Corals not growing and I don’t know why?!?

[mythesis]

Good luck to you!

 

[bakbay]

Everyone-

After doing some research over the past couple days I think I’ve boiled my problem down to stability. That, and a lack of testing. Obviously, I’ll raise my nitrates and phos as well as try the other suggestions, but I don’t really think I’ve been putting the time into this tank that I should have. I’m gonna lock in and fix it though! I already downloaded a testing journal onto my phone where I can make sure my params don’t swing. I really do want this tank to look good and I know if I just put more time in, it will.

Everyone has been super helpful and I’ll still take any pieces of advice/information that you can give me regarding my situation!!

To reiterate— it’s time. Corals need time to adapt to your tank (survival instinct) first then focus on growth. For example, I have some SPS frags that took literally 3 years to grow while others grew like weeds. I understand that it can take forever but try taking pictures and compare month over month, you’ll see the difference. However, they don’t “grow” fast if you look at them multiple times a day! lol

 

[BristleWormHater]

I am using RODI water, but I’ve had some people tell me to use a hydrometer. Would this be a good option?

Hydrometers will give you a extremely accurate reading maybe... twice. They are a very cheap option that some people use for FOWLR tanks but not suitable for reefs IMO. If you already have a refractometer, there's no reason to get a hydrometer. Like others have said Fritz calibration fluid is a great option for calibration.

 

[Trevor40]

Maybe I missed it but what lighting are you using?

The corals you have are so easy to keep that my guess is that you have some heavy metal in your tank. Are you by chance using a metal fitting on your return pump?

With a good salt calibrated and regular small water changes, decent lighting and flow, your corals should be thriving!!

 

[j.speaks]

Maybe I missed it but what lighting are you using?

The corals you have are so easy to keep that my guess is that you have some heavy metal in your tank. Are you by chance using a metal fitting on your return pump?

With a good salt calibrated and regular small water changes, decent lighting and flow, your corals should be thriving!!

I am using an AI blade grow.

and no, no metal fitting.

 

[unclejed]

Hello all,

I’m having some troubles with the corals in my 65g tank. It’s my first reef, so keep in mind I’m fairly new to this.

None of my corals seem to be growing, and I’m really lost as to why. I have lost two corals (Kenya tree and Duncan) for unknown reasons. Other than those, I have some zoas, clove polyps, and two pieces of Gsp. Oddly enough the Gsp seem to be doing the worst and seems to be melting.

Tank info:
Filtration - I do bi weekly water changes of 10 gallons. I have a sump with a bubble magus curve 5 elite protein skimmer which has been running for a month
Lighting - one AI blade grow
Flow Sicce voyager

Some theories I have are:

stability of my params - it could be that I don’t test enough and my params are swinging too much? Would this really cause this much trouble?

Algae - specifically for the Gsp, I’ve noticed some brown algae growth on the rock up against it, but it’s not as much as any of the posts I look at about algae killing corals.

Another contaminant I can’t test for - should I do one of those mail in test thingys?

Overall, I’ve spent a lot of money and time on these corals and it’s frustrating to see them not growing as much as I hoped.

Any help is appreciated

Params:
Salinity 1.026
Temp - 77.8
Ammonia - > 0.25
Nitrate - 0.5
pH - 8.2
Alkalinity - 10.5
Calcium - 310
Phosphate - 0

How long has everything been in the aquarium? Watching coral grow would be like watching the grass grow only much, much slower. Coral are not like flowers or plants, most are very slow growing...think of cactus.

 

[j.speaks]

How long has everything been in the aquarium? Watching coral grow would be like watching the grass grow only much, much slower. Coral are not like flowers or plants, most are very slow growing...think of cactus.

They have been in the tank for around 10 months. And my gsp has been slowly shrinking!!

 

[unclejed]

They have been in the tank for around 10 months. And my gsp has been slowly shrinking!!

The tried and true method for coral care is to thoroughly research each coral you have and find its' particular need as far as nutrition. Also, different depths in the aquarium for each species and flow requirements. Lighting comes into play also as to the variety of different spectrum each coral likes. It may seem exhausting but educate yourself if you haven't already done so as to the specific needs of your coral. Hope I helped.

 

[j.speaks]

The tried and true method for coral care is to thoroughly research each coral you have and find its' particular need as far as nutrition. Also, different depths in the aquarium for each species and flow requirements. Lighting comes into play also as to the variety of different spectrum each coral likes. It may seem exhausting but educate yourself if you haven't already done so as to the specific needs of your coral. Hope I helped.

Is there any specific encyclopedia/information database that you use? Or should I just be going off search results on here and google

 

[unclejed]

Is there any specific encyclopedia/information database that you use? Or should I just be going off search results on here and google

Yes, google may be ok, I would use duckduckgo.com personally, but, whichever you use, yes...look up the coral you want and in the search add the word "care" to it.