Am I being impatient? 6 month old reef struggles

[Hemmbone20]

As a side note I would do an ICP just to make sure its not something wicked off in the water you can’t test for.

I was thinking about doing this. But also trying to not chase numbers or overreact.
It’s not like I’m trying to keep some difficult acros or anything. I kept asking myself.. what are the odds some ICP test will reveal something that’s so outrageously wrong that I can’t keep a monti alive?

 

[bakbay]

As a side note I would do an ICP just to make sure it’s not something wicked off in the water you can’t test for.

What about “stuff” that ICP can’t test for?

 

[josh57]

I was thinking about doing this. But also trying to not chase numbers or overreact.
It’s not like I’m trying to keep some difficult acros or anything. I kept asking myself.. what are the odds some ICP test will reveal something that’s so outrageously wrong that I can’t keep a monti alive?

I wouldn't recommend chasing anything necessarily. I do reef moonshiners so I am testing every ~6 weeks and adjusting traces. For daily doses and corrective doses. But I don’t do water changes. Not saying this is the right way to go by any means but just thought I should mention it.

But in your case the ICP would tell you if anything is dangerously high from a bad salt or something leaching into the water.

 

[exnisstech]

I have an acro dominant tank that really struggled for the first year then took off. I started dosing AFR about the same time so I can't say if it was the AFR, tank maturity or both. That said I've been in the hobby 9 years and can barely keep zoas alive much less thriving. Xenia dies and lps have been very finicky. I have multiple tanks some coral do poorly in one tank and thrive in another even tho parameters and lighting are similar. I gave up trying to figure out why some coral thrive and others die. I try a coral once or twice and if it doesn't make it I just move on to something else. I don't have the energy or knowledge to figure everything out so acceptance is easiest for me and it's more enjoyable watching coral grow vs watching them die
A few lps I kept in the past every piece is gone. Moved them to different tanks etc but one by one they withered away

This is my acro dominant tank. Things are doing well but who knows what the future holds.
22 months in. I didn't even keep track of the frags I lost the first year. At least my sticks don't make me suffer watching them wither away. Go to bed one night and wake up to a bone white skeleton in the morning.

EDIT :Maybe try a monti cap. I've found them to be pretty hardy

EDIT : that acro colony on the back wall grew from a little frag. I moved everything in here to a new tank and 6 months later it's gone

 

[Hemmbone20]

6 months is about the absolute minimum recommended for Stoney corals, and growth is often slow while they get used to the system.

Of your soft corals are doing well then that’s a good start, as is your LPS not keeling over. They’ll probably start to do a bit better soon.

It’s a little surprising the SPS you tried just flat died within days of adding them. Even if the tank wasn’t ready for them I’d expect them to struggle for a bit before dying, especially these somewhat harder ones you’ve started with.

Suggestions:

1. Wait a few weeks before adding any more stony corals and monitor how the LPS are doing. Take a photo and note the zoom setting, then a couple weeks later on the same zoom do this again and see if there’s growth. Best done when polyps are retracted.

2. Try testing the water the coals come in. It’s possible you and the vendor are running really different Alk levels and the sudden shock is killing the frags.

Good point on the stores alk. I’ll definitely check that.
On that note, if the corals look great for a few days before RTNing, wouldn’t that be an indicator it isn’t a stress related death due to acclimation?
This monti for example had fantasic polyp extension last week. Was bright red, looked happy.
Now it’s pale, almost no polyp extension? I assumed it just didn’t like something in my tank.

 

[josh57]

What about “stuff” that ICP can’t test for?

I don’t remember saying it tests for everything.
Just another tool in the water chemistry area to make sure that all of that is within reason.
Anything we can do to eliminate and narrow down what isn't wrong has been helpful to me when trying to chase an unknown issue.

 

[Lavey29]

So the next logical question for me — how can one detect / test for that? In the past, I thought that once coralline algae takes off, it’s a good “indicator” that SPS can be sustained. It seems like more anecdotally that it’s the magical “one year” mark; however, each tank is different.

As mentioned above, lots of things we can't really test for in our tank only the corals can tell you if the environment is good or not. This is why patience is so critical. Only adding a few easy corals to start and slowly progressing to more difficult corals once you see the easy ones thriving. Nothing wrong with trying a simple birdnest frag or stylo at 6 or 8 months to test your tank. Just don't be surprised if it fails. Coralline is a good indicator of tank health but not the game changer. I was just like the OP my first year wondering why my corals were not thriving. One thing that really made a difference for me was lightning. I found my XR15 lights were weak par lights. I cranked up to 100% intensity and corals took off really fast with growth.

 

[josh57]

As mentioned above, lots of things we can't really test for in our tank only the corals can tell you if the environment is good or not. This is why patience is so critical. Only adding a few easy corals to start and slowly progressing to more difficult corals once you see the easy ones thriving. Nothing wrong with trying a simple birdnest frag or stylo at 6 or 8 months to test your tank. Just don't be surprised if it fails. Coralline is a good indicator of tank health but not the game changer. I was just like the OP my first year wondering why my corals were not thriving. One thing that really made a difference for me was lightning. I found my XR15 lights were weak par lights. I cranked up to 100% intensity and corals took off really fast with growth.

