My macros keep dying

[JosephNg]

Hi folks, my macro tank is 4 months old. Most of my macro died within 2 weeks, some died within days after introduction.
Please help :(

Salinity 1024-1025 sg
Temp ~27°C
NO3 10-15 ppm
PO4 0.15-0.2 ppm
NO2 0
NH3 0
Medium-low flow from a canister filter system

I use a weekraptor aquatic LED 8800k run at 20-30% and I have been dosing Seachem Flourish Iron for almost 2 weeks now.
The only macro that survive are purple macros. So I thought the issue might be related to photosynthesis.

 

[Tired]

You need to have at least 0.03ppm phosphates and 5ppm nitrates for macros to do well. You especially need to not have 0 phosphates- that'll kill photosynthetic organisms, they need it to run their basic life functions.

Also, try dosing Chaeto-gro. Macros love it.

 

[JosephNg]

You need to have at least 0.03ppm phosphates and 5ppm nitrates for macros to do well. You especially need to not have 0 phosphates- that'll kill photosynthetic organisms, they need it to run their basic life functions.

Also, try dosing Chaeto-gro. Macros love it.

My NO3 is 15-20 and PO4 is 0.2 already :(

 

[Tired]

Ah, my bad, I misread your results.

In that case, definitely try the Chaeto-Gro.

 

[JosephNg]

Ah, my bad, I misread your results.

In that case, definitely try the Chaeto-Gro.

Thank you

 

[reddevilant]

What kind of macros were the ones that were dying?

 

[sixty_reefer]

Is a young tank you need some organic nutrients In there, try a few ml of neonitro daily and chaeto grow for trace.

 

[JosephNg]

What kind of macros were the ones that were dying?

Green gracilaria, Halimede sp., grape caulerpa, etc. mostly green stuff

 

[JosephNg]

Is a young tank you need some organic nutrients In there, try a few ml of neonitro daily and chaeto grow for trace.

Can I add skimmer's waste directly? I'll try chaeto gro as well

 

[Tired]

Dosing bottled additives will be much more precise than adding skimmer waste, and will lack the risk of accidentally re-adding any unwanted substances (coral bio-warfare, etc) that the skimmer removed. That said, skimmer waste is organic nutrients, so that could work.

Any fish in there?

 

[JosephNg]

Dosing bottled additives will be much more precise than adding skimmer waste, and will lack the risk of accidentally re-adding any unwanted substances (coral bio-warfare, etc) that the skimmer removed. That said, skimmer waste is organic nutrients, so that could work.

Any fish in there?

I have 2 fire gobies, 1 clown and 1 pipefish. I'm about to add 2 sea horses and another pair of pipefish after QT (~3 weeks)

 

[reddevilant]

Green gracilaria, Halimede sp., grape caulerpa, etc. mostly green stuff

I looked up your light and I have a similar one that is also about 40W. You might need to increase the light intensity for green macros. My green macros struggle as well unless I put them pretty high in the tank near the light. The greens tend to need more light than red macros.

 

[JosephNg]

I looked up your light and I have a similar one that is also about 40W. You might need to increase the light intensity for green macros. My green macros struggle as well unless I put them pretty high in the tank near the light. The greens tend to need more light than red macros.

I used to run it at 70-80% intensity yet the green macros also died @@
However, I guess at that time the tank was quite (~1 month). I will give it another go.

 

[reddevilant]

I used to run it at 70-80% intensity yet the green macros also died @@
However, I guess at that time the tank was quite (~1 month). I will give it another go.

Yeah maybe the tank was just too new. I also had trouble keeping most macros alive for the first couple months.

 

[Dburr1014]

Hi folks, my macro tank is 4 months old. Most of my macro died within 2 weeks, some died within days after introduction.
Please help :(

Salinity 1024-1025 sg
Temp ~27°C
NO3 10-15 ppm
PO4 0.15-0.2 ppm
NO2 0
NH3 0
Medium-low flow from a canister filter system

I use a weekraptor aquatic LED 8800k run at 20-30% and I have been dosing Seachem Flourish Iron for almost 2 weeks now.
The only macro that survive are purple macros. So I thought the issue might be related to photosynthesis.

I'm going to say wait until you hit 9 months to a year before putting any in. It has nothing to eat yet. Get that water dirtier.

 

[Tired]

Careful with seahorses; they often do poorly in community tanks, partly because they like the water a bit cooler to help ward off bacterial infections.

I'd agree that the tank might just be too new. Give it a few more months, maybe.