Need help!

[Jamie S]

My 125 is now 13 months since it got wet. I have had a bear of a time with keeping corals as most of the ones I’ve bought from fellow reefers have died. I know the first year of a bare bottom is most difficult but I’ve really tried to stay on top of things like dosing and nutrients. I ran a kalk reactor for a few months but had too much fluctuation in alkalinity so to make it easier I switched to BRS 2 part. I have a trident to monitor and bought a DOS and with the 2 it has been so much easier to maintain Alk at 9 (+-.2) and calcium stable at about 480. Po4 was fluctuating but is now starting to stabilize between .03-.07. No3 also fluctuated but is also hovering between 10-20 now. I notice there is a zone on the left side under the powerhead that sps, monti’s and my zoa rock are all doing well along with the hammers. The acans on the bottom are puffy and doing well but not thriving. The frogspawn seems to be a little deflated and my torch is now losing tentacles. Most of my issues were towards the top of the tank where I realized I had the pumps blowing right at everything and most likely stripping the flesh off (I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out). I put one at the bottom to stir up detritus and pointed the other to the top of the water so not to have a direct current on the frags. The torch was doing well until I changed this around and I’m still not showing much signs of improvement. My lighting is Aquaticlife hybrid t5 and Hydra26 HD where I run the AB+ schedule. I tried contacting a local aquarium service to come help me set things up better but never Heard back from them. I’m at a loss and any advise is welcome and if someone feels they may have time to stop by and give advise I’d greatly appreciate it and would even trade some trochus snails and dragons breath algae for their time and of course offer a beer. Here are some pics to show what I’m up against.

 

[Jamie S]

I forgot to mention I do 15 gallon weekly water changes, salinity at 35ppm and temp between 78 and 79. Ph is 8-8.2 daily. I have filter socks I change every 5 days or so but I purchased a roller mat this Black Friday so that is going online this week. Also a reef octopus 150 skimmer that I have to pull snails out of daily so it’s not functioning 100% all the time.

 

[Haus]

Have you tested Magnesium?
May want to check the needs of the specific corals in terms of flow and lighting and make sure the low light ones are towards the bottom. That torch and frogspawn prefer low to medium flow, make sure they’re not in the direct current.
I’d love to check out the system but don’t think I have the knowledge to offer too much advice..
You have some gorgeous corals there. Thanks again for the trochus snails-they’re doing great.

 

[Jamie S]

Thanks! Yes my mag generally stays a touch over 1500. I have a feeling it’s a flow issue but I thought I had it nailed until I saw the torch melting today.
mid you need more snails let me know, I gave over 100 away and it looks like it didn’t make a dent in the population lol

 

[amado]

You should do an icp test to verify your numbers.
You should also send a test for your ATO water to see
If your RODI is working good. Some test will allow you to send two samples.

Lps corals don’t like direct strong flow they like a strong wide random flow.
I like to use gyre style wave-makers they move a lot of water and don’t beat up the corals. What kind of wave makers are you using??

 

[Jamie S]

I did a triton icp test over the summer and everything came back ok. Do you happen to know which brand can test both? I was thinking of ordering them tonight.
i have 2 jebao sow-20 water cannons set at about 80%, 1 pointed at the surface and 1 on the other side of the tank pointed towards the bare bottom. I also have a jebao gyre that because of the overflow box, I can’t have it horizontal it won’t fit so it’s tilted slightly. And that is also pointing towards the surface

 

[amado]

I don’t think flow is your problem. If you are growing dragons breath you have to
Dos cheato grow. You need to replenish the nutrients that are used by the macro algae. I would do a follow up icp to see if anything changed. I would do the trident icp as it’s a better icp test.

 

[Jamie S]

Thanks for the suggestion now I have some reading to do.

 

[NJTaxMan]

Couple things I had to learn

1. More is not better. Too much flow, too much light. I had to drop my and things actually got better.
2. You need nitrates and phosphates. Not too much, not too little.
3. Learn to properly feed reef roids. I realized I was starving my corals because I was not feeding them properly. No flake food does not find its way to the polyps.

