corals not doing well

[mahargster]

Hi. I have a well established 60g tank that has soft corals and lps. Recently, my finger leather and my toadstool started bleaching (still opening.) They have been doing fine for a long time. Here are the water parameters:
Salinity 1.025
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 30ppm
Amonia 0ppm
ph 8.05
Calcium 330ppm (trying to bring up)
Alk 145ppm
Magnesium 1250
The only recent change that I have made is raising ph and dosing calcium. My ph has been 7.8 due to my tap water, so I slowly brought it up. I bought a new set of test kits, from which I learned that my calc was low. If you have any suggestions, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[CrayolaViolence]

Do you replenish your water for amino acids to feed the zooxanthella living on your leathers? Also do you dose iodine?

 

[mahargster]

No i do neither

 

[mahargster]

Wait replenish my water with regular tap water for amino acids? Because I do that.

 

[Steveb]

You are using regular tap water? treated with something to remove chlorine/chloramines? IMO don't use tapwater...

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/1/chemistry

Also what are you using to bring your Ph up? I wouldn't get into chasing Ph too much, rather make sure your Alkalinity is in the appropriate range.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

 

[reddtiger88]

Any temperature spikes? That can be a cause.

 

[mahargster]

Yes I treat the tap water. My alk is 145 ppm. Is that bad? Im going to get a new thermometer soon bc I just realized that it is about 3 years old, and possibly inaccurate. I treat ph using seacham reef buffer which is a dry mix. It says that it also raises alkalinity however.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

Wait replenish my water with regular tap water for amino acids? Because I do that.

Amino acids aren't in your tap water (unless there is something wrong with it). Amino acids are what your zooxanthellae need in order to survive and your zooxanthellae are what feed your corals. There are amino acid supplements you can buy to put it into the water. Iodine is another supplement that some people forget about. You may or may not need it. Some salts seem to do enough but if you get a substantial number of corals pulling the minerals out of the water it may not be able to keep up.

Are you on a well? If not, tap water could be killing your aquarium. I'm personally not too sure about how affective additives are for removing chloramine and such from the water, you'd probably be better off purchasing water from your LRS or installing an RODI system.

 

[mahargster]

My tap water is good and clean, and the only problem I've had with it is that it has a ph of 7.7. Do you think that amino acida is the problem? If so, should I be adding them?

 

[Mark9]

Do you replenish your water for amino acids to feed the zooxanthella living on your leathers? Also do you dose iodine?

Odd answer.

Anyways, mahargster, your mag is a bit low, first get that up to around 1350.
Then work on your ca, shoot for around 430. 330 is just too low.
Try to keep your kh around 8.4.
You should not chase ph, rather adjust your kh.
There are many products available for manual dosing.
What salt are you using?
Using a reef salt (such as reef crystals) and doing regular water changes will help, alot.

 

[mahargster]

My ph buffer claims to raise kh as well. Does that work? I am currently using instant ocean sea salt. Do you think that the calcium is the problem? If so, wouldn't the lps be the ones with problems?

 

[Hexacorallia]

Using tap water for corals? Tap water contains a mix of heavy metals and anti-microbials. Yes you can nuturalize them with additives, but they are still in the water and often can influx due to construction or flushing of public water systems. Use RODI water only with a salt mix that mixes with parameters close to your goal. Using instant ocean? Then use the reef crystals blend. It mixes with a slightly higher alk, calc, mag then the regular instant ocean. Also dont dose for PH, dose for alkalinity/calcium which will help you stabilize your ph at a higher level. Only after mag reaches closer to 1300ppm will it be easier to maintain a higher calcium level. Stablize mag around 1300ppm, alk 7-9 dkh , calc 420ppm use RODI water then wait a few months to see the corals really turn around. Water change often for essential elements and maybe dillute phos and nitrates.