What could be wrong with my coral

[TN reefer33]

My coral is withered and not looking optimal. I checked my water and my ph is 8.2, my salt is perfect, my nitrates are 0, my nitrites are 0, my ammonia is 0. I have a protein skimmer. I have a reactor running gfo, carbon, and purigen. I have ceramic and bio balls for natural filtration. What could be wrong.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Try to let the nitrate get up a bit - corals need a little bit to feed off of.
The leather is okay, they close up all the time.

 

[TN reefer33]

Try to let the nitrate get up a bit - corals need a little bit to feed off of.
The leather is okay, they close up all the time.

I turned down the flow to my reactors and gave them a little extra reef chili. Hoping this will break down quickly and raise nitrates.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

My guess your phosphates are running crazy. You’re running gfo for that reason right?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree that if nitrate is undetectable, they may benefit from feeding the tank more, but also many coral issues have nothing to do with water chemistry.

 

[TN reefer33]

My guess your phosphates are running crazy. You’re running gfo for that reason right?

They were but I started running gfo a long time ago to keep it in check. Everything was going great until two days ago. Nothing changed and I kept to my feeding schedule. I tested the water last night and that’s where the numbers in my original post came from.

 

[TN reefer33]

I agree that if nitrate is undetectable, they may benefit from feeding the tank more, but also many coral issues have nothing to do with water chemistry.

Could you elaborate?

 

[Glenner’sreef]

They were but I started running gfo a long time ago to keep it in check. Everything was going great until two days ago. Nothing changed and I kept to my feeding schedule. I tested the water last night and that’s where the numbers in my original post came from.

I just didn’t see any phosphate numbers in your original post. And both photos looked a little green. Maybe too little gfo for a large tank? How big is your tank?

 

[TN reefer33]

Update- I have been feeding reef chili and reef snow to try to up my nitrates a little bit along with slowing the flow to my GFO and carbon reactors and this seems to be helping.

 

[TN reefer33]

I just didn’t see any phosphate numbers in your original post. And both photos looked a little green. Maybe too little gfo for a large tank? How big is your tank?

60 gallon, I use bulk reef supply granulated carbon and Bulk reef supply GFO. My phosphate tester stopped working I ordered a new one it has not arrived in the mail yet

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Could you elaborate?

Flow, fish, inverts, light, bacteria, other diseases, etc. all can cause coral problems.

 

[TN reefer33]

I figured it out. Last night I put some new fish in the tank and the water from the bag swirled and became blurry. It was like my I pour rodi water in it. I recalibrated my gravity tester. I tested my tank and it was reading 40ppt. My wife and I quickly took out a half gal of water and put a half gal rodi. Woke up this morning and did the same water switching. Now my coral is out and seems happy. I feel dumb for not thinking of this first. Hopefully this can be a lesson for others.