RSM E170 Trouble

[Biga311]

So my tank has been up and running for almost a year. I have had more problems with this tank than any other. I had a few LPS colonies from my old tank that I transferred to this tank. So far I have lost just about all of them. My hammer is just about all I have left. I also have a torch that is hanging in there. I was doing regular water changes using Red Sea Coral Pro salt up until about 5 weeks ago. Water test all came back within acceptable ranges but everything kept getting worse. I discovered my refractometer was not calibrated and my salinity was low. I brought that up over a week or so. I read somewhere that extremely low nitrate can be bad for LPS so I stopped doing water changes and removed my Chemipure Elite. Everything continued to go down hill. I purchased all new test kits thinking my API ones may be bad. This time I went with the Red Sea kits. They returned the same numbers. So I moved on to the light. I was using the Red Sea set up on a much lower max intensity. I discovered a BRStv video showing the 170 with their recommended LED settings. That was just a few days ago. I moved everything down to the sand bed thinking the new parameters may be stronger than what I was running. The torch did no like this. One last thing, there is no algae growing either. I get a very fine film about every 2.5 weeks on the glass. I know I shouldn't complain about no algae issues but it seems odd to me. Below are the results from my last test. I hope someone can help because I'm lost.

Temp 78.6
ph 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <2
Salinity 1.026
Calcium 460
Mag 1600

 

[JaimeAdams]

Sorry for you troubles. I have a reefer 170 as my office tank and love it.

 

[HolisticBear]

All refractometers need to be calibrated often and some (Red Sea's) are just awful.

Nothing good happens fast. If you don't need to clean the glass for weeks, it makes me worry your starving things. Elite contains GFO I think, what are your phosphates? Do you have fish & feed regularly?

 

[HolisticBear]

Your Mg is high, but the Red Sea kit is notorious for reading high. With high Ca, I was more worried that salinty was high. But I'm guessing that's a spurious Mg reading and that's not the problem.

ICP tests are nice in times like these, because while PO4 at zero seems more likely, it would eliminate toxins due to rust or failing RODI.

 

[GoVols]

I'm with @HolisticBear on all his thoughts.

Where do your phosphates stand?

To me lighting and having nutrients in the water column, work as one.
I too preform weekly water changes, but over time I learned that feeding an entire reef is an huge factor for long term coral health.

Wish you all the best, and Welcome to Reef 2 Reef

 

[Biga311]

Just check phosphates and my API test didn't pick up any. I only have 2 fish currently. I feed them daily. Just enough that there isn't any excess. I've learned my lesson with the refractometer. I check the calibration each time I use it now.