I need help with coral problems

[Jacob2]

I have a 45 gallon reef tank and my coral never does very well and I just can't figure it out.My nitrite and nitrate never goes above twenty, my salinity is at 1.023, and my calcium is at 500 a little high I know but dont know if it would affect it that bad.My p.h and everything else is fine.I got metal halides and leds going 10 hours a day and I give them fuel, coral vite, and coral accel.Please! Does anyone have any advice?

 

[afamousjohnson]

What issues are you having? And on what corals?

 

[afamousjohnson]

How long has the tank been up?

 

[Defect]

I see you said your nitrite and nitrate never go above 20. You should have 0 nitrites. Also the two questions posted above me are a great place to start for people to help.

 

[NobleSun27]

Well I would first like to say that coral likes the salinity a little higher so shoot for 1.025 and second thing if you are picking up nitrites then that's not good ( you are over stocked or under filtered, you need more bio filtration, add more live rock) also you don't want to pick any nitrates either even though it is a lot less toxic to fish and coral than ammonia and nitrite, corals still don't like it and traceable levels. I have a 75 gallon mixed reef and my nitrates and phosphate levels are untraceable and my corals are happy. So look into more live rock or taking some fish out or you might need clean your sump more often. Just get that bio filtration up and I bet you will have more success. Good Luck.

 

[Jacob2]

Mostly zoas and brain and mushrooms.I got a wrasse, a goby, a clown and a purple reef lobster.ill keep that higher salinity in mind and getting those n itrites down to zero.My tank has been up for almost a year now I think.

 

[Jacob2]

And my issues are my brains starting to look boney and I have a candy cane trumpet that is also doing the same

 

[Mike in CT]

Everything noblesun said plus maybe more water changes to get your nitrates down. (Maybe even check out carbon dosing if your nitrates are stubborn)

 

[Waters]

As everyone else stated, if you are showing any nitrites, than that is your issue. Nitrates can be reduced with water changes but you need to figure out why you are showing nitrites....which should never be measurable in an established tank.

 

[NobleSun27]

Well your not over stocked, do more water changes and add to your clean up crew, I would get some nassruis snails to stir up your sand bed and a couple hermits and some other snails, just boost your clean up crew. you probably have alot of detritus in you sand bed. I do a 10% water change every week which will also keep trace elements up and keep the corals happy. Most of your corals are easy to keep so doing some water changes will def help turn things around. Do you run a sump or refugium?