Struggling with corals. Advice please.

[Musictoyourhome]

I started a reefer 350 in October 2019
I used Carib Sea life rock and live sand. Cycled the tank with Dr Tim’s. My equipment is a nyos 160 skimmer . 2x mp 40. 2x kessil 360x for lighting and return is a vectra. I have around 10 very healthy fish since around November. I slowly added a few corals around December. A gorgonian and a pipe organ coral. Also a rose bubble tip They are still thriving and growing. Almost everything else I have added slowly fades off and dies. Ive tried some lps and a few of the easier sps and everything just dies. I can’t figure out what I’m missing. My parameters are:
Alk 8.3
Cal 420
P04 .03
N03 5
Salinity 1.025
Everything stays pretty stable. There are no coral eating fish in the tank.
The lighting is controlled by the kessil controller x. 12 hour cycle. The highest intensity is set for around 75% for 4 hours. Not sure if it’s lighting or what at this point. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Phildago]

Your vital params are in order. Maybe you could boost your salinity a bit, but 1.025 isn't deadly by any means.

Maybe it's your lighting, do you know your par? Could it be too high? You say they fade. Do they fade to a dull brown or fade to colorless white?

 

[SuncrestReef]

While your current parameters look fine, how frequently are you testing? Stability is very important, so if the parameters are swinging wildly in between tests, that could be part of the problem.

 

[Omarons]

Have you ever treated ich in this tank ? Ich medication has copper which is deadly to coral and invertebrates .

 

[Crustaceon]

Gotta know your maintenance schedule too. Water change frequency, amount etc.

 

[Musictoyourhome]

So I just tested the par. Near the top it’s around 200-250. Then down to the bottom around 90.
There are a few Montipora I added in December that have completely lost color. There are 2 types of candy cane that lost almost all tissue except for a tiny bit left. All other sps lost tissue over a few weeks and dies completely.

 

[Omarons]

Also agree with stability , stability is key ! How often do you test nitrate ?
also what test kit do u use

 

[Musictoyourhome]

Never treated ich. And I do weekly 10% water changes.
This is not my first tank. I took a 5 year break my last tank was a thriving sps tank that I had for 10 years. So weird that I’m struggling now that I’ve got back into this. Very frustrating...

 

[Musictoyourhome]

For nitrate I have salifert and a Red Sea to be redundant.
I also just had my water tested at house of fins in Greenwich conn. To double check my testing.

 

[Musictoyourhome]

While your current parameters look fine, how frequently are you testing? Stability is very important, so if the parameters are swinging wildly in between tests, that could be part of the problem.

Currently I’m testing 3 times a week

 

[Musictoyourhome]

bump

 

[josvanmeer]

Are you dipping the coral before you add them to the tank? Maybe you are getting from somewhere with brown algae etc? The PAR sounds fine and nothing should be dying under that, although it's advised to keep stuff on the bottom and move it up if it needs more light, to acclimate it.

 

[SDK]

Are you using verified 0 TDS RO/DI water? An ICP test may be in order in this case..

 

[Musictoyourhome]

Are you dipping the coral before you add them to the tank? Maybe you are getting from somewhere with brown algae etc? The PAR sounds fine and nothing should be dying under that, although it's advised to keep stuff on the bottom and move it up if it needs more light, to acclimate it.

Yes I’ve dipped everyrhing with revive before adding.

 

[Musictoyourhome]

Are you using verified 0 TDS RO/DI water? An ICP test may be in order in this case..

Hi thanks for your reply. Yes I use ro/di tds is zero. I use tropic Marin pro salt. I think I may have to do an ICP at this point. Running out of options.

 

[Musictoyourhome]

Thank you to everyone chiming in. Much appreciated!!!

 

[Crustaceon]

Possible chemical warfare?

 

[Duffer]

looks like to me your par levels are a little low.200-250 for some sps maybe fine, but when you state there are fading it leads to the belief sps like intense lighting. 250-300 would be what you may want to reach for. 90 on the bottom is fine for your lps and thats why they are doing fine in your tank

also what flow are you using? besides stabilty and lighting flow is the next important feature.

 

[Musictoyourhome]

looks like to me your par levels are a little low.200-250 for some sps maybe fine, but when you state there are fading it leads to the belief sps like intense lighting. 250-300 would be what you may want to reach for. 90 on the bottom is fine for your lps and thats why they are doing fine in your tank

also what flow are you using? besides stabilty and lighting flow is the next important feature.

Hi I’ve got 2 mp40s as well as the vectra return. I would definitely agree about the par for sps but I’m also loosing candy canes it’s very weird I have ones from December that lost all side tissue except the very center and they are still holding on. Did the par testing 2 weeks ago and if I bump up my intensity I can get a few spots with 300. So far I’ve lowered the lights to 6 inches off surface from 7.5 and will slowly add intensity over a few weeks. Could this be some kind of bacterial infection?

 

[SPR1968]

Your parameters look fine, but what’s the magnesium as it isn't shown ? This is vital do to the interaction with the other elements?

Just an initial thought and maybe a picture would help, and as already asked how often are you testing ?

And are you using any other ‘additives’ ?