I give up

[Chevyyeet]

I have been reefing for almost a year and after countless kinds of coral I can’t seem to get anything to live. I have had SPS, LPS, softies and everything in between. Nothing I do seems to work. I religiously check my parameters and have them as close as I can to the optimal parameters of whatever I was trying to grow. I have 4 fish and non of them are picking or causing issues, I don’t see any pests. So at this point I think I’m just gonna have to settle for fish only.

may tank is a 29g with a hang on the back filter unfortunately but I change the cartridge often so that I don’t have a bunch of nitrate growing in it.

I have an app that I input all my test info into so that it gives me a graph over a certain period of time.
My parameters are:
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: 0ppm
Calcium: 380-400 ppm(for softies)
Mag: 1400
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 8.1
Alkalinity: 11-12DKH

if y’all have any suggestions feel free. I honestly am just thinking about selling the tank because it makes me a little sad to think about all the time effort and money I have lost.

 

[theMeat]

Phosphate is low and imo nitrate too. Alkalinity a bit high…
What you doing for lighting?
Water flow in tank?

 

[Rmckoy]

I have been reefing for almost a year and after countless kinds of coral I can’t seem to get anything to live. I have had SPS, LPS, softies and everything in between. Nothing I do seems to work. I religiously check my parameters and have them as close as I can to the optimal parameters of whatever I was trying to grow. I have 4 fish and non of them are picking or causing issues, I don’t see any pests. So at this point I think I’m just gonna have to settle for fish only.

may tank is a 29g with a hang on the back filter unfortunately but I change the cartridge often so that I don’t have a bunch of nitrate growing in it.

I have an app that I input all my test info into so that it gives me a graph over a certain period of time.
My parameters are:
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: 0ppm
Calcium: 380-400 ppm(for softies)
Mag: 1400
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 8.1
Alkalinity: 11-12DKH

if y’all have any suggestions feel free. I honestly am just thinking about selling the tank because it makes me a little sad to think about all the time effort and money I have lost.

What test kits are you using ?
Zero phosphates is always a problem .. only if the zero is in fact a accurate number from a reliable kit .
Api will give you zero of the number is between zero and 0.25ppm the range we want is closer to zero ( 0.03-0.1 ppm )

along with Low nutrients you want to keep alkalinity closer to nsw levels ( 7.5-8 dkh )

with higher alkalinity the corals want to grow skeleton but they don’t have enough nutrients to grow flesh ( starving )

Nitrates are fine .
I did not see salinity or what brand salt you’re using ?
Are you using rodi water ?

 

[LSU-reefer]

How much water are you changing and how often? I feel like in a smaller tank, small routine water changes help with stability a lot. I agree I think the Alk is a bit high.

How much Live rock and sand do you have?

 

[TheReefDiary]

I have been reefing for almost a year and after countless kinds of coral I can’t seem to get anything to live. I have had SPS, LPS, softies and everything in between. Nothing I do seems to work. I religiously check my parameters and have them as close as I can to the optimal parameters of whatever I was trying to grow. I have 4 fish and non of them are picking or causing issues, I don’t see any pests. So at this point I think I’m just gonna have to settle for fish only.

may tank is a 29g with a hang on the back filter unfortunately but I change the cartridge often so that I don’t have a bunch of nitrate growing in it.

I have an app that I input all my test info into so that it gives me a graph over a certain period of time.
My parameters are:
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: 0ppm
Calcium: 380-400 ppm(for softies)
Mag: 1400
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 8.1
Alkalinity: 11-12DKH

if y’all have any suggestions feel free. I honestly am just thinking about selling the tank because it makes me a little sad to think about all the time effort and money I have lost.

I agree phosphate is low. I'd increase the calculation a bit too regardless of softies. Also what's your current flow situation like?

 

[Miami Reef]

Raise the phosphates.

 

[Chevyyeet]

What test kits are you using ?
Zero phosphates is always a problem .. only if the zero is in fact a accurate number from a reliable kit .
Api will give you zero of the number is between zero and 0.25ppm the range we want is closer to zero ( 0.03-0.1 ppm )

along with Low nutrients you want to keep alkalinity closer to nsw levels ( 7.5-8 dkh )

with higher alkalinity the corals want to grow skeleton but they don’t have enough nutrients to grow flesh ( starving )

Nitrates are fine .
I did not see salinity or what brand salt you’re using ?
Are you using rodi water ?

Salinity is 1.025
Reef Crystals is all they had at my LFS when I started so it’s what I went with
Unfortunately no RODI water but I use declorinator and test the water for chlorine and ammonia before using any water.
Yes I am using API test kits except for magnesium which is Salifert

 

[Miami Reef]

Unfortunately no RODI water but I use declorinator and test the water for chlorine and ammonia before using any water.

