LPS Coral Not Able to Grow

[Geoffrey Tan]

Hi, I have a 90G tank and I am trying to grow corals. The soft corals appear doing fine and growing. However I have hard time keeping LPS corals. Every time I added hard corals they seemed doing nothing, and then either struggled to open up or slowly died out.

I dose Calcium and Alkalinity daily.

I just got the ICP test back from ATI. There are no copper or tin in analysis. Below is the list of items that are off from the result (the rest in the report are good).

Can these off chart items the main reason for my hard corals to go south? Should I start dosing some of these elements? Any suggestion will be appreciated.

Tank Water Off Chart Items:

RO Water Off Chart Items:

And also some picture of my tank:

 

[KellyCorals]

So I’m not an expert on LPS corals but here’s my take on it based off what I do know. I think more than anything the iodine or lack of it could be a big part of the problem. The corals need iodine to open / grow / be happy and it’s probably one of most vital elements to dose IMO. You’ve got an awesome amount of coralline algae, and another thought is you could always dose “purple up” not because you need more coralline algae but because it’s a calcium and iodine supplement mixed. Did they test calcium levels? All the rest of those trace elements can be easily dosed and bought separate or as a all in one like “coral-vite” and will help I’m sure. Another thought is I see you have a canopy (your tank is very similar to mine I have a 90 drilled with a canopy top). What kind of lights are you running? Those zoas and mushrooms don’t require much light but LPS and SPS start needing higher par numbers. One thing I’ve also put on my tank recently was a Phosban reactor and from what I’ve read if silicates are entering the tank they your RO the phosphate reactor should take care of the silicates too.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Manually test and let us know what your numbers are as some of the ICP values seem wierd.
Assure there is nothing slimy, moldy in that orange bucket.
It could also be the salt mix- what salt do you use?

 

[Geoffrey Tan]

Thanks for the valuable input. My calcium is 423. And for the lighting it is a Fluval 48" 25,000K 59W strip. I am freaked out when I heard the term PAR for lighting. I tried to understand it but don't know how to measure it without spending money on measuring tool.

In terms of slime, I do have some red sime algae on the back wall. Some of the algae appear dark purple. The ATO bucket is quite clean inside. I used Red Sea Pro Reef salt for a long time.

I have been trying, but probably not hard enough in the past for keeping corals. I can see some light in the tunnel now.

Here are the complete display tank water analysis.

 

[Pistondog]

Thanks for the valuable input. My calcium is 423. And for the lighting it is a Fluval 48" 25,000K 59W strip. I am freaked out when I heard the term PAR for lighting. I tried to understand it but don't know how to measure it without spending money on measuring tool.

In terms of slime, I do have some red sime algae on the back wall. Some of the algae appear dark purple. The ATO bucket is quite clean inside. I used Red Sea Pro Reef salt for a long time.

I have been trying, but probably not hard enough in the past for keeping corals. I can see some light in the tunnel now.

Here are the complete display tank water analysis.

If you export chaeto, you are also removing some iodine.

 

[KellyCorals]

More than anything I think it is your light strip thats not providing enough PAR. You don’t necessarily need a par meter to get it right also. If you buy adjustable lights that are a little over powered you can always dial them back a little if the corals are bleaching and turn them up more if you don’t see them extending. I’d be happy to post a pic of my light setup so you can see what can be done under a canopy. Also if you only have those 2 power heads you might want to consider a Red Sea reef wave 45 like I did to increase flow. The wavemaker is strong enough to move water around the whole tank, I have mine turned down to 40% power. I’m really interested in getting my water tested like you did. How do you find that testing? What website? Good luck on your corals!

 

[Geoffrey Tan]

That's right. Iodine. I think that is the key. Does anyone has more advice for what product I can use for dosing iodine? Beside Iodine, ATI also said my tank need dose a few other minor trace elements ( Manganese / molybdenum / Vanadium).

My goal is to keep LPS at this time so I guess I just need some basic dosing. My major elements are good since I have already dosing Calcium and Alk. I think it is just the minor elements that I need to work on.

I ordered the ATI ICP test from Marine Depot website. With COVID, it appears to slowed them down a few days, but still got my result back in less then 3 weeks.

 

[ReefBeta]

I don't think iodine is your silver bullet. Looking at your system and test report, I think the cause is either too low of nutrient or unstable environment.

Your tank don't have much coral, is clean of algae, and have a thriving refugium. Nitrate reading is only 0.11 and phosphate at 0.03. Those are SPS tank level. LPS sometimes struggles in too clean of water, especially if it's from too little feeding.

Also LPS take long time to recover from unstabling events. Hard to tell what it could be. But if you're changing stuff, change it slowly. Just noticed your skimmer is skimming pretty wet, maybe a good idea to check salinity over time. That much saltwater being taken out might have non trivial affect on salinity.

 

[Uncle99]

Iodide, won’t hurt, good for softies, likely not the problem.
Your CA and ALK is fine based on the good coralline algae growth in your tank.
What kinds of corals you having trouble with?
Only see a paly and a shroom.....

 

[Geoffrey Tan]

This 90G tank was an upgrade from my nano a year ago. I did not do much in changing things around for the past few months. I scrub tank weekly and water get cloudy for a couple of hours. I change 10% water every 3 weeks and maybe a bit temperature change. The coral appears happier after water change, but only for a day or tow. The house is in constant A/C and tank temperature is around $77 day and night.

Maybe iodine is not the only issue. As my RO water from Walmart does has high Silicon reading (advised to add silicate remover).

I try to not overfeeding, but the overflow and backwall still has dark algae for some reason, probably due to silicate).

Here are some more pictures and how much I feed daily.

 

[Geoffrey Tan]

BTW, I have 11 small size clown, 2 parent clowns, and a tang.

 

[CCauthers]

Almost certain that your nitrates need to be raised, and your phosphates could be a little higher for LPS

 

[Geoffrey Tan]

Iodide, won’t hurt, good for softies, likely not the problem.
Your CA and ALK is fine based on the good coralline algae growth in your tank.
What kinds of corals you having trouble with?
Only see a paly and a shroom.....

The most recent batch I added 3 months ago to my tanks are three frags: Montipora, Cyphastrea, and a Favia. Right now only Cyphastrea is what's left and also struggling.

I will raise the nutrient level, and also start dosing some minor trace elements and iodine (still need to find out how and what product to use).