ddouglass March 21, 2015 Share March 21, 2015 (edited) So this problem has been plaguing me for the past 8-10 months now. I can not keep corals alive for more than a month in my tank, and the ones that have been in the tank for over a year have not grown at all. I have tried a few things but now I am at a lost. I am so fed up with it that I'm thinking about taking the whole thing down and starting over to see if it will fix the problem. So here is the details of the tank: My tank is a 38 gallon IM with GFO, carbon, ATO, and a skimmer running. I currently have 2 blue chromes, 3 clown fish, 1 bicolor blenny. The fish are doing great, beside the few that have jumped out of the tank, but that problem as been fixed and added more fish to replace the fish that died. I do have a clean up crew of snails, hermits, and a cleaner shrimp. I feed the fish once a day with pellets, flakes, and once a week of PE pysis. I do have coralline algae every where. I have 2 MP10wes on reef crest, lagoon, and at night 3 hours of nutrient export mode. I have a radion pro G3 at 40% on for 14 hours a day with a VERY slow ramp up. I change the water every week, I have cut back to one a month to see if the tank is too clean. After the water change there is no change in coral action. My levels have been great: Mag - 1300 Cal - 400 to 450 Alk - 8.0 Phosphorus - 15 - 30 ppb Amm. - 0 Nitrites - 0 Nitrate - 0.2 ppm I did have a problem with hydroids, on one rock, I took it out, cleaned it, bleached it, unbleached it, and dried it. They have not shown up in the tank since then, and that was about 6 months ago. Other than the coral death my tank is doing great. I talked with Richard at ERC and he thought that the tank was too clean, so for the past 2 months the GFO has not been running. No jump in Phosphorus, no algae and no change in coral. I have noticed that at night I have polyp extension than during the day when I have none. Like I said, I have not idea what's going on, I have bought a lot of coral and they all die. The only ones that are in the tank that will not die or grow are zoa's and one golden torch coral. Any one have an suggestions? Edited March 21, 2015 by ddouglass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy March 21, 2015 Share March 21, 2015 14 hours a day seems really long for a light cycle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 21, 2015 Author Share March 21, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 21, 2015 Author Share March 21, 2015 The cycle was made by Mr. Saltwater tank. He logged in my account and made it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 21, 2015 Author Share March 21, 2015 I also have 3 RBTA that are happy (1 became 3 over the course of a year). Here my schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 You have enough fish in there so I wouldn't think its too clean. The only problem with LEDs is that there is a learning curve with them an IMO even a professional could give coral too much or too little light depending on number of LED units, intensity and length of time. The corals can easily get too much light so I would start with bumping down the time and intensity to see if that helps. LPS don't like a ton of flow so 2 mp 10s set too high could also affect everything but SPS ans Zoa. But the fact that BTAs are doing well tells me it's probably not too much flow. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 What kind of corals are dying Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 22, 2015 Author Share March 22, 2015 (edited) Frog spawn, chalices, sps, acans, Edited March 22, 2015 by ddouglass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 How do they die? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 I may have missed it, but are you feeding your coral? Once a week with mysis isn't much and not varied. You might try getting a frozen blend and ditch the flakes and pellets for awhile and see if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 22, 2015 Author Share March 22, 2015 How do they die? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk They stop extending their polyps, turn white then they die Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 22, 2015 Author Share March 22, 2015 I may have missed it, but are you feeding your coral? Once a week with mysis isn't much and not varied. You might try getting a frozen blend and ditch the flakes and pellets for awhile and see if that helps. I don't feed my coral. I know lots of successful reef tanks with no feeding. Dipg is one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 (edited) When you say phosphorus, are you sure you're not reading phosphates? If your not, that's another reading you may want to be taking,,, I have gone months with no growth, and then they start to a bit... Also... I think someone asked, but how are they dying? Bleaching out must just be sps but what about the LPS youre talking about? going to mush and falling apart, just stop extending? (P.s. I thought I was having a problem because ALL of my mushrooms and ricordias were dying... They were beating eaten by an evil Eunice worm I didn't know I had) Edited March 22, 2015 by smallreef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 22, 2015 Author Share March 22, 2015 When you say phosphorus, are you sure you're not reading phosphates? If your not, that's another reading you may want to be taking,,, I have gone months with no growth, and then they start to a bit... Also... I think someone asked, but how are they dying? Bleaching out must just be sps but what about the LPS youre talking about? going to mush and falling apart, just stop extending? (P.s. I thought I was having a problem because ALL of my mushrooms and ricordias were dying... They were beating eaten by an evil Eunice worm I didn't know I had) Phosphorus is just a more sensitive test of phosphate. I use a Hanna checker and the units are in ppb. You can use the formula to convert it by, (phosphorus number x 3.066)/ (1000) = phosphate in ppm. The sps bleach and die, the LPS seem to either shrink until it disappears, or like the picture I have of the fungia; it slowly dies by bleaching on the outside then goes to the middle. I also can be fairly positive that I have no pests in the tank. I started with dry rock and sand. I know you can not be 100% sure. And it very well might be a pest and I don't know I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 You gave us your readings for a one time period, but how about over a period of time? How often do you test? Are you possible having alkalinity and calcium swings? Maybe your salinity? The fact that your nems and other corals are doing well, take out the possibility of stray voltage, temp swings, or something awry in that manner. I would also examine your light. 