Nikolausreef
New Member
I'm not sure if this is the correct place for this issue mod please feel free to move if there's a more apt place for it.
I have a Red Sea reefer 54 gallon mixed reef tank i setup 3 months ago that isn't thriving and I'm not sure why and what to change. Some of the corals are slowly fading and I'm not sure what I'm missing.
Unfortunately the way i see it there's no point in asking for general help unless I give my entire setup, maintenance program, etc. so below I've done my best to cover the setup, maintenance, and stocking of the tank and hopefully there's something I'm missing. I apologize in advance for the length of this post and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read through and give their input.
I set this tank up with equipment and live rock from a 10-year-old 75 gallon that was left running during a 2-year period we were moving/renovating our first house. The tank had bare minimum maintenance but was kept running to keep the live rock and a few corals alive.
All water was new instant ocean but salt was at least 2 year old sealed bags in RO water with 0 tds.
I used roughly 50 lbs of live rock from the old tank and mixed in another 10-20lbs of dry rock mainly to the refugium.
Overview of the new setup:
Used red Sea reefer 250 (reinforced on all sides)
Red Sea reefer around 10 gallon sump
10 gallon dedicated refugium filled with 1-2" sand, live rock, chaeto, and a small powerhead
Lighting:
2x 4 year old ai hydra 32:
6" above water
running 58 watts each about 14k color wise
2 hour ramp up/down
Full power for 9 hours
Old ai prime 16 on refugium
Flow:
Mp10 on back left wall running reef crest mode at 80%
Small Hygger power head on back right wall on random mode.
Two "randomizing" loc-line nozzles on returns aimed at front corners
Reef octopus protein skimmer
Hygger 1700hpg dc return pump at 100%
A small sicce ~300gph pump running:
2x 9 watt hygger uv sterilizer
A 2 little fishies reactor with 1/2 cup rox carbon changed roughly every 6 weeks.
Hydros controller:
Running ato
Old apex:
Controlling temp with heater and an assortment of fans. On a normal day temp swings about 1 degree 77-78. A few times this spring, before the window ac unit were in, it would swing from 77 in morning to ~81 by lights off. The first time about a month ago it did hit 83f so we brought the window units out early.
My maintenance routine:
I have been testing every Wednesday and Sunday since I started the tank.
I was doing monthly 10 gallon water changes but I'm considering switching to 5 gallons weekly.
Clean filter socks and skimmer on Sunday.
I was dosing a bit of ca/alk in the beginning but since corals have started looking off ca has been stable while alk drops about 1dkh a week. I'm assuming it's from nitrate dosing.
Nitrate and phosphate are always low (0) so I have been dosing sodium phosphate and calcium nitrate to try and keep them at a minimum of 0.04 and 2.5 PPM at least. I am dosing around 5 ml of Randy Holmes Farley recipe nitrate and around 10 ml of phosphate twice per week. I did use "lab grade sodium phosphate" for my stock solution of phosphate and just remade it with the reagent grade material he recommended just in case.
It seems like every time I dose n/p it boosts the growth of a slimey brown algae on the sand and rocks so I'm sure that and the chaeto and eating most of it.
Livestock:
I currently have three small lyretail anthias, a 1" ocellaris clownfish, a midas blenny and a 2" blue tang I know I'll have to rehouse.
There is also 2 sexy shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, 2 tuxedo urchins, assorted snails and hermits.
I have an array of frags I started with. Zoas, lps, and more recently some spa.
All fish and invertebrates seem perfectly healthy and about half of the corals don't look bad but also aren't as fully extended as they used to be when I first got them. Blastomussa and caulastrea both seem okay but definitely not as fluffy as they used to be.
I'm feeding a 1/2" square piece of lrs reef frenzy plus a pinch of flakes and pellets a day.
I have a montapora digitata, m. Setosa, and leng si cap all doing well, growing, and colored okay. One acro frag seems fine yet the other looks like the tips all got damaged and has white tips.
Green branching psammacora bleached out on top 50% up from sand. Undersides still light green.
Sunset monti was growing very well then the original frag bleached and has no polyp extension yet new growth areas still have polyps and color.
I have two hammer frags that have now actually started to recede up the skeleton with a few of the septa poking through.the head.
The microgoni never opens.
Magician Palythoa and orange bam bam zoas seem happy and plump, smaller zoas seem small and not happy.
I'm not quiet sure if I have a specific question other then does it seem like I'm missing anything obvious that would be causing these coral to not do well?
