Am I killing corals with light?

[TWYOUNG]

If I have to guess from the pics, I would say that the tank is not yet ready for coral. It is still dealing with the ugly stage.

Yeah, probably but it's over a year old so it's pretty frustrating.

 

[TWYOUNG]

This may be a dumb thought, but don’t urchins eat coral? Could there be some predation happening?

Possibly, but I haven't heard of urchins eating coral. Most reefer do have them and Tuxedos seem to be the safest choice.

 

[Acros]

Yeah, probably but it's over a year old so it's pretty frustrating.

Sometimes that is how it goes. Frustrating for sure!

 

[TWYOUNG]

Phosphates look fine, nitrates are high, have you figured out where the aluminum is coming from? Do you have bio-bricks in the sump?

 

[TWYOUNG]

Yeah, nitrates are a little higher than I'd like and I'm trying to get some chaeto growing. As you can see prior to the past 3 months they were <10, and what was there was usually because I was dosing it. Since I've had low nutrient and dino issues I feel I need to error a little on the high side. Yes I have 24, 2" MarinePure blocks that Algae Barn sent me with my initial addition of copepods a year ago, so they've been there since cycling was completed. This is my third ICP and first time aluminum showed up. I posted about it on BRS and most felt the benefit of the blocks outweighed any downside. That and the fact that the ICP analysis didn't suggest any intervention has led me to leave them for now.

 

[TWYOUNG]

Unless you have a very bad spectrum, which is not likely, it is probably not from too much light.

 

[BanZI29]

just curious, what lights are you running?

 

[TWYOUNG]

Three G5 Radion XR30 Blues over 5' tank.

 

[TWYOUNG]

just curious, what lights are you running?

Three G5 Radion XR30 Blues over a 5' tank.

 

[TWYOUNG]

It's not your light. Zoas can survive in low light or high light. If most of your corals are dying, it's a water issue. Wait for your ICP tests to come back but you should also be regularly testing nitrate, phosphate, alk, ca, and mg yourself.

 

[thedon986]

It sounds like you just need stability and time and I would err on the lower side of par while things are instable. Dinos wreak havoc on the biome and you need to build that back up and it doesn't happen fast. I scrapped my last tank and started new with Tampa Bay Saltwater rocks and sand and it feels like I have an instant 5 year old reef. Starting a biome from scratch is severely overrated.

 

[TWYOUNG]

It sounds like you just need stability and time and I would err on the lower side of par while things are instable. Dinos wreak havoc on the biome and you need to build that back up and it doesn't happen fast. I scrapped my last tank and started new with Tampa Bay Saltwater rocks and sand and it feels like I have an instant 5 year old reef. Starting a biome from scratch is severely overrated.

Yeah. I wish I had gone with some live rock to start but I’m too far in in terms of time and $$$ to restart. If it takes a few more years so be it. In my mind I knew there likely wasn't anything ALIVE about the CaribSea LifeRock and Aragalive sand I was buying but my heart succumbed to the sales pitch. On the positive side I was able to glue together a really nice reef. So, in the mean time do you suggest I go with the 20% par readings or something else? In terms of biome development I've added all kinds of bottled and powdered bacteria, old rock and crushed coral skeletons from a 30yo fish only tank I had, daily phyto., regular additions of tig and tisbe pods, and AF Lifesource mud,(one 1000gm bag). I've considered buying some of the sand the Microbiome people sell. Do you have any advice?

It sounds like you just need stability and time and I would err on the lower side of par while things are instable. Dinos wreak havoc on the biome and you need to build that back up and it doesn't happen fast. I scrapped my last tank and started new with Tampa Bay Saltwater rocks and sand and it feels like I have an instant 5 year old reef. Starting a biome from scratch is severely overrated.

 

[thedon986]

Yeah. I wish I had gone with some live rock to start but I’m too far in in terms of time and $$$ to restart. If it takes a few more years so be it. In my mind I knew there likely wasn't anything ALIVE about the CaribSea LifeRock and Aragalive sand I was buying but my heart succumbed to the sales pitch. On the positive side I was able to glue together a really nice reef. So, in the mean time do you suggest I go with the 20% par readings or something else? In terms of biome development I've added all kinds of bottled and powdered bacteria, old rock and crushed coral skeletons from a 30yo fish only tank I had, daily phyto., regular additions of tig and tisbe pods, and AF Lifesource mud,(one 1000gm bag). I've considered buying some of the sand the Microbiome people sell. Do you have any advice?

Yeah I think those 20% readings are enough light for now. If you're in the US you can get a small pack of aquacultured live rock straight out of the Gulf of Mexico. Tampa Bay Saltwater and Gulf Live Rock sell in smaller amounts, 20lbs or so. Other than that, just time.

 

[TWYOUNG]

Yeah I think those 20% readings are enough light for now. If you're in the US you can get a small pack of aquacultured live rock straight out of the Gulf of Mexico. Tampa Bay Saltwater and Gulf Live Rock sell in smaller amounts, 20lbs or so. Other than that, just time.

Is this cured rock that can be placed right in the tank?

 

[thedon986]

Is this cured rock that can be placed right in the tank?

Yep it's overnighted/air freighted and has very little die off but as much diversity as you can get. Screen it in a holding tub for undesirables though. I usually get 1 mantis shrimp per shipment, etc.

 

[TWYOUNG]

Yep it's overnighted/air freighted and has very little die off but as much diversity as you can get. Screen it in a holding tub for undesirables though. I usually get 1 mantis shrimp per shipment, etc.

Thanks you've been most helpful. I did the Mantis shrimp thing 30 years ago when I used live rock to start a tank. Is there a way to coax them out of their hiding place while they're in this holding tub?

 

[jda]

Bottle traps are effective. Just lean them up on a rock where the shrimp can get into the mouth.

Something like this:

seahorse.org - DIY Mantis Trap

 

[thedon986]

You can also just move the rock to the sump, make a refugium and it can be the star. That's what I've done with mine.

 

[MrGisonni]

Alkalinity at 11 may be part of the problem. Anything over 9.5 was problematic for me in my mixed reef. The natural seawater I use for water changes measures 7.6. My reef now wants to be between 7.5 and 8.5. your par measurements at 20% is more than enough for most corals.

 

[TWYOUNG]

Alkalinity at 11 may be part of the problem. Anything over 9.5 was problematic for me in my mixed reef. The natural seawater I use for water changes measures 7.6. My reef now wants to be between 7.5 and 8.5. your par measurements at 20% is more than enough for most corals.

My lfs suggested 10 for alk and it made sense to me as the recommendation is usually 8-12 and 10 put me right in the middle. I used to dose 2L per day of kalk in addition to a minimal amount of AFR but a couple of months ago I had to stop the kalk when it went up to 11. Today I've stopped AFR as well since it hasn't come down.