CORALS NOT LOOKING GOOD

Cryptocaryon · Aug 13, 2020

jose hernandez said:
So what do I do?

I'm not going to tell you what to do, I'm only voicing my opinion from the information I have obtained using my instinct and experience. I've told you what I would do, but I'm pretty sure others would have different options based on their experience. You have a few options others have recommended as well as mine. Randy probably has more experience and knowledge than all of us put together so to be honest if he gives an option on a course of action I would go with his above all others including mine. Hope you get it sorted this sure is a stressy hobby, sorry I can't offer that smoking bullet lord knows I wish I had one during some of my reefing woes. Good luck!!

jose hernandez · Aug 13, 2020

ok randy what should i do you are the goat when it comes to reefing
tank is barebottom as i mentioned i was stupid to remove the sand always wanted barebottom but figured once my aqauscape was set i could have removed the sand didnt know it could become a problem i was running for the tank for awhile b4 taking it out i did in sections every two weeks i take full blame the ro unit membranes and filter are all good i stopped feeding pellet foods 2 weeks ago my lights are 4 xr30 g4 pros they come on at 12 to 8 they are at 30% i have 4 mp40s for flow at 40% using the reefcrest mode template question would be what do i now

Luckyduck · Aug 13, 2020

jose hernandez said:
Won’t scrubbing the rocks of all the algae and a water change help?

It will but it can come right back in a matter of a day or two. Gotta find the root of the problem. It's not easy. It can be very frustrating but keep focused on it and look for the ICP test to be able to help give you a more clear answer. It's hard to check or consider everything.

Luckyduck · Aug 13, 2020

jose hernandez said:
Chromaboost did raise phosphates but not to a point where it was crazy Lights are only at 30% so don’t think they had anything to do with it

It doesn't necessarily have to be the overall % of lighting. I keep telling you... Check the individual spectrums. White, Red & Green. If those are high it can certainly be a contributer to your problem.

jose hernandez · Aug 14, 2020

Ordered a icp kit As far lights took out red green and all whites only running uv and all blue

starbuck88 · Aug 14, 2020

I'm a noob so I can't add any advice, just wanted to say I've read the whole thread and I hope you get this sorted Jose and thank you to all the people who have replied as this gives noobs like me the confidence and information I need to tackle issues if/when they arrise.

jose hernandez · Aug 14, 2020

Thnks this is a great hobby but it can be frustrating at times but luckily they are a lot of good reefers here to help us out when w need it thanks to all have helped me I’ll get through this one way or another

McReeferNista · Aug 15, 2020

Luckyduck said:
Check out YouTube and find a video on how. I can almost guarantee you that's where a lot of your problem is coming from. I had my Red's up at 30% for a week as I was doing a little experiment with coral coloration and it made algae go crazy in my tank. I turned it back to 3% and now I'm in the process of fighting it back off.

I READ ABOUT RED AND GREEN LIGHTING MANY TIMES FROM LOTS OF PEOPLE. CORALS DONT REALLY CARE FOR IT AND DOES CAUSE TROUBLE. I DONT RUN THOSE COLORS EVER. TANK IS FIVE YEARS OLD. I HAVE OTHER ISSUES AT TIMES THO...

Luckyduck · Aug 15, 2020

KITEGIRL 2016 said:
I READ ABOUT RED AND GREEN LIGHTING MANY TIMES FROM LOTS OF PEOPLE. CORALS DONT REALLY CARE FOR IT AND DOES CAUSE TROUBLE. I DONT RUN THOSE COLORS EVER. TANK IS FIVE YEARS OLD. I HAVE OTHER ISSUES AT TIMES THO...

Thank you for the confirmation! Back in the day (15 years ago) LEDs were just coming out and we didn't know as much as we do now about corals & their requirements for lighting. We would just slap a 14k halide and some actinic T5s over our tanks and everything was hunky-dory. Now that we've got these super sophisticated LED fixtures that have Reds and greens, warm whites and shades of blue it can get very confusing for a new reefer. Also now that we know corals don't really require white, red or green spectrums to grow although they can help in coloration they cause more of an issue with algae growth.

Luckyduck · Aug 15, 2020

jose hernandez said:
ok randy what should i do you are the goat when it comes to reefing
tank is barebottom as i mentioned i was stupid to remove the sand always wanted barebottom but figured once my aqauscape was set i could have removed the sand didnt know it could become a problem i was running for the tank for awhile b4 taking it out i did in sections every two weeks i take full blame the ro unit membranes and filter are all good i stopped feeding pellet foods 2 weeks ago my lights are 4 xr30 g4 pros they come on at 12 to 8 they are at 30% i have 4 mp40s for flow at 40% using the reefcrest mode template question would be what do i now

Yea man taking out your sand probably did you a lot more harm than good especially if you had it running for a while before hand. Bacteria establishes itself in your rocks and your sand bed. When you remove that you're removing the bacteria that was living in it and helping to keep everything balanced. You just essentially tipped the balance. One thing I can tell you in this hobby is that if nothing is wrong don't touch it. Don't add things because you read it was a good idea to, don't change things because you heard someone else was having success with it. If your tank is doing well leave it alone. You can very easily upset the balance and it is much more difficult to re-establish that balance than it is to mess it up. Good call on the ICP, keep us posted on the results.