Can't get anything to grow

ketchup318 · Oct 23, 2017

Hi All

As the title says, I can't seem to get anything to grow. I've had a RSR 250 for over a year, which was an upgrade from a 36G tank (which I've had for 2 years prior). I wasn't too successful on getting stuff to grow in the 36G either, but at least I was able to get coralline to grow.

With my RSR 250, all the corals that I put in are either staying the same size (duncans, frogspawn), or slowly withering away (daisy coral, torches, zoas, monti's, leptos). I have stable parameters, decent lighting, good flow, and good skimming. Again, with the 250, coralline doesn't grow, everything is kinda just grey.

I have a couple of inhabitants, a pair of Clownfish, a Royal Gramma, a Yellow Watchman Goby, a Pistol Shrimp, and a couple of hermit crabs. I feed 1/2 a Hikari cube of brine a day, and drop in a couple pinches of pellets.

I am at a total loss as to why my tank is doing so bad. I would very grateful for any advice. Thanks

Here's info on my tank
55G RSR 250
2 Kessil 160's (10hr period, intensity ramps from 10-60%, peak intensity = 4hrs)
Reef Octopus Classic 110INT
GHL Doser 2 (2ml Rea Sea NoPox, 72ml Alk., 72ml Calc per day)
Red Sea Energy 2x a week

My water parameters are good, I've ICP-tested the tank water and the RODI going in
RODI
- Zero for everything except Silicon. Not sure if that's a problem
Tank Water
- Basic parameters good; Alk = 7.24, Mg = 1316, Calcium = 400.6, Nitrate = 0.01, Phosphate = 0.02

Other elements I'm not sure of...

Bouncingsoul39 · Oct 23, 2017

Based on what you've provided, I'd say you're not getting enough light. Those things are only 40 watts each. You could easily run two A360Wes over that tank. Id try running the kessils at 100% intensity for a longer period of time. Like, 10 hours with a one hour ramp at each end.

saltyfilmfolks · Oct 23, 2017

Yup. Also look at flow.

tripdad · Oct 23, 2017

Why the NoPox? Your nitrates are way too low. Are you spot feeding any of those corals that died? They gotta eat, the Red Sea at 2x a week is not enough.

Fishfinder · Oct 23, 2017

If you're dosing 72 ml of alk daily it's going somewhere..... unless it's percipitating

Fishfinder · Oct 23, 2017

madweazl · Oct 23, 2017

You're definitely asking a lot of A160s over a four foot tank. I was able to keep everything you mentioned with two A360s and fairly low intensity though (40%).

What is your magnesium at?

Edit: Nevermind, I see it now.

Can you post a picture of some of the corals that are doing well and where they are in relation to the lights? Also, how high above the tank are the lights mounted and what are you running for intensity?

tgionet · Oct 23, 2017

Stop dosing the 2 part and test daily for a week. Stop the carbon dosing, you’re nutrient starved. I have roughly the same tank with an AP700 at 70% and 2 bulb t5

ketchup318 · Oct 23, 2017

Thanks for all the responses...

Light: I would have thought that 2 Kessil 160's would have been enough. I remember seeing other members using the same setup with decent results. Now that I think about it 60% of 40W is only 24W. So that's just 48W for 2 lights. That's much lower than the 5-8W/gallon rule of thumb.

Flow: I have 2 Jebao PP-4's (530-1000GPH) running on random mode up to full speed. The main pump is an Eheim Compact 3000 (792GPH). I do get a good amount of flow, and I've moved coral around; they're all placed in locations where it 'seems' they like best.

NoPox: Well, I would say that the NoPox dosing is needed to keep it where it is. I have recently changed it from 3ml to 2ml a day. The test results are from the 3ml. I have noticed that with 2ml, I'm starting to see a bit more brown on the rocks.

Alk: created a new post: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/alkalinity-dropping-needs-72ml-for-a-55g-tank.332292/

I can post pictures when I get home today. It's pretty sad looking...

Bouncingsoul39 · Oct 23, 2017

Higher nitrates and phosphate are not necessary for growth and coral health to the extent others are suggesting. If you are feeding the fish daily and dosing Red Sea Energy you should be covered. Nitrate test kits are not accurate anyways but chances are with your carbon dosing you are seeing the residual levels not the real time levels as processes uptake the nutrients. You can always try to dose Red Sea energy daily per the instructions if you want to increase nutrients. You can dial it back if algae issues.

AbsoluteZer0273 · Oct 23, 2017

What is your ph?

Slarti · Oct 23, 2017

Who knows with these things?! I've had all kinds of soft and hard corals in my tank without success, except for one hammer that has been going great guns since day 1. After a long break I decided to try some zoas and boy have they taken off! When I bought them the LFS guy said to be patient and if they don't open up after a couple of days I may have to re-dip, move, flow and what not. Well I put them in and only a couple of hours later two of the three were wide open. Next day the third one opened as well and since then (about 4 weeks ago) the growth is great. All three have new polyps and one has almost doubled in size already. Done nothing different, no feeding, no extras whatsoever.

So all I can say is good luck and have faith, it will happen.

ketchup318 · Oct 23, 2017

My PH goes from 8.0 to 8.15, from night to day.

I do feed the corals; I use BRS's reef chili. I kind of broadcast feed versus target feed. Would that make a difference?

It's kind of hard to be optimistic when it's been a couple of years. As I mentioned, I can't even get coralline to grow. Fish seem good, getting a bit fat.

AbsoluteZer0273 · Oct 23, 2017

Stupid question, have you added anything with coraline on it? Do you feed any coral food like reefroids?

Fishfinder · Oct 23, 2017

I was having horrible painful slow growth until I got my ph fixed. It was instantaneous growth. Overnight I could see a difference

How are you testing ph?

zsuzsu · Oct 23, 2017

start doing weekly water changes, use the red sea reef energy and red sea aminos mixed together daily. get some t5s atleast 4. watch your reef grow. from your water testing results above... seems like things aren't quite balanced. if it were my reef i would start with a few 25-30% water changes in a weeks time with a quality salt mix. if you are sticking with the kessils, turn them up and get a few more

zsuzsu · Oct 23, 2017

fwiw , i run a reef with the red sea program, i follow it to a tee. the only thing i don't do is let my nitrate fall below 5, and try to keep p04 around .02. ive been reefing since the 90's and imo, red seas program is the easiest way to success. i have 3 reefs, 1 full zeovit, 1 red sea rcp, and 1 old school berlin. the red sea tank blows the other 2 away. it's not even close. the zeo tank is jammin, but it still cant hang with the red sea reef. do your water changes and good luck n stuff....zsu

madweazl · Oct 23, 2017

With an alkalinity of 7.4, larger water changes over the next week are likely to do more harm than good unless you're using a salt that has a similar alkalinity (not many of them) or if you're lowering the alkalinity of the freshly mixed water prior to dumping it in the tank.

ketchup318 · Oct 24, 2017

I've recently added a piece of live rock with a healthy bit of coralline on it. Hasn't done much, in fact it also looks like it's fading. I don't use Reefroids. I could give it a try.

PH: I thought my levels were decent. His much higher do I need to keep it? I monitor with my apex. In the past 3 months, I got a new ph probe. It was calibrated per the instructions.

Lots of water changes? I can try that too. I've considered that it may be some type of contaminant. So I've been using and replacing carbon for a while to.