Help with reefing (Im about to quit everything)

[leo_martin]

Hello guys.
So, I've been thinking about quitting. I can't stand seeing my aquarium with NO COLORS whatsoever.
Even easy "GSPs" won't grow in my tank. Cannot for the life of me figure out what the actual f* is happening. I'll post all the pictures and water parameters.
Anemones? Dark brown, shrinking. Zoas not opening, gsps all closed up for long periods of time. Tank is set up for almost a year and a half.

Tank: 30 gallons + 10 gallons of sump - Fuge light opposite the display. Water parameters attached.
10+ fish, around 5 invertebrates.
Dont do water changes often, I do all for reef to maintain alk at 9-10, usually a few mls per week.

I don't have par readings but I have a Kessil A360WE and a little Fluval reef nano (Kessil Blues @50% and Fluval nano @100% whites, ramping up)
Ph hovers around 7.8 to 8, but now I bootlegged a Co2 scrubber and my last reading was 8.35.

Any tips? help?

Anything is appreciated.

Thank you!

Edit: Added more pictures.

 

[stE26wy14]

how long has the tank been setup? what's flow like? stocking? par?

 

[stE26wy14]

im seeing your parameters love to wave around, especially nitrates, what salt are you using? how often do you feed and how much? ammonia? what are water changes like? do you dose anything?

 

[leo_martin]

im seeing your parameters love to wave around, especially nitrates, what salt are you using? how often do you feed and how much? ammonia? what are water changes like? do you dose anything?

LSF saltwater, don't do water changes often, test and dose all for reef weekly. around a few mls per week, usually dosed in a few days, like if I need to dose 20ml I dose 10ml in one day, then 5 and 5 in 2 days, 3 days total.

 

[JTP424]

You got a large Bio-load for a small tank like that! I know it's technically 40 gallons, but still seems like a lot of fish.
If you don't do water changes often, let's start there, try to do them once a week, at 20% water change.
Is that feasible?

 

[stE26wy14]

LSF saltwater, don't do water changes often, test and dose all for reef weekly. around a few mls per week, usually dosed in a few days, like if I need to dose 20ml I dose 10ml in one day, then 5 and 5 in 2 days, 3 days total.

what's mls? why dont you use your own salt mix?
water changes should be done on the regular too

 

[stE26wy14]

I would get an rodi system, and make your own mix, since I can see your params changing A LOT!!!

 

[JTP424]

Your dosing needs to get consistent too, With the varying inputs, you may not be achieving what you think, what you dose one day may be taken up the next, and so you're getting diminishing returns.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

GSP can handle a lot of conditions. If you give them good flow and a lot of light. I just don't see them not happy unless they are starved or something else in the water. If my 1 gallon PICO with no water changes for 2 weeks can grow GSP. So can you!

I would focus on getting stability.

If you are dosing AFR, how are you testing? skip magnesium testing. Just test for alk and dose accordingly.


Also is it just the picture or does the tank look cloudy? Potentially bacterial bloom?
You can also be getting bad water batches from your LFS.

 

[stE26wy14]

it looks like you're finding your own way around problems that aren't there, the dosing, the fuge, reactor, lighting, measure par, keep things steady, if the corals dont like something, learn from that and dont do it again

 

[stE26wy14]

oh and btw, zoas seem to be open in white lights shot

 

[JTP424]

P.S. We all want you to stay in the hobby and kick butt :) We want you to succeed more than it might sound through forum text :)

 

[56longroof]

Start with weekly water changes. Probably around 25%.The tank looks really cloudy too. What is causing that? How much flow do you have in the tank? The phosphates are a little high and the other parameters are bouncing all over. Try dosing AFR daily after you figure out consumption. Just a little tweaking and you'll be complaining about everything growing too fast.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Just my 2 cents, but I feel the light is not bright enough, the tank just looks dim. The tank looks very low flow, the water surface is completely flat and several fish are swimming up top which makes me wonder if there is low oxygen. Corals need oxygen too, and they need the flow to push it to them. 10+ fish in a 30 is very overstocked and the rockwork provides very little hiding spots, this will turn into a big problem at some point, if its not already. Personally I feel you went way overboard with the filtration and should instead keep it simple and rely on regular water changes for such a small tank. Listening to the LFS instead of doing your own research is always a mistake. Using LFS water instead of your own is a mistake...... there are a few things that could be corrected here

but to help your corals my thoughts are more light more flow and more oxygen. Good luck

 

[I never finish anythi]

I'd definitely go back to basics on this . 10 to 20% water changes weekly and see how things pan out .

I'd also make your own water .

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Make your own water. Invest in a 5 stage RO/DI system. Be consistent with water changes. Buy an autodoser and dose the same amount EVERY DAY. All for reef is a good product, but if you are only dosing a couple ml every 'week' than your parameters will NEVER be stable and your corals absolutely will not respond and suffer. Invest in some good testers like Hanna and keep a log.

Brutal consistency is what gets you ahead in this hobby.

 

[stE26wy14]

you got any updates?

 

[Freenow54]

Just me. Quit chasing problems keep changing water until you get it cleaned up. Me I hate dosing seems to me to rapid of a change too soon. Anyway my best results are do things one at a time. When you see a problem then you know what to stop doing. Lots of people don't dose or anything except weekly water changes. Some things stay in your substrate and good luck getting that straightened out. Although I did remove my sand once and just threw it out. Another words try to get to a point where you are practically staring over and take it slow. Lots of researchable articles here by some people that are far ahead of a lot of us

 

[TX_REEF]

looks to me that your main issue is drastic and frequent changes in nitrate and phosphate. stability is key. also I'm not seeing any flow device, GSP like flow.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Dont do water changes often, I do all for reef to maintain alk at 9-10, usually a few mls per week.

There's the answer right there...

Do more regular water changes.

There are very experienced folks with established tanks who can cut back on water changes.

You're not at that point.

Reef tanks need a lot of time and effort and if you cannot afford that, you will always have problems.