 

[Haus]

Couple things I had to learn

1. More is not better. Too much flow, too much light. I had to drop my and things actually got better.
2. You need nitrates and phosphates. Not too much, not too little.
3. Learn to properly feed reef roids. I realized I was starving my corals because I was not feeding them properly. No flake food does not find its way to the polyps.

More details on the reef roids please. Target vs broadcast, how often, all coral or select ones, etc?

 

[Jamie S]

Couple things I had to learn

1. More is not better. Too much flow, too much light. I had to drop my and things actually got better.
2. You need nitrates and phosphates. Not too much, not too little.
3. Learn to properly feed reef roids. I realized I was starving my corals because I was not feeding them properly. No flake food does not find its way to the polyps.

I did par readings and things looked good but then i replaced the lenses on my Hydras over the summer and i could tell everything was brighter so i lowered the intensity. I have not done a par reading since.
I was dosing Red Sea AB+ nightly but have gotten a little lazy with that mostly because the skimmer wasn't performing optimally because of the snails and didn't want to further turn it off each night to dose. I dose reef roids occasionally but am hesitant to because i didn't want to raise nitrates too much until the tank gets dialed in.
I did order an ATI ICP test but Amazon said it won't be here until at least Friday so it may take a week or 2 to get the results.

 

[NJTaxMan]

I did par readings and things looked good but then i replaced the lenses on my Hydras over the summer and i could tell everything was brighter so i lowered the intensity. I have not done a par reading since.
I was dosing Red Sea AB+ nightly but have gotten a little lazy with that mostly because the skimmer wasn't performing optimally because of the snails and didn't want to further turn it off each night to dose. I dose reef roids occasionally but am hesitant to because i didn't want to raise nitrates too much until the tank gets dialed in.
I did order an ATI ICP test but Amazon said it won't be here until at least Friday so it may take a week or 2 to get the results.

How are you dosing roids. I found this video helpful. I was trying to do broadcast feedings and i realized i wasnt putting out enough RR to feed the things. ONce I followed these directions, my corals have been much happier.

 

[amado]

You don’t need to feed corals. Corals eat fish poop.
If you feed your fish they will feed the corals. Fish of hex is trying to grow corals for sale. So he wants the most growth possible. I would stay away from reef roids and other coral food. I would keep it simple until your tank gets stable and you stop killing Corals.

this is basically a infomercial for polyp lap

 

[Jamie S]

You don’t need to feed corals. Corals eat fish poop.
If you feed your fish they will feed the corals. Fish of hex is trying to grow corals for sale. So he wants the most growth possible. I would stay away from reef roids and other coral food. I would keep it simple until your tank gets stable and you stop killing Corals.

this is basically a infomercial for polyp lap

I agree in keeping it simple for the time being. I feed some pellets on a feeder once a day and then a cube of Rod's herbivore blend at night. I think between the 2 I'm getting the nutrients for the fish and coral.

 

[NJTaxMan]

You don’t need to feed corals. Corals eat fish poop.
If you feed your fish they will feed the corals. Fish of hex is trying to grow corals for sale. So he wants the most growth possible. I would stay away from reef roids and other coral food. I would keep it simple until your tank gets stable and you stop killing Corals.

this is basically a infomercial for polyp lap

without a doubt it is an informercial..and I saw right through that. But I can tell you that my corals have been happier using this feeding method. (I dont use the polyp lab stuff though).

 

[Rjmul]

Where do you live ? I'd be willing to stop by. I'm no authority, but I can take a look

 

[WifePriceReefer]

I would highly suggest going to a local fish store as forums aren't the best place for advice. Especially when things are critical.

Go to a fish shop that specializes in saltwater aquariums.

Reefco would be a great place to go. They also do on site maintenance - so they may be able to come to your home.

Good luck and sending you good vibes!

 

[Jamie S]

I received my ATI ICP results this morning and these were the areas of concern:
My RODI is ok just showing 1.94ug/l of zinc but the ICP test for the aquarium is showing undetectable. Magnesium has been a bit high for a while but i haven't dosed it in a few months and have done weekly water changes. Calcium has been showing consistently between 400 and 410 with the Trident so I think I need to re-calibrate it. Should I dose these trace elements to get them to desired levels?

 

[Jamie S]

Here is the complete view of the analysis:

 

[Jamie S]