Advice on Parameters

[af4evr13]

Hello guys,
I was hoping to get some advice on keeping my corals healthy. I have some ZOAs ...some are doing well and other are not. I have tried to move the ones that are not progressing to more light but that doesn't seem to help. I have some acropora and it is not doing well. It is dying. here are my parameters.

76 Degrees, Nitrate 25 ppm, Ph 7.8, Mg 1800 dkh, Alk 6.0 dkh, Calcium 470, Phosphate Trace to .25

I recognize that my Alkalinity is off and I am working to bring that into balance but most of these other parameters have been pretty steady.

Others stats, tank is about 2 years old and I do run a refugium with fuge lights on at night for about 8 hours.

Thank you

 

[Oldreeferman]

Lack of stability is probably the main cause as is the incorrect params when set next to new saltwater params one needs to try to mimic to some degree.
MG is not rated as dKH its measured in ppms, and should be 1300 more or less as is in nature.
The Ca is a tad high but ok long as its not precipitating out on things which would show as white not coralline on pumps & heaters etc.
The Alk is low as you stated and is a major issue with most corals especially hard corals and needs to be a rock stable 8 or higher.
Acros do not like high Nitrates period and in nature they read 0.25 not 25 so your going to have to decide how to lower that or give up on Acros, i dose with No-Pox multi formula vinegar, sugar, and methanol and it works better then plain vinegar giving a more varied bacteria growth in the DT to taker care of the issues.
You did not mention what lighting you have im assuming LED maybe? If so is it set really blue? If so tone down the blues and add violet. Better to mimic real shallow light then the deep sea as most corals are from shallow areas and like light.
Are you doing reg water changes?
What salt mix are you using? You did not mention the salinity is it stable?
Do you use RODI water for mixing and top off?
It can be tricky to get everything balanced & holding stead fast but that is what is necessary if you go past a FOWLR tank to corals.
A weekly journal is a must to make certain everything is running at stable params with tests and dosing and then checking.
ZOAs are usually pretty easy starter soft corals and not tank canarys like the Acros will be so something is off. Check them close to be sure you have no parasites on them as they are well known to harbor parasites.

Anyway this is what i see and tho the low Alk and the Nitrates next are the worst offenders everything is suspect with min information on how the water is treated weekly and long term.

Things to look at and consider, hope ive helped.

 

[laverda]

Your low alk is definatly a problem for SPS. Nitrates are high, but I would be much more concerned with your Alkalinity.

 

[af4evr13]

More information on Parameters

More information on Parameters

Hello again and thank you for the feedback. Some more information on the tank. I am using Red Sea LEDs and have blue at about 40 percent intensity and white around 35 percent intensity. So I can work on switching that around some for the ZOAs. My Salinity was a bit high last week when I posted...about 1.030 and have since brought it back down to where it should be at 1.027. I typically keep this stable and I was still having issues with the Acros and Zoas.
I use Instant Ocean Reef Salt and top off with RODI.
I have always struggled with my Nitrates ...they stay around 25 to 30. I have added a refugium and set it up per recommendations and I have a skimmer....I still struggle with nitrates. My refugium is basically all hair algae now and all the good algae is gone.
Thank you for your advice and I look forward to your additional recommendations.

 

[outssider]

for nitrate control research "carbon dosing"....I use vodka. I have been carbon dosing for
more than 10yrs.....