180 Gallon Reef corals not growing. Help please.

[Sharp]

Hi guys, I have been scouring the threads for awhile now, in search for potential solutions. This is my first post and I have finally decided to ask for some help.

I have a 180 gallon reef aquarium I bought second hand. I have owned the tank for about 2 years or so now. I started with wet rock and let the tank cycle naturally for around 10 weeks.

I have not been able to really grow corals. They have good polyp extension and look nice but for the most part have not really grown. My acros however do not have any polyp extension. I have a few dyncanops that have grown new heads, an encrusing montipora has grown around 2 inches in 1 year and of course GSP have grown a little but not as much as I would imagine based on reading other peoples growth.

However, my toadstools, euphillia corals (hammer, frogspawn, torch), acros, fleshy lps (lobophyillia, acans, brains) have not grown an inch in this time.

I have 4 Hydra 26 Led lights, which I am guessing are probably my problem, as I thought they were a more recent model when I purchased them. My euphillias are close to the bottom and I am now thinking maybe they are not receiving enough light. I was under the impression my lights were reaching 500 PAR but now upon more research they reach a maximum of 250 par on the water surface. I am currently in the process of saving for 3 Eco tech g5pro radions, which I will or will not purchase based on responses I receive here.

I have 4 AI Nero 5 Powerheads each powered at 25 - 30% which I believe puts out around 8000 gallons per hour per powerhead. I am in the process of increasing these and moving them away from blasting the coral.

I use natural sea water from my water changes and do 50% every week, based on my readings I am starting to believe this is probably too much too frequently.

I really appreciate any help I receive. Thanks

I dose Red Sea Alkalinity and Calcium, Quantum Bio Enhance, I grow chaeto and have too many snails and bristleworms which must have come in on the live rock.

My parameters are as follows:

Kh: 7

Calcium: 390

Magneisum: 1350

Nitrates: 4

Phosphates" 0.03-0.04

Temperature: 75

Thanks Everyone!

Fish: 4 tangs, bicolor angel, 3 wrasse, 2 anthias, 2 chromis, 2 clownfish

 

[thewedge]

At a glance, I would say try to get your alk above 8. I've had success staying around 8.5. Calcium seems a little low too. Also I think your temperature should be around 77 or 78 degrees. 75 seems too low to me.
And I think you may also be right about your lights. Good luck!

 

[Llyod276]

How long have these corals been in place? If this is a new(er) build then you're expecting way too much. A reef doesn't grow in a day or even weeks. Hell, my fastest growing coral the gsp, still takes a couple off weeks to grow onto a new surface. The fact that you're growing new heads is a good sign. Euphylias do not generally grow fast. Here's an idea, if lighting is an issue, try opening the shades and let sunlight in. At least till you get new lights.

On a side note my gsp grow the best when being blasted by the current.

 

[mdb_talon]

Assuming the corals have been in the tank for the large part of that two years what you describe does seem like very slow growth.

None of your parameters seem crazy off. I also would increase alk, but lots of people have great tanks and growth with 6-7 alk so i would not say that is necessarily an issue. I also agree with above that raising the temp a couple degrees may be good. 75 is at the low side of where you want to be, but again i dont see it as a big issue.

You dont mention salinity, but i would make sure you track that closely. My biggest issues have came when i dont calibrate enough(or solution bad) and salinity crept up to about 1.030 in a couple cases. it did not kill things....but they did not grow and generally seemed unhealthy. Now i always check salinity frequently and with two seperate tests(calibrating frequently)

The other thing i would wonder is if you are feeding enough. Whether that be through feeding fish or through using a coral feed. Your nutrient levels are low and no issue, but you want to make sure they are that way because you have high export via some means rather than just because you feed minimally to keep them low.

I know nothing about the lights. That par you mention at the surface is plenty for most of the coral you describe, but the question of course is how much is actually making it to where your corals are.

Main advice is take it slow if you make any changes. If you get nee lights set them about the same output as your current lights and ramp them up. Any parameter or feeding changes....do it very very slow. You had a tank for two years with slow growth, but you dont want to crash your tank and kill stuff in an attempt to improve things.

 

[Sharp]

Wow thank you everyone so much.

The earliest corals went in May of last year and most recent anything wet (fish and coral) was September last year. This was in an effort to get some proper growth by not changing anything. However I do think something crucial must be missing, as the tank really has been stable the past year. As a side note, all the coral that are growing are at the very top. Even zoanthids which need low light are at the very top and doing much better than the ones lower down - this is why I am leaning towards a light issue.

In regards to salinity and temperature. My salinity is at 1.026 and I have an auto top off unit so I would imagine its pretty stable. I have slowly been lowering the temperature over a couple months as in the future I hope to try and keep a Lennardi Wrasse which supposedly prefers lower temperatures. I had no idea that temperature could potentially be slowing growth. Would you guys recommend instead of lowering the whole tank, slowly acclimating the Lennardi Wrasse to a higher temperature. It has not been acquired yet, but I was hoping to purchase it in a couple months after I figure out the cause of the problem with the coral first.

