Enough light?

[topjimmy]

Ok I know a par meter would probably be the best way to determine this, but I figured I could probably get some advice on my setup.
Tank is a 65 gallon 36x24x18. Currently lit by a single de Hamilton 250w MH. Two bluacro half stars and a two t5 .

I keep several bta, they grow like mad and constantly split. Clam on the bottom directly below the MH seems to be doing well. Zoa growing and spreading. However, any Coral SPS, lps, just don't grow. SPS Brown out and just eventually die.

Parameters are well within the recommended levels
Sg 1.026
All 7.5
Call 450
Mg 1300
N03 .05
Phosphate 32ppb (trying to Lower slowly)

So all things considered what am I doing wrong? I'm at a loss. I thought that would be sufficient light, maybe I need to update.

 

[Spare time]

You definitely need more nitrate. Other than that, if everything without a calcium carbonate skeleton is doing well, maybe it relates to that. How stable do you keep your alk?

 

[topjimmy]

You definitely need more nitrate. Other than that, if everything without a calcium carbonate skeleton is doing well, maybe it relates to that. How stable do you keep your alk?

Stays between 7.5 7.8 for weeks I dose Randy's diy using the hydroxide version, 28 ml a day 2ml at a time. Coraline grows well also.
Trying to go and try aquaforest method hence the ulns reading. Tank is over a year old from a reboot.

 

[Spare time]

Stays between 7.5 7.8 for weeks I dose Randy's diy using the hydroxide version, 28 ml a day 2ml at a time. Coraline grows well also.
Trying to go and try aquaforest method hence the ulns reading. Tank is over a year old from a reboot.

I personally would never reccommend ULNS. You can get good colors and growth without risking getting dinoflaggelates or other microbial disruptions with nitrates between 5-15.

Do the SPS corals just brown out or do they bleach? What happends to the LPS?

 

[topjimmy]

I personally would never reccommend ULNS. You can get good colors and growth without risking getting dinoflaggelates or other microbial disruptions.

Do the SPS corals just brown out or do they bleach? What happends to the LPS?

Sps look good for a few days, then lose pe, and start browning. Maybe survive about a month or two with no growth to speak of, eventually stn and get added to the pile of skeletons.

Lps hold on longer, start growing and then just begin to fade away and die too. I don't know if the BTA have some chemical warfare going on, they don't touch the coral. I run carbon in a reactor just in case. They grow huge. When fully expanded the mother is easily a foot across.

 

[proxy001]

@topjimmy I have a very similar scenario as yours. BTA keep growing, doing great, splitting etc. The rest of my corals , hardly alive. So many moving parts. The BTA part crossed my mind.
Here is something that got my attention... At some point I was not able to grow GSP with good water parameters ... I realized that I was growing in the shade of a big toadstool. I think too much light is as bad as not enough. So right now, I lowered my light intensity ...
I am considering sending water for analysis, we might have some long term pollutant in the water that we dont test for.

 

[topjimmy]

@topjimmy I have a very similar scenario as yours. BTA keep growing, doing great, splitting etc. The rest of my corals , hardly alive. So many moving parts. The BTA part crossed my mind.
Here is something that got my attention... At some point I was not able to grow GSP with good water parameters ... I realized that I was growing in the shade of a big toadstool. I think too much light is as bad as not enough. So right now, I lowered my light intensity ...
I am considering sending water for analysis, we might have some long term pollutant in the water that we dont test for.

I sent in a ICP test to ATI about a year ago and nothing came back bad. I don't know what could be the issue with me and coral. I just can't keep any alive for more than a few months.

 

[proxy001]

Your nitrate might be too low

 

[proxy001]

My story is actually very similar to yours. One of my issue was that my RODI wasn't setup properly so my TDS never ran at zero for years. I am thinking I may have introduced pollutants to the tank that are slowly leaching . I have no problem with soft coral but LPS and SPS is a problem. The BTA doesn't hold very well though. I've seen super reef tanks full of corals and anemone at the same time.

 

[topjimmy]

I agree. I use zero TDS rodi , feed pretty heavily. Though nitrates are low,I doubt they're absent. I've had higher nitrates before with the same result. I don't see any pests. In fact I went sans coral for months to deprive any of their host/food. Tried bacteria supplements, trying the Aquaforest system now to see if it will work.