Frustration - Can't keep SPS

[zenom]

So about a week or so ago, I forgot to turn off my kalkwasser while removing some water, PH spiked to 8.43 (didn't check dKH at the time) before I caught it.

I lost one Red Dragon coral. Now I see a birds nest with STN and a couple others bleaching and have STN has well.

Since this mistake, I have still been dosing Kalk in my ATO, but now I know my PH doesn't go about 8.3 due to my apex. Everytime I check my dKH is now 8.

Current Params:
dKH: 8
Calcium: 420
Magnesium: 1200 (slowly rising it daily)
Temp: 79.5 - 80.1
Nitrates: 10 (last I checked, think its due to filter socks not being changed frequently enough, changing them and increased skimming).

I currently have most of the corals 1/2 way up the tank under LED's. I have tried turning the LED's down, etc. I just recently turned them all the way back up. The lights are about 8-10" off the surface, glass lids on top of the tank and the corals are about 12" below the water surface.

I did have a green acro that seemed to be doing ok, its just white on the back which leads me to believe it wasn't getting enough light on the back side of it, so I moved it down with the others.

Anything else I can look at? Getting kinda bummed out that this is not working as well as it should. My clam seems fine, anemone seems fine, LPS seem fine, just my SPS is dying off.

 

[kevin_e]

So about a week or so ago, I forgot to turn off my kalkwasser while removing some water, PH spiked to 8.43 (didn't check dKH at the time) before I caught it.

I lost one Red Dragon coral. Now I see a birds nest with STN and a couple others bleaching and have STN has well.

Since this mistake, I have still been dosing Kalk in my ATO, but now I know my PH doesn't go about 8.3 due to my apex. Everytime I check my dKH is now 8.

Current Params:
dKH: 8
Calcium: 420
Magnesium: 1200 (slowly rising it daily)
Temp: 79.5 - 80.1
Nitrates: 10 (last I checked, think its due to filter socks not being changed frequently enough, changing them and increased skimming).

I currently have most of the corals 1/2 way up the tank under LED's. I have tried turning the LED's down, etc. I just recently turned them all the way back up. The lights are about 8-10" off the surface, glass lids on top of the tank and the corals are about 12" below the water surface.

I did have a green acro that seemed to be doing ok, its just white on the back which leads me to believe it wasn't getting enough light on the back side of it, so I moved it down with the others.

Anything else I can look at? Getting kinda bummed out that this is not working as well as it should. My clam seems fine, anemone seems fine, LPS seem fine, just my SPS is dying off.

Best thing to do is nothing. Get your numbers where you want them and maintain them there. Stability is the key for sps. Feed your fish well, but have good nutrient export.

The less you mess, the better off you'll be. Take pictures every few weeks and compare for growth, otherwise it will be difficult to notice if you look at your tank daily. It can be a little discouraging watching it grow.