I’m stumped. My corals aren’t doing great.

[gishandfish]

Every time I buy a coral. It looks good for the first 24 hours and then it starts to retract somewhat permanently. My levels are all good amd have been since I first set this aquarium up. I bought it used from someone so it was already cycled. The parameters are:
8.0 ph
0 ppm ammonia
0ppm nitrite
2ppm nitrate (been zero normally the last 2 months )
10dkh alkalinity
0ppm phosphate
410ppm calcium
1.0245 salinity.
I just 2 weeks ago started dosing with reef fusion 1 and 2 which brought the dhk from 8 to 10. The ph has always been on the low side from the beginning of my ownership. The water temp at night is 78 and the lights bring it to about 81 by 9pm. The lights kick on at noon and stay on til 9pm. I have the lights on a Christmas tree timer with no specialty light controller. The lights are some Amazon type Nicrew brand that has decent reviews but honestly at this point I’m thinking it’s the lights that are the problem. Since I’ve had the tank for the last 2 months a lot of brown hair algae has begun to form and latched on two moth of the corals. About a month ago I had to get a Uv water sterilizer because the water was getting cloudy . Why is this All happening ? And what do I need to do to get rid of the algae for good? And why are the corals struggling ?

Thank you !!

 

[gishandfish]

I’m new. To this community so not sure how to edit but Also forgot to mention the last 2 weeks I’ve been dosing 3 times fuel coral food , I do water changes every 2 weeks. I measured the rodi water for tds I’ve been buying from my local fish store and it’s measured 8ppm. I’ll be receiving a 5 stage rodi in the mail this week.

 

[fish farmer]

I'm going to say your alk is a bit high for a low nutrient tank.

Was there a reason you wanted to bump it up from 8?

 

[miller75]

You have no nutrients, Nitrate and Phosphate need increasing for soft/lps corals.

 

[OrchidMiss]

You have no nutrients, Nitrate and Phosphate need increasing for soft/lps corals.

This is correct. Without nitrates and phosphates, your coral are starving.

 

[GK3]

I’m new. To this community so not sure how to edit but Also forgot to mention the last 2 weeks I’ve been dosing 3 times fuel coral food , I do water changes every 2 weeks. I measured the rodi water for tds I’ve been buying from my local fish store and it’s measured 8ppm. I’ll be receiving a 5 stage rodi in the mail this week.

Alk is too high
Temp is too high, put a fan over the tank to keep temp stable.
TDS from Lfs is terrible. My faucet un filtered at home is 7. Your 5 stage will fix that and help the tank a lot.

Be patient. That is key. Slow changes over longer periods of time.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I see no powerheads in the tank, no flow nor oxigination, corals need flow and oxygen. Would suggest to get a powerhead, two is better, and point one at the water surface to agitate it and help oxygenate the water.

 

[gishandfish]

I see no powerheads in the tank, no flow nor oxigination, corals need flow and oxygen. Would suggest to get a powerhead, two is better, and point one at the water surface to agitate it and help oxygenate the water.

I see no powerheads in the tank, no flow nor oxigination, corals need flow and oxygen. Would suggest to get a powerhead, two is better, and point one at the water surface to agitate it and help oxygenate the water.

on the right side there’s a hygeer wave maker . Also on the right side is a 1inch outlet from the sump that’s built into the back of the tank. This is a 55 gallon all in one .

 

[gishandfish]

Alk is too high
Temp is too high, put a fan over the tank to keep temp stable.
TDS from Lfs is terrible. My faucet un filtered at home is 7. Your 5 stage will fix that and help the tank a lot.

Be patient. That is key. Slow changes over longer periods of time.

What temp and alk do you prefer having for your reed setup ?

 

[gishandfish]

This is correct. Without nitrates and phosphates, your coral are starving.

What’s the best way to make a low nutrient tank into a high nutrient tank?

 

[Spare time]

The alk is fine. Its likley the 0 nitrate and 0 phosphate. Start feeding more

 

[gishandfish]

The alk is fine. Its likley the 0 nitrate and 0 phosphate. Start feeding more

I’m feeding flake food , seaweed, Algae pellets and then the coral food.: which food can boost the nitrates the most ?

 

[ninjamyst]

Alk needs to be stable. Pick where you want it to be. I recommend 8. 10 is fine for some people but it's imo on the high side.

As others mentioned, nitrate and phosphate at 0 is bad. Feed more or get more fish.

Usually light is NOT the problem unless you trying to grow colonies of acros. Nicrews are fine. Don't fall on the hype that you need a $500 light to grow corals.

Your temperature is fine. 81 is a little high but no need to sound the alarm.

Keep in mind your tank is only 2 months old. It just went through a lot of changes. Go slow. You probably are going to get hit with the ugly phase again.

Go slow and let the tank reestablish itself

 

[Spare time]

I’m feeding flake food , seaweed, Algae pellets and then the coral food.: which food can boost the nitrates the most ?

They all will. How often and how much do you feed?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

What temp and alk do you prefer having for your reed setup ?

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[gishandfish]

They all will. How often and how much do you feed? I feed once a day

 

[GK3]

What temp and alk do you prefer having for your reed setup ?

78.5F
8 dhk

 

[gishandfish]

78.5F
8 dhk

What’s the recommended feeding frequency?

 

[GK3]

What’s the recommended feeding frequency?

I do based on nutrient levels. Depends on how much your corals consume and what it takes your nitrates and phosphates to.

 

[Ef4life]

Looking at your tank you have just a few frags, you really don’t need to feed
Anything except your fish right now, and with those few corals a regular waterchange would handle the needs of dosing for now, I’d cut feeding back to just your fish, cut out the reef fusion, but keep testing your alk at least every few days to make sure it’s not dropping. For the algae I’d pull out a rock one at a time and scrub it clean in some old tank water, then do a nice water change after your Rocks are cleaned up. You can Use some hydrogen peroxide on the algae to kill it too. Best to remove as much as possible so it’s not dying off in the tank causing more algae to grow.