Why are my corals dying?

[drukkosz]

I really dont know what else can i do. every time i buy sps after few weeks it dies.
i really dont know what i do wrong

I have 90 gallon tank with 2 tunze 6095 one tunze 6055 tunze wavebox, swc 160 skimmer, led lights

water parameters:
cal - 460
mag-1200
alk- 9

phosphate -0.11 i know a little high working on that.

I run gfo and carbon. RODI water.



even my lps are not doing that great, i have some acans for a year now and not even a single new head.
I dont really know what i do wrong.
please help!

full shot of the tank sorry for crappy pictures

 

[Alex T.]

Is the Moorish Idol in your signature still in the tank?

They loves da corals!!!

 

[SushiGirl]

I didn't see a nitrate reading.

 

[drukkosz]

Is the Moorish Idol in your signa he passture still in the tank?

They loves da corals!!!

no unfortunately he died last week. but even before i got him my corals were acting this same

 

[drukkosz]

I didn't see a nitrate reading.

I dont have nitrate test kit

forgot to add Ph - 8.09

 

[skidoctor]

Do you have a sump? If so, what's in it? Lighting? What have you done to your tank lately- new equipment, dosing, etc?

 

[drukkosz]

Do you have a sump? If so, what's in it? Lighting? What have you done to your tank lately- new equipment, dosing, etc?

Yes i do have a sump, swc 160 skimmer is there, sock ( replacing every two days) and refugium. Lighting, one strip of blue reef brite and 4 strips of DIY rapid led.

nothing really new in the tank like i mention earlier i have been loosing sps for a year now and lps dont grow much.

I am trying to do everything wright, good pumps, skimmer, lights etc i really dont know why i am loosing everything. i even test my rodi water and its 4

 

[cfredallen]

What is the Salinity?

 

[funkejj]

What salt are you using. I had issues until a month ago just like you are having until I stopped Carbon and changed salts. Stopped carbon two weeks later no change so I changed salts and everything had a almost immediate turn around.

 

[ChrisKirkland]

Ok so first, your PH is low (should be 8.3-8.4) and your Mag is low (should be 1300) mag will help your corals in many ways especially in an SPS system. Check your nitrates and look around and see if you have red bugs or flat worms. Your corals look like they are being eaten rather than just dying. I see som decent polyp extension on one of the Acros. The lack of color is due to you mag being low.

 

[JAustin]

Ok so first, your PH is low (should be 8.3-8.4) and your Mag is low (should be 1300) mag will help your corals in many ways especially in an SPS system. Check your nitrates and look around and see if you have red bugs or flat worms. Your corals look like they are being eaten rather than just dying. I see som decent polyp extension on one of the Acros. The lack of color is due to you mag being low.

Well that info is somewhat incorrect. A reef ph of 8.09 is fine. Do not go chasing ph numbers. If its above 7.8 your fine. In addition I doubt the mag is responsible for the lack of color alone. What your lighting exactly and how long to you run it? Chech nitrates before anything. Increase your mag to 1300+.

Don't add anymore Sps until you get your nitrates checked and your phosphates under controll. You may want to reduce feeding in the meantime. Did you add any rock in the past few months? Do you use kent carbon?

 

[cediss]

Ok so first, your PH is low (should be 8.3-8.4) and your Mag is low (should be 1300) mag will help your corals in many ways especially in an SPS system. Check your nitrates and look around and see if you have red bugs or flat worms. Your corals look like they are being eaten rather than just dying. I see som decent polyp extension on one of the Acros. The lack of color is due to you mag being low.

Agree. And you need to check your salinity, I would even recommend have another reefer or LFS check to make sure your reading is correct.
How often do you check the Ca/Mg/kH. If there are significant swing occurring, especially the kH then that doesn't help. With your Mg being low that would suggest your more prone to such swings.
It can't be over emphasized the importants of keeping parameters rock solid. That's part of the reason dosing pumps have become so common place. You can dial in numbers and keep them quit stable this way. Until you are certain your numbers are steady you should check every 2-4 days. Then when you are stable check weekly or at least twice a month ( this schedule assumes no new corals, regular and consistent water changes, and a month or more of evidence the parameters are not fluctuating between checks every 2-4 days.

 

[ChrisKirkland]

Well that info is somewhat incorrect. A reef ph of 8.09 is fine. Do not go chasing ph numbers. If its above 7.8 your fine. In addition I doubt the mag is responsible for the lack of color alone. What your lighting exactly and how long to you run it? Chech nitrates before anything. Increase your mag to 1300+.

Don't add anymore Sps until you get your nitrates checked and your phosphates under controll. You may want to reduce feeding in the meantime. Did you add any rock in the past few months? Do you use kent carbon?

IME you would be amazed at what a PH of below 8.3 will do to a reef especially if it drops below 7.8 at night i am sure the measurement he gave us was from during the day. Mag being low also tells us something is out of whack in the system. Alk,Cal, and Mag are the three key things to being successful in reefing. At any rate get your parameters in check before adding anything else to the tank. Keep them stable.

 

[drukkosz]

What is the Salinity?

Salinity is 1.025 I use refractometer.

What salt are you using.

I use Red Sea Coral Pro

What your lighting exactly and how long to you run it? Chech nitrates before anything. Increase your mag to 1300+.

I have one DIY rapid leds i believe about 60 of them and one strip of reef britemy lights start arround 11am and incrase every 30 minutes run on full for about 5-6 hours and slowely decrese for the night.

I found ATI nitrate test and my sample was bright yellow, so i believe its good ?

Don't add anymore Sps until you get your nitrates checked and your phosphates under controll. You may want to reduce feeding in the meantime. Did you add any rock in the past few months? Do you use kent carbon?

I have not noticed any bugs, I also check my tank at night with flashlight and haven't notice anything.
No I didn't add any rocks since I started that tank.

I use premium carbon from Premium Aquatics. I dont think it was kent

How often do you check the Ca/Mg/kH. .

i test everything every week, week and a half.
I have dosing pump that adds alk and calcium, magnesium I was adding by hand. I am working on bringing it to 1400 level.

IME you would be amazed at what a PH of below 8.3 will do to a reef especially if it drops below 7.8 at night i am sure the measurement he gave us was from during the day.

ph-8.09 was in the evening when i started taht post. At night it dropped to 8.0

 

[ChrisKirkland]

So with all that said there must be some type of pest doing the damage. Like I said before in one of you pics there is great polyp extension.

 

[MammothReefer]

I had a batch of RSCP almost wipe my tank. I've got a few threads on it. I wouldn't rule it out as a possible suspect. Test a new batch for alk/calc/mag etc..

 

[drukkosz]

What is RSCP ???

also my duncan that i have had for a year now is very "puffy" weird.

 

[kawicivic]

Also make sure your refractometer is calibrated if that is how you are checking your salinity

 

[jerpa]

What is RSCP ???

Your salt. Red Sea Coral Pro

 

[drukkosz]

Also make sure your refractometer is calibrated if that is how you are checking your salinity

I did, it is calibrated

Your salt. Red Sea Coral Pro

How do i know if the salt is bad?? before i started my tank i did a lot of resarch and RSCP was a top brand