Corals shrinking and dying.

[waynesai]

I purchased pipe organ, GSP, zoa (not sure the species), xenia and golden cloves and introduced to my tank 2 months ago.

Pipe organ, zoa and GSP showed obvious shrinking. Lesser polyps are opening and not as beautifully and big as when I first bought. Xenia and cloves showed a bit of growth, with xenia having new branches and cloves having 1 new baby polyp.

My 1 year old mushroom coral still has not multiply. I have a previous thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/mushroom-coral-not-growing.425753/ and made some changes to my water change routine based on the advice I received.

Water changes are now done using distilled water and I have also slowed down on my water changes to make my water "dirtier". The last water change was 3 weeks ago. I also started to dose
Bacter clean M (twice weekly)
reef micro fuel (almost daily but not on the same day as Bacter clean M)
seachem zooplankton (twice weekly, seems like xenia is responding well to it).
Salt use for water change: red sea salt

Water Parameters taken today:
Salinity: 1.025
dKH: 13.3 (dKH is rising. When I last measured 2 weeks ago, it was 12.5)
calc: >500 (the calcium level doesn't seem to drop since the last water change)
Mg: 1320
Phos: <0.03ppm

Sorry, have not bought test kits for nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, pH

livestocks: 1 clownfish, 1 blue tang, 2 sexy shrimps, couple of nassarius and trochus snails

I have been reading that GSP can grow like weed, however it is the opposite for my case. This is the second time I'm giving GSP a go. On the first time, the purple mat hardened and shriveled and eventually died. It seems like this is going to be the case again as half of the mat already looked shriveled and no polyps are coming out.

What is going wrong?;Drowning

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Your ALK is to high. If it is rising, you may need to change salt. Which Red Sea salt are you using?

How old is the tank?

What else are you using for filtration?

You need to get a good nitrate test kit. The others you mentioned aren't required for a cycled tank.

You really should consider using RO/DI water for water changed and top-off.

 

[NS Mike D]

without the missing numbers, it will be hard to help. High alk is standing out, especially if nitrate/phosphates are low. Some salt mixes, like reef crystals have high alk.

any idea on what par is reaching each coral?


fwiw, you spent money on a lot of things to dose and not to mention the live stock etc but not test kits for critical basic parameters. get back to the basics

 

[waynesai]

Your ALK is to high. If it is rising, you may need to change salt. Which Red Sea salt are you using?

How old is the tank?

What else are you using for filtration?

You need to get a good nitrate test kit. The others you mentioned aren't required for a cycled tank.

You really should consider using RO/DI water for water changed and top-off.

https://www.redseafish.com/red-sea-salts/red-sea-salt/

My tank is 1 year+ old. Filtration is basically the default stuff that I got from the nano tank set - Bio foams, ceramic media and protein skimmer.

Hmm, not really considering getting a RO/DI set now as my tank is really very small. Unless I made an upgrade towards bigger tanks...

 

[waynesai]

without the missing numbers, it will be hard to help. High alk is standing out, especially if nitrate/phosphates are low. Some salt mixes, like reef crystals have high alk.

any idea on what par is reaching each coral?


fwiw, you spent money on a lot of things to dose and not to mention the live stock etc but not test kits for critical basic parameters. get back to the basics

Noted, I am getting nitrate and pH test kits very soon. How do I measure PAR?

Will supply the nitrates and pH reading when I have them.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

https://www.redseafish.com/red-sea-salts/red-sea-salt/

My tank is 1 year+ old. Filtration is basically the default stuff that I got from the nano tank set - Bio foams, ceramic media and protein skimmer.

Hmm, not really considering getting a RO/DI set now as my tank is really very small. Unless I made an upgrade towards bigger tanks...

Ok, so you are using the Blue bucket salt from Red Sea. Your ALK and Calcium should not be that high using that salt. There may be some mixing issues there.

Can you get RO/DI water from your LFS?

Can you post any pictures of your setup?

We really need a lot more information about your system to be able to help. GSP and Zoa's are some of the easiest corals to keep. If those keep dying in your tank, there is definitely a big problem.

How big is the tank? What equipment do you have? Try to provide more than the default that you got with the set.

What is the temp of your tank? Do you use a heater to keep the temp stable? Any live rock?

I'm not familiar with Bacter Clean M, but looking at the bottle, I'm not really sure I see the benefit in using it and it may be causing some of the problems.

I know I have asked a lot of questions and offered little help, but if you want us to be able to help you, we need as much information as you can provide about your system.

 

[waynesai]

It's ok, I understand why you need more information..

