Help with Corals

[JuanGutz]

Hi everyone, i've had my tank up for 3 months now and all my corals have been doing great but have recently stopped opening up for example my candy canes they are still the same green color but they wont open up any ideas? My red acro hasnt grown, my sunburnt montipora stopped and my frogspawn wont open up... haha sucks but anything would help i havent changed anything since I first started my tank.

Thanks Juan

 

[CRW Reef]

Hmmmm short of asking you what your parameters are of your water, how old are.the bulbs that you have on the tank? Were they used when you bought them? Are you having any big swings in temp or staying higher in temp longer than normal?

Lol ok, ok what are your water parameters?

 

[JuanGutz]

Yes all parameters are all normal I just cant check phosphates but every thing is good. About two weeks ago my temp was fluctuating I couldnt figure out why it did, hoping it was my thermometer I went through everything and couldnt find a problem and im running leds so they should be just fine.

 

[ReefCheif]

Hey Juan, this is Josh, you just bought the tank from me. First off welcome to MASC. my first guess would be the age if the tank itself, maybe it's not done fully cycling. LPS & SPS especially are very sensitive to water peramiters, lighting abd flow. I had issues with both LPS and SPS until about my sixth month of establishment. What type of Leds yiu running. Just because they are LED does not men the coral like them. Check your flow, SPS like somewhat high flow and light.

Get that new tank set up and cycling, once you get those corals under the new lights and acclimated to them youll see some good stuff happening. Feel free to call me or text with any questions, the guys and gals here are very helpful as well. Your in good hands.

 

[Cake_Boss]

Yes all parameters are all normal I just cant check phosphates but every thing is good. About two weeks ago my temp was fluctuating I couldnt figure out why it did, hoping it was my thermometer I went through everything and couldnt find a problem and im running leds so they should be just fine.

Welcome! I'm assuming you're completely new here.....what are your params? Not "good", but actual numbers. What water are you using? How much are you feeding? What fish/inverts do you have? What kind of flow do you have? What are you feeding? How often? What kind of nutrient export do you have? Pics of your setup would help a lot.

Hey Juan, this is Josh, you just bought the tank from me. First off welcome to MASC. my first guess would be the age if the tank itself, maybe it's not done fully cycling. LPS & SPS especially are very sensitive to water peramiters, lighting abd flow. I had issues with both LPS and SPS until about my sixth month of establishment. What type of Leds yiu running. Just because they are LED does not men the coral like them. Check your flow, SPS like somewhat high flow and light.

Get that new tank set up and cycling, once you get those corals under the new lights and acclimated to them youll see some good stuff happening. Feel free to call me or text with any questions, the guys and gals here are very helpful as well. Your in good hands.

+1, also check the placement, LEDs can blast corals.

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[JuanGutz]

Temp:80/salinity 1.025/alk 15dkh/cal 520/nitrate,nitrite and amonia 0
My flow is pretty strong dont have a real source of nutrient export at this time( just added a magnum something that I bought frm josh with the tank), I feed Pe mysis 1-2 times a week and a pinch of flakes every day. I have 2 true percs, 1 eyelash blenny, one maxi mini anemone(feed him shrimp every two days, very happy and big), 1 blue sea urchin, 10 snails and 1 shrimp. I will get on pics sorry two full time jobs a girlfriend and maintaining my tank deosnt leave me alot of time.

And josh thanks for everything man youve been a real help, as soon as I get some live rock for the tank it'll get set up but till then still looking and if your going to the garage sell i'll see you there.

 

[SteveT]

15DKH and 520Calc are both a little high, could potentially cause upset corals. Suggested reef range is normally 9-12dkh and 400-500calc.

 

[JuanGutz]

15DKH and 520Calc are both a little high, could potentially cause upset corals. Suggested reef range is normally 9-12dkh and 400-500calc.

Its stayed like that since before I had the corals and live stock, water changes havent helped at all but it wasnt bothering anything. I did just buy a 75g tank with sump protien skimmer and filter so as soon as I can find some live rock to buy i'll be setting it up, cycling the tank and moving everything over hopefully they will like that tank better being able to change thier placement. Thanks for all the help!

 

[CRW Reef]

I would take some water and have a LDS store test it because O.O 15 dkh and 500 ca holy cow!!! Maybe your test kits are bad or something. Are you dosing like crazy?

 

[JuanGutz]

I would take some water and have a LDS store test it because O.O 15 dkh and 500 ca holy cow!!! Maybe your test kits are bad or something. Are you dosing like crazy?

I dosed once and that was probably over a month ago since then I havent touched my 2 part, Ive done weekly 20% water changes and it hasnt moved I will go ahead and have my lfs test my water today and let you guys what they read. I also get my water from my lfs but am going to start making my own.

 

[deadrock]

Have someone stand close to you wit a wooden stick ,instruct them to pry you off of the tank if you go into convolsions lol . And then stick your hand in the water . I had a problem simalar to this and had a power head shorting out

 

[JuanGutz]

My alk is 12.5 and my calcium is 520..

 

[cdrewferd]

Both still need to go down. Calcium should be around ~450 and Alk between 8-11


Drew

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[JuanGutz]

Both still need to go down. Calcium should be around ~450 and Alk between 8-11


Drew

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I do weekly 20% water changes I dont dose, I dont know what to do to fix it....

 

[cdrewferd]

Go an extra 1/2 week or even a full week. You're obviously not depleting your tank in a week to warrant a 20% water change.


Drew

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[JuanGutz]

Okay will do and thank you for the help, much appreciated.

 

[cdrewferd]

No problem. Hope you can get things sorted out.

 

[jahmic]

Curious, have you tested your salt mix for Ca and Alk prior to adding it to the tank? It seems that you're able to maintain some high levels at a SG of 1.025.

Early on with my tank I had a somewhat similar problem, except that I was fighting low levels of Ca and Alk even though the salinity of my salt mix was 1.025. Per the guaranteed analysis on the side of by salt bucket, my levels should have been higher.

Turns out my refractometer was off by about .004...so my mix was actually at 1.021. If you are using a refractometer that you haven't calibrated, that could be a culprit. Just a thought. It seems odd that your Ca and Alk levels would be that high if you haven't dosed in a month and your salinity is at 1.025. If you're refractometer is reading lower than the actual value, it'd explain a lot.

FWIW, you want to calibrate with a standard solution at about 1.026 SG. I calibrated mine initially with just RO water, which was the cause of my problem. Once I mixed the proper standard solution for calibration, I found that my refractometer was way off.

 

[Cake_Boss]

12.5 dkh is high, but just a little higher than the 10-12dkh I keep mine at.
I can't get my ca to go down either, it's stuck at 520ppm with no dosing, w/c, nothing.
Do you have a mg test kit?
I notice you're feeding quite a bit for only having 3 fish. Are you having algae issues? Try not feeding the flake everyday if you are. Your fish will do fine eating twice a week.

Pics?

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[hurrafreak]

Your fish will do fine eating twice a week.

Man, that is some light feeding haha. I feed at least twice a day lol