Balloonpilot: You cant just say that these tanks are only good for clowns etc...that sounds you are giving up and not really identified/resolved the actual reason for such corals failing in your setup.
At the end of the day these tanks are made of glass and other bits. No differant to any other tank out there. Glass is glass. The halide bulb is very powerful for a nano tank. You can change out the bulb and match the spectrum of any other tank (eg use a Phoenix 14K - good reviews). You can upgrade the pumps for extra flow or even go with a Vortech MP10 etc. The only issue I have with this tank is the skimmer.
However, even though I was very critical of this skimmer myself, now that it has run in, it is producing a very dry foam AND I only have 2KG of liverock and two hermits in there! I hate the skimmer due to practical issues, not performance. Its performance is ok for what it is and how it is built to work.
I think the issue is either with your water or rocks or even some other unknown foreign item in the tank or even something you are dosing . Something is causing issue with certain corals. I cant really blame the equipment
I actually grew SPS corals (alongwith softies and LPS) under NO T8 tubes many years ago in my 24G Long. This tank was over 15 years old and had seen too many freshwater copper and every other freshwater medicine/treatment. Some of those corals started as frags and grew larger and even turned very nice colours from beng brown. Though I grew placed them about 5-6 inches below the water and the tubes were 1inch above water. I also had a Red Sea Prizm skimmer (crap) and had play sand. I simpply dosed with C-balance (two part). This tank also won Nano tank of the month when Nano reef dot com first started. It wasnt great by todays standard, but it worked and it looked nice.
If it can work in such a tank as above, then SPS corals must be able to grow in these tanks which are so much more advanced.
You might want to post a thread in the SPS speciality forum. Those guys there might be able to help out.
I would run a high quality carbon for a few weeks and make sure all your parameters are spot on. I would also make sure that no soft coral are nearby in the tank that can attack with long sweeper tentacles. Also make sure that you there is no soft coral sitting between a pump or outlet and the coral that is failing. A pump can easily blow toxic chemicals off a soft coral and wack it onto the SPS causing damage.
There are simply too many variables. I suggest you post a thread in the SPS forum (including a clear full tank photo) and submit full details of your setup as well as your maintenance procedure. Hopefully we'll get to the bottom of this. PM me or pos a link here for me and I will take a look if you decide to do this.
