Losing corals one after the other. Getting desperate and fed up.

Sk8erSpanky

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Biodiversity and flow of your tank is huge and often overlooked. Everything seems fine as far as your parameters. Many reefers run at 1.026 salinity so i highly doubt that is the issue. Unfortunately your tank just needs more time to mature. Make sure you have good live rock in there. You can even buy some commercial bacteria additive to help give it a little bit of a boost (but dont rely solely on that). Just give it time and youll be ok. Id suggest not adding any more corals unless they are the hardy type. 4mo old is definitly a bit early to keep acros healthy. Just time and patience is all you need. Your doing great with everything else!
 
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Rpc07

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I’m running 2 jebao sw-8’s opposite sides of the tank on opposite pulse patterns and aimed at the return nozzle to create a pretty randomized flow.
 

Maacc

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Do you have strong coraline growth? Do you have any sponges and other microflora/fauna? Unfortunately, new sterile tanks have swings that are really hard to test for that stabilize later with a more complete ecosystem.
 
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Rpc07

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I wouldn’t say strong coraline growth but it is visable. No sponges that I can see and I do have pods in the chaeto.
 

Maacc

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I wouldn’t say strong coraline growth but it is visable. No sponges that I can see and I do have pods in the chaeto.
If you have a fellow reefer close by that you trust, I think you could really benefit from some biodiversity. You aren't doing anything wrong, at least from what I see you just need some maturity in the tank or some infusion from an outside source.
 

CindyKz

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The thing that stands out to me is that you've lost both LPS and SPS. Just because you are losing corals together doesn't mean they are dying for the same reason - you could have multiple things going on.

How are you placing corals? Are you giving them the appropriate light and flow (lower for the acans, higher for the SPS, so on)?

I've had a couple corals do horrible in one spot, only to move them and have them color/inflate back up.
 
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Rpc07

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My acans and scoly are on the sand bed and my sps are at the top of my rock work. The acans get moderate flow enough to see the polyps slightly sway and the sps are definitely in the higher flow spots of the tank.
 
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Rpc07

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If you have a fellow reefer close by that you trust, I think you could really benefit from some biodiversity. You aren't doing anything wrong, at least from what I see you just need some maturity in the tank or some infusion from an outside source.

What would you recommend? I have a few people I could go to.
 

wranodj

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I was struggling also. Turned out I was stripping too much of the micronutrients with gfo & carbon canisters.

Try a Triton test to see what’s missing. Could be strontium, etc.

When I went simple and natural everything turned around. No filter sock, just good flow, chaeto in sump and protein skimming.
 

BigJohnny

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Your salinity is a little higher then what is suggested for a reef. (1.023 - 1.025). That is the only parameter that seems unusual. How did you treat the rich, if at all? Also, how much light are you giving them? Have you tried adjusting that?
Not sure where you are getting the recommendation of 1.023-1.025 for a reef. Most common is 1.024-1.026
 

DiZASTiX

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Even with extended polyps, I'd recommend that you put all the corals at the very bottom or lower the light intensity (the latter being easier). If you have a PAR meter, it'll help confirm whether the lighting is too strong.

Test alkalinity at least daily. If 8.5 dKH is the number you pick, ensure that you minimise deviations from this number, even on a daily basis.

1.026 SG works well. That's my number for a mixed ULNS reef. Your numbers look good, but make sure the snapshot is representative.
 

cycled123

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Having the same issue. Had to pull my fish due to velvet. My belief is whatever the fish add is now missing. I don't know how to replicate it. I'm just hanging on for the ride and hopefully things will improve once I can have fish again. I am feeding daily at this point because I have a sun coral (mix of coral frenzy, reef roids, phyto and occasionally meaty foods for those that eat it).
 

CindyKz

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My acans and scoly are on the sand bed and my sps are at the top of my rock work. The acans get moderate flow enough to see the polyps slightly sway and the sps are definitely in the higher flow spots of the tank.


I couldn't keep acans alive to save my life until I got them out of the flow and the light in my mixed reef. Now that they don't move much at all in the current they are puffy . They can be getting too much light and flow even on the sand bed. Same for your SPS if it is in front of a powerhead.

Can't say placement is the problem of course, but good to rule out before looking for more complicated solutions .
 

Maacc

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Some of their established sand. A piece of rubble with some sponge if available. You are basically looking to in a couple of months seed what takes a year + to happen spontaneously.
If you can get decent amounts of coraline growing and sponge spreading you are probably ready for some sps frags.
 
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Rpc07

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I appreciate everyone feedback. I will see if I can get some media from a buddy to help mature the tank a bit faster.
 

Peanut

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I understand 4 months is a young tank but other then the parameters I test for what kind of stability am I looking for? I test my alk twice a week and it’s always between 8.2-8.5 and I test the rest of my parameters once a week and they barely fluctuate. Here is my light schedule and intensity.

I have a 2 hour ramp up and down and 5 hours st full intensity
uef7Jg9.jpg


And here is the intensity.
j0Mftus.jpg

0% on green and red ?
 
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Rpc07

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Yeah the brs profile runs 4% green and red That’s the only parameter I altered.
 

declanisadog

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While i think it is probably more than one thing at play, I would start with lowering the intensity on your lights. Corals can survive no problem in super low light for longer than you think. I accidentally left the lights off on my boss's tank for two weeks at one point with no issues until i turned them back on and bleached a couple of acros.
 

SurfLife

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I have some really nice zoas and mushrooms that are thriving and popping out new polyps all the time so it’s not all corals struggle in my tank.

Another would be a toadstool. Of all the early corals I lost, my toadstool has been through hell(Salinity got as high as 1.041 and as low as 1.011, in and out of tanks, getting blown around the tank until I learned how to properly attach it, left out of water accidentally for far too long) and it somehow looks great. It has shrunk down to 1/2 its size then recovered to 2-3x its size than back to 1/2 to now many times its original size..again. I had written it off so many times only to see it come right back!
 

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