180 Gallon Reef corals not growing. Help please.

[mdb_talon]

Do you guys think that feeding and stablilty could be another culprit. I am doing 50% water changes weekly, which someone mentioned might be too much. It was a habit I build years ago and haven't really thought about until now. I am currently feeding the coral once a week / fornite and fish 3 times a day.

50% does seem excessive yes. I would cut back. Just make sure to keep an eye on nutrients though. Your numbers now are fine and can even go up and be fine, but want to make sure they stay fine with smaller wc.

 

[Sharp]

I don’t know why the rest of my post got cut off??? My guess as to why Bio E is asking for consumers to use a Skimmer is because of unused, excess Bio E not being taken in by the corals. So if you’re dosing too much because you’re corals don’t like it or need it then the extra can be taken up by the skimmer. The obvious next question is, is your skimmer pulling out a consistent amount of stuff? If not you may be od ing your corals on this stuff. I also was wondering about your Bicolor Angel. Could it be the entire problem? Believe me, I would love to have one. But they’re nippers!

My bicolor is 100% a nipper. Im not sure if you guys can see from the photos, but the glass cusion coral in the middle used to be as large as my hand, but got nipped until its small. However, I have only seen it nip that one coral.

 

[Sharp]

With the flow, is it better to have lots of powerheads at a lower rate that add up to the desired total turnover or a couple high powered ones, that reach the same turnover?

 

[flourishofmediocrity]

I think I must have missed it… what’s your Ph?

 

[Sharp]

50% does seem excessive yes. I would cut back. Just make sure to keep an eye on nutrients though. Your numbers now are fine and can even go up and be fine, but want to make sure they stay fine with smaller wc.

Hi, just thought I would try and catch you while you are still here. I am getting mixed information about nutrients. I was always under the belief that a little higher was never a bad thing. then i read lots about having really low, 0.05 nitrates and phosphates this caused my tank to get very sick, and never looked back. Just about how high can I safely go before a water change is due, obviously every tank is different and i will look and check with my tank to see what works. I would also like to keep SPS in the near future after I sort everything out, so I would 100% like to have the tank work for them as well as LPS. Thanks for your help!

 

[mdb_talon]

With the flow, is it better to have lots of powerheads at a lower rate that add up to the desired total turnover or a couple high powered ones, that reach the same turnover?

This is not a direct answer but you want as much random/changing flow as you can. Some powerful large powerheads can give you that or can achieve the same thing with multiple smaller powerheads.

 

[Sharp]

I think I must have missed it… what’s your Ph?

oops forgot to say. I dont have a super accurate test kit for ph, i have the API one, its at 7.8, which is low, but I read that trying to increase it is more hassle than its worth. Its been something I have been reading about alot recently and havent come to a proper decision on how to safely raise it for long term success - seeing as every water change it would go low again? if thats what my natural water has - another reason to probably use artificial water over NSW

 

[Glenner’sreef]

With the flow, is it better to have lots of powerheads at a lower rate that add up to the desired total turnover or a couple high powered ones, that reach the same turnover?

I’m sure two strong powerheads or 4 small ones shouldn’t matter. It boils down to who’s getting too much flow or too little. Sps higher flow! Lps and softies less.

 

[ViceCityReef]

I think I must have missed it… what’s your Ph?

I was wondering the same thing

 

[Sharp]

ph is 7.8

 

[ViceCityReef]

oops forgot to say. I dont have a super accurate test kit for ph, i have the API one, its at 7.8, which is low, but I read that trying to increase it is more hassle than its worth. Its been something I have been reading about alot recently and havent come to a proper decision on how to safely raise it for long term success - seeing as every water change it would go low again? if thats what my natural water has - another reason to probably use artificial water over NSW

Honestly, pH has been key to coral growth for me. I would look into a CO2 scrubber.

 

[ViceCityReef]

ph is 7.8

And definitely get something more reliable than the API pH test.

 

[flourishofmediocrity]

oops forgot to say. I dont have a super accurate test kit for ph, i have the API one, its at 7.8, which is low, but I read that trying to increase it is more hassle than its worth. Its been something I have been reading about alot recently and havent come to a proper decision on how to safely raise it for long term success - seeing as every water change it would go low again? if thats what my natural water has - another reason to probably use artificial water over NSW

I’ve watched quite a few BRS (and other YT channels) videos that say the opposite. I really can’t say, because I don’t have the experience myself, but they say that going up to 8.3 can increase coral growth by 50%. Don’t want to get your hopes up or anything, but a lot of people put a lot of effort into raising their Ph to that level and swear that it makes a difference.

