Put SPS frags in the trash

[numin8r]

Parameters:

Alk 8
Calc 420 salifert -- LSF 500 on aquaspin
Mag: 1320
NO3: 17
PO4: .04
PH: 7.8 aquaspin

First time actually trying to grow SPS corals and it's been rough. I may just stick to LPS corals. Really wanted to be a stickhead lol.

Tank is 30g and dosing all for reef, using Tropic Marin Syn-Biotic salt, dosing TM Phos-Feed, sometimes Zeobak. I was dosing TM NP Bacto balance but they bottomed out my PO4. I may start this up again.

So far I trashed the following:
Prom Queen
Pink Flamingo
Fox Flame
RR Pink Floyd

Soon to be thrown out
RMF Break your wallet
Some montis

Main issue is that brown algae is covering the corals or on the tip. I have been cutting them but that's probably also causing issues.
Some other acros/SPS are doing better but let's see for how long.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

My advice would be to not snip the tips, and instead dip in peroxide.

My guess is that the fresh cut to the corals skin is creating more problems to an already stressful situation in a new environment.

Tank looks fairly new, perhaps it's not quite biologically ready for sps??

 

[PeterErc]

Don’t quit now, the miracle hasn’t happened yet, you are a few months away from being a stick head.

Keep it simple, temp, alk and ca stable, set lights how you like and forget it.

Give tank good flow, feed fish, do water changes. Don’t dose stuff other than keeping alk and ca in order. Do water changes instead of dosing stuff, feed fish some more. Clean glass. Test alk, ca, nitrate if overfeeding, if so more water change.

Good water quality, good light, good flow= good SPS

That should be everything you need to successfully keep SPS

Once everyone is happy and growing then you can mess around with the additives and such if you feel it is needed.

On another note look for white bugs on the acro at night with a flashlight and nudi’s on the monti’s. Not saying pests are the cause at all but if they are present they will have to be dealt with

 

[Pod_01]

Just an observation:
Tropic Marin Syn-Biotic salt -contains Prebiotic bacterial food promotes low-nutrient conditions.
Contains carbon source.
Zeobak - is a microorganism solution which contains several bacterial strains that form a bacterial chain capable of consuming nutrients.
TM NP Bacto Ballance- carbon source

I suspect this combination is your cause of zero PO4.
If you decide to use TM NP BB dose 0.1ml or 0.05 ml day at most. Just enough to feed bacteria so corals can consume them.

Also try to get PO4 to 0.1. If you are at 0.04 and drop to zero nothing good happens from my experience. Drop from 0.1 to 0.05 not as bad.

Good luck,

 

[BeanAnimal]

Marketing and social media inspired cocktail tank… throw all of that crap in the garbage and not the coral. Simple salt (Instant ocean for example) and simple AlK, Cal, Mag. Grow coral.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Marketing and social media inspired cocktail tank… throw all of that crap in the garbage and not the coral. Simple salt (Instant ocean for example) and simple AlK, Cal, Mag. Grow coral.

That's sort of the MO these days. I tend to say that marketing is a welcomed distraction from the slow progress of keeping a reef.

 

[Tripod1404]

Start with the easier to grow SPS like stylos. Once you get consistent growth with those you can try easy to take care montis and after those get good growth you can try more difficult montis and easy to care for acros, and so forth.

Easy to take care in this context are strains that have been propagated in captivity for decades, like a that nameless pale red branching monti every LFS has or green slimer acro or red planet acro. These guys are proven to survive in captivity as long as basic parameters are maintained. After to master those, you can try “out of the ocean” corals that do not have a proven track record in captivity.

In my opinion, you are trying to run without walking first. Just get the easiest to care for SPS and just get one, put it in a spot and don’t move it, don’t clip tips, don’t add any additives. Keep alk, Ca and Mg stable and it should grow. If you get good coralline algae growth a stylo will grow without any issues.