Coral growth issues, full description inside

[Arafas]

Hi, i need some help in regards of coral growth. I been in this hobby 10 years but fish only and now i am starting to add some corals but having issues.

setup: 90 gal tank, 30 gal sump, reef octopus 150, 7 inch filter socks, AI 26HD LED light
Alk: 9.8dKH
Calc :480
Mag:~1400
salinity: 1.026
ph: ~8.0
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 16ppm
phosphate: 0.08ppm

everything is checked with red sea testers. Lately i been doing 25-30 gal water change every week vacuuming the sand, change my socks once a week 25micron.

fish:
yellow tang
sail fin tang (10 years old)
wrasse
diamond gobby
I fee pellets and some frozen food once a day or super small 3 times a day. Fish are always happy no problem.

corals(frags): blasto, waving hand polyps, green slimer, bam bam zoas, yumas
green slimer was green now all white with little polyps, blasto died but two are growing from the side very slow, zoas nothing, waving hands growing a little, yumas dont look to good, i just recently realized my temp in the water was to high so I adjusted back to normal and yumas look like crap, they loved 87 degree water temp, don ask me why temps where so high(pos digital therm). Can you suggest anything that i am doing wrong.

light: ai 26hd LED
UV:37
V:60
RB:70
B:67
G:15
R:12
W:35

Running GFO and Carbon in reactor, def have some algae on the glass and rocks but not hairy just dark green algae on rock also a lot of coralline algae.
Please help stuck

 

[mcgyvr]

Get that nitrate down some for a start.. Its not bad really at all but isn't really helping..

How long has the tank been setup.. How long have you had the corals.. pics of said issue corals.. all that would help..

Corals like stability in parameters..
87 degrees is warm too.. 70-80 is plenty..

 

[Arafas]

Tank been setup 10 years, fish only doe. Corals maybe 2 months no growth really only the Waving hand polyp. I can try to post some pictures. My tank temp right now is 79 degrees using 3 different thermometers.

 

[mcgyvr]

Just give it some time... 2 months isn't that long and some corals I've found take a few weeks or more just to get used to where they are before they start growing at a decent pace.. They do grow slow though and sometime you don't even notice it unless you take timeline shots and compare..

waving hand is a damn weed IMO.. That thing will grow in a darn toilet bowl.. I hate them..

 

[Arafas]

Yep I have them on a separate rock, my blasto main polyp first few days was closed then you could see the skeleton, the main polyp is pretty much gone now, only two little once are growing from the side. Green slimer is white with some polyps. Do you think my. Lights are not enough?. I don't have them all the way.

 

[Arafas]

Yumas were doing so good at higher Temps, now they look like ****.

 

[Arafas]

Bump

 

[jam.jo]

Try feeding the corals. I personally feed mine Red Sea reef energy A and B once a day as instructed on the packaging, I feed reef chili from bulk reef supply (cheap and it lasts a long time) about 2-3 times per week. I spot feed larger polyp corals small pieces of mysis and I feed plankton once per week. Must have good skimming to help keep phosphates down. I also use NO3 PO4x by red sea when my hanna checker detects phosphates greater than .03. That way it is bringing down nitrates and phosphates together and it won't cause an imbalance between nitrate and phosphates like GFO will cause since it is only absorbing phosphate. I also use the KZ system, but thats just my preference. Also giving more time you should see growth.

 

[Drewl117]

Are you using only 1 hydra 26 on a 90?

 

[TokiHacker]

Are you using only 1 hydra 26 on a 90?

This is my question... I think we are either not getting enough light or too much with them at full blast


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[Arafas]

ok, so one side of the tank where my corals are I have one hydra 26,the other side one of those chines boxes 165w but they suck i am going to replace it soon, but all my corals are under the hydra

 

[TokiHacker]

ok, so one side of the tank where my corals are I have one hydra 26,the other side one of those chines boxes 165w but they suck i am going to replace it soon, but all my corals are under the hydra

Hey hey hey! I run those Chinese black boxes lol


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[Arafas]

lol, ye the coloration on those are not so good, when u switch to the hydra you will see the difference.

 

[TokiHacker]

I won't... I refuse! Lol. I'm going to run these until I decided to drop the cash on 3 kessils


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[Arafas]

I am dosing nopox right now but my levels won't come down at all. i think i have some algae in my rocks that are leaching out thats why my parameters won't change. I just dont know what to do. i tried everything

 

[TokiHacker]

Nopox is some good stuff but unless you have sps your softies and polyps thrive with some dirtier water.


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[Arafas]

When you say dirty, do you mean nitrate and phosphate?. I am gone stop dosing nopox to see if it helps. Also not running my gfo or carbon.

 

[jam.jo]

You do not want phosphates over .03 even in an LPS tank. Nitrates under 10 ppm. While they are more leniant than sps, you still have to control nitrate and phosphate or you will have algae growth which will eventually grow over your corals, suffocate them, and result in death. Feeding your LPS like I mentioned above with counteract an ultra low nutrient tank environment so that your corals get the nutrition they need from an additional source other than photosynthesis from your hydra.

 

[jam.jo]

When adding coral food, you are adding excess nutrients to the tank so turn off any pumps and powerheads and skimmer while feeding and allow the corals to absorb the nutrients, turn your powerheads back on, then turn your skimmer back on within an hour or so to start removing unabsorbed excess nutrients from the tank before it breaks down to keep good water quality. Good skimming is important.