Corals gone wrong?

[Gsnowd]

Okay so this is my first post here. I am having trouble with corals, can’t seem to do anything right when it comes to them and I hate wasting money. Anybody know what could be going wrong? They don’t look healthy at all. Here are my parameters

Salt level: 1.024
kH: 120
PH: 7.5
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Calcium: 500
Ammonia: 0

Any thoughts or recommendations?

 

[HotRocks]

Do you know what your phosphate is?

Corals can get upset if nutrients are zero.
Do you have fish? How long has the tank been running?

 

[Gsnowd]

I do not have a phosphate reading at the moment unfortunately. Tank has been up for 2 months.

 

[Gsnowd]

Do you know what your phosphate is?

Corals can get upset if nutrients are zero.
Do you have fish? How long has the tank been running?

I have 2 clowns

 

[C. Eymann]

How are you checking your salinity ?


What test kits are you using ?

 

[Gsnowd]

How are you checking your salinity ?


What test kits are you using ?

I have a refractometer, using API 5-1 testing strips as well as

How are you checking your salinity ?


What test kits are you using ?

 

[Hermie]

hungry corals imo

 

[xxkenny90xx]

What lights are you using?

 

[Gsnowd]

hungry corals imo

I have directly fed them once already, any recommendations on products or what I could do?

 

[Jon Fishman]

Light?

How was it cycled?

 

[C. Eymann]

Has the refractometer been calibrated?

Also alk is at 6.7 dkh ? little bit low


Hows flow? lighting? how long have you had the corals?

Agree that no nutrients could be an issue, just trying to rule out other things, but your tank is rather new so could be many things

 

[Gsnowd]

What lights are you using?

This is my main concern I may not have a good enough light at the moment

 

[xxkenny90xx]

This is my main concern I may not have a good enough light at the moment

If that is a possible issue I would stack the rocks up high and put the corals right at the top to see if that helps.

 

[Jon Fishman]

This is my main concern I may not have a good enough light at the moment

Well.... what light is it? What is your schedule?

 

[Hermie]

feed them once ever 3 days until they perk up unless they are giving a bad response (not extending tentacles, not consuming the food)

 

[ihavecrabs]

I’m going to go with a tank maturity issue. The rocks look barren of algae and fauna. My recommendation would be to let the tank mature a little more before adding any LPS or SPS corals.

It’ll be easier to dial in parameters with a more mature tank as well.

 

[jeffchapok]

Your tank is very new. Most people don't recommend adding corals until at least the 6 month mark. Corals survive on nutrients dissolved in your water, and your water just doesn't have sufficient levels of nutrients for them yet.

Another thing I'd add is that it looks like your trying to grow frogspawn. I haven't had much luck myself with either frogspawn or hammer corals. The heads just shrink up and eventually bail out. I haven't been able to figure out the right combination of lights and flow yet to keep them happy.

Try something easier to begin with, like some toadstool leathers or green star polyps. In my 9 month old tank, my fastest growing coral has been this hairy mushroom. It's already split into 6 so far.

Here's my frogspawn graveyard...

 

[Waters]

As others stated, I think it is a combination of 0 nutrients and immature tank. Right now, I think the lighting is not as big of a concern as the 0 nitrates (and probably 0 phosphates).

 

[BeejReef]

Welcome!

So, just to recap for everyone...

You tank has been set up for two months
You're not confident in you lights, but not sure if that's the problem
You use a refractometer and API kits
Two clownfish

You parameters are
Salinity 1.024,
DKH 6.7 (120)
PH: 7.5
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Calcium: 500
Ammonia: 0
Phosphate: no test kit
Magnesium: ?

I agree with most that euphylia are a tough first coral. Can be no issues, can be very tempermental.
That said, yours don't look like they're dying outright, just very unhappy. I think you'll be happier with mushrooms, leathers, and some other easier corals to hold your interest for a few more months while the tank matures.

I'm five months up the road from you and had a very unhappy frogspawn that just decided to get over it and really open up again. Hopefully they just blossom, but it might be months of patience.

A full-tank shot would really help. It looks as if they're already mounted on the rock structure. Typically, you'll find them mounted down low in the tank. Too much flow will cause them to shrink up to protect themselves, but they'll do that for pretty much any reason.

If it were me (and I'm no particular expert.. lol) I'd put them in a sheltered spot where you're sure they're not getting too much flow. I'd adjust my alkalinity up to 8-9dkh, reduce my skimming or export (details on how you filter would also help) and feed the tank more until you get detectable nitrate and phosphate. Adding a couple more fish would help with that too.

Short to medium term, you'll need to be able to test phosphate and magnesium.
Medium term - I'd suggest renting a par meter and mapping out your tank so you're sure these, and future, corals are in a proper spot. If you thought too much light was the issue, I'd move that to number one, but a marginally too weak of a light isn't as urgent as chemistry and feeding... IMHO.

 

[MERKEY]

Agree with others that the tank is still growing. Give them some time. You may lose some corals but keep the parameters consistent with water changes.