Starting Over

[bckane]

I know there's something Im missing somewhere...I have no problem with fish or shrimps snails crabs...etc. Its just corels I can't even get xenia to grow.....one day they will be full and several days later there melting away....
SPECS:

38 gal reef tanks
70 LR....20LBS of base rock
6" DSB
15 gal sump/fuge...(live sand and rocks...few mangroves)
In Sump slimmer
2 max-jet powerheads
return pump sen 500ga
Outer Orbit HQI/Compact Fluorescent/Lunar Fixture
342 watt: 1-150 watt HQI; 2-96 watt 4
Water Cond
Calcium 440ppm
Alk 8dkh
Salinity 35ppt
Temp Average now 78-80
Mag 1275
Phos 0,0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
PH 8,2
Im doing 10 gallon water change weekly....Tank has been up and running for 1 1/2 years now

If I were to start over dont know were to start....change the DSB.? Cook the live rock.?..........I put so much time into this tank and I have nothing to show for except the bills..lol


"Here's A Good Day"

 

[Bret61081]

thats a lot of light for a 38G isnt it?? I could be wrong but IMO it may be a problem. If it makes you feel any better I was never able to grow xenia till after the hurricane! I did about a 75% water change and then around xmas I got some here on the boards and it has done ok....hasnt really grown too much but has spread out a little...I would try to just use the 2 96W for a while and see if you see any changes....Good luck!

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7099682#post7099682 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bret61081
thats a lot of light for a 38G isnt it?? I could be wrong but IMO it may be a problem. If it makes you feel any better I was never able to grow xenia till after the hurricane! I did about a 75% water change and then around xmas I got some here on the boards and it has done ok....hasnt really grown too much but has spread out a little...I would try to just use the 2 96W for a while and see if you see any changes....Good luck!

Are you saying leave the Metal Halide off.???

 

[Flamehawk]

What type of corals have you tried keeping that have not been successful? What type grows well? Are you using an RO filter?

I, too, think you have too much light, but it depends on which corals you are trying to keep. Most softies and lps's would need very slow acclimation to such intense light. Most wont tolerate such intense light, period.

I would try a higher K MH bulb and even turn off the power compacts. The higher K bulb would be less intense.

This may be obvious, but you are running a UV shield under the HQI's, right?

Hope this helps, JOHNNY

 

[Ludwigia73]

I have to agree with johnny. I have xenia growing RIGHT UP UNDER the mh's, 250w xm 10000k's. They are so high up that when it's time to top off the tank every night, they're exposed to the air (they stink, too!) They slowly acclimated themselves by growing up the glass over time. Start them low. Now remember, xenia do not like a clean system. I run a barebottom, but I don't do water changes as often as I should. If it's a newish setup, just wait for the sandbed to get established, the live rock to get some life, and xenia should do just fine. Alot of the xenia you find in the stores was taken from a vho or pc system (the most popular out there). Get some xenia from a system with a similar light setup, and that should help. Also, xenia don't ship well, so don't buy it over the internet, or if you see it in the store, put a deposit down and check back in a week. If it's still there, go ahead. If you get it locally, go straight from the source to your house and begin acclimation. These things should help you get going. If you want to try some, come get a small piece from me, I'll give it to you from way up high to get you a head start.

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7099778#post7099778 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Flamehawk
What type of corals have you tried keeping that have not been successful? What type grows well? Are you using an RO filter?

I, too, think you have too much light, but it depends on which corals you are trying to keep. Most softies and lps's would need very slow acclimation to such intense light. Most wont tolerate such intense light, period.

I would try a higher K MH bulb and even turn off the power compacts. The higher K bulb would be less intense.

This may be obvious, but you are running a UV shield under the HQI's, right?

