sps doesnt do well in my reef

i have zoas, mushrooms, frogspawn, hammers, chalice, favias, welso open brain, no leathers and kenya tree is all but gone except one little piece that will be gone soon.

and i run bags of carbon in back
 
It is but in some cases if you use too much (from my experience) it can bleach your corals. And if you leave it in too long, if it's not a high quality carbon, it may actually leak phosphates back into your tank. I'm just not a fan of using carbon for long periods of time. I may use it for 3-5 days every other week. You should be fine, just make sure to change it at least once a month.
 
I have 24g aquapod with lots of successful sps trying staghorn right now. you need a better light for the depth. that is only 60watts and spread on. MH penetrates better. I have a 150w and still keep my sps midway or as close to the top as possible good growth. i also added powerheads have the original pump. a 240gph 100gph hang on for filter media, and a 240 koralia.
 
I really think you need more lighting, I understand they are T5's but i just don't think that they are getting enough light and penetration. I would at least just try and put a 150w fixture and see if that helps. And for flow I don't think just on K2 will cut it, 2 would be good.
 
have you ever looked at the sun and then looked in comparison to a flourescent light, and then looked at a metal halide in action? there's a huge difference.
 
I personally think you have enough light and flow to keep sps at the top of your tank.

Heres what Im thinking... you dont have an ato and the fluctuation of topping of manually is making you unsuccessful. And your DKH is a little high. Whats your Ph? Also whats your salinity and how do you measure it?

Also, its not been mentioned, but what kind of sps are you trying to keep? If youre trying to keep wild or mari then I think youre setting yourself up for failure with those. Are you trying the basics like montis and birdsnests from established tanks?
 
ph is 8.3. all coral comes from other reefers. i have caps, sunset monti, green and pink birdsnest, green digi, orange digi, stylophora, green milli, tort?, some random deepwater acro. only reason i have so many is they were either really cheap or given to me.
 
Bigmike said:
Heres what Im thinking... you dont have an ato and the fluctuation of topping of manually is making you unsuccessful. Also whats your salinity and how do you measure it?
Click to expand...

^^ ??

Is it all your SPS that are bleaching and dying? Do any of them look good (color, PE, growth tips)? Are they bleaching or are they turning brown? Somethings not adding up. Im sensing its a stability issue.
 
salinity gets checked with refractometer (1.025)

birdsnest is bleaching. digi is brown and deep water acro had alway been brown/purple/green.
 
Brown SPS= high nutrients or not enough light. So if your N and P are 0 then I would look at getting more light. The bleaching birdsnest could be because the high alk.
 
ATO shouldn't be necessary since he is probably only losing .5gal a day maybe, probably less. I would lower the alkalinity to 8-9dkh, and see how they do.
 
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