Hey, I am back....need advice

I have not been on reef central in awhile as my life has been crazy. I am going back to school for my masters while working full time so my free time has been at a premium.

That being said, my tank (a 40g breeder) has been falling into a state that I am not happy with. I moved here from NY in 2007 and I have never been able to get the reef to thrive as it did in NY. I am assuming it may have to do with the water out here, but I could never pinpoint the issue.

Anyways, I am thinking that maybe the issue could also be the live rock. I picked it up in 2007 from a local reefer and I am wondering if maybe I should think about replacing it. Also, I have run my reef bare bottom with white cutting board and now I think that I may go back to crushed aragonite.

Any thoughts from the local reefers?

Also, I will probably be interested in picking up from frags from locals with pest free tanks once I get the tank back to a state that I am comfortable with. As for trades, the one coral that has thrived in my tank is a blue/green candy cane coral that now has about 75 heads. I picked it up at one of the frag auctions here in 08 with just one head.

I would appreciate some feedback from some local reefers, especially in the east valley since I am in south Gilbert!

Thanks in advance!
Lew
 
What is your water source? RO/DI? If you're using tap, that's bound to cause problems here.

RO/DI always. I also run a bag of carbon in my sump. My water looks great and my parameters seem OK.
Salt = 1.025
Ca = 410
dKH = 8.4

I do a 12g water change every two weeks.

I have a 250W 14k de MH hanging over the tank.
 
What were your average tank temps in ny compared to here. If you can remember any of that. I would try and mimic as much as you could from when things were going well. Im also inclined to believe that 40br are cursed. I'm battling SPS color issues right now. Allsps40 and anthrax are other locals with 40br here having issues. Hmmm I think I'm on to something....


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2 things come to mind..
1. are you bulbs old?
2. Are you using the same salt?

My tank only started thriving once i did my own water changes, instead of buying premade and bought new bulbs.
 
sound like the plastic cutting board is leach out stuff to the tank that your test kits can't pick up.lot of low end plastic leach out oils and stuff that can kill coral and fish
 
sound like the plastic cutting board is leach out stuff to the tank that your test kits can't pick up.lot of low end plastic leach out oils and stuff that can kill coral and fish

Ah, I never thought of that. Interesting. I am getting rid of it and replacing my MH bulb so hopefully things will start turning around.

As for my tank temp, it is pretty close to what it was in NY. I keep it around 80*
 
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