Is it me or my tank

[Streetlamp]

I have a ~39gal AIO tank, Aquanano 80. Its not far off its second birthday. I keep param stable.
Sal - 1.025
KH - 8.2
Cal - 410
Nitrate - 10
Phos - .1

My problem is I cannot keep stony coral LPS or SPS. The lps slowly recede (sometimes over months) and bailout while still looking healthy. This has happened duncans, torch, hammer, candy cane. Th only LPS lasting is a single blasto head. However in nearly a year i hasn't grown any new heads.

My softies are big and healthy. However my shrooms are big and moving but don't split. Coraline grows well too.

I run a read sea 90 at 45% blue 30% white. Tank dims 80*40*45cm deep.

Is this this tank only capable of softies or am I am missing something.

I would have thought easy lps would be possible. I'm not chsing acro's.

This is the filtration setup

b8abc658-563e-42bd-ad48-bf6c96ab412a by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158173144@N02/,

The sponges have been removed with live rock added in there. the cartiridges have been replaced with carbon and phosphate remover media bags.

 

[BoneDoc]

Is your salinity really 1.05??

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Check that salinity#

Have you mapped your par under that lamp?

 

[Streetlamp]

Is your salinity really 1.05??

No typo, 1.025. Corrected in original post

Check that salinity#

Have you mapped your par under that lamp?

No do you suspect too high or low?

 

[SPR1968]

What’s the magnesium level as that’s a vital part of the reef chemistry?

A good target is around 1350

 

[eag]

What are you using to measure salinity and how do you calibrate it? Polyp bailout is surprising

 

[MONTANTK]

What kind of lighting are you using? What are your magnesium and calcium numbers like? If magnesium gets too low it can cause stony corals to die and/or polyp bail out

 

[Dkmoo]

pH level? Long term deterioration of stony corals while softies are doing OK is actually a very common symptom of low pH levels due to the way low pH effects the formation of Calcium carbonate (the bones of LPS), which in turn make the stony coral weak and brittle and generally unhealthy.

There may be other causes for your tank problem, but of you have low pH, it will definitely lead to the type of issue you described.

 

[BoneDoc]

Check pH and Mg. When I doubt try sending ICP and that will completely rule out parameters on the reason for the decline

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

No typo, 1.025. Corrected in original post

No do you suspect too high or low?

I would suspect high but not counting out other factors.

 

[Streetlamp]

I don’t have a ph reading. I always thought once kh was stable oh was too by default. Mag is around 1350

 

[blaxsun]

Just out of curiosity... have you checked your PAR levels? What we may think they are and what they actually are at various depths in the tank are often two very different things.

 

[Dkmoo]

I don’t have a ph reading. I always thought once kh was stable oh was too by default. Mag is around 1350

There are other factors influencing pH. Most common is co2 concentration which can significantly lower pH.

 

[Streetlamp]

I would say I have good surface agitation so that should avoid co2 concentration right? I’ll try get a sample tested in my LFs at the weekend inc ph

 

[Dkmoo]

I would say I have good surface agitation so that should avoid co2 concentration right? I’ll try get a sample tested in my LFs at the weekend inc ph

That only works if your ambient air is not high in CO2. Oftentimes thats the problem, homes are too "energy efficient" and sealed and windows closed that its your living room that has the high co2 thats making the tank have high CO2.

 

[eag]

I would be very surprised to learn that your problem is related to pH.

You have not mentioned flow, but tissue recession and polyp bailout can happen to lps (including the ones you mention) in high flow.

I have also personally experienced similar problems due to major salinity issues resulting from refractometer problems. If I were you, these are the first two places I'd look. It feels off to declare that a specific tank can't possibly sustain LPS/SPS even if the aquarist wanted it to ... It must be something correctable, but you may also find in the long run that your softies don't appreciate the corrections needed to support LPS/SPS

 

[eag]

You talked about what happens to LPS placed in the tank, and you also mentioned that the tank cannot sustain SPS ... What happens to the SPS you put in the tank?

 

[MichaelReefer]

I don’t have a ph reading. I always thought once kh was stable oh was too by default. Mag is around 1350

Nope, def check your PH. I keep mine from 8.2-8.3

 

[landlubber]

the responses are already all over the map so i won't touch on instructions of any kind but do wonder if the numbers you supplied are similar to the numbers from the previous month... and the month before that... and before that?
stability is what i'm getting at. its not uncommon to have people post perfect parameters around here but if those numbers are rolling around every week the corals never get a chance to settle and slowly die off.

 

[eag]

Nope, def check your PH.

It is worth checking, but I've never seen tissue recession and polyp bailout from low pH. A pH of ~7.7 is the generally accepted minimum "safe" pH. Test it in early morning before the lights come on when pH is generally at it's lowest. Some tanks swing as much as 0.4pH throughout the course of the day.