Can't grow anything

[pitbull_13]

I have a 60 gallon cube that I've had for about a year now,I'm having issues keeping corals alive it seams.I test my water a few times a week and I will even bring in samples to a local shop just to make sure I'm testing right and everything is where it's supposed to be, I'm starting to wonder if my lights are to much or maybe to high? I'm running a Hydra twenty six that sits about 17" off the top of the tank settings are at white 26% all others at 35% day and 3% night.

 

[melypr1985]

What numbers are you testing? And what are the actual values?

 

[pitbull_13]

My test kit is a basic kit that just shows color that's why I bring it in if I think it's off but salt is 1.025 and temp is set at 77.5

 

[melypr1985]

My test kit is a basic kit that just shows color that's why I bring it in if I think it's off but salt is 1.025 and temp is set at 77.5

What about Alk, Calcium and Magnesium?

 

[pitbull_13]

Calcium says it's at 480 and my carbonate test says 180

 

[melypr1985]

Calcium says it's at 480 and my carbonate test says 180

You'll want to get your Alk and Mag too..... test all three frequently enough to know that it's stable and not fluctuating on you.

 

[McMullen]

I think 180 is Alk of 10?
Could you provide a bit more info? Nitrates, phosphates, filtering system, flow, skimmer use. You never know sometimes until ya hash all this out.
Also what coral have you tried?

 

[CodyRVA]

Is that project reef rock 2.1 or is that real coralline algae? +1 on what coral types have you've tried? What's your ph?

 

[pitbull_13]

Code I'm not sure what you're talking about. The only thing that I can keep alive is my yellow polyps some blue cloves a few mushrooms and green star polyps.

 

[pitbull_13]

And now in the last 8 hours my frogspawn is doing something I've never seen

 

[CodyRVA]

Project reef rock 2.1 is artificial rock with purple coloring to imitate coralline algae, hence my comment is that real coralline algae. How often are you testing your water? What is your Nitrate and Phosphate at? How often are you doing water changes? Are you dosing the system at all?

 

[bairdimusprime]

the frogspawn is dieing, if the tank has been running for a year now it should be past any cycling stages... check for amonia and let us know the levels.
for some odd reason my cube had a massive amonia spike near its 1 year anniversary caused the same issues. i changed out all of the sand and replaced it with aragonite crushed coral. everything leveled off soon after that (and some water changes)

best of luck

 

[Salty1962]

Sounds like your nutrients may be off if your softies/lps are doing ok. Start off with the basics and go from there. Stability is a big must with sps success! I've learned the hard way and a smaller tank is even harder because when things happen they happen big and fast due to water volume.

 

[david540i]

Often missed, but have you checked for copper?

 

[CodyRVA]

Often missed, but have you checked for copper?

If there was an abundance of copper, this tank wouldnt be suffering it would be dead.

 

[Kershaw]

Every one on here has asked for a full panel of you water parameters. They need all of them to help you. Ammonia, p04, nitrate nitrite, cal, mag, kh. Salinity and ph. And I am sure I am missing a fee

 

[bairdimusprime]

as a proud member of [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG] i'm more than happy to stick with this thread and find a solution for you but like @Kershaw said we need a full list of params
thank you

 

[pitbull_13]

I will have to go buy a better test kit to get accurate numbers, it's all live rock and sand ,I test with what I have 2-3 times a week and dose with Kent pro buffer dkh and Kent liquid calcium as needed. Just bear with me I'm a bit "slow" with this stuff and still learning as I go.

 

[bairdimusprime]

no worries, numbers play a big factor in this game, we're here to help not put you down. what are the numbers from your current test kit?
thanks

 

[CodyRVA]

I will have to go buy a better test kit to get accurate numbers, it's all live rock and sand ,I test with what I have 2-3 times a week and dose with Kent pro buffer dkh and Kent liquid calcium as needed. Just bear with me I'm a bit "slow" with this stuff and still learning as I go.

No worries mate, definitely check your nitrates and phosphates as well. Also, make sure to test before and after you dose until you solve the issue. If you only check right after, your numbers are always going to look spot on. Your tank might be utilizing your additives at a rapid rate. I don't see any algae issues so it's hard to imagine you have high nitrate or phosphate, but I suppose it's possible. How often are you dosing? If you dose every few days; your elements may be swinging which would cause this issue. It's better to dose daily in small doses vs dosing heavy every so often.