I can't Keep corals alive so I'm left with FOWLR

can you tell us more about your tank? equipment what test kits and how often you test and also what are your water parameters (numbers please)
 
mg 1360, ca 435, alk 138, phos 18ppb, nit 8ppm, 210gal 30gal sump, i use red sea test kits for everything except alk and phos i use hanna checker ...i just started vinegar dosing to bring my nitrates down I'm currently on week 4 . i have approx 21 fish. a school of 10 chromis , yellow tang , hippo tang, scopas tang, kole tang, mimic tang, orange spot rabbit fish, starry blenny , chalk bass, psuedochromis ,
 
I've also been fighting a bit of cyan thats why i started vinegar dosing to get my nitrates down. i run a brs dual reactor with rowaphos and carbon. i have a eheim doing pump thats dosing my ca and alk and i dose mg manually daily. i use brightwell aquatics products for all three. i have a reef octopus diablo 200xs skimmer. use red sea coral pro salt . have 200lbs of live rock and a 3in sand bed in tank. i have 10 48" 54w t5 flouresent lights
 
nitrates are good, phophates you want around .03ppm or lower, so your ppb is good. your cal. alk and mag are good. what lights do you use? what kind of corals have you tried? all in all stability is key you don't want your parameters bouncing all over the place. what may seem like a small change to you can be a lot for a coral, if your alk changes just 1dkh a day can be hard on certain corals.

edit just saw your lights, they should be good for your system. I would suggest testing more often though than twice a month, maybe 2-3 times a week but if your positive they are stable then your ok.
 
How is your flow? Reefs use a lot. For a 50 gallon, eg, you need about 950 gph movement. WIthout that, corals can just kind of fade. Likewise lighting needs to be intense.
 
the only things i seem to be able to grow is a few ricordeas and candy cane coral. tanks been running for almost 2 years. i had a torch coral and frogspawn that were growing beautifully then got RTN i think .. a few months ago . I've tried monti cap . monti spongodes. pink birds nest leprechaun seritopora a few lower light acros all placing them higher in the tank since my lighting is on the lower end. all the corals i listed have died . its hard to not get discouraged ... i really would like to fix the problem or upgrade what i need to have a thriving reef
 
It could be your t5 light. If it is a normal flourescent bulb, it wont grow coral. You might need to get HO or VHO bulbs with proper ballast. I don't use t5 fixtures so i can't tell you what model to buy. If you prefer, get a LED or combi lighting system.
 
Your system sounds good to me, it sounds like you have a good grip on testing and your chemistry. Think about getting some frags instead of investing a a pricey colony, maybe something easier; alot of lps corals are easier. Also you just have to find what you are good at, I have a tank full of lps and I love them, they are my favorite.. I have a ton of euphyllias, I also have lost heads and entire colonies before, don't get discouraged. At one time I dipped my toe into sps, not, never had any success, lost them all but one monti. Also are you getting them from the same source, it's not always your fault. Do you feed a coral food, it helps sometimes especially with a new piece.
 
I have only bought corals from vivid aquarium.com cuz my lfs has a very limited selection . What other online retailers are good for buying coral . Who do u guys buy from
 
Try some other sources, either way it can be hit or miss, like I posted earlier I would also try some more hardier pieces, maybe some lps. I have had some luck at unique corals and salty underground. As an example diver's den is very popular and has a good reputation, I have bought quite a few pieces from them, not one of their pieces lasted long in my tanks.
 
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