Struggling 180g lps tank

[Jackie Blue]

Tank and Equipment:
Glass 180g Bow Front

75g Sump with 2x54w P.C. lighting for refugium which is in the middle compartment of the sump.

Lighting 3x150w MH 4x96w P.C.

Water movement:
4 Korillia 4's
1 Rio 1700 (I believe)
1 mag 9.5 return (I believe)

Calcium: 310
Alk: 5.8
Mag: 1170
P.H. 8.2
Ammonia: 2.0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm

A few months ago I started taking care of my friends uncle's tank after his fish guy up and left (interesting story for another time) So I started taking care of the tank and have been struggling with it and am now swallowing my pride, throwing in the towel and asking for help.

Needless to say both the calcium and Alk are pretty low and I have been trying to raise them with bi weekly water changes they were slowly going up until I switched to a different salt which I got since it was on sale I don't remember what brand but since that water change everything has just started to look really poor more so then usual. So I am adding seachem Alk and Calcium to try and raise those levels and switching back to reef crystals salt wise. What got me was the Ammonia levels. Ever since he has had the tank it has had cyno issues and looking at the dead spots and areas of low movent I think circulation is a major issue.

The mag return pump is split between two return lines and each line then splits again. So pretty much the return water has 0 velocity behind it, and the rio blows behind the rock work which leaves all the circulation to the 4 korillias and they just don't seem to be cutting it.

Another issue is the guy who set up the tank reduced the opening of the returns, why I dunno. he also has on return running straight down while the other return runs all along the bottom of the tank which I guess there was no other way to do it 'cept having a different sump set up though it does make both returns surge if they get blocked even a little.

Here are pictures of the tank.
Lousy full tank shot

Left Side:

Right Side:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=3076&pictureid=21653

So I am thinking the first thing that should be tackled is the flow of the tank since it is hopefully the main source of the ammonia and nitrate levels
The guy brought up the idea of having some sort of wave making set up but also said that he does not want to sink 700 bucks on power heads, not to mention he does not like the sight of power heads. What I was thinking is getting a 1 inch scwd to add velocity to the return pump which will help get rid of the dead space on either outer side of the overflow boxes.

Any help or input will be appreciated.

Jack.

 

[Jackie Blue]

Whoops

Left side:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=3076&pictureid=21652

Lousy full tank shot:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=3076&pictureid=21654

 

[dahenley]

you might want to check your Magnesium
most cal and alk levels wont be stable unless your magnesium is high enough.

also, what salt are you using?
there were some batches of salt that are missing some elements..... so you need to test even the newest batch of water...
do you mix your water for at least 24hours in advance, and use a heater and powerhead? (powerhead pointing up or down to have lots of surface movement to air-rate the water?)

do you use RO/DI water to do your mixing and top off?

the only way to get ammonia to go down is to water change it out. i had a local friend that would feed as much food as the fish would eat, and he always had high ammonia.... water changes wouldn't take it out and neither would a refugium.. he went out of town, and we only fed a little once a day and when he cam back, he had 0 nitrate and ammonia!
so how much do you feed, and what do you feed?

the tank doesn't look bad, but i do see that huge lobo bleaching a little in the middle of the tank.

what problems are you experiencing? give us some of your problems and we can see about what to do to point you in the right direction.


lastly, can you give us some pictures of some of your equipment with a list of the equipment? that might give a clue as well.

 

[Jackie Blue]

The magnesium is at 1170. I am now using reef crystals after the one water change with a different type of salt, I cannot remember that salts brand I'll have to check when I go back to the guys house.
The water goes through RODI and is air-rated (sp) for at least 24hrs before I add the salt and most of the time it does mix for around 24 hours,it's also headed to get it near to tank temp.

Equipment: msx 250a Skimmer
Lighting: Aqualight Pro 72" 3x150w MH, 4x96w PC
MH runs from 11am-9pm, PC runs from 10am-10pm
BRS Dual Reactor: running carbon and GFO driven by MJ 1200

The issues are Green star polyps that are no longer coming Stu and seem to be retreating a bit (that would the be grey looking stuff running up the over flow box on the left hand side of the tank)
The Lobo bleaching a bit along with the large red LPS at the bottom of the tank whose tissue is starting to recede.
Lousy cyno algae, very dark stuff, not present in the picture since the pic was taken after Water change.


I'll take more pictures when I am over there next.

 

[Jackie Blue]

Forgot to mention feeding. Twice a week the tank gets rods frozen food for omnivores (bout the size of your thumb) and the sun coral gets a cube of mysis shrimp. And the fish get spectrum pellets, I think he feeds them two or three pinches daily.

 

[dahenley]

did you have a algae problem before you took over? if so, then when you started running fresh GFO, it can remove so much nutrients and phosphates so fast that it can cause that kind of behavior.

your magnesium should be around 1300 average. if you will dose some magnesium then it will help stabilize your cal and Alk. (you can do a water change with Oceanic salt. it has a bunch of magnesium)
LPS will bleach and recede if your alk gets low.

also, corals dont have to have perfect water conditions. its about consistency. if you always have ammonia, then ok. but if you have 0, then some, then 0 and then some.... it can stress out things. so consistency is the key.

so you could be changing a lot because the tank has algae problems, high nutrients, and bad water quality but things could be good. then you get it and want it to be perfect and it will stress everything out. does that make since?

 

[Jackie Blue]

Yes he did have the algae problem before I took over.

"so you could be changing a lot because the tank has algae problems, high nutrients, and bad water quality but things could be good. then you get it and want it to be perfect and it will stress everything out. does that make since?"

I think I know what you are saying. Perfection is great but consistency is the goal, as long as the parameters are with in acceptable norms.

 

[dahenley]

yes.

so you could be making everything perfect (which is different then what they are used to) so it can be a little stress full. the low ALK is probably what the bleaching is coming from. also, the GFO removing a lot of nutrients can be another stress-er.

so, i would just get things in a consistent manner and keep an eye on everything.
the GSP is cheap which isnt a problem. but the lobos and brains can be fed food to help supplement them and get them through the changes. (just some pellet food on them and they will eat it up.)


i hope this kind of helps.....
there is no Def one thing that it looks like it could be it, but there are a few things that added up can be a stress-er

were any of the corals bleached or receding before you took over the tank?
the ammonia and ALK could be the culprit for that.
and the change just adds up.

 

[Jackie Blue]

The large lobo was not bleaching but the brain was receding.