CORALS JUST WONT LAST

[reefwiser]

You don't have to do the Triton method to use their ICP test. It will show if you have anything wrong with your water.

 

[saltwater newby]

You don't have to do the Triton method to use their ICP test. It will show if you have anything wrong with your water.

ok, that makes sense. it looks like I have to go through my local distributor, the closest one to me is world wide corals.

 

[reefwiser]

You can buy it right on the page I posted. [emoji3]

 

[saltwater newby]

You can buy it right on the page I posted. [emoji3]

gotcha. let me look into this then. thank you

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I'm no expert but I think your only real problem is too much light. 2 LEDs are enough for a 75g. 3 will definitely give you more even coverage, but you'll need to watch you don't cook everything. I would cut the lights in half from where you are and slowly work them back up until you find the sweet spot. It takes weeks to kill coral with low light, but just hours in too much light can kill them.

 

[Pongo]

Thank you for all of the info you've provided.
I don't have any suggestions for you, I don't see anything in the info you've provided that stands out.
I think testing your water is a good idea.

I have done some PAR measurements with the XR15w PRO gen 3 lights in my tank and it's only 1" deeper than yours so I can at least share those to give some ballpark figures. I measured with the Apex PAR measuring kit with minimal surface agitation.
Keep in mind your gen 4 lights might have better spread and so effective PAR might be a little lower - at least this is what I've seen comparing the XR30 gen 3 vs gen 4.

16" = depth below water level = sand bed.

100% at 12K
Depth off center PAR
5" 0" 575
5" 6" 300
9" 0" 450
9" 6" 210
16" 0" 210
16" 6" 145

50% at 12K/18K
5" 6" 190/160
11" 0" 215/155
16" 0" 120/90
16" 6" 75/60

It looks like your running peak at 50% for about 9 hrs.
I'm guessing on your 4' tank your lights are about 14" apart on center. So I think you've made a good choice on type and configuration of lighting that will serve your tank very well. They may just need a little adjustment on intensity.

I know PAR meters can be expensive, but some people (@saltyfilmfolks) suggest getting a LUX meter instead. You can find them on Amazon way cheaper then PAR meters and there is info on this site how to do the conversion to get a pretty accurate reading of how much light you're feeding the tank.

Good luck.

 

[Pongo]

I would like to revise and extend my remarks.

I would refer you to this excellent article to help guide your testing and maintaining parameters for your tank.
I would suggest getting a more accurate testing method for phosphates such as a Hanna 736 ULR phosphorus checker.
Of all the parameters you've listed, 0 - 0.1 phosphate is the one that I think needs more immediate attention.
I would want a more accurate reading before trying to change something.

 

[James Johnson]

Since when is 0.1 phosphates low?? Salifert phosphate test kit is a color comparison test meaning you are comparing varying shades of blue if you are in the wrong lighting you you will get an incorrect test result. You should get a Hanna phosphate checker they are much more accurate and give a digital readout I bet you phosphates are higher than that when they should be 0.01-0.03 a reading of 0.1 would be considered high phosphates not low

 

[saltwater newby]

Since when is 0.1 phosphates low?? Salifert phosphate test kit is a color comparison test meaning you are comparing varying shades of blue if you are in the wrong lighting you you will get an incorrect test result. You should get a Hanna phosphate checker they are much more accurate and give a digital readout I bet you phosphates are higher than that when they should be 0.01-0.03 a reading of 0.1 would be considered high phosphates not low

Hello
You're right
But I wrote the wrong thing
I meant 0.01 99.9% of the time. I even had world wide corals cheek for me once as well.