SPS

[Bubstank2]

1 year in a reboot. Spend thousands on SPS colonies. Can’t even seem to keep Monti’s alive. A my wits end ..
180 gallon in wall tank 2 radions.
Tons of Coraline
Alk 8.2-9.0
Cal 385
Po4 -12ppb
No3 - 4.8
Mag -1400
Salt - 36ppt
No nuscience algae.

ICP test showed slightly low iron/iodine which now I dose. Nothing else no bad metals .

I’ve tried raising and lowering the nutrient levels with each batch of corals I try , they last 3-6 weeks and loose color and turn brown. Then coraline covers them.
Radions run a preset Radion program.

At a loss and about to give up

 

[Macdaddynick1]

You dose kalkwasser at night? Also what is your ph swing?

 

[bubbgee]

What’s your flow like ? I finally started getting some success once I added gyres to my setup.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Your po4 is 0.12ppm not 12ppm right?

 

[Reefer Matt]

What model Radion are you using? Two seems not enough for a 180 gallon.

 

[Dburr1014]

1 year in a reboot. Spend thousands on SPS colonies. Can’t even seem to keep Monti’s alive. A my wits end ..
180 gallon in wall tank 2 radions.
Tons of Coraline
Alk 8.2-9.0
Cal 385
Po4 -12ppb
No3 - 4.8
Mag -1400
Salt - 36ppt
No nuscience algae.

ICP test showed slightly low iron/iodine which now I dose. Nothing else no bad metals .

I’ve tried raising and lowering the nutrient levels with each batch of corals I try , they last 3-6 weeks and loose color and turn brown. Then coraline covers them.
Radions run a preset Radion program.

At a loss and about to give up

Have you tried salt at 35ppt?
Can/could make a difference.

Agreed with others, Make sure you have good flow. Do you know what your par is like at all?

I see you're calcium is at 385 that might be okay but I would definitely bump it up a little bit more. I keep it 400+

 

[etcee]

Your calcium is pretty low. If it's constantly that low, I personally would try to fix that. 420 - 450. But also, what kind of PAR are your SPS getting? 2 Radions over a 180? Seems like possibly not enough. That monti photo, it looks brown.

 

[bubbgee]

Colonies of sps might have been mariculture which is tremendously difficult. Plus colonies require tons more flow since it sounds like it’s a few of them.

 

[Bubstank2]

Thanks guys I’ll update :
-3 vortex 60’s plus Hammerhead for return.
3000gal per hour flow so I assure you not a flow issue.
-I dos 2 part on auto pilot and test weekly for Alk/Calcium. I struggle to keep it above 8.5 dkh which some friends think is weird.
I dose 120ml per 24 hours of BRS 2 part made up in 3 gallon containers.
-I have a par meter and last checked 180-200 par where those Monti’s were.
-PH swings from 8.3-8.1 but we know PH won’t kill virals at that amount.
-po4 -12 parts per billion Phosphous (with a B) just a easier test I have and use all HANNAS .
-Big UV sterilizer runs 12 on 12 off
-Skimmer 8 on 14 off.


I’ve been told “your tank isn’t mature enough” your light isn’t “white enough” legit matched my water parameters to my buddies where he is having mad success.
Been doing this for 15 years . Took a 4 year break due to an invasive mushroom takeover. Can’t get it right on this reboot.
Pulling my hair out .

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If its not the flow then I would suggest to review the lighting. slowly losing color over weeks then turning brown is an indicator of low light. It might not be the reason, but you should investigate this possibility IMO

 

[Dburr1014]

Thanks guys I’ll update :
-3 vortex 60’s plus Hammerhead for return.
3000gal per hour flow so I assure you not a flow issue.
-I dos 2 part on auto pilot and test weekly for Alk/Calcium. I struggle to keep it above 8.5 dkh which some friends think is weird.
I dose 120ml per 24 hours of BRS 2 part made up in 3 gallon containers.
-I have a par meter and last checked 180-200 par where those Monti’s were.
-PH swings from 8.3-8.1 but we know PH won’t kill virals at that amount.
-po4 -12 parts per billion Phosphous (with a B) just a easier test I have and use all HANNAS .
-Big UV sterilizer runs 12 on 12 off
-Skimmer 8 on 14 off.


I’ve been told “your tank isn’t mature enough” your light isn’t “white enough” legit matched my water parameters to my buddies where he is having mad success.
Been doing this for 15 years . Took a 4 year break due to an invasive mushroom takeover. Can’t get it right on this reboot.
Pulling my hair out .

Alk is not weird, nothing wrong with 8.5, in fact, I keep mine 8.0ish. I like it there and coral grow really well.

Par is at the very bottom end, maybe to low unless you have an extended day 12+ hours.
Personally, I would bump it up. 300 or 400 is better, IMO.
Interesting why you're skimmer and UV are on partial times, why is this? What is the reasoning?
I use my skimmer 24/7 and I don't have a UV unless I see dino's or some other problem. But then again I do heavy and heavy out, keeps the fish happy and my Coral happy because the fish are eating heavy and feeding the coral through out the day.

