Need some advise

[Grayhead]

I have a mixed reef. I have a mixture of sps corals with several species of acros, monties, and such. Tank has been up since last Sept. Started with tbs rock so virtually no cycle. My tank size is 3'x5'x2'. My lights are 3 kessil 360we and 4 t-5 lights with a variety of ati bulbs.

Here is my issue. I see very little growth in my corals. Very little coralline as well.
I dose 90ml of calcium and maintain around 425
I dose walk at 38ml and maintain around 9dkh with it. Mag around 1400
I dose to keep nitrates a 2 and phosphate is .36

I run my lights at max intensity and ramp up and down over a 11 hr period. My tank has plenty of flow and I auto water change 2 gallons a day using IO.

I am seeing very slow growth. Should I run more kessils? I was thinking either add 3 more 360we, or purchase the ap700. My tank is braced in 3 sections so I could only spread the lights front to back. Being that it's 3' wide, I could add more t-5 lights. Somewhat at a loss as to why they won't grow. Even my LPS seems to be slow growing. Any suggestions?

 

[kissman]

.36 PO4 is high and could slow the growth of corals. Try getting it down to about .03


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[Grayhead]

I will check again this evening and get current readings. Will also check with my hanna ultra low as well.

One thing to note, I have some color at the tips of most of my sps. No bleached undershadowing either. I just find it strange that the demand for alk or calcium is not higher. I have a decent mix of drags and colonies. But pieces like the orange plate month are barely growing. I feel like I'm close, but missing on something.

 

[jda]

Is the tank new? Sometimes it just takes up to a year for the tank to really take off. Cycle is just the beginning.

Do you have coralline everywhere and lots of sponges under the bottom of the rocks? If not, then just wait it out like everybody else.

I also agree that the P is too high. Make sure that you get a solid reading before you do anything about it.

Calcium and Alk demand will grow when stuff starts to grow.

Lighting large tanks can be really hard. It is hard to beat reflectors for large spreads.

 

[Grayhead]

The tank is 9 months old. Started will tbs package.
I suspect either phosphates or lighting. My 30 gallon five rocks with chaeto growth. No nuisance algae at all in the display. I get growth, and some decent colors. Just not what I want. I want to move into some higher end sps, but afraid to pull the trigger.
Tank never cycled by the way. I already have tons of sponges and other life with tbs rock.