ReefCheif26
New member
I'm currently having issues with two corals in my 40 breeder reef system. The tank just turned 8 months old, and all the LPS and soft corals are doing fine. I am well aware of the increased difficulty in husbandry of sps corals in general however I maintain a very strict maintenence, and testing schedule. The tank is a 40 breeder (36×18×17) I believe are the dimensions, and a 20 long sump with a bubble magus curve 5 skimmer, a center chamber with about an inch of sand, and anot every growing ball of Chaeto that I usually trim bi-weekly. Last chamber houses the return pump and finnex digital heater. The tank is stocked with about 50-55lbs of pukani from BRS(started with dry rock). I have about 1.75-2" of live aragonite( bought fresh not second hand or used) in the main display tank mostly for aesthetic reasons. I currently use one jebao 25 for flow, set on wave1 full power. For lighting I'm running 1 kessil a360w hung from the gooseneck on the spectral controller. I am well aware that 1 kessil is not enough to have sps or LPS on the far or lower edges of the tank, however my sps are located 6-7 inches from the water surface, in the middle of the tank, and the kessil is only about 7" from the water.
My parameters are as follows
Salinity/spec gravity- is 1.026 35ppm steady measured with a refractometer that I calibrate regularly.
Calcium -is 400 steady currently does not fluctuate due to their not being enough coral to really pull it from the water.
Kh/Alk -is steady 9.0 also does not rise or fall due to lack of draw on the system from limited livestock, however when using red sea coral pro up until 2 months ago, the alk was very high, about 13-14 dkh, sense then I have switched to regular red sea salt, and have sense brought the alk to acceptable levels and have stayed at a solid 9.0-9.2
Magnesium- I don't test very often maybe once every 2 weeks however it does not seem to move from 1380 ppm. In which case I have not been concerned with its level.
Nitrate- has been undetectable and I mean 0.0ppm for the last 3-4 months. I had a problem initially which I have sense solved with regular water changes 5 gallons every 2 weeks I vacuum the sand bed every time I do a water change aswell. Between my skimmer and my thriving basketball size ball of Chaeto it seems to do a great job of keeping Nitrate undetectable.
Phosphates- have read 0.00 constant on my hanna checker. I have a small media bag located in the highest flow area of the sump filled with a couple small scoops of gfo that I very seldom have to change usually once a month.
So back to the original reason for my post. I have 2 sps in particular that have not extended polyps in over a month and a half, and 1 that seems to either be suffering tissue loss in the center or bleaching. I will try to attach pictures of them both so I can better show the issue.
My parameters are as follows
Salinity/spec gravity- is 1.026 35ppm steady measured with a refractometer that I calibrate regularly.
Calcium -is 400 steady currently does not fluctuate due to their not being enough coral to really pull it from the water.
Kh/Alk -is steady 9.0 also does not rise or fall due to lack of draw on the system from limited livestock, however when using red sea coral pro up until 2 months ago, the alk was very high, about 13-14 dkh, sense then I have switched to regular red sea salt, and have sense brought the alk to acceptable levels and have stayed at a solid 9.0-9.2
Magnesium- I don't test very often maybe once every 2 weeks however it does not seem to move from 1380 ppm. In which case I have not been concerned with its level.
Nitrate- has been undetectable and I mean 0.0ppm for the last 3-4 months. I had a problem initially which I have sense solved with regular water changes 5 gallons every 2 weeks I vacuum the sand bed every time I do a water change aswell. Between my skimmer and my thriving basketball size ball of Chaeto it seems to do a great job of keeping Nitrate undetectable.
Phosphates- have read 0.00 constant on my hanna checker. I have a small media bag located in the highest flow area of the sump filled with a couple small scoops of gfo that I very seldom have to change usually once a month.
So back to the original reason for my post. I have 2 sps in particular that have not extended polyps in over a month and a half, and 1 that seems to either be suffering tissue loss in the center or bleaching. I will try to attach pictures of them both so I can better show the issue.
