No luck with LPS corals.

[Sacohen]

I can't seems to keep LPS coral.
My Frogspawn, Bubble, and Flower Pot/Goniporia all did great and were beautiful for about 6 months and then each one of them slowly retracted and died.
This did not happen all at once. I lost the bubble about 3 months ago, the frogspawn and goniporia started going about a month ago.

On the frogspawn I lost one complete head, cut it off and the other 2 seemed to be fine for a bit, but then started retracting.

My sofites (finger and toadstool leather) are doing fabulous.
My zoanthid is doing great.
My mushrooms have multiplied.
My branching and encrusting star polyps are doing excellent and spreading.
My branching Candy Cane Coral has been doing really well.
I just added a Montiporia Cup last week and it seems to be doing fine.


Tank info and thread https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/102714-sacohen-55-gallon-tank-thread.html

It's a 55 Gallon tank with a Pro Clear Pro 75 Wet/Dry filter.
Coralife Lunar Aquatic compact Fluorescent lights
A NatureReef Denitrification chamber, a Quite One 3000 return pump and a JBJ Oceanstream Circulation Pump/Powerhead + Duo Wavemaker Kit 1600 gph

Fish include 2 false Clownfish, a bicolor psudochromis, Flame angle and a YellowTang.

1 Pencil Urchin and a Coral Banded Shrimp.

Several Tubro Snails and Mexican Turbo's along with Nassarius snails, Red Led Crabs and Blue Knuckle Crabs.

Corals include a Goniporia (Flower Pot) Toadstool Leather, Finger Leather, Duncan, encursting star polyps and several other that I can't remember the names of.
I'm adding 7.5 ml of Kent Marine Essential Elements, Liquid calcium, Iodine, and Stronium and Molybdenum weekly.

The lighting is a Coral Life Lunar Aquatic with 2 Coralife 65W 10K and 2 Coralife 65W Actinic.

The actinics come on at noon and stay on until 10pm (10 Hrs) the 10K's come on at 2pm and go off at 8pm (6).

Can anyone help and tell me why I'm having some much trouble keeping these.

 

[Connie]

Have you check your magnesium?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

What are the parameters? I would stop dosing most of those things that you are dosing, unless you are 100% certain the levels are low. I also would suspect the angel or tang are nipping at the corals causing then to retract.

 

[Pappy]

Alk is prob high. Check your alk, mag, calcium.

 

[Sacohen]

What are the parameters? I would stop dosing most of those things that you are dosing, unless you are 100% certain the levels are low. I also would suspect the angel or tang are nipping at the corals causing then to retract.

I'm dosing those elements because I don't do regular water changes since I have a NatureReef Denitrification chamber to take care of the Nitrates.

Since I don't do regular water changes those elements need to be replaced some how therefore the dosing.

I wrote this post early this morning when I couldn't sleep. I'm going to run my water this evening and I'll post the levels of everything.

I don't dose Magnesium or even have a test for it right now.

 

[Sacohen]

Ok I got my levels and they are as follows...

Salinity 1.026
Ammonia 0 ppm
pH 8.0
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 10 ppm
Phosphate 0.25
Calcium 580 mg/L (ppm)
Carbonate Hardness 161.1 ppm KM

 

[always reefin]

Phosphate high, corals do not like!

 

[EpicWin]

I couldn't keep lps for a long time. I had the same situation. Mine receeded until I got my alk to 10dkh. Anything lower and they aren't happy

 

[Sacohen]

Phosphate high, corals do not like!

Wow 0.25 is too high for phosphates? I should get that under controll soon. I'm installing a carbon and GFO reactor this weekend.

I couldn't keep lps for a long time. I had the same situation. Mine receeded until I got my alk to 10dkh. Anything lower and they aren't happy

Yeah mine equates to 9 dKH. It might have been 10 I don't really like the API test kit for Carbonate Hardness or Calcium. I think I'm going to look for a better one. What would you guys suggest?

 

[always reefin]

Phosphates best at .01 when possible

 

[Sacohen]

Phosphates best at .01 when possible

Ok. Well that's not too far off and like I said I'll be installing my carbon/gfo reactor this weekend so I should be able to get there pretty easily.

 

[Reefs-A-Lot]

i have a number of teh same corals that are doing great, my DKH is at 7 and my calcium is at 410-20(pending on doseing cycle) my mag is 1300... i think flow is also key thats how i have my gonipora survive and having a dirty water column has helped me out to. my sps are also doing greta in "Dirty water"(lots of food paricles in the colunmn)

 

[rufus2008]

Just my 2¢ but if you stop dosing calcium (your # was 580, which is way high) and continue to dose alkalinity, your alk levels will rise and your calcium levels will fall. Be aware that running gfo depletes alkalinity as does a denitrator (at least mine does, I'm running an aquaripure denitrator, and I run gfo and carbon in 2 seperate reactors) I have a 108 gallon mixed reef and the only lps that i've had problems with is the flowerpot but they are one of the harder ones to please. I do 30 gallon monthly wc's on my tank for reference.

 

[Sacohen]

Got the Magnesium tested and it is way low.
With a Salifert Magnesium test kit it took the whole 1 ML of reagent, I'm not sure what that equaled, but I know it was really low.

Some one earlier I believed asked how far the lights are from the corals and they are about 12 - 15" away from the coral, depending on where they are placed in the tank.

 

[peterthegamer]

I have 2 LPS. How long is your lighting? Bubble and gonipora are much harder lps then the other.

 

[fragmatic]

>1st, I'm curious, do you feed those corals? Also, I'd test the mag, and see if it needs dosing. >2nd, have you tried a water change during your see what is causing this methods?
As far as the PO4, I had problems until I got mine down low enough I can't determine what it is anymore. I did that by trickle feeding a GFR reactor. I dose very similar to what you are saying on an even odd day schedule.

 

[3Twinklets]

I believe they prefer a gentle flow. They will be fine in the parameters that you have. Mine are in medium to lower light. I do not know anything about Goniopora other than they can be difficult.

 

[KoleTang]

The difference between .01 and .25 phosphate is a lot. Don't let the "small" numbers fool you. ;)

 

[Sacohen]

I have 2 LPS. How long is your lighting? Bubble and gonipora are much harder lps then the other.

The lighting is a Coral Life Lunar Aquatic with 2 Coralife 65W 10K and 2 Coralife 65W Actinic.

The actinics come on at noon and stay on until 10pm (10 Hrs) the 10K's come on at 2pm and go off at 8pm (6).

 

[Sacohen]

>1st, I'm curious, do you feed those corals?

Yes I do feed them. Alternating between Prime Reef and Mysis shrimp 2-3 times a week.

>Also, I'd test the mag, and see if it needs dosing.

I had the Mag tested to day at my reef shop. It was really low.
With a Salifert Magnesium test kit it took the whole 1 ML of reagent, I'm not sure what that equaled, but I know it was really low.

>2nd, have you tried a water change during your see what is causing this methods?

I did 1 about a 20% water changes 3 weeks ago. As I said this has been going on for several months.