Hope this helps, JOHNNY

I have a few zoos that are doing ok...but the xenia's are hard to keep in my tank....I have 3 rocks with about 3 stalks on each from 3 different people but just seem to melt away after several weeeks.......Ive always used RO/DI water fil;ter change every 6-8 months......The bulbs ar about 3 months old.....
150 watt PowerPaq 10000Ã"šÃ‚°K HQI
Dual 460nm/420nm Actinic compact fluorescent bulbs
before this light setup I had 2 65 PC lights but never had any corals in the tank

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7099831#post7099831 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ludwigia73
I have to agree with johnny. I have xenia growing RIGHT UP UNDER the mh's, 250w xm 10000k's. They are so high up that when it's time to top off the tank every night, they're exposed to the air (they stink, too!) They slowly acclimated themselves by growing up the glass over time. Start them low. Now remember, xenia do not like a clean system. I run a barebottom, but I don't do water changes as often as I should. If it's a newish setup, just wait for the sandbed to get established, the live rock to get some life, and xenia should do just fine. Alot of the xenia you find in the stores was taken from a vho or pc system (the most popular out there). Get some xenia from a system with a similar light setup, and that should help. Also, xenia don't ship well, so don't buy it over the internet, or if you see it in the store, put a deposit down and check back in a week. If it's still there, go ahead. If you get it locally, go straight from the source to your house and begin acclimation. These things should help you get going. If you want to try some, come get a small piece from me, I'll give it to you from way up high to get you a head start.

Chris the tank has been up and running for almost 2 years..my sandbed is full of life....all the LR were from my 29 gallon which has been up for 4 years.......Chris I bought most of my corals from the auction at the meeting.......I got some zoo frag from you (I think) that are doing fine........Its juts the xenix's that dont do good at all.......maybe I should let my tank get a little dirty I do about a 10 gallon water change each week.....Im thinkiing about putting my old PC light back on for awhile and see what happens...
BTW I do have a few Digitata Frags that are doing great under these lights

 

[bckane]

I put one rock with xenia down in my pump area....which has PC lights lets see what happens

 

[bckane]

You think I should change to a 14K or 20K bulb.????

 

[Rogger Castells]

How was the Temperature of the tank? did it fluctuated a lot? what was the highest and lowest daily temperature daily?
Your Alkalinity is a bid low, and the ph must be brought up as well, What does your ph meassures at night with the lights off? how are you testing the PH?
How old are the reagents in your test kits?

 

[Dactyl]

im betting temp

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7100656#post7100656 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rogger Castells
How was the Temperature of the tank? did it fluctuated a lot? what was the highest and lowest daily temperature daily?
Your Alkalinity is a bid low, and the ph must be brought up as well, What does your ph meassures at night with the lights off? how are you testing the PH?
How old are the reagents in your test kits?

Well my temps were around 83-85 with lights on and after the lights went out was around 80....I placed a fan in the sump area now my temp stays at 78-79 with lights on and around 76 with lights out......this was done before adding corals...here is my prevoius post about temp swing
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=793335

 

[Rogger Castells]

It looks like you may want to use a controller for that fan in your sump to keep temperature stable, How about the alkalinity and PH and also have you check the reagents? also how about salinity? How are you checking this?

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7106829#post7106829 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rogger Castells
It looks like you may want to use a controller for that fan in your sump to keep temperature stable, How about the alkalinity and PH and also have you check the reagents? also how about salinity? How are you checking this?

Should I put a timer on my fan sump and run only when the lights are on.?
I check Cal, Alk,Ph about twice a week...I dose Calcium once a week to up it a little....Salinity 35ppt Stable.......Its possible that its the lights..Im not sure what type of lights the corals are coming from.....What if I run my MH light everyother day till I get this under control...I hate to lose my xenia....(but not a big lost)

 

[r00onmac]

my tank seems to defy all odds... its only 5 gallons with a pair of clowns, 2 shrimp and WAY too many snails... i change water once every 2 weeks and test less than that... only thing i check daily is sg and i do it with a very crappy swing arm hydrometer... i stopped dosing kent Nano Reef A and B 3 weeks ago... and my temp sometimes swings from 77-84 in a given day... and i havent lost anything except a carnation in a long time (knock on wood) and that was because my peppermint made lunch out of it. main reasons are because im a busy student and i dont have the money to get all the proper things (a really good test kit, refractometer, etc..) i attribute my stability to the excess of liverock i have compared to water volume, 8-9 lbs vs <5 gallons of actual water volume, and that i hand feed my fish and shrimps so that there is really never any excess food unless im feeding CE...

