Out of ideas with coral, need help.

[FatherPrime3]

Hey guys, I have a 56 gallon column tank that has been cycled for a little over a month. It is stocked with 1 clownfish and a lawnmower blenny. There are also 3 hermit crabs in the tank as well. I have had absolutely no problems with fish so far and both of mine seem to be doing great and always swimming around. Coral on the other hand I have had nothing but problems with and it is really starting to bring me down. I have bought 4 frags (not at the same time), and all have died. The first two frags I bought from the reef store closest to me and they were green star polyps. I initially bought GSP because I read that they were close to indestructible. I acclimated the frag by floating the bag for 15 minutes, drip acclimating for around 45, then dipping and placing the coral at the bottom of my tank on an island. The first few hours it began to open up. As soon as I turned off the lights for the night though it closed up and never reopened. The purple mat began to wither over the next week and actually began to fall apart when I tried to move it. The same thing happened with the next GSP frag I bought so I figured my light was too bright. I decided to buy a zoa frag from Petco next because I knew calcium would not be such an issue with them and once again it opened the first night then closed and died over the next week and a half. I bought one more zoa frag from petco and turned my lights all the way down and the first few days it began to open and I had hope. But on the fourth day the frag completely closed again. Now it is in my tank looking like it may die. Now the part that really confuses me are the parameters of my tank. I have consistently tested ammonia and nitrates and they each come out to 0. My ph is around 8.2. Temperature ranges between 76-78. Salinity is at 1.026 measured with a hydrometer and refractometer at store. Calcium is kind of low at around 360-380 but I didn't think that would matter for zoanthids. The one thing that was really low was my dkh which was at a 6. I did not measure this until my fourth frag because I did not have a test for it. I have slowly raised the alkalinity to around 10 with Tropic Marin Bio-Calcium, but the zoanthid still seems to be unaffected. This is really discouraging because all of these frags were fully opened in store, but once at my house they just die. I want to add that I have also tested for copper and it seems that there is none. My hermit crabs are doing fine as well. I have a Mars aqua 165 watt adjustable LED and 1 Aqueon 1250 circulation pump which seems to give good flow all over but that may be one of the issues. The rock I have is dry rock I bought online and I am also using live sand. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I really want to fix these issues. I can give additional info if needed! Thanks guys.

 

[dinger28]

1 month is way too early to start putting corals in let alone fish. Even if the tank is cycled, bacteria need to be established and the tank needs to mature before a lot of things can be added. Opinions will differ, but I have learned from my mistakes and much money was wasted when it didn't have to be. Should have researched up on a lot of information about saltwater tanks before I started. However, after being in the hobby for a few years now, things are looking good for my tanks. Things take time in this hobby, so be prepared to take things slow and steady. It will be worth it trust me!

 

[FatherPrime3]

Yeeeeeah I realize now I started off things way to quickly. Patience is not my strong suit but I'm definitely going to start taking my time.

 

[FatherPrime3]

Well it has been more than one month, closer to 3 actually. Still a short time though.

 

[JohnnyHildo]

technically you can keep coral from the time the cycle has completed on but to get true water stability takes longer. i'm going to say somewhere around 3 or 4 months in i found my levels much more predictable. this to me is the only reason you would be experiencing failure, instability.
this is the goal:
cal - 420 ppm
alk - 7-10 dKH
mag - 1350 ppm
also, low alk seems to kill coral faster than depleted cal or mag levels but they all need to be somewhere near those numbers for success.

 

[Sk8r]

Low alk is a very serious problem. That was probably what did in the corals. Nitrate is not a good thing either. While calcium and mg aren't as greatly needed by zoas, they are part of the triad of which dkh alk is 1/3, and if your mg is down, your dkh alk will tend to fall and fall. So it is a good idea to test all 3, if you don't want to fight alk and have it drop too low.

Also, while corals are pretty hardy when it comes to ammonia, the acclimation procedure you outlined could kill a fish from transmuted ammonium/ammonia. Never acclimate ANYTHING longer than 30 minutes or have ammonia tests and ammonia conversion doses ready. Acclimation is all about salinity in the first place, and if the corals weren't in 1.024 to 1.026 salinity at the shop, that would be a bad thing. So acclimation may not have been necessary---but certainly a preventative dip to get rid of coral parasites IS critical.

Wishing you better luck in future and hope this info may help.

 

[FatherPrime3]

Didn't even think of the ammonia situation, that could definitely be a factor. Hopefully it was my alk because if not im really not sure what the problem could be.

 

[Sk8r]

Get tests for: alkalinity, salinity [refractometer], ammonia ( a test strip will do, since ANY is an emergency), magnesium, calcium, and for alk, mg, cal, having supplements is a good thing---I wonder if you're using 'fish salt', which is low in these elements to start with. Switch to reef salt, which supplies the 3 key elements, and you won't have the deficiencies---Instant Ocean is a good brand. Salifert has easy to do (and read) tests. I do recommend you at very least test your alk weekly, and watch your salinity staying stable: if you don't have an autotopoff you do need one to keep that steady. Poor light can affect corals, but the ones you had aren't as light hungry as stony. Outside of that, I recommend getting just tiny frag or mushroom, and if you can make it happy, other things will start getting happy. The whole deal with corals is water quality and figuring out what things your particular tank goes critical on. Clearly it's been alk, for starters.

 

[anthonys51]

honestly also your light seem pretty cheap. might want to invest in better led ones.

also make sure you dose 2 part solution. dose alk and dosing calcium separately and getting them balance is very hard.

bulk reef supply has a good 2 part or you could use kalkwasser in your ato if you have one

 

[Fish4udog]

I tried the china made led aquarium lights they did good then everything started to die also could not get SPS grow under the china made led's like they show on ebay great growth I went back to my T-5 fixture all my zoas are growing better than ever , if your going to use LED your going to have to buy a better one if you read very few Led lights are full spectrum like the T-5 lights. Go with just a T-5 or hybrid T-5/LED also i have multiple frags of zoas growing great under t5 also have a frag of the starburst polyps like you want it has grown 5x the size of the frag in 2 months kh 9.3 ca 450 salinity 1.025 i do Kalk drip on a 75 gal reef my KH & Ca test twice a week and always the same

 

[FatherPrime3]

I have the purple instant ocean sea salt. When I run out of that I plan on getting a salt more suitable for reefs.

 

[xanthurum]

Something could be eating them. You need better lights and although instant ocean isn't the best salt I have seen many SPS tanks that use it so that's not your issue. Also my tank isn't much older than yours and I have over 40 SPS and many other corals as well. My money is on a pest that it eating them.

 

[joshbrookkate]

My suggestion is to get the reef crystals now and mix with the IO until it's gone. You're going to go to that salt anyway. No money lost, easy transition....

 

[anthonys51]

i would say its your alk being too lower. honestly in that new of a tank with that low of a demand, there really isnt even a reason to dose. think your doing too much, try just water changes once a week and see if your alk and cal are in the right range, if they start dropping then dose.