I'm at a loss. Reef parameters

Charlie117

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Hello, I've had my waterbox 45.2 set up for about 1 year, with previously cycled rock that was 2 years old (for what that matters). I am just at a loss, corals don't last in my tank at all, and from what I've gathered I should have SOME level of success. My parameters are as follows:
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10ppm
Phosphate 0ppm-.1ppm
CA 400
Mg1480
Alk 8.4 dkh
pH 8.6
salinity 1.026

the fish are doing great, clown fish are even laying eggs every couple weeks.
I have an ai prime running the brs ab+ schedule and a mp 10 running at about 20%
I'm only trying to keep LPS and zoas.
The corals will do great for about a week then the polyps stop extending and they slowly waste away. I've tried spot feeding them and it doesn't seem to help.

ANY input is much appreciated, I'm really at a loss. I'm really considering leaving the hobby and I truly don't want to do that. Thank you in advance to anyone that helps
 

mwil79

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This may be a silly question but what are you using to test your salinity? I had a refractometer lieing to me about my salt levels for a while.(yes I know calibration is key) I was so busy chasing other numbers I never thought to break out the hydrometer to check. Since then major improvement.
 

|Frank|

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What are the test kits you are using as well? Sorry you're going through this. Also what kind of lps?
 
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Charlie117

Charlie117

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So I use a Hannah checker for salinity, and recalibrate it every other use. I've been burned by a wonky refractometer in the past that wouldn't hold a calibration for the life of it. I'm using the red sea test kits and as of the past couple months I've been testing every other day. I have an icp test sitting on my desk I'm going to do it tomorrow. And the LPs I have are some gonis, acans, hammers, torches, and zoas, I'm not too good with names, I know gonis can be hard to keep but everything else is just sucked in and melting away
 
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Charlie117

Charlie117

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You only mentioned clowns. What other fish?
I have an orchid dottyback, spotted mandarin and a baby yellow tang, all have about doubled in size in the past year. And the worst part is I have a 180g tank in the basement and I've been gathering a ton of equipment and building a 10*10 filtration room behind it. I have so much invested into it. Then within the past year as I've been trying to keep corals the project has been at a standstill. So it's just a lot right now, thought the hobby would be a nice and calming distraction lol I was wrong
 

dedragon

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Have you checked all the pumps to make sure they are not bulging or rusting inside? The ICP test will show if anything is leaking. Do you have any inverts like snails and hermits in the tank and are they doing fine. Electricity leaking into the tank can also cause quicker coral deaths than fish deaths. Also have you checked rodi tds?
 

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Are you using chemi pure blue or any other sort of chemical filtration?
I only ask because I have heard stories where it fixed issues where nothing else could be found....
 
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Charlie117

Charlie117

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Snails and hermit crabs are doing great, went through the pumps all are in good order. Magnets and heaters are all sealed up with no rusting that I can see. I just run the rox carbon from BRS. My rodi is zero TDS (7 stage) and double checked with a separate meter. One thing I should mention, I have a 10g plumbed into the main display, I was going to put some fast growing softies and I have some GSP in there now and it's the only coral doing amazing. In a couple months it went from a tiny 1 inch frag to 8 inches around, great polyp extension etc. I know it's an easy coral but I think it's worth mentioning
 

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I have an orchid dottyback, spotted mandarin and a baby yellow tang, all have about doubled in size in the past year. And the worst part is I have a 180g tank in the basement and I've been gathering a ton of equipment and building a 10*10 filtration room behind it. I have so much invested into it. Then within the past year as I've been trying to keep corals the project has been at a standstill. So it's just a lot right now, thought the hobby would be a nice and calming distraction lol I was wrong
I have an orchid dottyback, spotted mandarin and a baby yellow tang, all have about doubled in size in the past year. And the worst part is I have a 180g tank in the basement and I've been gathering a ton of equipment and building a 10*10 filtration room behind it. I have so much invested into it. Then within the past year as I've been trying to keep corals the project has been at a standstill. So it's just a lot right now, thought the hobby would be a nice and calming distraction lol I was wrong
So Charlie, I’m a big “cause and effect” guy. You look like you’re doing everything by the book. So maybe something out of the ordinary is causing your issues. Here’s 3 just to get you thinking. Did you happen to purchase live rock for your tank that could have been exposed to copper? Copper doesn’t stay around for ever but does for a long time. Do you have maids or frequent maintenance people who spray or use toxic chemicals around the tank? Hobbyist who wish to increase their ph, can go from 7.9 to 8.3 by just running an airline from their skimmer to just outside a window overnight. Fumes from carpet cleaners and aerosol sprays etc. can and do get into our water. Finally you had mentioned having softies. We can’t test for or see toxins produced by soft corals fighting for space. Leathers, Sinularias, Kenya Trees corals etc constantly brush up against each other and the invisible chemical war begins. Once I experienced this in my own tank 3 plus years ago my sps corals took off. I love my long polyp neon green Toadstool Leather. But he is up and out of the way of everyone else. Again it sounds like you’re doing all the right things. But stop and look around your tank, think outside the box. Something might be messing with you. Good luck Bud. :)
 
