425XL tank set up roughly 2 1/2 years ago. Running chaeto in the refugium, a red sea RSK 600 skimmer, 2 Reefi Duo Extreme LEDs, an MP 40 and 2 MP 10s, DOS currently set to add 9ml/day of Fritz Alk & Calc, a DOS set up to auto water change 1/2 gal a day.
Had 2 clowns, 2 firefish, a dwarf angel, a royal gramma and a tomini. Back in late 2020 about 6 mos in I added some lps, mushrooms and zoas. The LPS all bailed out one at a time and the zoas struggled. Nutrients were low and lighting was set at the LPS preset, but still likely too high. I lowered the light settings and dosed to bring up PO4. Algae bomb. Lost all of the remaining corals, aside of a few mushrooms. Got frustrated and pretty much just let the tank run for 6 mos. Things started looking better but still low nutrients. Kept heavy feeding. Hair algae outbreak. Let it run another 6-mos. Ordered more cleanup crew. That destroyed algae but suffered some fish losses from something that came in with that. Just walked away for a few more months.
So fast forward. Two clowns and the tomini looked good and the tank looked clear. Did a couple water changes of 15-20 gallons. Turned off the skimmer and stopped the auto water change for a bit. Parameters looked good. I started regular testing. Things looked pretty stable, NO3 slowly coming up, and PO4 fluctuating but detectable and under 0.10. I picked up some low priced corals to test her out in Oct. Set the Reefi's to the preset LPS setting at 70% to acclimate over 80 days. Peak for 2 hours at maybe 75-80 watts? Things were looking good. If anything I felt the lights were too low, a branching monti was losing some color. 11/29/22: Sal 1.025, Temp 78.4, PH 8.4, NO3 10, PO4 0.02, Mg 1320, Alk 9.1, Ca 460. I dipped everything and saw a red worm or two but nothing crazy. I moved a hammer and FS off the rack and onto the rocks. I noticed some flow, but definitely not a hurricane. Anyway, I turned off the MP 40 and just ran the MP 10s on a timer during the day to be extra gentle.
Then, I noticed some tissue recession on the hammer. Nothing crazy but saw a touch of skeleton. I figured it didn't like the flow or being moved off the rack. Its spot on the rocks was lower in the tank that where it was on the rack so I felt it was getting less light. Anyway I resisted the temptation to move it since I had already turned the flow down and it was still extending nice and looking full. I kept an eye on it for a few days and I did't notice the recession getting any worse. Then today, boom. Hammer is flapping a head looking to bail out.
I imagine I need an ICP test and a par meter. But dude, what am I missing here? I had a small tank years back with t5's and you'd lose some corals to an algae bloom or parameter swing or Aiptasia outbreak. But polyps bailing out when things are all looking good and stable is absolutely killing me. Please give me some advice and tell me not to break this headache down.
Had 2 clowns, 2 firefish, a dwarf angel, a royal gramma and a tomini. Back in late 2020 about 6 mos in I added some lps, mushrooms and zoas. The LPS all bailed out one at a time and the zoas struggled. Nutrients were low and lighting was set at the LPS preset, but still likely too high. I lowered the light settings and dosed to bring up PO4. Algae bomb. Lost all of the remaining corals, aside of a few mushrooms. Got frustrated and pretty much just let the tank run for 6 mos. Things started looking better but still low nutrients. Kept heavy feeding. Hair algae outbreak. Let it run another 6-mos. Ordered more cleanup crew. That destroyed algae but suffered some fish losses from something that came in with that. Just walked away for a few more months.
So fast forward. Two clowns and the tomini looked good and the tank looked clear. Did a couple water changes of 15-20 gallons. Turned off the skimmer and stopped the auto water change for a bit. Parameters looked good. I started regular testing. Things looked pretty stable, NO3 slowly coming up, and PO4 fluctuating but detectable and under 0.10. I picked up some low priced corals to test her out in Oct. Set the Reefi's to the preset LPS setting at 70% to acclimate over 80 days. Peak for 2 hours at maybe 75-80 watts? Things were looking good. If anything I felt the lights were too low, a branching monti was losing some color. 11/29/22: Sal 1.025, Temp 78.4, PH 8.4, NO3 10, PO4 0.02, Mg 1320, Alk 9.1, Ca 460. I dipped everything and saw a red worm or two but nothing crazy. I moved a hammer and FS off the rack and onto the rocks. I noticed some flow, but definitely not a hurricane. Anyway, I turned off the MP 40 and just ran the MP 10s on a timer during the day to be extra gentle.
Then, I noticed some tissue recession on the hammer. Nothing crazy but saw a touch of skeleton. I figured it didn't like the flow or being moved off the rack. Its spot on the rocks was lower in the tank that where it was on the rack so I felt it was getting less light. Anyway I resisted the temptation to move it since I had already turned the flow down and it was still extending nice and looking full. I kept an eye on it for a few days and I did't notice the recession getting any worse. Then today, boom. Hammer is flapping a head looking to bail out.
I imagine I need an ICP test and a par meter. But dude, what am I missing here? I had a small tank years back with t5's and you'd lose some corals to an algae bloom or parameter swing or Aiptasia outbreak. But polyps bailing out when things are all looking good and stable is absolutely killing me. Please give me some advice and tell me not to break this headache down.