I’m terrible with LPS

[seaturtletom4]

Hey all, 7 months into the reefing hobby and lately I’ve been trying to get into LPS but I’ve been down on my luck My SPS are doing good but every time I try an LPS it tends to kick the bucket(except my duncan). I purchased two acans on separate occasions, they both were opened for about 3-4 days , closed up and started receding. I tried a hammer as well and the next morning i saw the tips floating around, moved it to lower flow and that receded as well. I drip acclimated them prior to adding them. I’m not sure if it’s a flow issue, lighting or parameters.
My parameters:
nitrate 10
Phos .05
Mag 1300
Calcium 425
Alk 9
Ph 8
Salinity 1.025
I run 2 viparspectra 165s on a 55 gallon . Whites at 5 blues at 40
I have 2 800gph wavemakers
Any advice will help! Thanks

 

[Shibaken3]

Parameter looks ok, other reason it could be dying would be flow, light intensity, tank mate, where you get them, and pest.
Have you done an ICP test? Any coral-eating fish? Have you dipped the corals? Are the corals healthy when you got them? Tested PAR? Is the flow indirect? A video of the tank would be nice to figure out the flow.

 

[seaturtletom4]

Thanks a lot! But no i haven’t done an ICP test. There are not any coral eaters. Yes i do dip the corals before adding. Yes they do seem to be healthy when I purchase them. I haven’t tested my par yet. I don’t have a video as of right now but i can record and upload one later on my break.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It might be worth it to rent a par meter. You have a lot of wattage on your tank, but being set at 40% I have no idea how might par its putting out. Parameters looks fine to me, flow looks fine it doesn't seem like too much to me. I agree a video might help.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Do you have a photo/video of your tank? I think it would help to see what kind of flow they are getting and what your lights look like

 

[get-salty]

800gph wavemakers might be the weakest link.
Not pushing enough throughout the tank.

Yea.... Post a clip of the tank

 

[seaturtletom4]

View attachment 20260226_143351_3BE87C7A-5572-4DB8-806C-900B85D8498D.mov

 

[seaturtletom4]

It might be worth it to rent a par meter. You have a lot of wattage on your tank, but being set at 40% I have no idea how might par its putting out. Parameters looks fine to me, flow looks fine it doesn't seem like too much to me. I agree a video might help.

Okay, I’ll definitely be looking into renting one asap. Thanks ! The clip has been posted

 

[MadreeferNJ]

Looking at the video the sand seems very dirty and agree probably not enough flow for the LPS and the sand bed. My torch coral is right in front of my powerhead and gets tossed around like crazy but loves it.

 

[Biokabe]

For testing the PAR - if you have a reasonably modern phone, you can look into the Photone app + a waterproof enclosure for your phone. You will need to shell out $7.99 for a one-month subscription to have support for reef-spectrum lighting, but $7.99 for the sub and $15-$20 for the enclosure is a lot cheaper than buying or renting a PAR meter.

It's not 100% accurate, but when I tried it out it gave me results that were within about 5% of my PAR-meter measured results, which IMO is more than enough for hobbyist needs.

 

[seaturtletom4]

Looking at the video the sand seems very dirty and agree probably not enough flow for the LPS and the sand bed. My torch coral is right in front of my powerhead and gets tossed around like crazy but loves it.

Okay thanks & I just got a new DI resin in today, hopefully that’ll help with the diatoms on my sand bed. I never changed the one I purchased when I set the tank up.

 

[seaturtletom4]

For testing the PAR - if you have a reasonably modern phone, you can look into the Photone app + a waterproof enclosure for your phone. You will need to shell out $7.99 for a one-month subscription to have support for reef-spectrum lighting, but $7.99 for the sub and $15-$20 for the enclosure is a lot cheaper than buying or renting a PAR meter.

It's not 100% accurate, but when I tried it out it gave me results that were within about 5% of my PAR-meter measured results, which IMO is more than enough for hobbyist needs.

Great I’ll definitely give the app a shot! Thanks

 

[BryanM]

800gph wavemakers might be the weakest link.
Not pushing enough throughout the tank.

Yea.... Post a clip of the tank

two 800 gph wavemakers on a 55 gallon is not enough? And the OP is successfully keeping SPS?

That doesn't sound right to me.

 

[BryanM]

@seaturtletom4

I have to assume those wavemakers aren't turned up very much, that is quite the gentle flow. If it were me I'd probably double that flow, and try to get the flow moving "around" the tank.

Sand is quite dirty, if that detritus I'd strongly suggest vacuuming that out, carefully.

 

[Science/G]

Flow is ok, could be cranked up a bit. Research what your light output really is at the percentages you're running. Parameters are solid. 7 months is still young for a reef, the diatoms on the sand is an indication that the tank is still maturing. Be patient.

 

[seaturtletom4]

Okay thank you all

 

[schooncw]

Did you start with any "real", wet live rock? IMO, the foundation for a successful biome/system. Your sand bed indicates to me, that you did not.

 

[Uncle99]

Okay thank you all

When I look at your tank I see new, but healthy corals.

When tips are found floating seemingly overnight, thats conducive of nipping by someone and or the clowns trying to host it.

 

[DSC reef]

A mixed reef will always be one of the hardest types of reef to keep in my opinion. So many different needs as far as lighting, flow, etc. For me, keeping a mixed reef took time. Dont think you can't keep LPS just because you tried a few frags this early on and failed, your tank is just not there yet. Success is measured in so many different ways and is subjective, for instance, I didn't consider keeping a Mandarin dragonette a success until I hit 8-9 years. My point is, don't stress. This hobby is a long dance and eventually you'll get to where LPS are fine in your tank. Start small, have patience and before you know it, you'll have a thriving mixed reef running for years.

 

[DatReefGuy]

I don't think you suck at it, you're just new at it. Lighting may be the issue but you have hammers that are a little lower par. I think flow is part of your issue. It doesn't look like your duncan has much flow judging by the tips.