I am feeding 4 cubes of frozen food a day, a combination of mysis, brine, angel formula and something called marine mix. I feed reef roids once a week and sheets of nori daily.

If I am increasing alk and calcium would this be over the course of say 3 - 4 weeks by increasing dosing from 10mls by half a mil every day? - and testing accordingly of course.

Something I also wanted to ask about is flow. I have heard that 20 - 50 times total tank volume is a rough estimate. Is this better done through a couple high powered pumps or lots of low powered pumps?

 

[Sharp]

How long have these corals been in place? If this is a new(er) build then you're expecting way too much. A reef doesn't grow in a day or even weeks. Hell, my fastest growing coral the gsp, still takes a couple off weeks to grow onto a new surface. The fact that you're growing new heads is a good sign. Euphylias do not generally grow fast. Here's an idea, if lighting is an issue, try opening the shades and let sunlight in. At least till you get new lights.

On a side note my gsp grow the best when being blasted by the current.

Hi, thanks for your response. I have had the coral in the tank for 15 months and the tank actually receives lots of natural light as its surrounded by windows on all sides, the coral look noticeably happier on a warm sunny day.

 

[Sharp]

I just realised I made a mistake with the Nero 5 Powerheads. I meant 800 gallons per hour per power head, not 8000.

 

[Llyod276]

Lights it is then. Also as for temperature, your maybe setting up the tank for failure just for ONE fish. It's up to you, but is it really worth it?

 

[Sharp]

Lights it is then. Also as for temperature, your maybe setting up the tank for failure just for ONE fish. It's up to you, but is it really worth it?

Yeah I had not thought like that before. Really good take. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out. If I am assuming the ideal range for temperature is 76-82 degrees, does a higher temperature correlate with a higher growth rate?

 

[Llyod276]

For some yes. There are also deep corals that like cold water. My tank runs at ~80. Do you perchance feed the corals? This is subjective, but at this rate try a feeding regimen of coral food. See how it goes for a few months. Corals will grow with out it, but watch your nutrients.

 

[Llyod276]

Dude how did we forget? Post a pic of your tank with the lights on! My tank has 1 Kessel ap700 75g tank. No problem growing anything. I was thinking in the not too distant future of getting a 180g and two of those or ap9x fixtures. I mean I have a birds nest sps, on the sand in a corner and it still grows.

 

[Sharp]

 

[Sharp]

Dude how did we forget? Post a pic of your tank with the lights on! My tank has 1 Kessel ap700 75g tank. No problem growing anything. I was thinking in the not too distant future of getting a 180g and two of those or ap9x fixtures. I mean I have a birds nest sps, on the sand in a corner and it still grows.

I posted a couple photos. The duncanops and zoanthids are the main two that have grown. They have been in for the entire 2 years pretty much.

 

[Sharp]

I feed the corals once a week, sometimes once a fortnite with reef roids and a turkey baster. What does a proper coral diet regimen look like? Is that multiple types of foods every two or so days?

 

[Llyod276]

Dude your tank looks fine. Honestly those lights are doing it. Change them if you want. But at this point you have a large tank it's gonna take time to fill in. Or buy bigger colonies and call it a day.

 

[Llyod276]

Feed as much as your tank can handle, check you nutrients. I have to feed mine, got a speices of non photosynthetic gorgonian. I do less than what they recommend, half a tablespoon every other day, hasn't died yet in six months. Broadcast feed.

 

[workhz]

What’s up with the 50% water change every week? Any commentary from the experts on use of ‘natural sea water’?

 

[Sharp]

Dude your tank looks fine. Honestly those lights are doing it. Change them if you want. But at this point you have a large tank it's gonna take time to fill in. Or buy bigger colonies and call it a day

Maybe I do have unrealistic expectations. I appreciate you taking the time to help me! If I am looking at purchasing some more sps frags, assuming the lighting is not the problem, what other things can I do to give them a happy life? Its not that I am trying to fill the tank up, its more I would like them to be happy, first and foremost, which I thought means they should encrust onto the rock so they do not look so unnatural.

 

[Sharp]

Feed as much as your tank can handle, check you nutrients. I have to feed mine, got a speices of non photosynthetic gorgonian. I do less than what they recommend, half a tablespoon every other day, hasn't died yet in six months. Broadcast feed.

When you feed, do you turn the pumps and lights off? Thats what I have been doing, except I have not been broadcast feeding, I am assuming its impossible to broadcast feeds with the pumps all off right?

 

[Sharp]

What’s up with the 50% water change every week? Any commentary from the experts on use of ‘natural sea water’?

The 50% a week came from a long time ago where I had all these fish in a 75 gallon. I have never thought to change it. I have an RODI filter so can make my own saltwater, but I figured whats better than sea water? The only issue with the NSW is that the alk and calcium r super low, which makes raising it a little hard. I havent done a water change now for 2 weeks and the nitrates are still at 4ish, I have read that once they get higher than 10 its time for a waterchange? Experience? - thanks btw