Unfortunately losing corals is part of the learning process. When they go obviously something needs to change, the current process didn’t work. But, the problem is there are too many button but no manual.
I will tell you what I did to turn my tank, although you are still in the unstable tank stage, less than 1 year ….
Here are what some of my prized SPS looked like:
At that point I was throwing money down the drain…. I almost packed it in.
Anyways first I removed most of my filtration GFO, socks, few others and only kept skimmer and activated carbon (20ml/100l change once a month).
Second I made sure PO4 was above 0.1 level, you can do this by feeding Reef Roids , Fauna Marin coral dust (put some in a cup with reef water and let sit for 30 minutes) or Tropic Marin coral food. Adding PO4 or NO3 is not the same from my experience.
Yes you do need to feed the corals.
Third I started carbon dosing TM NP Bacto Ballance (0.2 ml per 100l) just to feed the bacteria, so the bacteria can feed the corals. This is not to control nutrients!!!
Last I made sure my Alk was in the 7-8 dKh range. I also switched to TM AFR due to the simplicity. It has the main elements and all the trace elements so it makes the reef stable and reduces the reefing complexity. I have moved on to a different system now but at the time it helped me to figure out things by not being distracted with calcium, mg and trace elements etc…
After few months things improved:
Same coral from the first picture.
Here as it was year later:
Good luck,
I will tell you what I did to turn my tank, although you are still in the unstable tank stage, less than 1 year ….
Here are what some of my prized SPS looked like:
At that point I was throwing money down the drain…. I almost packed it in.
Anyways first I removed most of my filtration GFO, socks, few others and only kept skimmer and activated carbon (20ml/100l change once a month).
Second I made sure PO4 was above 0.1 level, you can do this by feeding Reef Roids , Fauna Marin coral dust (put some in a cup with reef water and let sit for 30 minutes) or Tropic Marin coral food. Adding PO4 or NO3 is not the same from my experience.
Yes you do need to feed the corals.
Third I started carbon dosing TM NP Bacto Ballance (0.2 ml per 100l) just to feed the bacteria, so the bacteria can feed the corals. This is not to control nutrients!!!
Last I made sure my Alk was in the 7-8 dKh range. I also switched to TM AFR due to the simplicity. It has the main elements and all the trace elements so it makes the reef stable and reduces the reefing complexity. I have moved on to a different system now but at the time it helped me to figure out things by not being distracted with calcium, mg and trace elements etc…
After few months things improved:
Same coral from the first picture.
Here as it was year later:
Good luck,