Tank looks dull, new corals die. Looking for help :)

[majaxx]

Hello!

Ive had my 125 for a while now. Some corals grew nice and big.
frogspawn, hammer,

Some corals die
zoas, hammer, mushroom, elegance candy cane

Any new coral dies after a month.

The only corals that stay alive are the ones ive had for years.

lighting on full 6 hours and 1 hour ramp up + 1 hour ramp down. 8 total.

Params.
Salinity .026
kh 6.5
mg 1440
phos. .34
Calcium 470
Ph 7.2 on a red sea test
Ph 7.8 on an API test
Nitrate 20ppm

This was 24hrs after a water change.

Can anyone direct me on what i should be doing from here on.

Thanks!!!

Ive had one opinion that alk and PH are low and to use seachem reef buffer which should raise my alk and ph to where i would need it.

 

[mcgyvr]

yes.. alk and PH are too low... and that alone could easily be causing coral death..
Get that fixed..

Then start working on ways to reduce your nitrate/phosphate.. more water changes...GFO..biopellets..carbon dosing..turf scrubber... cheato/algae reactor,etc...

 

[majaxx]

yes.. alk and PH are too low... and that alone could easily be causing coral death..
Get that fixed..

Then start working on ways to reduce your nitrate/phosphate.. more water changes...GFO..biopellets..carbon dosing..turf scrubber... cheato/algae reactor,etc...

Thank you for taking the time to reply!

I do not cheato in my refugium ill try adding it to reduce nitrates

 

[mcgyvr]

Might want to read/bookmark this for more information and recommended min/max levels
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

From those nitrate/phosphate numbers can we assume you have an algae problem too?

 

[Sapelo]

Agree with Mcgyvr.
Also, are you dosing anything or relying on water changes for that?

 

[Reef Frog]

Unless .34 ppm was a typo...your phosphate number is enormous. 10x what is considered OK.

Don't fool with fast acting buffers in attempt to remediate pH (if those levels are accurate). If pH is low, it's because your room doesn't have enough Air exchange and your CO2 levels Is the primary cause driving pH. Get your alkalinity to 7-8 dKH but your 6.5 dKH level now probably isn't causing coral failure. Address the phosphate first & go from there.

There could be many other explanations as well. Your salami ru measurement might be off...temperature...lights...the list goes on. Check everything and make sure all readings have maximum integrity.

 

[splix]

dude your alkalinity is crazy low, PH is low but not insane. Phosphate and nitrate is through the roof.

New things are dying probably because of your low alk. You're shocking them going from 8.5ish from the LFS to 6.5. On top of the PH shock as well.

 

[Bdial]

Alk is not the biggest concern. A ph of 7.2 is worse than a dkh of 6.5. The red flag is that po4 level.
Can you provide information on your filtration. Skimmer, filter media, feedings, etc. maybe we can help pinpoint your issues.

 

[majaxx]

Ok here we go to try an answer everyones question at once:

1. Do I have an algae problem.
No i have no algae in my tank at all. I actually never have, just your usual bit on the glass i remove with a magflot every other day.

2.I dont dose anything, I never have. I also slacked on my water changes quite a bit.

3. Skimmer is SWC 160...900gph return pump,,,,35g sump,....
No filter media. just some more rock in the sump
i only feed my fish twice a week with no excess waste. i watch the fish eat everything.

i have a small yellow and hippo tang 3 inches. 2 small clowns 2" watchman goby and a royal gramma.

corals: just lps and soft corals

Lights, maxspect razors. 80% for 6 hours ...ramp up and down for additional 2 hours.


times got busy and i really slacked on water changes, this system is 2 years old.

ive had smaller systems in the past with no issues.

 

[mcgyvr]

start doing more frequent water changes.. get the levels to where they should be.. and keep them stable and see how everything goes..

If that phosphate is really that high you might want to run some GFO for a bit too and see if you can knock that way down..

 

[majaxx]

heres a picture of what it looks like

 

[majaxx]

start doing more frequent water changes.. get the levels to where they should be.. and keep them stable and see how everything goes..

If that phosphate is really that high you might want to run some GFO for a bit too and see if you can knock that way down..

I can retest the phosphate soon,,,,i brought it to a LFS to test for me in a hanna checker.

 

[Bdial]

Your tank looks really really nice. It's really clean.
Have you checked for stray voltage?
I would do a few significant water changes. 35% or greater. These will help get all of your levels balanced out and if anything is in there that shouldn't be it will get it out. Do you run carbon? If so I'd replace the media. If not I'd get some.

 

[majaxx]

Thanks bdail.


Phophate was an error.
my elos test kit reads 0.05
so the hanna checker must have been 0.035

I have carbon.
man i slacked so bad,,,, ill change that out today

 

[cb684]

I would not be that worried with ALK or pH. First, I do not believe your pH is 7.2, and if it is 7.8 that is ok. If you wish to increase the pH I would either use a CO2 scrubber before the skimmer air intake, or get air from outside to feed the skimmer. Also, I have been keeping KH of between 6.5 and 7.0 for a long time. My corals are happy and grow well (I keep around 100 small to medium colonies of SPS, and a few LPS and zoas).
Water changes may help to replenish micro elements that might be lacking, and also to dilute any unwanted pollutant. Usually, a problem of having low KH is that water changes will cause spikes if you use a high KH salt mix. That is known to cause problems to SPS, but less so to LPS and soft corals. One way to avoid that is doing more frequent small water changes and/or using low KH salt mixes (ie. red sea blue bucket). In my systems I decided to do continuous / semi-continuous water changes of about 1% a day and works well for me.
With that said it might be a good idea to start dosing 2 part if your colonies of LPS are getting bigger.
Good luck.