Newly started tank about six months ago. I started adding corals a few months ago after cycling and running dark per BRS. Two damsels, a sailfin blenny, a tail spot blenny, and a watchman goby plus a whole lot of snails are the only livestock. Cheeto section tumbling in the sump in addition to a pretty well stocked refugium. No skimmer Yet.
Some, not all, of my corals are fading and bleaching. One mushroom of several different types. A couple of zoos from seven or eight types. My one Goni frag. About half of the montipora frags but not the one lone Acropora frag. Seems pretty random and inconsistent. The corals come from half a dozen sources and were all dipped before going into the display.
Parameters have been pretty consistant since cycling. Today phosphate reads zero. Nitrate between zero and five depending on how I look at the stupid API color chart but certainly not excessive. Salinity moves between 1.024 and 1.025. pH 7.9 but I haven’t tried to artificially raise it yet. Calcium 400 and Alkalinity 7dKh.
No coralline algae growth as of yet.
The only things that jump out at me are the alkalinity being a trifle low and the pH being a bit problematic. Maybe phosphate too low?
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Pump up the alkalinity? Start a skimmer to boost pH? Feed more to nudge phosphate? Add reef buffer to raise pH and alkalinity?
Some, not all, of my corals are fading and bleaching. One mushroom of several different types. A couple of zoos from seven or eight types. My one Goni frag. About half of the montipora frags but not the one lone Acropora frag. Seems pretty random and inconsistent. The corals come from half a dozen sources and were all dipped before going into the display.
Parameters have been pretty consistant since cycling. Today phosphate reads zero. Nitrate between zero and five depending on how I look at the stupid API color chart but certainly not excessive. Salinity moves between 1.024 and 1.025. pH 7.9 but I haven’t tried to artificially raise it yet. Calcium 400 and Alkalinity 7dKh.
No coralline algae growth as of yet.
The only things that jump out at me are the alkalinity being a trifle low and the pH being a bit problematic. Maybe phosphate too low?
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Pump up the alkalinity? Start a skimmer to boost pH? Feed more to nudge phosphate? Add reef buffer to raise pH and alkalinity?