For the salt mix that I am using, I think it is the Coral Pro Salt (https://www.marine-aquatics.eu/en/red-sea-coral-pro-salt-bag-22kg). I have discarded the plastic packaging long ago as I bought the 22 kg bag form and transferred the salt to my previous salt bucket. My mistake for the wrong link.

Regarding the RO/DI water, yes that is possible.

Tank size: 27.5cm x 27.5cm x 32cm (24L, ~6.3 gallons). Basically its a basic nano tank that comes with its own filtration equipment. It comes with bio foams, ceramic rings and protein skimmer. Does not comes with chiller. (https://www.freshnmarine.com/products/of-nano-marine-tank)
Light: Nemolights 18w (http://aquamaxxaquariums.com/lighting/nemolight-aquafresh-nano/)
Temperature: 28 - 30 deg celcius. No chiller.
Live rock: 1

Let me know if you need more info. I just wanna see my corals thrive. Pic of my tank attached. PS: The corals are in sleeping mode. The blue tang is a bit big for my tank, but it was left to die in my friend's tank so I brought it over to mine.

The other corals were introduced today.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

It's ok, I understand why you need more information..

For the salt mix that I am using, I think it is the Coral Pro Salt (https://www.marine-aquatics.eu/en/red-sea-coral-pro-salt-bag-22kg). I have discarded the plastic packaging long ago as I bought the 22 kg bag form and transferred the salt to my previous salt bucket. My mistake for the wrong link.

Regarding the RO/DI water, yes that is possible.

Tank size: 27.5cm x 27.5cm x 32cm (24L, ~6.3 gallons). Basically its a basic nano tank that comes with its own filtration equipment. It comes with bio foams, ceramic rings and protein skimmer. Does not comes with chiller. (https://www.freshnmarine.com/products/of-nano-marine-tank)
Light: Nemolights 18w (http://aquamaxxaquariums.com/lighting/nemolight-aquafresh-nano/)
Temperature: 28 - 30 deg celcius. No chiller.
Live rock: 1

Let me know if you need more info. I just wanna see my corals thrive. Pic of my tank attached. PS: The corals are in sleeping mode. The blue tang is a bit big for my tank, but it was left to die in my friend's tank so I brought it over to mine.

The other corals were introduced today.

Ok, the picture and info helps.

The link you posted earlier for the salt was the Blue bucket salt. Now you are saying that you use the Black bucket salt. If you are using the black bucket salt, that may be the reason for the high ALK and Calcium. I would consider switching to the Blue bucket and definitely getting RO/DI water from your LFS. If you are in the US, Firehouse Subs will sell you a used 5 gallon pickle bucket for $2. Get a couple of those to store your RO/DI water and to mix your salt water. You really need to bring down that ALK and several 2 gallon changes over the next couple of weeks with a lower ALK saltwater will do that.

Your temp is pretty high for a reef tank. That equates to 84-86 degrees F. A fan blowing over the top may help.

I don't know how strong that light is, but I would try moving the troubled corals to the bottom of the tank and see how they respond.

What kind of flow do you have in the tank? I think I see a powerhead, but I can't tell for sure. I think low flow would work for all of those corals, no higher than medium.

Lowering the temp, ALK, and light is where I would start as well as getting a good nitrate test kit.

I hope this helps.

OBTW, your tank is way to small for a Tang. Maybe you could trade it for some smaller fish.

 

[PDR]

+1 Good advise above. What are you using to measure salinity? I would be doing small frequent water changes in such a small tank.

You are overstocked with just the clown. You need to rehome that tang ASAP. It is cruel to keep it in a tank that small. Live Aquaria is a good source for checking minimum tank sizes (they recommend 180 gallons for that tang).

 

[NS Mike D]

This might help. It's not the end all be all water parameters but I found it a very useful starting point. It's the Red Sea suggested water parameters for their program. They do not have a softie or LPS module - likely since they are more tolerant. The mixed reef parameters are pretty useful click on the link for mixed reef

https://www.redseafish.com/reef-care-program/reef_foundation_program/


which test kit are you using for PO4 (API is notorious for not being able to measure in the range for reef tanks)

"Phos: <0.03ppm" IMO that is low for corals. Red Sea recommends ALk of 11.5 and PO4 of 0.08 - 0.12 for mixed reef. Keep in mind that, IMO, balance with NO3 (1-2 ppm for Red Sea program) and PO4 is key along with proper level of ALK. If accurate, your PO4 is closer to a SPS tank where ALK s/b closer to 8. See how ALK and NO3/PO4 levels go hand in hand.


as for par, many light manufacturers publish par mappings to give you an idea. A PAR meter is an expensive investment so many reef clubs lend them out to members and I have been reading that commercial entities are now renting them out.