Paul,
Wondering if some of the quarantine advice from this article has changed in your mind. Comments?
https://reefs.com/magazine/local-collecting-in-the-tri-state-area-54/
Tom
For future reference, Take one of those plastic dishes with lids you get from chinese food (or similar tupperware) poke holes in it and you can float the shrimp in the Display for a few days. Saves the animal while protecting your coral. You'll sometimes see it done with pistol shrimp in LFSs.
Three thoughts:
1. How are you testing parameters? Can you confirm them with someone else's test? Even a petco test (though i not sure how much faith i put in them) could let you know if what youre reading is accurate. Test kit could be off.
2. Where did the live rock and sand come from? Any chance it was contaminated? Perhaps heavy phosphates?
3. Though it wouldnt solve the firefish, how intense are your lights? Have they gone from an underpowered system at BRK to high intensity with your current? Can you dial back intensity at all?
I've been running an Evo 5 since september, has zoas (low-med price) and lps (war corals, favia, blastos, lepastrea and acans) doing quite well in it. I would not expect it to handle SPS well though.