Cannot keep SPS/LPS alive!

[TheBirdsNest]

Hey guys...

I'm really struggling with my corals..
I've kept soft corals for several years without issue (Kenya Tree, Pulsating Xenia, Hammerheads) but I cannot seem to get things right with SPS or LPS corals..
In the photos below, I have two that really not doing well but I don't know what I am doing wrong... The green one is now almost completely white and the red one is going the same way.. Tried them at the top of the tank and at the bottom.. They were fine for a couple of weeks and now this in almost 48 hours.

I think I'm keeping my parameters in check.. I did the RedSea Wizard for Mixed Reef and it recommended what values I need and everything is there...

PH: 8.2
Salinity: 35 ppt
Temp: 26.2 Celcius
Ammonia: 0.2 ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: 0.1ppm
Calcium: 450ppm
KH: 11.1 DKH
Magnesium: 1350 ppm

I've got two RedSea ReefLED 90's on the 20k setting..
I'm also running two ReefWave 25's at 50%..

Is it my light levels? Flow? All the parameters seem to be OK...
Doing a 10% water change per week and dosing Red Sea Coral Nutrition AB+ at 10ml per day and NO:3/PO:4-x at 2.5ml a day (again Red Sea recommended).

How do I figure out placement and if the flow is good or not (right placement of wave makers and speed)?
Do these things need high or low flow? Same with light?

I never really get much info from my LFS so trying to figure it out...

Thanks in advance.

Lawrence

 

[Lavey29]

Have you measured your light par? LPS like dirty water so nitrates 10 to 15. Corals seem to be partially shaded which is not good placement. Alk is way to high also for your nutrient levels.

 

[Tired]

What water are you using?

You don't want to see ammonia in a reef tank- it's toxic, and should all be getting processed into nitrates fast enough for it not to show up a test kit.

Has this tank been up for multiple years? Your rock doesn't look very mature at all, and I see no coraline. Though there are tanks that grow coral fine without any coraline, lack of it /can/ be a bad sign for stability and maturity.

Also, watch that cleaner wrasse closely- they can be very difficult to kept fed without many large fish to feed off of. Your chromis are also likely to start murdering each other at some point.

Stony corals encompass the entire range of flow and light needs, depending on species. Generally you want to know what coral you have, so you know where to place it.

Edit: how often are you moving them around? Corals don't like being moved.

 

[ErikVR]

First question that comes to mind is, do you have any ideas what the par levels are and if they match what your corals need?

If I run my ReefLeds at the 20k setting, which is 100%, it's way too bright. I'm running at 30% to get around 180 par halfway down the water.

 

[TheBirdsNest]

Its 0.02 - typo! I've never managed to get it below that. The tanks been up for about 6 months.. I had a much smaller tank previously where the Kenya tree, wrasse and Xenias came from.. The wrasse I've had for about 3 years and seems pretty happy. So far Chromis seem happy too, my LFS recommended 4-6 so I got 6 but one didnt last very long, probably from shock..

I did dose coraline from RedSea when I was cycling but it never seemed to take.
Aside from those two corals, everything seems happy.

 

[TheBirdsNest]

First question that comes to mind is, do you have any ideas what the par levels are and if they match what your corals need?

If I run my ReefLeds at the 20k setting, which is 100%, it's way too bright. I'm running at 30% to get around 180 par halfway down the water.

Is there a way to calculate it? I dont know anyone with a Par meter and they seem extremely expensive online..
I did ask when I first got the tank on light settings and the majority said not to deviate from the settings Red Sea have as they are designed specifically for the tanks.. So I assumed it was a case of putting the corals higher or lower in the tank.

 

[kevgib67]

BRS rents them.

 

[dadnjesse]

Did you use dry rock? It takes time to get good bacteria too be able to keep corals, even with Live rock it still can take time, usually a year though every tank is different.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Do everything above, but 0.1 phosphates is kinda high, I'd aim for .06, also what are you dosing in terms of calcium and alkalinity?

 

[TheBirdsNest]

So I guess the consensus is the tank needs longer to establish?

I really appreciate the feedback this far! In terms of the BRS meter - I don’t think they are in the UK

 

[Dburr1014]

With alkalinity at 11.1 dkh keep your phosphates where they're at.
I keep my alkalinity at 8 dkh with a 0.1 phosphates and have no problems.

With a higher alkalinity you definitely want to keep higher nutrients.

 

[gbroadbridge]

How long has the tank been running?

SPS corals need a stable and biologically mature tank - most folks have trouble if the tank is less than a year old.

The good news is that every coral that doesn't make it contributes to the tank biome and biodiversity

 

[TheBirdsNest]

How long has the tank been running?

SPS corals need a stable and biologically mature tank - most folks have trouble if the tank is less than a year old.

The good news is that every coral that doesn't make it contributes to the tank biome and biodiversity

It's been up for 6 months now

I originally started the cycle with RedSea Mature Pro, but by the end it ended up cycling naturally (took about 7 weeks)... Never got any coraline growth and still don't...

Since cycling, I've added fish from my old tank as well as new ones..
Currently, x5 Chromis, x2 Damsels, x1 Royal Garamma, x1 Cleaner Wrasse, x3 Juvinile Clows and a Cleaner Shrimp..

I have about 5 hermit crabs, x5 nicesarius (?) snails and a sand sifting star..

I do struggle to keep algae at bay... After a few hours the glass is covered and the back wall has a lot of it. It's even present in the sump.. Daily cleaning removes it but there is some cyano on the sand.. I reduced feeding and this seems to have reduced quite a lot so hoping it will dissapear soon...

I'm currently dosing Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity and No3-Po4-X while feeding Coral Nutrition AB+ daily.
I test my water every other day and all parameters seem fine.. There was some debate about ALK wether it should be 8.1 or 11.1 (RedSea say 11 for a mixed reef, but after researching the issues with my SPS, they recommended 8.1). I've paused dosing of ALK and its coming down (currently 9.8).

In my old tank I had a lot of bio life and coraline, this tank seemingly nothing..

I'm currently using iAquatics Coral Pro Salt: https://amzn.eu/d/an5e4Og
Doing a 10% water change (20L) every week.

In terms of corals, I had one die early on - a Candy Cane, which oddly, the flesh is still in the tank on the sand alive.. All other corals (Pulsating Xenia, kenya, Hammerhead) are quite happy..

Flow is something I dont know if I need more of or not..

So I hoped I was doing everything fine.. I bought dosing pumps, all water parameters seem fine so I thought I was ready.. but maybe its still not mature enough?

 

[TheBirdsNest]

It's been up for 6 months now

I originally started the cycle with RedSea Mature Pro, but by the end it ended up cycling naturally (took about 7 weeks)... Never got any coraline growth and still don't...

Since cycling, I've added fish from my old tank as well as new ones..
Currently, x5 Chromis, x2 Damsels, x1 Royal Garamma, x1 Cleaner Wrasse, x3 Juvinile Clows and a Cleaner Shrimp..

I have about 5 hermit crabs, x5 nicesarius (?) snails and a sand sifting star..

I do struggle to keep algae at bay... After a few hours the glass is covered and the back wall has a lot of it. It's even present in the sump.. Daily cleaning removes it but there is some cyano on the sand.. I reduced feeding and this seems to have reduced quite a lot so hoping it will dissapear soon...

I'm currently dosing Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity and No3-Po4-X while feeding Coral Nutrition AB+ daily.
I test my water every other day and all parameters seem fine.. There was some debate about ALK wether it should be 8.1 or 11.1 (RedSea say 11 for a mixed reef, but after researching the issues with my SPS, they recommended 8.1). I've paused dosing of ALK and its coming down (currently 9.8).

In my old tank I had a lot of bio life and coraline, this tank seemingly nothing..

I'm currently using iAquatics Coral Pro Salt: https://amzn.eu/d/an5e4Og
Doing a 10% water change (20L) every week.

In terms of corals, I had one die early on - a Candy Cane, which oddly, the flesh is still in the tank on the sand alive.. All other corals (Pulsating Xenia, kenya, Hammerhead) are quite happy..

Flow is something I dont know if I need more of or not..

So I hoped I was doing everything fine.. I bought dosing pumps, all water parameters seem fine so I thought I was ready.. but maybe its still not mature enough?

I should add,

I started with dry sand and dry rock!

I dont have any bio-balls or anything in my sump..
Just a reefmap, heater, skimmer and return pump.. Do you think I should add those?

 

[tzabor10]

Are there any foreign contaminants? Cleaning products? Copper,tin or brass elements in the tank? You have another tank but didn’t use any of that live rock or sand. Why? Having ammonia is a concern. Why are phosphates so low?

 

[aaron186]

Bulk reef supply allows you to buy a par meter for about 500 bucks and then return it a month later for a restocking fee of about 80 dollars. Essentially a rental with a deposit. If you pay on credit card you’ll never actually pay the deposit

 

[ErikVR]

Is there a way to calculate it? I dont know anyone with a Par meter and they seem extremely expensive online..
I did ask when I first got the tank on light settings and the majority said not to deviate from the settings Red Sea have as they are designed specifically for the tanks.. So I assumed it was a case of putting the corals higher or lower in the tank.

I use the Seneye Reef that has a built in par meter.
Not expensive at all.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Personally, I think the issue is with the lights and flow (I don't see any powerheads?). There is nothing wrong with the parameters that should stop lps from growing, I keep lps just fine in my softy tank and I haven't tested parameters in almost 2 years. But even my softie tank has high light and flow.... parameters mean nothing if the coral doesn't have enough light and flow to begin with.

 

[ErikVR]

My money is still on too much light. I never understood Red Sea's recommendations of blasting 100% by default.
I'm not exaggerating when I say I need sunglasses on in the living room if I blast my 3 reefled 90's at 100%.

 

[TheBirdsNest]

Personally, I think the issue is with the lights and flow (I don't see any powerheads?). There is nothing wrong with the parameters that should stop lps from growing, I keep lps just fine in my softy tank and I haven't tested parameters in almost 2 years. But even my softie tank has high light and flow.... parameters mean nothing if the coral doesn't have enough light and flow to begin with.

That was the only thing left I could think of

I have x2 Reef Wave 25's at the back of the tank which are running at 50%...
Not sure if I should move them lower (about 2/3 up the tank) or set them higher.

My return pump is on at 75% and my lights are the ReedLED's at the 20K setting (100% blue, 15% white), on from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM, then 1 hour of moonlight.