Bret
Active Member
My tank has been set up for close to a year now, and I can't figure out why none of the coral seems to be doing well.
Water parameters are as follows:
Calcium: 450
Alk: 7.2
Mag: 1520
Phosphate: 0.02
pH: 8.25-8.36
Temp: 77.5-78.5
Salinity: 33.0
Tank is a 36x24 90 gallon (check out my build thread if you are interested)
Lighting is a kessil AP9x
Flow is 2 MP40s
Turnover through sump is about 500GPH
I dose kalk through ATO and a stirrer to keep up with alk and calcium
All corals seem to be kinda just surviving. coloration is generally washed out to even on the bleached side on stony corals, with little to no growth. Polyp extension is decent on SPS but poor on Euphyllia. Other LPS are hit and miss on color, but all show little to no growth. Coloration is good on zoas, but haven't popped out a new polyp since they have been in the tank. Fish and other inverts are all doing great, although I seem to be lacking in the pod department.
To give an idea of nutrient levels, I feed about 1/2 to 1 cube of frozen mysis a day, and pull out a decent amount of skimmate. I change my one filter sock about once a week. My phosphates have never been above 0.04. I do not test for nitrates. I do not have any significant algae in the tank. The apparent lack of nutrients is surprising to me.
I have been chasing this for a few months trying to figure out what is goin on. I have tried adjusting lighting and flow, or moving corals around, waiting at least a couple weeks between making changes and nothing seems to help, with the exception of a slight improvement in LPS coloration at lower light intensity. I have checked my lighting with a par meter and it should be in range according to conventional wisdom.
Anyone have any ideas?
Water parameters are as follows:
Calcium: 450
Alk: 7.2
Mag: 1520
Phosphate: 0.02
pH: 8.25-8.36
Temp: 77.5-78.5
Salinity: 33.0
Tank is a 36x24 90 gallon (check out my build thread if you are interested)
Lighting is a kessil AP9x
Flow is 2 MP40s
Turnover through sump is about 500GPH
I dose kalk through ATO and a stirrer to keep up with alk and calcium
All corals seem to be kinda just surviving. coloration is generally washed out to even on the bleached side on stony corals, with little to no growth. Polyp extension is decent on SPS but poor on Euphyllia. Other LPS are hit and miss on color, but all show little to no growth. Coloration is good on zoas, but haven't popped out a new polyp since they have been in the tank. Fish and other inverts are all doing great, although I seem to be lacking in the pod department.
To give an idea of nutrient levels, I feed about 1/2 to 1 cube of frozen mysis a day, and pull out a decent amount of skimmate. I change my one filter sock about once a week. My phosphates have never been above 0.04. I do not test for nitrates. I do not have any significant algae in the tank. The apparent lack of nutrients is surprising to me.
I have been chasing this for a few months trying to figure out what is goin on. I have tried adjusting lighting and flow, or moving corals around, waiting at least a couple weeks between making changes and nothing seems to help, with the exception of a slight improvement in LPS coloration at lower light intensity. I have checked my lighting with a par meter and it should be in range according to conventional wisdom.
Anyone have any ideas?