I can post more photos tomorrow of the coral in question.
I have a Red Sea reefer 54 gallon mixed reef tank i setup 3 months ago that isn't thriving and I'm not sure why and what to change. Some of the corals are slowly fading and I'm not sure what I'm missing.
Unfortunately the way i see it there's no point in asking for general help unless I give my entire setup, maintenance program, etc. so below I've done my best to cover the setup, maintenance, and stocking of the tank and hopefully there's something I'm missing. I apologize in advance for the length of this post and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read through and give their input.
I set this tank up with equipment and live rock from a 10-year-old 75 gallon that was left running during a 2-year period we were moving/renovating our first house. The tank had bare minimum maintenance but was kept running to keep the live rock and a few corals alive.
All water was new instant ocean but salt was at least 2 year old sealed bags in RO water with 0 tds.
I used roughly 50 lbs of live rock from the old tank and mixed in another 10-20lbs of dry rock mainly to the refugium.
Overview of the new setup:
Used red Sea reefer 250 (reinforced on all sides)
Red Sea reefer around 10 gallon sump
10 gallon dedicated refugium filled with 1-2" sand, live rock, chaeto, and a small powerhead
Lighting:
2x 4 year old ai hydra 32:
6" above water
running 58 watts each about 14k color wise
2 hour ramp up/down
Full power for 9 hours
Old ai prime 16 on refugium
Flow:
Mp10 on back left wall running reef crest mode at 80%
Small Hygger power head on back right wall on random mode.
Two "randomizing" loc-line nozzles on returns aimed at front corners
Reef octopus protein skimmer
Hygger 1700hpg dc return pump at 100%
A small sicce ~300gph pump running:
2x 9 watt hygger uv sterilizer
A 2 little fishies reactor with 1/2 cup rox carbon changed roughly every 6 weeks.
Hydros controller:
Running ato
Old apex:
Controlling temp with heater and an assortment of fans. On a normal day temp swings about 1 degree 77-78. A few times this spring, before the window ac unit were in, it would swing from 77 in morning to ~81 by lights off. The first time about a month ago it did hit 83f so we brought the window units out early.
My maintenance routine:
I have been testing every Wednesday and Sunday since I started the tank.
I was doing monthly 10 gallon water changes but I'm considering switching to 5 gallons weekly.
Clean filter socks and skimmer on Sunday.
I was dosing a bit of ca/alk in the beginning but since corals have started looking off ca has been stable while alk drops about 1dkh a week. I'm assuming it's from nitrate dosing.
Nitrate and phosphate are always low (0) so I have been dosing sodium phosphate and calcium nitrate to try and keep them at a minimum of 0.04 and 2.5 PPM at least. I am dosing around 5 ml of Randy Holmes Farley recipe nitrate and around 10 ml of phosphate twice per week. I did use "lab grade sodium phosphate" for my stock solution of phosphate and just remade it with the reagent grade material he recommended just in case.
It seems like every time I dose n/p it boosts the growth of a slimey brown algae on the sand and rocks so I'm sure that and the chaeto and eating most of it.
Livestock:
I currently have three small lyretail anthias, a 1" ocellaris clownfish, a midas blenny and a 2" blue tang I know I'll have to rehouse.
There is also 2 sexy shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, 2 tuxedo urchins, assorted snails and hermits.
I have an array of frags I started with. Zoas, lps, and more recently some spa.
All fish and invertebrates seem perfectly healthy and about half of the corals don't look bad but also aren't as fully extended as they used to be when I first got them. Blastomussa and caulastrea both seem okay but definitely not as fluffy as they used to be.
I'm feeding a 1/2" square piece of lrs reef frenzy plus a pinch of flakes and pellets a day.
I have a montapora digitata, m. Setosa, and leng si cap all doing well, growing, and colored okay. One acro frag seems fine yet the other looks like the tips all got damaged and has white tips.
Green branching psammacora bleached out on top 50% up from sand. Undersides still light green.
Sunset monti was growing very well then the original frag bleached and has no polyp extension yet new growth areas still have polyps and color.
I have two hammer frags that have now actually started to recede up the skeleton with a few of the septa poking through.the head.
The microgoni never opens.
Magician Palythoa and orange bam bam zoas seem happy and plump, smaller zoas seem small and not happy.
I'm not quiet sure if I have a specific question other then does it seem like I'm missing anything obvious that would be causing these coral to not do well?
I can post more photos tomorrow of the coral in question.