One more thing, you didn't address the salanity that I mentioned. Why do you keep it at 36ppt?

No two tanks are the same. Don't measure yours against another trying to match it, it never will.
I think being a year in your tank should be mature enough especially if you have a lot of coraline growing everywhere.

 

[Bubstank2]

Thanks for feed back. I will clarify a few things.
Friends think my Alk consumption of 120ml /day is weird due to not many corals in my tank . Is the Coraline consuming that much?
-Skimmer off 14 hours because I had trouble keeping Nitrates above zero. Had to dos NeoNitro and double my feedings to get a no3 value of 4.8.
-Cut my UV back cause read an article that said I might be killing off beneficial bacteria needed for corals .
-Just retested my par 225/245 and I’m not at peak yet .

I will add more pics below for anyone else that can help also

 

[painter1982]

Thanks guys I’ll update :
-3 vortex 60’s plus Hammerhead for return.
3000gal per hour flow so I assure you not a flow issue.
-I dos 2 part on auto pilot and test weekly for Alk/Calcium. I struggle to keep it above 8.5 dkh which some friends think is weird.
I dose 120ml per 24 hours of BRS 2 part made up in 3 gallon containers.
-I have a par meter and last checked 180-200 par where those Monti’s were.
-PH swings from 8.3-8.1 but we know PH won’t kill virals at that amount.
-po4 -12 parts per billion Phosphous (with a B) just a easier test I have and use all HANNAS .
-Big UV sterilizer runs 12 on 12 off
-Skimmer 8 on 14 off.


I’ve been told “your tank isn’t mature enough” your light isn’t “white enough” legit matched my water parameters to my buddies where he is having mad success.
Been doing this for 15 years . Took a 4 year break due to an invasive mushroom takeover. Can’t get it right on this reboot.
Pulling my hair out .

Sounds like magnesium is low if you are fighting alkalinity and only dosing that and calcium. Flow could be low. Just because you have a couple mp60s doesn’t mean the flow is correct. Colonies can stop flow in their tracks. Lights are definitely not enough. Phosphate seems low. Corals consume it. Needs at least above.03 imo. Are you using chemicals around house to clean glass or furniture? Maybe putting contaminated hands in tank?

 

[Bubstank2]

Mag was accidentally high over 1600 for a while and thought that was a reason.
It wasn’t. It’s now 1400 which isn’t low according to what I read.
Back to Alk, to me it seems odd I need 120ml per day to maintain what a normal salt mix should test. I haven’t done a water change in over 2 months. Reason being because my water was testing to clean.

I have 10 fish which is a light load in a 180. The tank looks great, no algae , coraline covers everything. Just no growth and corals die.

Lighting : these frags that die after a month are directly under my Radions 8” under the water. The Radions are about 8” from water surface. So 16” from coral . Par 240

Just retested my salt - 35.2ppt

In pics not sure what the sudden white dots on that monti frag is . Also my digitada looks like tissue loss.

 

[Bubstank2]

I’m open to any ideas… I’m completely out of ideas and possibilities .

 

[X-37B]

Cam we get a FTS?
Hard to see what's going in in the pics.
Your numbers are good, imo, except ca which I would bring to 420.
12ppb is .037. No issue if your feeding enough.
White spots may be nudis so check at night as they are easier to spot.
2 30's is about half of what I would run on a 180. Those par levels are good though, imo, and not causing the issue.
I run gen 5 15's and run ab+ @ 100% with good results.
What do your settings look like?
Do you run carbon?
How many lps in the system?
Coralline can use large amounts of alk.

 

[dwest]

Your coralline growth is good and that is a good sign and can explain your alkalinity consumption IMO. I would do weekly 10% water changes and keep feeding well. I feel this tank will turn around.

Did that branching monti grow from a frag or did you add it when it was that big?

 

[spsick]

Can we get more info on your RO unit and when filters were changed? This is my suspicion.

 

[Bubstank2]

Thanks for continuing to help

Ro filter is 5 stage and zero TDS.
Also sent that in with the BRS water test with tank water . Neither sample showed anything harmful.
The branching monti was about that big. Again no growth just slowly deteriorating .
I’ll send a pic of an orange one doing better but no growth. I’ll send more pics for context . But waiting and wondering hasn’t worked so far.
I’m now running same program you mentioned above at 100%

 

[spsick]

Ok but when were your carbon blocks replaced? Chlorine and chloramine blow through and do not show up as TDS. When I put my carbon blocks on a replacement schedule my success with sps massively increased. Get a test kit. Even the cheap strips from BRS and test after the carbon block or membrane.


All of your equipment, husbandry, and parameters sound fine to me otherwise.

Then only thing I can think of beyond that is testing error such as salinity or temperature.