Little to no growth and dying corals

[Reef_puck]

thanks all.


Dosing a liquid nitrate or more heavy feeding. Am I looking for trouble with green hair algae and nusciance algae?

 

[exnisstech]

And even a 1 gallon water to 1/2 cup mix to get 1.025.

I've only used a few different types of salt, IO, RC, and live aquaria which I believe was fritz. My experience has been that those I have used never yielded 1.025 by adding exactly 1/2c to 1g water. I always had to add a little more salt to get there.
I'm just mentioning it because the above statement made me think you may be assuming that 1/2 to 1g will be 1.025 and it may or may not.

 

[Garf]

what does all that mean!!!! so many words and numbers!! sometimes I think he writes to frustrate...his articles need more pictures!!! (although there's quite a few in that one )

Lol. Don’t assume your fish shops salinity is correct, check for yourself. I think lots of folks get salinity wrong.

 

[Lavey29]

thanks all.


Dosing a liquid nitrate or more heavy feeding. Am I looking for trouble with green hair algae and nusciance algae?

If you don't get your parameters in order all you will have left in your tank is nuisance algae.

 

[Reef_puck]

What mean is typically higher nitrates and phosphates equal a lawn on the rocks. If that happens then I just dump the tank( oh the money that would be wasted).

I will retest the alk later.

 

[Lavey29]

What mean is typically higher nitrates and phosphates equal a lawn on the rocks. If that happens then I just dump the tank( oh the money that would be wasted).

I will retest the alk later.

That's incorrect but if your nutrients are bottomed out like they are now you open the door for dinos which makes GHA seem like a cool breeze on a hot day.

You do understand your tank will experience a variety of ugly phases over the course of the first year right? This can also be extended past the first year if parameters are not kept in line.

You have very few fish in your tank. Add some more fish and this will help bring up your nitrate and phosphate with feeding 2 or 3 times a day. Increase your light intensity 1% per day till you get to 90% intensity. Work on building biodiversity and microfauna in your tank. Add pods and dose phytoplankton. Weekly water changes of 10 to 15% essential in newvtanks. Check your numbers weekly.

 

[Reef_puck]

Thank you

 

[ninjamyst]

90g tank so you should invest in a tang or foxface to deal with any nuisance algae. Algae is good. Just have to manage it so it doesn't take over the tank.

 

[Lavey29]

90g tank so you should invest in a tang or foxface to deal with any nuisance algae. Algae is good. Just have to manage it so it doesn't take over the tank.

This is so true. Algae is good. It is part of the complete biome in a tank and managing it is key.

 

[Toob]

If only this hobby would finally make the shift towards accepting that algae and corals need the same things to grow - algae is perfectly fine, and as someone said it’s a breeze compared to many other things. Add snails, urchins, and tangs to manage algae. Keeping nutrients low to manage algae is old, misinformed dogma.

 

[Reef_puck]

Took some water to a LFS to compare numbers.


PH 8.0
Ammon 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 8
Sal 1.023
Phos 0
Cal 278
Alk 11.56
Mag 1149


My Salifert kit had Alk at 13 this morning.

 

[Spare time]

Some corals I have had since the beginning. They just don’t grow or actually shrink.

They can't grow because they don't have anything to grow with (i.e. nitrogen and phosphate). Honestly it should be very straight foward imo. None of the other numbers should be causing an issue in the original list you gave

 

[Spare time]

thanks all.


Dosing a liquid nitrate or more heavy feeding. Am I looking for trouble with green hair algae and nusciance algae?

Don't forget phospahte

 

[Spare time]

Took some water to a LFS to compare numbers.


PH 8.0
Ammon 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 8
Sal 1.023
Phos 0
Cal 278
Alk 11.56
Mag 1149


My Salifert kit had Alk at 13 this morning.

Ok something is wrong here. Are you dosing alk? That calcium is also suspiciously low. What test kits are used by the lfs?

 

[Reef_puck]

I am not sure what they used. On the Salifert the Alk was 13 and CA 330. Raising the CA should lower the Alk. Along with water changes.

I am not dosing anything.

From what I have read. Elevated Alk will allow coralline to grow more so now that makes sense.

 

[Spare time]

I am not sure what they used. On the Salifert the Alk was 13 and CA 330. Raising the CA should lower the Alk. Along with water changes.

I am not dosing anything.

From what I have read. Elevated Alk will allow coralline to grow more so now that makes sense.

I would just let the alk drop and then dose calcium back up or just do water changes. Test some brand new water and see what that reads.

 

[Reef_puck]

I would just let the alk drop and then dose calcium back up or just do water changes. Test some brand new water and see what that reads.

that is the plan. Making up more water this week. Will test. I also calibrated the refractometer with calibration fluid. It was off .01.

 

[Reef_puck]

Update. Started dosing more reef energy (twice a week). Most LPS the tank are status quo. Not allot of growth but alive it always. Some have shrunk. Increasing the lighting has a positive affect on the Zoas lower in the tank. Some are starting to come out more and spreading . Richordeas are shrinking and will be gone soon. Coraline still looks ok. Held off on water changes for the past 2 months. But will do one in a few weeks.

 

[jackson6745]

Update. Started dosing more reef energy (twice a week). Most LPS the tank are status quo. Not allot of growth but alive it always. Some have shrunk. Increasing the lighting has a positive affect on the Zoas lower in the tank. Some are starting to come out more and spreading . Richordeas are shrinking and will be gone soon. Coraline still looks ok. Held off on water changes for the past 2 months. But will do one in a few weeks.

Did you get those nitrates and phosphates up?

 

[Reef_puck]

Nitrates are are at 10. PO4 still undetectable.

I am starting to also see some new algae growing that could be Cyano but more brown. It comes off the rock with a brush along
with detritus. Maybe dead flow spots.