Please help nothing is growing close to giving up

[Aaronsreef]

After a little advice nothing seems too be growing not even Coralline algae my tank has just hit 8 months.. I've lost a pretty much every lps I've brought . From torches to hammers only thing I can seem to keep alive is soft coral ..

Tank is 250 litre with sump .

Currently running two red sea 50w lights.(don't even ask connecting them to the WiFi.)

I have a skimmer /uv filter/carbon rector. (Uv and carbon Currently off )

Water levels are pretty stable and currently at :
Ph 8.0
Salt 1025
P04 0.015
Mag 1380
Cal 450
Alk 8.7
Nitrate 45.8 ( due a 10% water change what I do weekly.)

Use 0 tds ro water on a auto top up

Never had and algae issues tiny bit of dinos at the start but my clean up crew had it under control

Current live stock and clean up crew is ...

2 nemos (Marvin and hank) .
Midas blenny (pete)
Dory (dory)
Fox face (Frank)
Cleaning wrasse (sam)

7 turbo snails
2 emruled crabs
2 blue hermits
Cleaning shirm

About 5000 lph flow ..

Here's a few pics of the tank and lighting settings.

Happy new year !!! .
1

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is this a new/newer tank?
If so, can take months as you will be going through various chemistry changes, spikes and once stabilized you will begin to see coraline and such

 

[Woodyman]

How deep is that tank? I see your using the Red Sea Reef LED 50. I have the same light and Ive had great growth in my nano. However my nano is only 16 inches tall, with only ~14 inches of filled water. I run My lights at 80% looks like your only doing 50%.

Have you ever checked the par on your tank.

My guess is your not providing enough light from looking at the parameters you provided and your lighting, but it could be something else.

I would also try to get those nitrates lower.

 

[Jekyl]

Need to try and keep nitrates below 15. Around 5 is ideal.

 

[Fatmike92]

How deep is that tank? I see your using the Red Sea Reef LED 50. I have the same light and Ive had great growth in my nano. However my nano is only 16 inches tall, with only ~14 inches of filled water. I run My lights at 80% looks like your only doing 50%.

Have you ever checked the par on your tank.

My guess is your not providing enough light from looking at the parameters you provided and your lighting, but it could be something else.

I would also try to get those nitrates lower.

Yeah that’s what I was thinking too.

crank up that lighting intensity!

I run a different light but I’m around 30% at sunrise (730a) and build to around 80%-90% (10a-6p) back to 30%(8p)

 

[Woodyman]

How deep is that tank? I see your using the Red Sea Reef LED 50. I have the same light and Ive had great growth in my nano. However my nano is only 16 inches tall, with only ~14 inches of filled water. I run My lights at 80% looks like your only doing 50%.

Have you ever checked the par on your tank.

My guess is your not providing enough light from looking at the parameters you provided and your lighting, but it could be something else.

I would also try to get those nitrates lower.

On my 65 gallon that's 24" deep I have the Red Sea Reef LED 90s.

Check the link below for relative PAR numbers and depth. Your tank will vary because of rock work and what not, but it gives you an idea.

Lighting insights

In this video series we’ll explore all the lighting essentials, from understanding how light affects coral growth and coloration, the differences between PAR and PUR, to avoiding incorrect light settings and photoperiods.

www.redseafish.com

 

[Woodyman]

Once you go deeper than ~16 inches with those Reef LED 50s your not really getting enough PAR to support coral growth, but even at 16" you won't support anything more demanding than softies most likely.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Need to try and keep nitrates below 15. Around 5 is ideal.

I think that this is key, and especially in tanks which aren't yet mature. My stylocoeniella actually started to turn grey with readings in the fifties, a situation that was rectified only with Prime and frequent water changes.

 

[Aaronsreef]

Thanks for the comments guys.. the tank is currently 18 inches deep . All my LPS has been atlot higher on rock work never on the bed. .. I've put my lights up too 80%. And I'll work on nitrate.

 

[Jekyl]

Thanks for the comments guys.. the tank is currently 18 inches deep . All my LPS has been atlot higher on rock work never on the bed. .. I've put my lights up too 80%. And I'll work on nitrate.

Make that change in lighting slowly. Maybe 5% every week or so. You won't even see the effects in the coral until 2 or 3 weeks after a change is made. Go slowly. 5% a week and larger water changes. If you want you can even do 30% water changes every 4 days.

 

[Jekyl]

Another question. Are you running chaeto or macro algae in your sump? What is the lighting schedule? How is the growth?

 

[Woodyman]

Thanks for the comments guys.. the tank is currently 18 inches deep . All my LPS has been atlot higher on rock work never on the bed. .. I've put my lights up too 80%. And I'll work on nitrate.

Keep in mind those PAR measurements on the red sea are at 100% for blue and white. So if your running at 80% blue and 10% white you will have to do some math to get ballpark numbers.

Set the lights to where you want them and use the acclimation mode within the Red Sea app then it will automatically adjust the lights up over the timeframe you choose.

 

[Aaronsreef]

Another question. Are you running chaeto or macro algae in your sump? What is the lighting schedule? How is the growth?

No chaeto or aglae in the sump

 

[Woodyman]

Thanks for the comments guys.. the tank is currently 18 inches deep . All my LPS has been atlot higher on rock work never on the bed. .. I've put my lights up too 80%. And I'll work on nitrate.

I'd say you need to run at 100% eventually depending on how you fill out the tank, and what types of corals you purchase. At max settings your going to be getting ~100 par at your 18", and ~200-250 at 9" just using the provided ballpark figures. At 80% you'll be getting ~80 @ 18" and ~160-200 @ 9". Keep in mind depending on your scape it will shade areas as well, this will also vary slightly as you are running 2 not just 1.