Tank help..

Duberz · Dec 1, 2016

I'm stumped with my tank. The problem I'm having is all my zoas,clove polyps etc stay closed. Frogspawn,hammers and torch are not fully extending either. They look great for a few days after I get them but then close up. Some open but most stay closed. I always dip everything before it goes into my tank. All fish in inverts are doing awesome. I have tested every parameter over and over again. They all fall in Randy's range. Alk=9 Cal=420 Mag=1350 Ph=8.2 Ammonia=0 Nitrite=0 Nitrate=2 Po4=.02 Temp=77. My tank is a Red Sea Reefer 250. I'm running Ecotech xr15 G4 lights(35%),mp10 power heads,Vectra return and reef octopus skimmer. My husbandry is very good. I do a 10% water change every other week. I just recently put a bag of carbon(6 tbsb)in my sump to see if that would help. I don't know what is irritating them. My water comes from a well here in Florida. It first runs through a 2.0 cu ft centaur carbon tank then a 2.0 cu ft softener. After that in my house it goes through a brs 4 stage rodi unit. I'm using brightwell salt. I'm hoping someone has a idea what I'm missing. My next step is to get a triton test. My last tank did the same thing. I had to tear it down do to a remodel. This current tank is completely new along with all the equipment.

Joey waid · Dec 1, 2016

I know lightning effects all mine. I would try and bump up the whites and intensity and duration.

Duberz · Dec 1, 2016

I had them bumped up but I bleeched a setosa.

Joey waid · Dec 1, 2016

You might need to move setosa to a lower or shadier area then bump up the lights to see if that works??

Duberz · Dec 1, 2016

I'm running a program from WWC. They run theirs at 40% on a much larger tank. I'm at 35%.

Duberz · Dec 1, 2016

I figure if they needed more light they would not close up but stretch out.

Joey waid · Dec 1, 2016

Mine close up with low light. They need a fair amount of light.

Debramb · Dec 2, 2016

My 2 cents, can you try water direct to your R/O filter? We have a well and bypass the softerner. Could be the common denominator in both tanks!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 2, 2016

What do you dip them in and how long have they been in the tank?

Duberz · Dec 2, 2016

I'm using tlf revive at the moment. I inspect before and after. They have been in the tank roughly a month or so. Randy what if anything could be coming from my outdoor softener or carbon tank? I would think my rodi would catch it. My last tanks corals did the same exact thing. I have no way to bypass without a ton of ground work. Would a triton test reveal anything bad coming from my well filtration? Thanks

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 2, 2016

Duberz said:
I'm using tlf revive at the moment. I inspect before and after. They have been in the tank roughly a month or so. Randy what if anything could be coming from my outdoor softener or carbon tank? I would think my rodi would catch it. My last tanks corals did the same exact thing. I have no way to bypass without a ton of ground work. Would a triton test reveal anything bad coming from my well filtration? Thanks

I don't think anything of concern is getting through the RO/DI if it reads 0 ppm TDS in the effluent.

Duberz · Dec 2, 2016

Is a triton test worth it as a last resort?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 2, 2016

Duberz said:
Is a triton test worth it as a last resort?

IMO, its less likely to be the explanation than things like an irritating organism (like a pecking fish), inappropriate light/flow/etc, organic toxins, pathogenic microorganisms, etc. But it couldn't hurt.

Do you have inverts like snails or shrimp or crabs?

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 2, 2016

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/uv-filters-or-other-tricks-to-remove-glare.276074/#post-3345876
test and meter your light. A par meter or a lux meter. I can recommend a 14 lux meter that will help or a $75 dollar milwaukee submersible. I can walk you through how its done.
Light is another parameter and should be tested. 35,000 lux is a number. 250 is too. 35% is a guess.

My bet is 35,% at 10 in is 25000 lux or less. so 400 par at the top of the tank? if that? you probably have less than 100 par on the sand. turning up the light in a low nutrient system is tricky(bleaching) if you don't go slow or know the numbers on how much your actually turning it up the the coral metabolism has no time to catch up. ie more light, more food. or your jumping from 200 par to 400 par going from 35% to 45%.

you can run a super low nutrient system but off hand Id say you need more food and more light.

Duberz · Dec 2, 2016

Thanks for the replies. I do have a clean up crew but nothing out of the ordinary in regards to nipping. I have a apogee 200 par meter but it's basically useless with led lights. I'm trying to feed more to see if it's a low nutrient issue. My tank never had any algae blooms after the cycle. No diatoms or anything.

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 2, 2016

Duberz said:
Thanks for the replies. I do have a clean up crew but nothing out of the ordinary in regards to nipping. I have a apogee 200 par meter but it's basically useless with led lights. I'm trying to feed more to see if it's a low nutrient issue. My tank never had any algae blooms after the cycle. No diatoms or anything.

no, its not entirely useless.

Duberz · Dec 2, 2016

It shows less than 100 at top of tank which is way way off. Apogee told me it wasn't designed to measure leds accurately. They do have a new one out that is made for led lighting.

Duberz · Dec 2, 2016

How accurate is the lux meter with led lights?

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 2, 2016

Duberz said:
It shows less than 100 at top of tank which is way way off. Apogee told me it wasn't designed to measure leds accurately. They do have a new one out that is made for led lighting.

yes, i know. And after 25 years of metering light i know why it doesn't work. you would have to trick it into geting a good reading.

Duberz said:
How accurate is the lux meter with led lights?

it is less sensitive to blue. but conversion numbers do take that into account so does quality of the meter but you get an average that is very close. and lux meters dont really care what kind of light it is.
theres a linear relationship between intensity and par.
a conversion for t5 combos and MH etc etc...averages about 40 and 50(D Riddle and Apogee). the sun is 50 as well. Most of the current leds the conversion number is about 60(ime and observation). a t12 cool white is around 70. when D riddle did his article on lux par and led it was around 70+ too.

so, 30,000lux /60 lux is around 500 par for most led my observations conversations and experience says this is pretty much true esp for a mars, sbreeflight and Maxspect razor.
2000 lux would be 33 par. so with those increments you can acclimate weekly safely. IMO IME

please check my sources, Ill be happy to provide them.

worst case you'll hate me for convincing you to spend $14 on the red lux meter on amazon.

ksc · Dec 2, 2016

The mq200 will be far more accurate than a lux meter. At most you could add 10% to the apogee reading if running heavy blues. You're running your lights @35%, try cranking them up to get a reading.