Corals not opening

[kidnim]

9 mo old 40 G Lagoon tank. corals were doing mostly fine, i've been adding one a month or so. last added was the torch maybe 2 months ago. about 4 weeks ago, torch stopped elongating, now duncan as well. the two zoas are also not blooming at all.

tank had low nitrates so i turned off skimmer and have been feeding a bit more. phosphates are ok, alk is 8. mag and ca are on the high side (1500, 600) using Hanna checkers. ph has been stable around 8. salinity stable at 1.028. i've done a 20% change every two weeks or so including today. i have two nero3s at either end on around 30%. there is mild sway to pretty much everything. i have an AI blade grow + AI blade glow about 4 inch from tank. i tried increasing the blue/royal/violet time and intensity and i think maybe that made it worse? i've tried a few other adjustments like slight changes to the nero positions, slightly lower light. dosed with roids, using daily aminos. getting really concerned and frusturated. any tips appreciated

 

[Tahoe61]

There are issues with the basic chemistry, notably the SG. I would start by calibrating what ever devise you use to measure SG. Begin to bring the SG to at least 1.026, than retest Ca and Alk. Once you get the chemistry in line the corals should improve.
I would include specific values for nitrates and phosphate.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-basics-of-reef-tank-chemistry.567171/

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

 

[kidnim]

i recalibrated my refractometer, it really isnt off much. maybe 1.026 instead of 1.028. should i up? phosphate is 0.19. nitrate 41 ppb. alk recheck is 8.5. i retook pics with white light. i also have made adjustments to lengthen/taper and lower intensity of blue. it was higher and shorter. the only other difference was royal blue was low. i feel like disaster is impending, i really appreciate any help.

 

[Tahoe61]

Nice system.

One of the links I provided has the values you want shoot for. Based on your numbers calcium is too high.
Suggested values for SG are 1.025-1.027.

I would start the skimmer again based on your values for N/P.

Are you dosing?

What lightings fixture are those?

What is your water source?

Check your test kits.

Decline in corals can happen quickly. Trouble shooting and resolving those issues typically takes notably longer.

Again nice tank.

 

[Science/G]

Your salinity should be closest to 1.025. I would also look up some other AI blade lighting schedules to make sure your corals are getting the adequate light they need. And are your nitrates 41 ppb or 41 PPM

 

[kidnim]

sorry nitrites 41 ppb, nitrates 4.2 ppm.

water is coming from LFS, its RODI and i get the fresh for top off and the salt water for WCs from him. this is same place corals are from so they have same water there and same place i've gotten water from.

i'm dosing with Reef Energy AB+ 4ml daily. i dose mag 4 ml every week though i stopped because the test was high. although i'm using the hanna mag test kit and i've heard people say it isnt accurate (at LFS and chatgpt)

regarding the lights, its one AI BLade Grow and 1 AI Blade glow. i'm a little paranoid i made too many changes and now i dont know if i went up or down. i had just the Grow for a while and added the Glow about 2 months back which is why i suspect maybe its a light issue? the zoas arent opening and look like they are stretching. the torch and duncans just look closed and bad.

 

[kidnim]

in case anyone finds themselves to this thread by searching for similar issues....

things got worse from when i posted. nothing died but everything retracted. nitrates trended back down near 0 soon after i posted and i got some gray cobweb type stuff which i worried maybe was dinos. i did frequent water changes every other day of 20% using LFS RODI, scrubbed rocks. each change would help for a day or two. i turned off skimmer, increased feeding, lots of cleaning. made small changes with light schedule, powerhead schedule, positions of powerheads. made the mistake of turning up the lights for a few days which resulted in some more algae and didnt help. 2 firefish and a royal gramma died but clowns, wrasse, shrimp, CUC all fine. no coral died.

finally in a better place now, about 6 weeks from when this started. havent changed water in over a week and everything is rebounding and extending. except flower pot coral which actually wasnt so bad when this started but is now retracted but still very vibrant. i'm really not too far off where i started with settings, lights are on lower and longer, powerheads are a little higher flow.

i have no idea what happened. if you come across this in similar panic, i'm no pro but doing water changes regularly while making slow adjustments to tank environment was a real lesson in patience but seems to have gotten me through the other side