Clueless at this point

[goobe]

Hey guys,
lets me start off explaining my tank.

ATM, i have a 36gallon bow front with a seaclone skimmer moded with 2 limewood air stones for more bubbles inside. a Ehiem canister filter with carbon bioballs and other stuff in it. My lighting im using is a 150W single 20k MH fixture. For water flow i have a K3 K1 and a maxijet 1200.

ill explain my problem now.
over the past 2 months i slowly started to add in some SPS corals. and over the past 2 months they have been slowly bleaching starting from the bottom to the underside of the coral. The top parts of the SPS seem to be doing fine. polups are out colouring up. ive been doing my own reaserch through this website and ive learned that phosphate plays a big part in SPS corals.that being said it was the only tester i havnt bought.

My tank is running at

440cal
10DKH
8.2PH
0 ammonia
0 nitrates /nitrites
temps at 81-82

everything seems normal nothing crazy high. At this point i thought it must be the phosphates.
So today i went out and bought a phosphate tester some cheeto and some GFO.
I added my cheeto in a tub that sits in my aquarium with cut outs for water to flow through it. im planing on using the GFO in a filter sock and have it hang on the side of my aquarium.

I tested my water for phosphate ant it came up with 0.2. again ive read that 0.02 is ok.

at this point i am clueless on what could be causing my corals to bleach and die.

if anyone has any sugestions i would be very happy to hear about them.

oh PS my tanks been up for about a year and ive been able to keep LPS corals and mushrooms with no trouble at all

Thanks,

 

[mike_cmu04]

My guess it is your lighting one 150 watt is not very much for sps unless they are right at the top and if your bulb is older then you are likely not getting enough light.

 

[goobe]

Really? you think it could be my light?

damn i was planing on getting a Deltec MCE600. would you sugest i save for an ATI fixture lighting instead?

 

[rholguin]

I personally don't think its your light. If you started this tank from scratch it could be that the tank is not mature enough to handle sps. Also are the sps aquacultured or wild, or maricultured. Wild sps coral do not have a very high survival rate they start off good and then die. The best sps corals are aquacultured. These corals are used to aquarium life.

 

[reefWW96]

protein skimmer is semi-junk. i have had bad expierience with those.
lighting should be fine, as long as bulb is replaced every 4-6 months.
Have ou looked on the sps for any pests like aefw or red bugs? dip a couple and see if anything falls off.

 

[goobe]

yeah, i know my skimmers a peice of crap thats why i wanted to get the deltec

i didnt think it was my light the problem, i just bought my bulb 3 months ago

i also dip all my corals befor putting it in my tank

im not sure about where the corals have come from though

 

[sirreal63]

Your light is fine, a 150 watt over a 36 gallon tank is plenty, I honestly have no idea where people come up with the idea that you must have massive amounts of light to grow sps? You do lose par with the 20K bulb but sps don't stn from low light situations immediately.

What does the temperature range from? SPS can handle temp fluctuations just fine, as long as they are acclimated to it. If you get corals from a tank that has no temp variation and your tank varies from 78 to 86 daily, the corals will suffer because they are not accustomed to that change.

 

[goobe]

how would i acclimate the corals ?

 

[sirreal63]

What does the temp range from?

 

[TwistedEnvy]

Depends on what you are acclimating them to. Did you start the SPS on the bottom of your tank? If you did and slowly moved them up the tank, then your light is not the problem. If you placed your sps at the top right away, and are still seeing flesh and polyps on the white parts of your SPS, then it could be your light.

As far as temp goes you just want to make sure your temps are swinging crazy because that will make them go into shock

 

[notenoughtanks]

As they have been mentioned, there are a few variables. Being that it is bottom up I would be less inclined to say phosphate (although) .2 is high. I would think more light and flow. A 150 20k bulb does not have much output at all for acros. I was running an iwasaki 175w on a 29 gallon and felt it was about the low end. The problem not so much the watts as it being 1 weak point source. That same 150 watts in t5 or vho would provide better spread to get to the base and down into the braches. I am not familiar with koralias but 2 of those and a mj12 if probably sufficient. Hth.

 

[notenoughtanks]

Also, sps are of an ethereal nature, especially in smaller tanks. I have been doing sps for years and I still feel a 75 gallon is too small.

 

[spamreefnew]

my guess would be light and ph shifts,,,i think a new 10k bulb (for more punch) and checking the ph at different times of day and night would be in order

 

[goobe]

Thanks guys for all the advice.

I did acclimate the corals from the bottom to to the top over a course of about 2 weeks.

my temp goes from about 81-83 highest ive seen in the summer.

alot of ppl mentioned my light.

i am currently saving for a deltec MCE600 and planing on removing my old skimmer and my canister. but would it be better for me to skip the skimmer and save for a 4X24 ATI t5 fixture
they are around the same price.

i would really like to hear ppls opinions on this before i do anything

 

[sirreal63]

I would get the skimmer as there is nothing wrong with your lighting. The temp is fine as well.