Corals not thriving... advice

[Thespammailaccount]

May want to do a bit more researching regarding higher alk. My understanding, tanks with higher alk tend to run higher nutrients as well. Tanks with lower nutrients may not fair so well. Everything is a balancing act. Even light levels may need to be adjusted depending on the alk/nutrients in a tank. Just went through an episode on my tank with too low nutrients and sps stn'd. Corals stopped growing which caused alk to raise because of dosing(not spike as I caught it with my trident pretty quick), and burnt a bunch of tips along with everything else going on. Lowered my light intensity and upped the nutrient levels, and thankfully my corals are on the mend.

Yes higher alk will accelerate growth but like you said you have to have higher nutrients 15-20 nitrates or you will bleach and burn

 

[Musictoyourhome]

Corals do not look that bad. Your rock was not previously used was it?

No I got the rock new. Carib sea life rock.
the birds nest in the picture is gone....

 

[Thespammailaccount]

No I got the rock new. Carib sea life rock.
the birds nest in the picture is gone....

You said you added live rock to the sump was this ocean rock or LFS rock?

 

[Thespammailaccount]

One thing they do not tell you is that if you are new to the hobby start with live ocean rock

 

[Musictoyourhome]

You said you added live rock to the sump was this ocean rock or LFS rock?

That was from a trusted fish shop in Connecticut. Actually super old rock from a display of theirs.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Live rock or well established live rock makes this hobby so much easier and enjoyable

 

[Thespammailaccount]

That was from a trusted fish shop in Connecticut. Actually super old rock from a display of theirs.

Are you 100% certain they have never used copper in the tank this rock was in?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I would not consider your tank new at this point. Overall appearance and ICP get a mark of satisfactory. Make no drastic changes which will hurt more than help.
Look at the following:
- verify salinity ( should be 1.024-1.025)
- temperature 77-79.5
- moderate water flow
- sticking finger in water, no stray voltage
- lights not too bright with white intensity

ARE YOU USING TAP WATER FROM HOME OR RO WATER?

 

[Thespammailaccount]

That was from a trusted fish shop in Connecticut. Actually super old rock from a display of theirs.

Just makes me wonder super old established rock is like gold and hard to come by can generally only get it from old salt leaving the hobby

 

[Musictoyourhome]

Are you 100% certain they have never used copper in the tank this rock was in?

Yeah pretty sure. I’ve been having issues way before I added their rock. Only added about 6 pounds in July. The rest of my rock is from October 19.

 

[Musictoyourhome]

I would not consider your tank new at this point. Overall appearance and ICP get a mark of satisfactory. Make no drastic changes which will hurt more than help.
Look at the following:
- verify salinity ( should be 1.024-1.025)
- temperature 77-79.5
- moderate water flow
- sticking finger in water, no stray voltage
- lights not too bright with white intensity

ARE YOU USING TAP WATER FROM HOME OR RO WATER?

Hi
Yes using a brs 5 stage Ro/Di
Temp is around 78-79
Salinity is 1.026 using Milwaukee.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Hi
Yes using a brs 5 stage Ro/Di
Temp is around 78-79
Salinity is 1.026 using Milwaukee.

Does your city treat the water with chlorine or chloramines

 

[Musictoyourhome]

Does your city treat the water with chlorine or chloramines

Hmm that I have no clue.... is there a difference?

 

[FastandCurious]

I have a 10 month old Red Sea 350.
2x kessil 360 x
Nyos skimmer
Refugium
UV
About 13 fish
2x MP40
A few corals are doing great and some just slowly die or just hang on for months. Most lps and Zoas do well but sps just start going down hill after a few weeks. Parameters are
Phosphate 0.03
Nitrate 5–10 ppm
Salinity 1.026
Dkh 8.0
Cal 410-420
Had an icp everything was normal except a little high aluminum. Also
Par tested and the sps are placed in 250-300 par.
but even candy cane corals are just hanging on for 6 months like totally shrunk. Nothing really thrives or has great polyp extension.
Any thoughts. Want this tank to really take off....
Thanks in advance.

How often have u been doing your water changes? Sometimes too much or too little can stunt growth.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Hmm that I have no clue.... is there a difference?

Test your tap and your rodi product water for ammonia. If you get a positive reading your city treats the water with chloramine

 

[Musictoyourhome]

Test your tap and your rodi product water for ammonia. If you get a positive reading your city treats the water with chloramine

If I get ammonia what do I do?

 

[Musictoyourhome]

Test your tap and your rodi product water for ammonia. If you get a positive reading your city treats the water with chloramine

If I get ammonia what do I do

 

[Flux Capacitor]

If I get ammonia what do I do?

You would need to change your carbon blocks on the Rodi, there are some they are designed to handle clormaines.

Edit:

These ones:

BRS Universal Carbon Block Filter - 1 Micron

Why does BRS recommend this? We spent a ton of time researching and testing to find the best carbon block available while still being reasonable when it comes to price. There are other filters that work well however do not last as long. By simply just looking down the center of the carbon block...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Musictoyourhome]

How often have u been doing your water changes? Sometimes too much or too little can stunt growth.

Usually 10% every 2 weeks. Depending on nutrients. Sometimes they get to low

 

[Musictoyourhome]

You would need to change your carbon blocks on the Rodi, there are some they are designed to handle clormaines.

Edit:

These ones:

BRS Universal Carbon Block Filter - 1 Micron

Why does BRS recommend this? We spent a ton of time researching and testing to find the best carbon block available while still being reasonable when it comes to price. There are other filters that work well however do not last as long. By simply just looking down the center of the carbon block...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Thank you. I’ll check the ammonia!