14 hours a day is a long time if a lot of it is intense light. I have some zoas that have been growing from passive light through the windows. They are set back about 4' from the window and have been doing fine... I would look at just moving your light up, if possible, vs. adjusting your schedule, and seeing if that helps any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggs76 March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 My tank started to run a lot more smoothly when I ditched the GFO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpallas March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 You gave us your readings for a one time period, but how about over a period of time? How often do you test? Are you possible having alkalinity and calcium swings? Maybe your salinity? The fact that your nems and other corals are doing well, take out the possibility of stray voltage, temp swings, or something awry in that manner. I would also examine your light. 14 hours a day is a long time if a lot of it is intense light. I have some zoas that have been growing from passive light through the windows. They are set back about 4' from the window and have been doing fine... I would look at just moving your light up, if possible, vs. adjusting your schedule, and seeing if that helps any. Yeah my guess would be either alk swings or bleaching by light intensity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 22, 2015 Author Share March 22, 2015 You gave us your readings for a one time period, but how about over a period of time? How often do you test? Are you possible having alkalinity and calcium swings? Maybe your salinity? The fact that your nems and other corals are doing well, take out the possibility of stray voltage, temp swings, or something awry in that manner. I would also examine your light. 14 hours a day is a long time if a lot of it is intense light. I have some zoas that have been growing from passive light through the windows. They are set back about 4' from the window and have been doing fine... I would look at just moving your light up, if possible, vs. adjusting your schedule, and seeing if that helps any. The readings are more of on average. They don't swing week by week. I can try increasing the light by 5% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 22, 2015 Author Share March 22, 2015 My tank started to run a lot more smoothly when I ditched the GFO. I have heard that, how long did it take your tank to get better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 22, 2015 Author Share March 22, 2015 Yeah my guess would be either alk swings or bleaching by light intensity. I can try and test everyday for a week at the time every day, and see where that puts me. But what causes alk swings to kill coral? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 The readings are more of on average. They don't swing week by week. I can try increasing the light by 5% I wouldn't increase your light. My point was: You're probably giving your corals more light than they need. The Radions are pretty strong fixtures, and if your water quality is perfect, and you are positive your params are not rapidly fluxing, I would venture to say it's your lighting. When you say you've killed GSP, that is the most astounding thing I've heard, as it's a weed. Try not to change to many things at once, but it seems like your original corals are accustomed to your light, and what you're adding is getting bleached out because it's too strong. I can try and test everyday for a week at the time every day, and see where that puts me. But what causes alk swings to kill coral? So like most living things, corals do well with stability. If you changed your alkalinity by a couple of points on a regular basis, it will stress it out, and sometimes kill it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 Also, I don't know how much of a touch Mark Callahan still has, but have you inquired his way? If the light is super strong, he might like to know for future builds and help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 22, 2015 Author Share March 22, 2015 I wouldn't increase your light. My point was: You're probably giving your corals more light than they need. The Radions are pretty strong fixtures, and if your water quality is perfect, and you are positive your params are not rapidly fluxing, I would venture to say it's your lighting. When you say you've killed GSP, that is the most astounding thing I've heard, as it's a weed. Try not to change to many things at once, but it seems like your original corals are accustomed to your light, and what you're adding is getting bleached out because it's too strong. So like most living things, corals do well with stability. If you changed your alkalinity by a couple of points on a regular basis, it will stress it out, and sometimes kill it. Ok, I'll try 35% for 1 month then 30% then next month and see how they do. I will still test my alk/mag/cal daly and see if there swings during the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggs76 March 22, 2015 Share March 22, 2015 I have heard that, how long did it take your tank to get better? Probably about a month. Colors got a little deeper. Your photoperiod is very long. I have my radion G2 pro on for 9 hours total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddouglass March 22, 2015 Author Share March 22, 2015 Also, I don't know how much of a touch Mark Callahan still has, but have you inquired his way? If the light is super strong, he might like to know for future builds and help! I'm guessing he has been very busy as he has been MIA in responding to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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