what does this tell you about your problem? it can be any one of a number of things or a combination of more than 1. i think your temps are a bit low, i see the best response from my fish and corals at 81-82 so try the controller on your fan. i doubt your MH are the problem unless you arent acclimating your new corals correctly... when i upgraded to my 150mh from 36watts of PC i took 3 weeks to acclimate everything and now even my shrooms bloom full in direct light and they have actually started to turn blue from the red/green they were before.

I run a pheonix 14k bulb in my setup and i love the color compared to a 10k and response from my corals... if you have the funds give it a try.

 

[fahz]

I would cut back on the water changes even with your sump and fuge you may only have 38 gallons of water total. A 20% water change every two weeks of 8 gallons is more then enough. Also You are using a lot of light for softies, they do much better with less intense lighting. Even many of the LPS like less intense lighting. One of our club members is lighting a 58 gallon with one 250 DE MH 14K and his tank and growth is outstanding, Xenia is a pest for him. He's running the 250 about a foot off the water with both softies and monti's flurishing. I think with a few changes your tank should take off also.

Fahz

 

[Dactyl]

you were bound to lose the carnation. they eat zooplankton, pretty much the only way you could keep them alive would be to toss them in the ocean because theres no way you could supply enough zooplankton to keep them alive.

 

[bckane]

I will try less water changes......seems odd..but anything at this point is worth a shot maybe Im just keeping my tank to clean...

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7108779#post7108779 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by r00onmac
my tank seems to defy all odds... its only 5 gallons with a pair of clowns, 2 shrimp and WAY too many snails... i change water once every 2 weeks and test less than that... only thing i check daily is sg and i do it with a very crappy swing arm hydrometer... i stopped dosing kent Nano Reef A and B 3 weeks ago... and my temp sometimes swings from 77-84 in a given day... and i havent lost anything except a carnation in a long time (knock on wood) and that was because my peppermint made lunch out of it. main reasons are because im a busy student and i dont have the money to get all the proper things (a really good test kit, refractometer, etc..) i attribute my stability to the excess of liverock i have compared to water volume, 8-9 lbs vs <5 gallons of actual water volume, and that i hand feed my fish and shrimps so that there is really never any excess food unless im feeding CE...

what does this tell you about your problem? it can be any one of a number of things or a combination of more than 1. i think your temps are a bit low, i see the best response from my fish and corals at 81-82 so try the controller on your fan. i doubt your MH are the problem unless you arent acclimating your new corals correctly... when i upgraded to my 150mh from 36watts of PC i took 3 weeks to acclimate everything and now even my shrooms bloom full in direct light and they have actually started to turn blue from the red/green they were before.

I run a pheonix 14k bulb in my setup and i love the color compared to a 10k and response from my corals... if you have the funds give it a try.

What would be the best way to acclimate corals coming from say VHO or PC to MH.???
TIA
Brian

 

[r00onmac]

have one side of your tank that is basically empty,, not a ton of space but big enough to cast a shadow over whatever coral you buy...

i acclimated mine with papertowels, i put 3 layers of papertowels over the tank to shade the light and every 5 days or so i removed one layer of papertowels... once all layers are gone they are acclimated and you can move them around to where you want them... try to keep lower light corals in this area anyway that way you dont have to have an empty side of the tank and when you cover the light for a week and a half to acclimate a new coral they wont be starving for light because they are low light corals anyway...

just to add on my post about my tank: i forgot to turn off my AC last night,,, when i came in this morning the tank was at 71.4 ... a 12 degree swing from what it was last night when i went to bed... i guess that is the disadvantage of not being able to control the temp of my AC in the residence halls... everything looks good and i put my spare 75watt heater in there to warm everyone up... i would leave it in there all the time but its bigger than the tank lol

im sure you will figure this out... seeking help is the first step, you cant always think of everything yourself...