RBReefer
New Member
Hello all,
I have had a 45 gal tank up for about 6 months. It cycled no problem. Over a few months I added some fish, shrimp, hermit crabs and snails. With the exception of some hermit crabs all of these are doing great. I have a homemade 20 gal sump with sock and bubble magnus skimmer. I have started adding some corals and rock anemones. The rock anenomes have been in for a month and seem ok. They are smaller than when I bought them but have good color. I do try and feed them but they do not seem that interested. I have 3 small mushrooms that also have good color but are not growing. The real issue is when I tried to add a zoanthid frag, GSP frag, small Kenya Tree and a small cluster of Pulsing Xenia. I did this over a 3 week period. Within 24 hours all of these completely closed up and can not be seen. The only exception is the Kenya Tree which just shrunk but is still there and a few tiny GSP polyps that can barely be seen. I will list my levels below. I tested Nitrate with a Hannah low range tester because I wanted to confirm what I was seeing on the API test. I do 10-15 % water changes weekly which I know is not helping low nitrates but I am afraid to stop because of my planted freshwater tank success for years. I do add some coral foods and phytoplankton every other day or so. I have no real algae issues except a coating of brown algae on glass that I need to clean once or twice a week. I also never really had the “ugly” stage when cycling. I am also not seeing any coralline algae growth, Lastly I have (2) 95 Watt Smatfarm lights set close to the default LPS setting that came with them and adjusted to some recommendations I saw on another thread. Is it possible that low nitrates could effect these corals so fast or am I missing something else it could be? If it wasn’t for how great my fish are doing I think i would be really frustrated.
Nitrates 0. (Initially had 5 after cycle)
Phosphates 0 (Hannah tester on the way to confirm)
Ammonia/Nitrites 0 (had ammonia during cycle but never saw nitrites)
PH 8.0
Magnesium 1400
DKH 8
Calcium 400
Salinty 1.024-1.025
I have had a 45 gal tank up for about 6 months. It cycled no problem. Over a few months I added some fish, shrimp, hermit crabs and snails. With the exception of some hermit crabs all of these are doing great. I have a homemade 20 gal sump with sock and bubble magnus skimmer. I have started adding some corals and rock anemones. The rock anenomes have been in for a month and seem ok. They are smaller than when I bought them but have good color. I do try and feed them but they do not seem that interested. I have 3 small mushrooms that also have good color but are not growing. The real issue is when I tried to add a zoanthid frag, GSP frag, small Kenya Tree and a small cluster of Pulsing Xenia. I did this over a 3 week period. Within 24 hours all of these completely closed up and can not be seen. The only exception is the Kenya Tree which just shrunk but is still there and a few tiny GSP polyps that can barely be seen. I will list my levels below. I tested Nitrate with a Hannah low range tester because I wanted to confirm what I was seeing on the API test. I do 10-15 % water changes weekly which I know is not helping low nitrates but I am afraid to stop because of my planted freshwater tank success for years. I do add some coral foods and phytoplankton every other day or so. I have no real algae issues except a coating of brown algae on glass that I need to clean once or twice a week. I also never really had the “ugly” stage when cycling. I am also not seeing any coralline algae growth, Lastly I have (2) 95 Watt Smatfarm lights set close to the default LPS setting that came with them and adjusted to some recommendations I saw on another thread. Is it possible that low nitrates could effect these corals so fast or am I missing something else it could be? If it wasn’t for how great my fish are doing I think i would be really frustrated.
Nitrates 0. (Initially had 5 after cycle)
Phosphates 0 (Hannah tester on the way to confirm)
Ammonia/Nitrites 0 (had ammonia during cycle but never saw nitrites)
PH 8.0
Magnesium 1400
DKH 8
Calcium 400
Salinty 1.024-1.025
