No i don’t, But something i do notice is some areas on rocks are darker than others

 

[Nate5154]

I’m sorry that you have to answer questions from both of us! I’m trying to systematically work out what the problem may be, so just bare with me!

Do you have a lot of coralline algae growing in the tank yet?

Also no worries at all, I really appreciate the help a lot

 

[edsbeaker]

Well, I’m not quite sure what is happening, but one thing that stands out to me is that you are using a salt that has a very high alkalinity, 13 ppm which is higher than the suggested range of 7-11 that we want to maintain. But your alkalinity is only measuring 7.3 according to your Sailfert test. If you are doing a a 20% weekly water change, your alkalinity is starting at around 9 after the water change and dropping to 7.3 throughout the week. That is a big swing for corals, and may be the reason they are unhappy. They are having to adapt to changes daily. If your test kits are correct, that alkalinity is being used by something.

Maybe it would help to start testing your alkalinity more often. Maybe see if it is truly stable or is really changing almost 2 ppm during the week.

Another thing you may want to change is to try to use a salt that is closer to the parameters that you want to keep, so that water changes don’t cause a big swing. Instead of reef crystals you may want to switch to Instant Ocean which has a lower alkalinity. The trick, though is that you need to maintain that alkalinity. Corals want the same parameters each day without swings.

The other thing I would do is make sure your parameters are stable for a week or two of testing more often, and then add some zoas, mushrooms, or other soft corals and see if you are more successful. For now, stay away from any LPS, montis, birds nests or other SPS. They are less forgiving.

Please keep me updated on how it is going!!!

 

[Nate5154]

Well, I’m not quite sure what is happening, but one thing that stands out to me is that you are using a salt that has a very high alkalinity, 13 ppm which is higher than the suggested range of 7-11 that we want to maintain. But your alkalinity is only measuring 7.3 according to your Sailfert test. If you are doing a a 20% weekly water change, your alkalinity is starting at around 9 after the water change and dropping to 7.3 throughout the week. That is a big swing for corals, and may be the reason they are unhappy. They are having to adapt to changes daily. If your test kits are correct, that alkalinity is being used by something.

Maybe it would help to start testing your alkalinity more often. Maybe see if it is truly stable or is really changing almost 2 ppm during the week.

Another thing you may want to change is to try to use a salt that is closer to the parameters that you want to keep, so that water changes don’t cause a big swing. Instead of reef crystals you may want to switch to Instant Ocean which has a lower alkalinity. The trick, though is that you need to maintain that alkalinity. Corals want the same parameters each day without swings.

The other thing I would do is make sure your parameters are stable for a week or two of testing more often, and then add some zoas, mushrooms, or other soft corals and see if you are more successful. For now, stay away from any LPS, mantis or other SPS. They are less forgiving.

Please keep me updated on how it is going!!!

Sounds good I will definitely start testing more, I appreciate the help

 

[Johnd651]

I’m sorry that you have to answer questions from both of us! I’m trying to systematically work out what the problem may be, so just bare with me!

Do you have a lot of coralline algae growing in the tank yet?

Also no worries at all, I really appreciate the help a lot

I apologize for trying to work through the problem and trying to help.

@Nate5154 I do believe your issue has to do with a parameter swing due to the nano size of the tank. The additional testing will be key.