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Charlie117

Charlie117

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I have an orchid dottyback, spotted mandarin and a baby yellow tang, all have about doubled in size in the past year. And the worst part is I have a 180g tank in the basement and I've been gathering a ton of equipment and building a 10*10 filtration room behind it. I have so much invested into it. Then within the past year as I've been trying to keep corals the project has been at a standstill. So it's just a lot right now, thought the hobby would be a nice and calming distraction lol I was wrong
So Charlie, I’m a big “cause and effect” guy. You look like you’re doing everything by the book. So maybe something out of the ordinary is causing your issues. Here’s 3 just to get you thinking. Did you happen to purchase live rock for your tank that could have been exposed to copper? Copper doesn’t stay around for ever but does for a long time. Do you have maids or frequent maintenance people who spray or use toxic chemicals around the tank? Hobbyist who wish to increase their ph, can go from 7.9 to 8.3 by just running an airline from their skimmer to just outside a window overnight. Fumes from carpet cleaners and aerosol sprays etc. can and do get into our water. Finally you had mentioned having softies. We can’t test for or see toxins produced by soft corals fighting for space. Leathers, Sinularias, Kenya Trees corals etc constantly brush up against each other and the invisible chemical war begins. Once I experienced this in my own tank 3 plus years ago my sps corals took off. I love my long polyp neon green Toadstool Leather. But he is up and out of the way of everyone else. Again it sounds like you’re doing all the right things. But stop and look around your tank, think outside the box. Something might be messing with you. Good luck Bud. :)
Thank you, it's got me thinking for sure, I'm going to give the room a once over and see if there is anything that might be affecting the tank. I'm hoping the icp shows something :) I rather there be something wrong and fixable than nothing wrong and still having problems.
 
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Charlie117

Charlie117

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Some other things I thought I'd mention, I was curious if it's the light. I know an ai prime is a smaller light but I've read that it can cause some problems in smaller tanks because people underestimate the par it throws out. Is it possible I'm throwing too much light in the tank? The little 10g on the side that's growing the GSP is lit by just a small tunze light, that's the only difference between the two tanks and the amount of Coraline in the main tank is crazy, I know that can mess with alk levels but I dose every other day and that seems fine, maybe I should dose daily?
 
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|Frank|

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Do you burn candles or anything with a fragrance around your tank? I think I was watching a BRS video that mentioned things like that would irritate corals.
 
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Charlie117

Charlie117

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I just checked and asked my wife and nothing's in the room that could irritate it, candles, sprays, anything that would give off fumes. Luckily she has Second Hand BRS from listening to all the videos I watch lol so shes careful around the tank too :)
 
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Charlie117

Charlie117

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I just checked and asked my wife and nothing's in the room that could irritate it, candles, sprays, anything that would give off fumes. Luckily she has Second Hand BRS from listening to all the videos I watch lol so shes careful around the tank too :)
 

|Frank|

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I just checked and asked my wife and nothing's in the room that could irritate it, candles, sprays, anything that would give off fumes. Luckily she has Second Hand BRS from listening to all the videos I watch lol so shes careful around the tank too :)
My wife needs some of that second hand BRS lol. When I had my tank in our room I was always telling her to put out her candles and not spray anything. Tank is no longer in our room haha
 

|Frank|

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What's your water change schedule like? Do you also dose foods like amino acids or anything like that for your corals?
 
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