No Coral Growing Success

[Tetra1]

Why is it that I always see these beautiful tanks with wonderful corals? I have not been able at all to sucessfully grow anything except for one lonesome ricordea coral. I have tried three times now in doing it to no avail. I had a gorgeous toadstool and it only thrived for about six months and then went caput. What is my problem here? I have the powerheads, the lighting, the filters, the refugium, the skimmers, trace elements, and nothing. I think I am gonna give up on the dream and go the route of a planted saltwater tank with macroalgaes instead. Thoughts? Very frustrated.

P.S. - Never have a problem keeping fish alive *sigh* :violin:

 

[Pete polyp]

There are so many variables.... Lets start with a rundown of your system and parameters.

 

[Tetra1]

There are so many variables.... Lets start with a rundown of your system and parameters.

Parameters

Calcium - 400
Alkalinity - ?
Salinity - 1.029
Temperature - Has been fluctuating between 77 and 85 degrees faranheit
pH - 7.8
Ammonia - ?
Nitrate - 0.4
Nitrite - 0.4

I have been having troubles with cyanobacteria forming and loads of green hair algae. After scrubbing my rocks and treating everything with cyanobacteria killer I have noticed Red Macroalgae (Botryocladia) growing under the green hair algae. These were the reading taken about two weeks ago. I have since done two water changes and have not rechecked them. I know that I probably should have.

 

[Pete polyp]

Alkalinity is one of the most important parameters to keep in line IMO. Start testing and keep it within the 7-11 dkh range, 8-9 preferably.

The salinity is a bit elevated as well, try to bring it down to 1.025

Your temperature is all over the place. A temperature of 78-81 would be much better.

If there is any ammonia present it would cause the corals to die as well.

The algae problems you're experiencing are due to high phosphate levels. You will probably have to start using some sort of phosphate removing media. Short term I would suggest aluminum oxide to remove lots of phosphate quickly. Long term granular ferric oxide can be used to keep the levels low.

What is your source water?

 

[Reefing Madness]

Calcium- 380-420
Alk- 7-12dKH
Magnesium- 1250-1350
PH- 8-8.4
SG- 1.025-1.027
Temp 76-80
Ammonia and Nitrites- 0
Nitrates- Under 20
Phosphates- under .05
The trick is stable parameters. You don't want them jumping around by big numbers.

 

[Pete polyp]

I forgot I had this

 

[Tetra1]

Unfortunately, my source water is filtered well water, hence the reason I am upgrading tanks and my RO/DI unit will be here in a few weeks. I started the tank with premixed salt water from Dr. Fosters and Smith, then, unknowingly how bad well water is for tanks I had been topping off with that. That is when I noticed all of my problems. I did not know that even with a whole house filter my water was jeopardizing my tank. I learned that lesson a little too late. I had never had a tank with filtered well water before and I thought it would be fine.

 

[Pete polyp]

The rodi will definitely help.

 

[flynhawaiianz28]

Once you get that RO/DI in and have salt to mix you should be good to go. I say that because you can start doing water changes at least once to twice and week and that will help get most of the parameters back in line then. It isn't a cure all as there are plenty of other things to monitor but it is a good start.

 

[greaser9999]

U need to regulate ur parameters a lot better to get nice coloration & growth.
+1 on alkalinity, if ur alk swings it also affects ur ph. U shouldn't have nitrates or ammonia in ur tank unless it's new & cycling

 

[james30ct]

How long has the tank been set up? What filters are you using?

 

[greaser9999]

Tetra, I just read ur second post. Do not scrub ur rocks again, ur killing the live bacteria they have. If ur getting algae all over just keep doing water changes bi-weekly until u regulate everything. U should try n keep ur ph around 8.1, salinity at 1.029 is too high, need to lower it to 1.025-1.026. Cyanno is due to over feeding or not enough water flow in ur tank, high nutrients cause cyanno n that crap is hard to get rid of once it starts going

 

[Pete polyp]

Scrubbing the rocks won't harm any bacteria. What it will do is clean the surface and reopen pores.

 

[TrialandError]

There should be 0 nitrites. Some Nitrates is to be expected.

 

[Pete polyp]

There should be 0 nitrites. Some Nitrates is to be expected.

A little nitrite won't hurt anything, especially the level reported

 

[blufin]

Good points given so far.
Stability is very important for a successful tank. You will need to keep the temp from fluctuating more than about 2 degrees throughout the day/night. Alk is very important to keep stable, whether you choose to keep it at 8,9 or 10. Keep it stable. This will also effect your ph.
Water flow at the surface is important for gas exchange. Keep the surface turning as much as possible. If the surface of the water is smooth like glass, then there isn't enough flow.
The salinity is way too high.
There should be no nitrites in a cycled tank. It may be the die off that is causing the elevated 'trites.
Get your RO/DI straight and keep up with maintenance and things will come around.
Which ro/di unit did you go with? One made specifically for aquarium use or drinking water use?

 

[Reefing Madness]

A little nitrite won't hurt anything, especially the level reported

Right, but the Nitrite in the tank is tellin me something is wrong, because that usually follows Ammonia. So possibly a spike happened recently.

 

[Pete polyp]

Right, but the Nitrite in the tank is tellin me something is wrong, because that usually follows Ammonia. So possibly a spike happened recently.

Or the source water is providing a source of ammonia...

I do get what you're saying... I was just thinking about what a toxic level of nitrite. You're absolutely correct. Something is causing an excess of nutrients

 

[Pete polyp]

Actually source water wouldn't make sense either because it would be a constant supply...

 

[Tetra1]

Good points given so far.
Stability is very important for a successful tank. You will need to keep the temp from fluctuating more than about 2 degrees throughout the day/night. Alk is very important to keep stable, whether you choose to keep it at 8,9 or 10. Keep it stable. This will also effect your ph.
Water flow at the surface is important for gas exchange. Keep the surface turning as much as possible. If the surface of the water is smooth like glass, then there isn't enough flow.
The salinity is way too high.
There should be no nitrites in a cycled tank. It may be the die off that is causing the elevated 'trites.
Get your RO/DI straight and keep up with maintenance and things will come around.
Which ro/di unit did you go with? One made specifically for aquarium use or drinking water use?

When I reported parameters I had a peppermint shrimp and hermit crab die and I could not find them for days, then I did, and took them out. I bought one of the portable ro/di units from amazon.com made by purewaterclub mainly because it was cost effective and being that we camp out a lot we can take it with us. My temperature flux is mainly due to the very hot days we have here in Michigan and the much cooler nights. Unfortunately, my heater is set at about 77 degrees it still goes way up or way down. We do not have air conditioning where we live so everything is outside temperature relative. My water flow was fine, I have a koralia powerhead, an external hob filter in addition to the filter that is already built into the tank. I also have my hob fuge. I know my salinity is high, I have been diligent in getting it down, after weeks of water changes it is finally sitting at about 1.024. I do have a dead area in my tank and I do believe that may be causing some of my havoc. I am upgrading my tank and I have an internal filter system that should help my new tank out in addition to several powerheads and etc. I am hoping to get everything set up here in the next several weeks.