Question about pavona And lps

[lilfish717]

OK so this is involving both lps and sps do I'm going to post on both subs. I am new to this hobby. My first and currently only 2 corals are pavona and a favite. I've had them about a month. I also have 4 hermits a clown and a cleaner wrasse. Both corals were fine in the beginning. About 4 nights later the favite had his tentacles out and I hand fed him brine shrimp EVERY night. I noticed he was growing and everything. The pavona never ever had his tentacles out or everything about 1-1/2 weeks ago he started browning out. And got worse by the day. So after about 4 days of that I turned the lights up. Then I had a diatoms bloom at the same time just coming on. After the lights going up I ended up calling it S night early and didn't get to feed the favites. The next night I went to feed him and his tentacles weren't out. They have only been out once and only a little out about 4 or so days ago. Threes days after the lights going up the pavona appeared to be covering the frag plug a little more as if it grown a little my girlfriend agreed. At this point it didn't lose much color. Then a few days later it was back to the same old losing color and going all brown. The favites appears the same and to have nothing wrong. Today the pavona appears to have a few spots back as shown in the pictures I'm about to post. What do you guys suggest/tips? My params are:
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0

Nitrate- Api test strips read 40 and reef master is reading 60. It read 40 last night after water change. I know my tap contains nitrates but I let it sit out for 3 days with 1200 gph powerhead. And it's usually 20 at most I don't have access to Rodi water. :/

KH-off the charts API test kit measures up to 214.8 ppm and I doubled that and still no results so I stopped there which I assume would be around 429.6 ppm and my guess is it's around 500-600 ppm. I don't know much about how high KH can effect and aquarium.

Calcium-500 ppm
Ph-8
Phosphate-0 ppm.
Temp-between 78-80 all day every day

All my results seem pretty good to me expect the nitrates and the KH. I don't know what the problem can be. I really appreciate anyone that took the time to read the long thread and reply to try and help me and I apologize for the long post. Thanks

 

[Coralreefer1]

Both corals don’t necessarily require intense light. Moderate water flow is key. Also, not all Pavona species are green! Some are cream colored, various shades of brown and green. They don’t have tentacles/sweeper tentacles, but have a hairy, fuzzy appearance. Increased flow should help them attain this characteristic. Try moving your Pavona around and see how it reacts.
As for your Favites let it go.
Stop messing with Alkalinity and calcium right now. With just the two hermatypic corals that are in your tank they shouldn’t become depleted or out of sync. Best thing to do are water changes weekly! When in doubt, do a water change!
Good luck...hope this helps!

 

[lilfish717]

Both corals don’t necessarily require intense light. Moderate water flow is key. Also, not all Pavona species are green! Some are cream colored, various shades of brown and green. They don’t have tentacles/sweeper tentacles, but have a hairy, fuzzy appearance. Increased flow should help them attain this characteristic. Try moving your Pavona around and see how it reacts.
As for your Favites let it go.
Stop messing with Alkalinity and calcium right now. With just the two hermatypic corals that are in your tank they shouldn’t become depleted or out of sync. Best thing to do are water changes weekly! When in doubt, do a water change!
Good luck...hope this helps!

Thanks for replying. As for the pavona maybe being brown, I don't think that's the case because I seen it's real colors when I first got him. That's good that that's why I haven't seen his tentacles. I was just hoping it's not a bad sign the favites hasn't had his tentacles out lately. Thanks.

 

[oceaninabox12345]

How do you purify your water? Without RODI water you will get stuff such as copper into your system, which will kill coral.

 

[lilfish717]

How do you purify your water? Without RODI water you will get stuff such as copper into your system, which will kill coral.

I let it sit out a couple days and also use stress coat water conditioner.

 

[oceaninabox12345]

I let it sit out a couple days and also use stress coat water conditioner.

I would try to find a place that sells RODI water. Unfortunately the water conditioner wont be enough. Petco frequently will sell you tested water, and there are some places that sell rodi water out of dispensers 24/7

 

[lilfish717]

I would try to find a place that sells RODI water. Unfortunately the water conditioner wont be enough. Petco frequently will sell you tested water, and there are some places that sell rodi water out of dispensers 24/7

My lfs sells it for 79€ per gallon. Which is crazy imo as it would take 40$ to fill my tank up and I could buy a cheap Rodi myself for double thay price and have the same amount of water in 1 day. I don't know how much other places ussualy sells it for. Is petco after free or cheaper?

 

[oceaninabox12345]

My lfs sells it for 79€ per gallon. Which is crazy imo as it would take 40$ to fill my tank up and I could buy a cheap Rodi myself for double thay price and have the same amount of water in 1 day. I don't know how much other places ussualy sells it for. Is petco after free or cheaper?

Not sure about petco. I know a guy around here had his tested there, or de-contaminated at petco at least. Just google water purifier near me and see what pops up on google maps. Yea, sounds like your lfs is no good

 

[Coralreefer1]

Many pet shops are making and storing premade RO/DI water in large vats. They usually sell it for $1.00 a gallon. I will never buy bags of salt and mix it myself again!
Also, lilfish717, sweeper tentacles tend to be more prominent under higher water flow, neighboring corals around and feeding time.