Can relate to the lights part. Everyone online pushes being overly cautious on lighting levels without having a par meter. But I think it’s created a situation where people are being too cautious now which was at least the case for me.

 

[Rhetoric]

Of course they grow slow… I totally understand that.. but it’s easy to tell when I coral is growing ZERO.

The irony of making a post about slow/zero growth.

 

[Hemmbone20]

Can relate to the lights part. Everyone online pushes being overly cautious on lighting levels without having a par meter. But I think it’s created a situation where people are being too cautious now which was at least the case for me.

But even in lower light, it would take a long time to kill a hardy SPS frag like the ones I tried. Once I have success keeping them alive I can start attempting to raise the par.
That’s why I borrowed that par meter from my LFS to just make sure it wasn’t too absurdly low. I’m happy with 200-250 for now

 

[mpg101]

My other hobby is Bonsai, talk about slow and patience. The key is incremental changes over a course of long period. Mistakes can be corrected over this period and follow successful techniques. After a while, you'll see great success when you look back.

 

[josh57]

But even in lower light, it would take a long time to kill a hardy SPS frag like the ones I tried. Once I have success keeping them alive I can start attempting to raise the par.
That’s why I borrowed that par meter from my LFS to just make sure it wasn’t too absurdly low. I’m happy with 200-250 for now

Yeah I doubt it is par in your case being the issue at that range. I am probably just slightly under that. Im shooting for 250-300 at the top end. And 150 on sand.

 

[Lavey29]

But even in lower light, it would take a long time to kill a hardy SPS frag like the ones I tried. Once I have success keeping them alive I can start attempting to raise the par.
That’s why I borrowed that par meter from my LFS to just make sure it wasn’t too absurdly low. I’m happy with 200-250 for now

I'd crank those lights up. I have SPS dominant mixed reef. 350 on top, 250 mid tank and 125 on the bottom. Increased par made a big difference in my tank.

 

[X-37B]

Yes some corals just grow slower than others for sure. I have very nice growth in my systems but also have a few that are just very slow growers.
My main system is 9 months old with 50+ hard corals. I have 3 that appeared to be going through an stn event. I considered pulling them but they have all recovered and are growing over the old stn area.
It's hard to tell you what to do because your parameters are fine if kept stable.
Increasing your light can and will help, imo. I would shoot for 200 on the sand.

I would recommend a green slimer frag, preferably one that has encrusted the plug. This coral has always been my canary coral. If it grows so will all the rest. If it does not then something is off for sure.

Something that I use to strengthen corals is KZ flatworm stop. No way to test if its working but since I started it, I have used it in the past with similar results, the 3 have begun to recover.
I actually forgot to mention it in my current build thread and will ad it. Imo, it can't hurt your system as I have ran it many times in the past. Just make sure you get enough for a 6 month run. I dose 7ml a day in my 150.

 

[areefer01]

I feel like nobody talks about how slowly corals grow.

We talk about it. Often in fact.

The problem is that social media presents a different view. If any of the new hobbyist picked up a couple of books they understand a bit more about the overall process and timeline. End result is a very high failure and turn over rate in this hobby. In my opinion.

 

[Ghostbuster]

I have an acro dominant tank that really struggled for the first year then took off. I started dosing AFR about the same time so I can't say if it was the AFR, tank maturity or both. That said I've been in the hobby 9 years and can barely keep zoas alive much less thriving. Xenia dies and lps have been very finicky. I have multiple tanks some coral do poorly in one tank and thrive in another even tho parameters and lighting are similar. I gave up trying to figure out why some coral thrive and others die. I try a coral once or twice and if it doesn't make it I just move on to something else. I don't have the energy or knowledge to figure everything out so acceptance is easiest for me and it's more enjoyable watching coral grow vs watching them die
A few lps I kept in the past every piece is gone. Moved them to different tanks etc but one by one they withered away

This is my acro dominant tank. Things are doing well but who knows what the future holds.
22 months in. I didn't even keep track of the frags I lost the first year. At least my sticks don't make me suffer watching them wither away. Go to bed one night and wake up to a bone white skeleton in the morning.

EDIT :Maybe try a monti cap. I've found them to be pretty hardy

EDIT : that acro colony on the back wall grew from a little frag. I moved everything in here to a new tank and 6 months later it's gone

Awesome looking tanks!

 

[Jimbo327]

For mostly dead rock, you need about 12 months for SPS. I went thru the same thing. You can grow easy SPS like digitatas and similar. But others are a bit harder.

 

[X-37B]

For mostly dead rock, you need about 12 months for SPS. I went thru the same thing.

Alot of my friends say the same thing. I have 3 pieces in my ext 50 with 30lbs of GLR. The dead rock gets the uglies, but with the right cuc it is much easier than starting with all dead, imo.

 

[exnisstech]

For mostly dead rock, you need about 12 months for SPS. I went thru the same thing.

Makes sense. Mine was all dry rock in the DT with live rock in the sump. I've heard of some folks that keep frag plugs seeding in the sump. They say it helps the frags encrust. Makes sense I suppose since it would be like a small piece of live rock vs dry.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I'm going to say possibly flow is the issue. You have 2 gyres on pulse at the top of the tank. What dose your coral look like in the flow?