This is most likely the issue.

 

[Chevyyeet]

How much water are you changing and how often? I feel like in a smaller tank, small routine water changes help with stability a lot. I agree I think the Alk is a bit high.

How much Live rock and sand do you have?

I do 25% a week. 5 pounds ish of live rock

 

[Chevyyeet]

This is most likely the issue.

 

[Chevyyeet]

So I forgot to say I actually had a Mexican torch coral that did amazing for about a month and then took a jump off the deep end

 

[Miami Reef]

Most places have copper in the tap; copper kills inverts when it reaches above a few ppb (which is a minute level).

 

[Chevyyeet]

Phosphate is low and imo nitrate too. Alkalinity a bit high…
What you doing for lighting?
Water flow in tank?

Lightning was a Radeon, I can’t remember model but unfortunately it got broken in an accident during a water change and so I had to do a major downgrade to what I could afford

 

[Rmckoy]

Salinity is 1.025
Reef Crystals is all they had at my LFS when I started so it’s what I went with
Unfortunately no RODI water but I use declorinator and test the water for chlorine and ammonia before using any water.
Yes I am using API test kits except for magnesium which is Salifert

We can assume 1) your phosphates are not zero . And could possibly be anywhere in the first range from extremely low to extremely high
2) chlorine and ammonia is not the only thing in tap water which will negatively effect corals or the health of the tank .

have you tried tracking parameters for a lengthy time period to see any trends or fluctuations ?

 

[Chevyyeet]

Most places have copper in the tap; copper kills inverts when it reaches above a few ppb (which is a minute level).

Can I test for that to see if it’s an issue?

 

[Chevyyeet]

We can assume 1) your phosphates are not zero . And could possibly be anywhere in the first range from extremely low to extremely high
2) chlorine and ammonia is not the only thing in tap water which will negatively effect corals or the health of the tank .

have you tried tracking parameters for a lengthy time period to see any trends or fluctuations

The only real trend I saw was a big leaching of my ph over a week to 2 weeks. Starting at 8.1 to 7.8 if I didn’t use a buffer

 

[Miami Reef]

Can I test for that to see if it’s an issue?

ICP testing is the best way IMO https://a.co/d/7V8SlZa

 

[Rmckoy]

Most places have copper in the tap; copper kills inverts when it reaches above a few ppb (which is a minute level).

Running through copper pipes in most residential houses is the main contributor .
Every state and water treatment facility has restrictions to what element can be present and at what level is acceptable for human consumption .
that being said . To have pristine water which I believe is the base foundation to healthy reef , water quality is top priority

why invest $1000’s into something to slack on quality

 

[Rmckoy]

The only real trend I saw was a big leaching of my ph over a week to 2 weeks. Starting at 8.1 to 7.8 if I didn’t use a buffer

Ph Buffer also effects alkalinity which is already high .

ph naturally fluctuates from day to night .
As c02 levels inside increase ( typically at night when doors are closed and everyone is home ) ph will decrease .
No light inducing photosynthesis also causes ph to drop .
to offset this fluctuation you can 1) run a air line from outside or leave a window cracked to allow fresh air .
Run a refuge and light on opposite schedule
But .. I will say I believe The main contributor to the issues is water quality , high alkalinity along with low nutrients .

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have been reefing for almost a year and after countless kinds of coral I can’t seem to get anything to live. I have had SPS, LPS, softies and everything in between. Nothing I do seems to work. I religiously check my parameters and have them as close as I can to the optimal parameters of whatever I was trying to grow. I have 4 fish and non of them are picking or causing issues, I don’t see any pests. So at this point I think I’m just gonna have to settle for fish only.

may tank is a 29g with a hang on the back filter unfortunately but I change the cartridge often so that I don’t have a bunch of nitrate growing in it.

I have an app that I input all my test info into so that it gives me a graph over a certain period of time.
My parameters are:
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: 0ppm
Calcium: 380-400 ppm(for softies)
Mag: 1400
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 8.1
Alkalinity: 11-12DKH

if y’all have any suggestions feel free. I honestly am just thinking about selling the tank because it makes me a little sad to think about all the time effort and money I have lost.

Recognized issues are Use of tap water- dechlorinator is not magic juice and will not remove certain metals and compounds in water but reduce chlorine flourides. Coral will not fare well in low phosphate environment, but I suspect low phos readings as you should be seeing dinos or other substance and through feeding alone, some level unless tank too clean.
Can you provide a couple of pics under white lighting ?

Alk is getting to High level as is Mag but mag not yet at caution level. You cant set calcium for softies as you have a mixed reef and another challenge is that both LPS and SPS release toxins and there can be a chemical war and therefore you want to run high grade carbon or what I use ChemiPure to remove these toxins.
Take a good size water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use Api kits and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours.