Getting into SPS and don't know what's wrong

[Discordian]

My tank has been up for about 8 months. All my corals (that aren't SPS) are doing great! Hammers, zoas, chalace, favia, torch, acans, lobo, avelopora, and a duncan are all doing great. But every time I add an SPS coral it dies fairly quickly. I added a purple stylo that made it about a month. Two montis started dieing pretty much as soon as I put them in. And two digis died in a week or two. I feel like my parameters are pretty on point and stable so I'm at a loss for what I am doing wrong. What could it be? What should I do? How can I keep SPS alive? What am I doing wrong? Any ideas or suggestions are welcome. Am I just unlucky?

Parameters:
Salinity: 35ppt
Nitrate: 2ppm
Phosphate: .02ppm
Alkalinity: 8.2
Calcium: 410
Magnesium: 1500

I test nitrate and phosphate weekly and alkalinity about 2x per week (recently started dosing with a doser). My alkalinity has been between 8 and 8.5 for months.

 

[Coug92]

Lights may not be putting out enough PAR

 

[Coug92]

What lights are you using?

 

[Discordian]

Lights may not be putting out enough PAR

I have an ap9x. I run it at a bit above the BRS recommended setting, but I also have it mounted a bit higher. I don't have a par meter, but it is worth a look.

 

[Blumy]

Live rock or dry rock start up?

 

[Vested]

Rent a par meter, so worth it

 

[happyhourhero]

Too low of nutrients IMO. Both of your values are very close to 0 for Nitrate and Phosphate.

 

[Discordian]

Live rock or dry rock start up?

Dry rock & sand.

 

[Discordian]

Too low of nutrients IMO. Both of your values are very close to 0 for Nitrate and Phosphate.

I guess everyone gets extra reef riods and food.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

What all are you doing for nutrient export?

 

[Discordian]

What all are you doing for nutrient export?

Skimmer, refugium, filter socks. I also dose bacto balance (and used elimi np when my nutrients were higher).

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Skimmer, refugium, filter socks. I also dose bacto balance (and used np when my nutrients were higher).

Stop the bacto balance. Or any carbon dosing for that matter.

 

[Blumy]

Dry rock & sand.

Probably not mature enough. Takes quite a bit longer without live rock. I used 7 year old rock from a sump. Started adding SPS frags in 2 weeks. This is just over a year later. Sure I had the usual pests but with patience, none now.

 

[thepotoo]

Your water chemistry is fine. No need to dose N/P.

Check flow (random, different directions, average at least 10 cm/second) and lighting (200+ PAR) around the spot where the SPS is.

purple stylo that made it about a month

This is one of the easiest SPS corals, maybe easier than birdsnest. The month time frame is enough time for the coral to consume its zooxanthellae and then run out of energy and die. This suggests lack of light.

The suggestion to wait for your tank to mature is a very good one. Give it another month and try another frag of purple stylo. Take pictures every day and keep track of growth and poylp extension. It should be stressed out for a week or so, then start to encrust at the base and develop a nice white growth tip on each branch. If this happens, it's getting good light and flow.