 

[Sharp]

Wow thats good to hear. I have on hand a powder substance I can check the name later on, which increases ph but i think that would cause shock right? I ll look into a C02 scrubber I havent heard of one before. I assume its something like a skimmer that goes it the sump.

 

[workhz]

Honestly, pH has been key to coral growth for me. I would look into a CO2 scrubber.

My ph is around that also and my alkalinity has been low so I’ve been trying to supplement it all with soda ash plus getting fresh air around the tank.

Before a CO2 scrubber, I’d at least try to understand why the PH is on the lower side. Excess CO2 in the house or something else or even an incorrect ph measure. Heck, with slightly higher alkalinity it might creep to 8 and we don’t even know what time of day OP tested.

 

[flourishofmediocrity]

I’m still in the building phase, but I’m already starting to fill the house with plants ahead of time which my wife likes (thank goodness) as part of my multi pronged plan to help keep the Ph up in my upcoming build. I’m also looking into a HVAC air exchange unit, and plan to pull outside air for the skimmer.

 

[mdb_talon]

Hi, just thought I would try and catch you while you are still here. I am getting mixed information about nutrients. I was always under the belief that a little higher was never a bad thing. then i read lots about having really low, 0.05 nitrates and phosphates this caused my tank to get very sick, and never looked back. Just about how high can I safely go before a water change is due, obviously every tank is different and i will look and check with my tank to see what works. I would also like to keep SPS in the near future after I sort everything out, so I would 100% like to have the tank work for them as well as LPS. Thanks for your help!

Ya sadly the bad thing about this forum is so many conflicting ideas can make it hard lol!!! In many cases with multiple "correct" yet conflicting answers which just makes it harder. My tank is mostly LPS and SPS. I have found my sweet spot is between .05 and .1 on phosphates and between 5 and 15 on nitrates. Any lower i quickly notice. Higher and it usually takes awhile to notice.Again though i know people on here with much much higher nutrient levels with amazing tanks so there are other factors as well of course and i personally dont think we truly understand them all.

In my case I feed extremely heavy, but have massive nutrient export as well with two refugiums and an oversized skimmer on my system. I am a big believer that constant nutrient availability without letting the numbers skyrocket is ideal for my tanks. In my frag system that is about 250 gallons total i feed about a 1/2 tablespoon of dry(roids or similar) and about equivelant of 6 frozen cubes daily...plus acropower and reef energy twice a week . Plus feed my fish heavily with pellets and target feed lps pellets a couple times weekly. Even with that if i am not careful i zero out my nutrients. Was 0.0 on nitrate and phosphate with the standard checkers last night(not ulr).

Not sure if that helps, but i would say main thing is to make sure to not do too many changes at once and then go slow. Find your sweet spot with small incremental changes over time and you will find what works for your tank.

 

[mdb_talon]

Wow thats good to hear. I have on hand a powder substance I can check the name later on, which increases ph but i think that would cause shock right? I ll look into a C02 scrubber I havent heard of one before. I assume its something like a skimmer that goes it the sump.

If the powder you refer to is a PH booster product then it is an alkalinity supplement. Make sure any dosing of it you do you monitor the alkalinity. Otherwise you risk skyrocketing or having large up/down swings with alk trying to hit a magical PH.

PH is determined by alkalinity and co2 levels in the tank so any ph booster is just alkalinity.

 

[ViceCityReef]

My ph is around that also and my alkalinity has been low so I’ve been trying to supplement it all with soda ash plus getting fresh air around the tank.

Before a CO2 scrubber, I’d at least try to understand why the PH is on the lower side. Excess CO2 in the house or something else or even an incorrect ph measure. Heck, with slightly higher alkalinity it might creep to 8 and we don’t even know what time of day OP tested.

I would definitely look into raising your cal, seems for Alk of 7 your should be around 420.

Check out the link below, balanced alk/cal should give you a little bump in your pH

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[outhouse]

Lighting and flow were kinda my suspicions.

to much flow will slow down LPS growth. Its not your problem If you had SPS and a bare bottom tank, you could increase flow, but ive seen some of the best tanks grow coral great with exactly what you have.