Corals not thriving

[bubblefish22]

Hello, my tank is a 55 gallon and 8 weeks old now.

Substrate used from 1 year old tank and added live sand on top when started 8 weeks ago. Live rock and dried coral.
At 3 weeks ammonia was zero nitrite was zero and started making nitrate so I put live stock one at a time slowly (4 fish, 1 fire shrimp, 3 snails, 2 hermit crabs).

At 6 weeks bought some corals frogspawn and hammerhead, and Zoa they are small.

Last week, Week 7 brown algae started appearing a lot! I have done 2 10% WC and then a 50% WC to fix calcium and nitrate levels

My fish are happy and eating but my corals are not thriving and now water is clouding up. Frogspawn and hammer come out some when lights come on in morning and then retract during the day. Zoa will not open back up since WCs.

Levels are
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20-40ppm
Phosphate .25
Calcium 460
KH 11dKH

Any advice?? Thanks

 

[Formulator]

Parameters look fine. Alk and calcium are a bit higher than I would recommend in a new tank, but that’s not going to bother your corals. You may have some issues with abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate though, which I suspect is where the cloudy water is coming from. Shoot for the 8-9 dKH range for alkalinity and 400-430 ppm calcium in a young tank. No need to adjust now, just let it fall naturally and then strive for stability at that lower target.

In general it is a bit soon to be adding corals. Your biome is very young and immature, so there is not a whole lot of nutrition for corals. That said, I understand its hard to resist and I rushed into it myself when I started many years ago.

What is your lighting and flow situation?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Pictures???

 

[vetteguy53081]

What is age of tank and how are you testing your parameters?

 

[bubblefish22]

Parameters look fine. Alk and calcium are a bit higher than I would recommend in a new tank, but that’s not going to bother your corals. You may have some issues with abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate though, which I suspect is where the cloudy water is coming from. Shoot for the 8-9 dKH range for alkalinity and 400-430 ppm calcium in a young tank. No need to adjust now, just let it fall naturally and then strive for stability at that lower target.

In general it is a bit soon to be adding corals. Your biome is very young and immature, so there is not a whole lot of nutrition for corals. That said, I understand its hard to resist and I rushed into it myself when I started many years ago.

What is your lighting and flow situation?

Two wave makers 480GPH upper left and one lower right. This is my light details.

 

[bubblefish22]

Could this guy be eating my corals and making them retract?

 

[bubblefish22]

Pictures???

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What type of light is it, is it the nicrew 20 watt? That is no where near strong enough for your size tank.

What is the nitrate and phosphate level? Zoa's like nutrients in the water and your tank looks very clean at this stage

 

[bobnicaragua]

3 snails is not enough on a 55 gal tank. Keep adding more clean up crew.

Running lower nutrients while your tank is still so young should help minimize algae problems. I would not let them get any higher.

I can’t say for sure on the cloudy tank. It could be a bacteria bloom. I mostly ever see that after over feeding.

 

[Matt Bravo]

I think you missed mag, ime frogspawn and hammers are pretty reliant on a steady mag level

 

[bubblefish22]

What type of light is it, is it the nicrew 20 watt? That is no where near strong enough for your size tank.

What is the nitrate and phosphate level? Zoa's like nutrients in the water and your tank looks very clean at this stage

My nitrates are high and phosphate is .25. Diatoms are going crazy over my rocks. I added 16 oz bottle of copepods two days ago hoping they will help. Can’t seem to get nitrates down at the moment.

 

[bubblefish22]

My nitrates are high and phosphate is .25. Diatoms are going crazy over my rocks. I added 16 oz bottle of copepods two days ago hoping they will help. Can’t seem to get nitrates down at the moment.

Nicrew 36 watt

 

[Formulator]

Two wave makers 480GPH upper left and one lower right. This is my light details.

Your corals are starved for light. End of story, problem solved LOL. You need to double your PAR for most corals and even more than that if you ever intend to keep SPS.

 

[Formulator]

I can’t say for sure on the cloudy tank.

Cloudiness is likely precipitation of calcium carbonate because the Alk and Calcium are way too high for a new tank. I almost guarantee it…. Separate issue though and I don’t think related to the coral health.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Nicrew 36 watt

You need the 150 watt on that tank if you want corals.

 

[bubblefish22]

Your corals are starved for light. End of story, problem solved LOL. You need to double your PAR for most corals and even more than that if you ever intend to keep SPS.

Thank you I was not familiar with light preferences, learning something new every day in this hobby.

 

[Formulator]

Thank you I was not familiar with light preferences, learning something new every day in this hobby.

Keep that attitude and you’ll become an excellent reefer, my friend. The wealth of knowledge around this place is astounding. I learn something new almost daily and I’ve been doing this for almost 10 years now.

 

[Spare time]

You need a better phosphate test.