Every coral I buy dies...please help

[smh254]

Thats one thing that sucks is that the reef store near me uses API and another store won't even test my water they said :/ I will probably just have to buy new tests myself. I cycled the tank with bio spira and 1 clownfish (don't hate me). Had an initial ammonia spike and all that but everything was down within a few days.

You might Think about sending a water sample to Triton labs.
https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/t...el-of-32-elements-saltwater-reef-testing-kit/

 

[stevo01]

I have been using Red Sea coral pro since day 1. Its awesome!

 

[Eaj1001]

I have been using Red Sea coral pro since day 1. Its awesome!

Welcome to R2R, glad to have you!
You can have a ph of 8.2 and have low alk reading..alkalinity tells you you how much acid it will take to start dropping your ph.

 

[Jakepen]

imo your testing wrong.

365 calcium is wayyyy too low @ 1.026.
your dkh initially at 6 is adding to my theory.

im guessing you are closer to 1.018 or using junk salt. get a quality refractometer (red sea) and call it a day.

do not exceed 7 dkh if you have 0 nitrates. when you get the hang of things and get 5 nitrate you can go to 8.5-9.

when you get to 10 nitrate, a ton of light (1200+ par) then you can start playing in 10-12 alk land. by that time you wont be taking my advice.

my .02

Why don't exceed 7dkh with 0 nitrates?

 

[Russ265]

Why don't exceed 7dkh with 0 nitrates?

ime. 7 is around nsw. 0 nitrates is nsw (or close). going more is risky at best.

when you go beyond with low nitrates you risk tips with alk burn. little complex

 

[FatherPrime3]

imo your testing wrong.

365 calcium is wayyyy too low @ 1.026.
your dkh initially at 6 is adding to my theory.

im guessing you are closer to 1.018 or using junk salt. get a quality refractometer (red sea) and call it a day.

do not exceed 7 dkh if you have 0 nitrates. when you get the hang of things and get 5 nitrate you can go to 8.5-9.

when you get to 10 nitrate, a ton of light (1200+ par) then you can start playing in 10-12 alk land. by that time you wont be taking my advice.

my .02

I just retested my nitrate and this time it was between 10-15 ppm. I was not shaking the API bottle hard enough the other times I don't think. Could nitrates be a big factor?

 

[Russ265]

I just retested my nitrate and this time it was between 10-15 ppm. I was not shaking the API bottle hard enough the other times I don't think. Could nitrates be a big factor?

so you are experiencing why a lot of aquarists kind of shun api kits.

ime, the nitrate kit is dependent on shaking and gets more out of whack the longer you use it.

 

[samba_dad]

Nitrates could be an issue for more difficult corals (e.g. Acro), but not GSP and zoas. If you have high Alk {>9) then you must keep nitrates measurable or slightly higher - exactly what Russ was saying. Corals die with high Alk and no or very low nitrates. The high Alk tends to promote duller coloration but higher growth rates according to Red Sea. When there are no nitrates and/or phosphates to accompany the faster growth rates the corals starve and die.

I don't understand why you are having problems if you are using RO/DI water and a quality salt and mixing to 34-35 ppt/1.025 (at 78 deg). I would not add any other chemicals to your tank - no Alk, cal or Mg - with only having 1 or 2 corals. What salt are you using? It should be a popular name brand of some sort (reef crystals, Red Sea coral pro, tropic Marin, etc). Regular water changes should be all you need to keep these first few corals alive and happy. Only when you get a bunch of corals where you measure daily drops in Alk should you have to start adding Alk, cal & mg outside of just weekly water changes. Watch some YouTube videos from brstv regarding dosing after you get 5-6 frags looking healthy.

Next we should consider toxins of some sort. Have you ever added copper to treat fish disease in the tank? Copper is toxic to corals at medication dosage levels for fish. Any insecticides sprayed anywhere around the tank?

Outside of water chemistry, you could have flow and lighting issues. Do not blast zoas with direct flow (I.e pointing a power head directly at them). You should see them swaying very gently in the water. They will close and then die if the flow is too great. GSP is largely considered a "weed" coral to a lot of folks - including me where it is over growing some other corals. It should grow quite easily under a range of flow. I would not directly blast water at them though. Neither of these corals like super bright light. New hobbyists have a tendency to put too much light on corals. I would put any new corals down on the sand bed until they seem to be happy and then find the right placement for them long term by reading - I like the vividaquariums.com placement recommendations as a guide.

I am unfamiliar with your lights. If they are adjustable LEDs, you could try dialing them to 30-40% for now.

I would start by doing a series of 4 weekly 30% water changes with your RO/DI and quality salt. Don't add anything else to the water besides fish food. After that try another zoa or maybe a small leather or mushroom. Put them at the bottom of the tank on the sandbed and see if you can keep them happy. None of these corals like high flow or lights - look for very gentle swaying. I'll upload a video later showing you what gentle swaying looks like for GSP, zoas, and a mushroom. Keep us posted on your progress and good luck!

 

[Wicked5oh]

what percent are your lights at? If your buying frags from petco they most likely use T5 lights. You need to acclimate the corals to your led's.

I started low, and am
Now at 100% blue and about 50-60% whites. I mainly buy corals frags from the same person who uses high intensity LED's so I no longer worry about acclimating the ones I get from him. Hope this helps .

