Acan/Hammer overall coral growth help

[MONTANTK]

Disclaimer: When mentioning test parameter my Triton test showed 1380 for Mg while Salifert has consistently been around 1500. Salifert also showed Ca around 450.

Long story short, I have a few Acans clinging on for dear life, along with one hammer that seems to very slowly be getting worse while another behind it has been thriving. My frogspawn seems to be opening less and less every week. I also have two montis that aren’t doing great. On the flip side my lobos, torch, hammer, Goni, and softies are doing fantastic. Overall though I’m seeing very very little growth despite very stable parameters. Currently doing 2.5g water changes every week (20g system). The Triton test showed a couple of things that were slightly elevated/depleted but all of it was on the border of being within the acceptable range.

Parameters:
Alk: 8.4
Mg: 1500 (Triton showed 1380)
Ca: 450 (Last test was a month ago but historically has not changed much)
No3: 16
Po4: .04

What are your thoughts? I don’t have any fish known for eating coral nor have I observed any such behavior. Part of me thinks it’s my light (or maybe I want to believe that lol) which is a RB Photon V2. I’m really at a loss here. I kept almost identical parameters in a smaller SPS tank and was seeing really strong growth from some of the same corals.

 

[Evo R]

Disclaimer: When mentioning test parameter my Triton test showed 1380 for Mg while Salifert has consistently been around 1500. Salifert also showed Ca around 450.

Long story short, I have a few Acans clinging on for dear life, along with one hammer that seems to very slowly be getting worse while another behind it has been thriving. My frogspawn seems to be opening less and less every week. I also have two montis that aren’t doing great. On the flip side my lobos, torch, hammer, Goni, and softies are doing fantastic. Overall though I’m seeing very very little growth despite very stable parameters. Currently doing 2.5g water changes every week (20g system). The Triton test showed a couple of things that were slightly elevated/depleted but all of it was on the border of being within the acceptable range.

Parameters:
Alk: 8.4
Mg: 1500 (Triton showed 1380)
Ca: 450 (Last test was a month ago but historically has not changed much)
No3: 16
Po4: .04

What are your thoughts? I don’t have any fish known for eating coral nor have I observed any such behavior. Part of me thinks it’s my light (or maybe I want to believe that lol) which is a RB Photon V2. I’m really at a loss here. I kept almost identical parameters in a smaller SPS tank and was seeing really strong growth from some of the same corals.

/

Highlighted in red, could it be a change in flow and or too strong direct flow?

When last did you do an ICP test to see the values of macro and minor trace elements. Iron Manganese and Iodine spring to mind.

 

[MONTANTK]

Highlighted in red, could it be a change in flow and or too strong direct flow?

When last did you do an ICP test to see the values of macro and minor trace elements. Iron Manganese and Iodine spring to mind.

The ICP test was about a month ago, maybe 6 weeks at most. Iron, Manganese and Idoine were a little low but just barely. It might not be a bad idea for me to pick up a Red Sea calcium test kit since I have the iron and iodine additives from one of their kits. Flow is a possibility but it doesn’t seem to be getting blasted

 

[Evo R]

Then maybe try to move and or reduce the flow from the affected corals for just a couple of days and monitor. If they improve then its flow. If they deteriorate further then adjust the low levels from the ICP and see if that helps. If neither of those two solve the issue and or other corals start to deteriorate too then re evaluate the whole situation again and re cover all the basics to try and find the cause.

 

[MONTANTK]

Then maybe try to move and or reduce the flow from the affected corals for just a couple of days and monitor. If they improve then its flow. If they deteriorate further then adjust the low levels from the ICP and see if that helps. If neither of those two solve the issue and or other corals start to deteriorate too then re evaluate the whole situation again and re cover all the basics to try and find the cause.

That’s a good idea. Perhaps I’ll try and move them to the opposite side of the tank in the sand. Any ideas about why I’m not seeing any growth in most of my corals?

 

[Evo R]

Any updates on this issue?

 

[MONTANTK]

Any updates on this issue?

So I did some testing and nitrates jumped up to 36 with phosphate at .12. I also switched to a Radion right after Christmas. During the time between getting the Radion and making this post, I moved my tank which I know led to a spike in nutrients. I also did a water change with a different brand of salt (one time thing) and my Alk jumped to around 9.4. With all of this occurring, my overall coral health seemed to improve tremendously. The Radion only added to that. The Acans, hammer and Frogspawn seem to be improving and I even added a new Acan which is doing much better than when I tried adding others in the past. I assume the spike in nutrients and the decent jump in Alk are the cause for improvement.

The sorta bad news is I’m upgrading (unexpectedly) over the next month so I’m hoping I can maintain the same health

 

[Evo R]

Well done. Glad everything paned out well for you....and congrats on the upgrade!!!! Im sure we will see a new build thread soon.

 

[MONTANTK]

Well done. Glad everything paned out well for you....and congrats on the upgrade!!!! Im sure we will see a new build thread soon.

Thanks! I will be starting a thread once the tank gets here. Should be sometime in the next week or two. Also having some minor work done in the basement that will contribute to the build. I can’t wait to get it started!