Corals not doing so good

[Kfactor]

Hi all my tank has been running for amongst 2 years now and nothing is really happy in my tank . I have always been fighting now no3 and po4 my no3 is always under 2 and po4 is always zero . I have been doing no3 and find if I go any higher my sps do not like it at all I get burnt tips or rtn and po4 I have been dosing everyday and still zero I feed 2 to 3 times a day . I have been dosing phyto and seen a little improvement bot not to much . My sps all most die but I can get them back usually but the colour and grow suck

My tank is around 40g total
Lighting is 2xr15 g4 pros with 2 t5 blue plus
Po4 0
No3 1
Alk 7.2
Cal440
Mg1350
Ph at high is 8.06 and low is 7.8 at night
Small refugium with cheato
4 small fish
And just added auto water change to it a day ago
Only thing I dose is phyto and just started some amino acids at 1 ml a day . I don’t have any bad algae at all but my thinking is my corals are starving but worries about adding to much stuff

 

[Sam816]

what test kits do you use to check ur params? zero phosphates is not good. sps need 2-5 ppm of nitrates as well.

 

[Tidal_aq]

Hi all my tank has been running for amongst 2 years now and nothing is really happy in my tank . I have always been fighting now no3 and po4 my no3 is always under 2 and po4 is always zero . I have been doing no3 and find if I go any higher my sps do not like it at all I get burnt tips or rtn and po4 I have been dosing everyday and still zero I feed 2 to 3 times a day . I have been dosing phyto and seen a little improvement bot not to much . My sps all most die but I can get them back usually but the colour and grow suck

My tank is around 40g total
Lighting is 2xr15 g4 pros with 2 t5 blue plus
Po4 0
No3 1
Alk 7.2
Cal440
Mg1350
Ph at high is 8.06 and low is 7.8 at night
Small refugium with cheato
4 small fish
And just added auto water change to it a day ago
Only thing I dose is phyto and just started some amino acids at 1 ml a day . I don’t have any bad algae at all but my thinking is my corals are starving but worries about adding to much stuff

I would try brining po4 down as it has an effect of calcium and alk absorption in water. Calcium will bind to it. Then bring alk up. Seems a little low. Should bring you’re ph up with it as alk rises.

 

[mdb_talon]

I would try brining po4 down as it has an effect of calcium and alk absorption in water. Calcium will bind to it. Then bring alk up. Seems a little low. Should bring you’re ph up with it as alk rises.

He states po4 is always zero even with dosing. Assuming he is using a valid low range test kit an excess of po4 is not an issue, but a deficit very well may be the issue.

 

[Kfactor]

He states po4 is always zero even with dosing. Assuming he is using a valid low range test kit an excess of po4 is not an issue, but a deficit very well may be the issue.

I use the Hanna phosphorus ulr and got a redsea test kit to double check it and both were zero .

 

[mdb_talon]

If your are confident your po4 is effectively zero it sounds to me like you really need to bump up what you dose and/or add more food/phyto/etc. If it is sitting at zero for a prolonged period that certainly will negatively impact your coral. As someone who been around for awhile and spent most of my time in the hobby looking for ways to eliminate po4 that hurt a bit to say lol. However new methods, equipment, and knowledge seem to increasingly necessitate the dosing of evil phosphate/nitrate so i get it.

 

[1guydude]

I am old school. Its funny the poster posts alk of 7.2 and you all say raise your phosphates ...
D

 

[1guydude]

Your tank will produce phyto naturally as it needs it. The phophates will come fron your 3 feedings daily. Dont think your tanks dont have phosphates in them. Lol.
Raise your alk to 8.5 or 9. Hold it their. Check your salinity. Have it double checked.
D

 

[Gold3nboi]

How big of chateo do you have, what is the rate it's growing at also how much are you harvesting and how long is the light period you have it at. What can be happening is the chateo is draining most of the phosphate.

 

[Kfactor]

How big of chateo do you have, what is the rate it's growing at also how much are you harvesting and how long is the light period you have it at. What can be happening is the chateo is draining most of the phosphate.

I just set it up 2 weeks ago after my turf scrubber gave out and was getting a bit of algae so I hooked up the refugium. I haven’t harvested it get but is growing pretty fast with 12 hours on was trying to get my ph a little more stable at night

 

[Kfactor]

I was wondering can you have to much bio media? When i started the I used a lot of the seachem matrixs media with some rubble rock as well

 

[Kfactor]

I’m also getting what I think k is cyano now