 

[Russ265]

i wouldnt go down the lighting rabbit hole. admittedly he has corrected some water params. we dont know how accurate the readings are either.

id do a 50% wc and observe.

 

[malira]

He has something drastically wrong to have corals die so quickly. Something in the water or with acclimation.

What do you know about the tank you have, the rock you bought, the sand, and the salt you are using?

 

[FatherPrime3]

Nitrates could be an issue for more difficult corals (e.g. Acro), but not GSP and zoas. If you have high Alk {>9) then you must keep nitrates measurable or slightly higher - exactly what Russ was saying. Corals die with high Alk and no or very low nitrates. The high Alk tends to promote duller coloration but higher growth rates according to Red Sea. When there are no nitrates and/or phosphates to accompany the faster growth rates the corals starve and die.

I don't understand why you are having problems if you are using RO/DI water and a quality salt and mixing to 34-35 ppt/1.025 (at 78 deg). I would not add any other chemicals to your tank - no Alk, cal or Mg - with only having 1 or 2 corals. What salt are you using? It should be a popular name brand of some sort (reef crystals, Red Sea coral pro, tropic Marin, etc). Regular water changes should be all you need to keep these first few corals alive and happy. Only when you get a bunch of corals where you measure daily drops in Alk should you have to start adding Alk, cal & mg outside of just weekly water changes. Watch some YouTube videos from brstv regarding dosing after you get 5-6 frags looking healthy.

Next we should consider toxins of some sort. Have you ever added copper to treat fish disease in the tank? Copper is toxic to corals at medication dosage levels for fish. Any insecticides sprayed anywhere around the tank?

Outside of water chemistry, you could have flow and lighting issues. Do not blast zoas with direct flow (I.e pointing a power head directly at them). You should see them swaying very gently in the water. They will close and then die if the flow is too great. GSP is largely considered a "weed" coral to a lot of folks - including me where it is over growing some other corals. It should grow quite easily under a range of flow. I would not directly blast water at them though. Neither of these corals like super bright light. New hobbyists have a tendency to put too much light on corals. I would put any new corals down on the sand bed until they seem to be happy and then find the right placement for them long term by reading - I like the vividaquariums.com placement recommendations as a guide.

I am unfamiliar with your lights. If they are adjustable LEDs, you could try dialing them to 30-40% for now.

I would start by doing a series of 4 weekly 30% water changes with your RO/DI and quality salt. Don't add anything else to the water besides fish food. After that try another zoa or maybe a small leather or mushroom. Put them at the bottom of the tank on the sandbed and see if you can keep them happy. None of these corals like high flow or lights - look for very gentle swaying. I'll upload a video later showing you what gentle swaying looks like for GSP, zoas, and a mushroom. Keep us posted on your progress and good luck!

I'm using instant ocean salt, the purple top. As far as copper goes I have tested with Seachem's kit multiple times and it always comes up 0. I started this last frag on the bottom with low light and it began to open the first couple of days but then shriveled up. One of my test kits must be readin wrong or something because my levels seem to be fine.

 

[FatherPrime3]

He has something drastically wrong to have corals die so quickly. Something in the water or with acclimation.

What do you know about the tank you have, the rock you bought, the sand, and the salt you are using?

I got the tank from an old manager I worked for and he said he planned on using the tank for freshwater but never did anything with it. So it is used per se, but nothing was ever put in it. Rock and sand are from bulk reef supply, dry rock and fiji pink. Also using instant ocean salt.

 

[malira]

I'm using instant ocean salt, the purple top. As far as copper goes I have tested with Seachem's kit multiple times and it always comes up 0. I started this last frag on the bottom with low light and it began to open the first couple of days but then shriveled up. One of my test kits must be readin wrong or something because my levels seem to be fine.

Poor lighting will not kill your coral so fast. Too much light may put them into photoshock but that's not the case here.

 

[FatherPrime3]

Thanks for taking the time to try and help me guys, means a lot. I posted on another forum but it did not get near the attention this one is getting.

 

[samba_dad]

Here are some videos of the kind of motion I have in my tank for GSP, mushroom, paly(like a zoa), and a zoa under some excessive flow.



In this video I pointed my powerhead towards the zoa so you could see what happens when they get too much flow. They start to retract and close. Keep in mind I did this from the other end of the tank so it wasn't too strong, but strong enough where you could see how the coral starts to react in that situation.


This is how a poly (closely related to zoa) looks in normal flow.

 

[samba_dad]

The downside of just testing for copper is that the amount that is toxic to corals is immeasurable with test kits. Copper test kits are typically used to ensure the copper levels are therapeutic to fish under treatment for illness.

 

[samba_dad]

Have you put any copper meds in the tank yourself since you set it up? How about water from a fish store when purchasing a fish? A lot of fish stores will put copper in the fish tanks to treat or pretreat for ick.

 

[FatherPrime3]

Have you put any copper meds in the tank yourself since you set it up? How about water from a fish store when purchasing a fish? A lot of fish stores will put copper in the fish tanks to treat or pretreat for ick.

Nope nothing like that!

 

[Wicked5oh]

That's good to know! Never even thought about that.. Never even thought to ask.