Pristine water, unhappy tank?

[haleyf1024]

I have pretty much perfect water quality, bit my corals aren't looking so good. My birdsnest used to open up much more, and my Carribean rose corals haven't opened, and actually dying, ever since I got my water quality in check. My monti is aldo not looking too hot. Why is this happening? Parameters:
Ca: 420 (raised to 440 today, but it is always on the low side, even when the corals were their happiest.)
Mg: 1400
KH: 10.5
pH: 8.2 (always has been)
Phosphate: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
SG: 1.026-1.027 (always has been on the higher side)

 

[zwulfke]

how are you measuring salinity do you have a refractomitor ?

 

[143MPCo]

Some things to consider and check....

Have you made and recent changes, new salt, new or old lights either replaced and needing to be, different type of additives like two part etc. anything?
Is the tank grounded, have you check for stray voltage etc.
Closing examine your corals for any signs for predation, redbug, etc.

Sorry but the more info you give use the better we can try to find out what might be happening, lets get some others recommendations [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG] .

 

[haleyf1024]

The tank is months old, and I watch every night for about an hour to watch for any pests. Unless bristle or spaghetti worms could do this all of a sudden, as they have always been in there, there are no pests. No new changes, I'm using the same water and additives. Lights (T5) are only from feb. 2015 so I doubt they need changed, they aren't dimming yet. The tank is grounded.

 

[haleyf1024]

how are you measuring salinity do you have a refractomitor ?

Yep, using a refractometer to check salinity, always checked with RO water.

 

[fishroomlady]

do you run carbon?

 

[haleyf1024]

do you run carbon?

Yep, always have and change it regularly.

 

[4FordFamily]

The tank is months old, and I watch every night for about an hour to watch for any pests. Unless bristle or spaghetti worms could do this all of a sudden, as they have always been in there, there are no pests. No new changes, I'm using the same water and additives. Lights (T5) are only from feb. 2015 so I doubt they need changed, they aren't dimming yet. The tank is grounded.

how many months old?

Oftentimes what causes issues for corals (and even fish) are the swings in parameters. Larger, and more importantly older, more established tanks see far fewer swings in parameters. Many coral can adapt to less than stellar parameters, but when they swing this is significantly more problematic.

 

[haleyf1024]

The system has been running since very early october 2014. I never had any swings in params at all, I measured daily. I used live rock, live sand, and live water, which is probably why I never had a cycle. I added coral and fish within the first few weeks of set up and never had any loss, illness, or bad looking coral until now, over 8 months later. But, there still isn't a swing in params that I'm seeing, and all have always been 100% stable.

 

[haleyf1024]

Forgot to mention that all fish are doing great, all are fat and happy. No illness in the tank at all.

 

[Pete polyp]

I think your water is too clean. I know from experience that corals can and will die with no nitrate. How often are you feeding and how heavy of a fish load do you have?

 

[haleyf1024]

5 fish in a 110 (purple tang, valentini puffer, marine betta and 2 clowns.) I feed at least once a day, usually 2-3 times and there is always food left over, but my CUC is really good at their job. Are you saying my tank needs more fish? I would need to QT them and that takes weeks (I will not use copper to speed it up)...

 

[nelson.jdautobody]

I will second the notion that your water is TOO clean. I had the same problem (and still do at times). When ur first set up there is usually a higher amount of nitrates and phosphates and this seems to do well for Lps and softies but not so much with sps corals-then after a while of adding this and that and dosing this and that next thing you know your water is super clean but the corals close up and some even die off. And because you don't have a "established" aquarium where the rock and sand an everything in the tank have cultured and grown things that your fish and corals eat they are left with just super clean water and only the food u put in daily. I would just simply put more fish In the tank and leave everything else alone for now and see if you can get some more nitrates and phosphates in the tank (obviously not a lot...but some for sure). I worry when my water gets too clean

 

[haleyf1024]

I have never had any ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, or ammonia in the system, ever, which is why I'm wondering why it took until now to have negative effects. My rock is pretty established, I have an insane amount of pods that are completely stable, increasing if anything. I have tunicates growing like wild fire on some rocks, and some macro algae growing on a few pieces of the Florida live rock. The sand has all the worms living in it, and pods that bury in the sand. Everything but those few corals are great, zoas are multiplying and so is GSP and shrooms look amazing. I guess I will try getting a few more fish. Other than copper, what meds can I use that are safe to speed up QT?

 

[Scubabum]

haleyf1024 Currently I am in the same situation as you. My water parameters are spot on and have been for months. My tank however is 15 years old. I'm having so many problems with Duncans, Torch and hammer coral frags. They look great for about a week then slowly retract and I have lost about 6 frags in the last few months. At first I thought it might be light shock. I have a 6 bulb ati sunpower at about 14 inches off the water and I place all frags on the bottom. As others have suggested maybe our water is too clean. Doesn't make sense as other established coral are doing fine in my tank. I'll be following your thread and hopefully we can figure this out. Thanks for posting.

 

[haleyf1024]

Glad that others have had the same issue. I'm only 17, so my mom is the one I have been telling that we need more fish. She insists that we are already overstocked, so thank you guys for verifying my original thought. Now I have some ammo to get that wrasse I have been eyeballing at the LFS...

 

[acolotto]

If your nitrates and phosphates are truly 0, that is your issue. You want to keep them low but not 0 low. Keeping them at 0 will starve your corals of essential building blocks. But you do not want to keep them to high as well. What I shoot for in my tank is less then 1 nitrate and keep my phosphates at around .03. I have seen great colors and growth in this range. This works for me may not for you, but id suggest feeding a little heavy over the next week and see if you see any changes. The whole established aquarium doesn't matter, everytime i upgrade i start with new water, new sand, new rock, old coral, fish, rocks and everything does fine (actually better all my corals take off after an upgrade). The world established is misused IMO, what you want to get is a STABLE tank. Once you find your sweet spot of nutrient level and parameters, everyone's levels are going to be different, you will then want to worry about just keeping the levels stable and if you can do that, you will see the poylp extension, color, growth that you like.

 

[acolotto]

Also what type of test are you using to get your readings?

 

[haleyf1024]

Makes sense. I use both red sea testing kits and red sea supplements. And a few API tests, but those are just for double checking.

 

[acolotto]

Red Sea have great test kits so you should be good there. But if I was you id invest in a Hanna Phosphate Checker, it will give you the most accurate phosphate readings, as well as being able to tell when its at 0 or 0.2, and it does it for you! Its a lot easier then comparing colors. If it was me id get this before adding more fish, youd be able to see the impact of more feeding or adding a fish has on your system, accurately too