I can’t make my coral stay healthy!

[Mikey0909]

I have had a few different pieces of coral after I started keeping reef tanks in July 2020 I started off keeping my reef in a 20 gallon tank with a hang on the back filter and a insanely low powered light. I have improved my tank immensely since then. Some of my coral are growing slowly but none of them are what I would consider to be thriving. Some coral just won’t grow at all Some photos are below. As of now my tank has a 100 W nicrew LED light A sump with carbon, ceramic rings, denitrate, A small protein skimmer, and a decent clump of macroalgae. I also have a 200 W heater. (The house is set to go colder when nobody is home) The temperature does not seem to fluctuate much if at all.

stocking

Coral beauty angelfish (does not seem to eat coral at all)
Two orange storm clown fish (they are too small to go in with the angelfish because they are new)
Yellow goby
Tiger pistol shrimp
Bumblebee shrimp
A couple bumblebee snails (have some vermitaid snails In The tank)
There are some little white snails in the tank, not sure what the species was but I looked it up and they seem to be totally harmless
I used to have flatworms but there are none that I have seen in a couple months
There are bristle worms present as well as amphipods
there are no other life other than coral and algae that I am aware of.
my coral stocking is as follows
green star polyps
Goniapora
Kenya trees
Two BTAs
Clove polyps
Some type of the zoanthids
Dunkin coral
Pulsing

Green hammer coral
A couple other types of coral that I forgot the names of
There are also many types of algae present
Some sponges and feather duster worms

parameters (tested today with API test kits)
Nitrate: 20ppm

Phosphate: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Ph: 8

Kh: 143 ppm

Ammonia: 0-0.25 (just recently had a fish die already did a water change, is normally zero)

Calcium: 340ppm

Salinity: somewhere around 1.026 (using Hydrometer)

The tank is a 30 gallon tank with a 10 gallon sump that is About 200 gph and I also have a 500 gph flow maker


I do a 5 gallon water change once a week with treated tap water tested tap water and nitrate is under 5 ppm

With Instant ocean reef salt and dose the tank every two days with Red Sea part AB plus


thanks for reading! I know this was a lot, Is there something that it’s obvious that I am doing wrong or something that I could try?

 

[skyjacker07]

Overall your coral don’t look to bad at all parameters look fairly stable, your nitrates are somewhat high, they recommend 5 or less, but I’ve seen successes with around 10-15 on nitrates.
treated tap water isn’t ideal, distilled would be better than tap; fully filtered water that you make or buy would be even better.

 

[Mikey0909]

Overall your coral don’t look to bad at all parameters look fairly stable, your nitrates are somewhat high, they recommend 5 or less, but I’ve seen successes with around 10-15 on nitrates.
treated tap water isn’t ideal, distilled would be better than tap; fully filtered water that you make or buy would be even better.

One coral, especially my green star polyp I have had since late July 2020 and it has literally almost not grown at all. at one point it looked very healthy. And then it shrunk, and then it got healthy again and then it shrunk to how it is now. There must be something I am doing wrong, it definitely could be some thing with the tapwater, thanks for the tip.

 

[Dave1993]

ur phos and nitrate are 0 they have no food you need atleast some feed more

 

[Mikey0909]

ur phos and nitrate are 0 they have no food you need atleast some feed more

Nitrate is 20 ppm

 

[homer1475]

Seeing your rather vague parameters, I'm guessing your using API test kits?

Treated tap water is OK, but not ideal. Who knows whats in your water that the "conditioner" isn't removing.

Parameters are a little out of wack. 0 phosphates are not good, if they are truly 0.

 

[Mikey0909]

Seeing your rather vague parameters, I'm guessing your using API test kits?

Treated tap water is OK, but not ideal. Who knows whats in your water that the "conditioner" isn't removing.

Parameters are a little out of wack. 0 phosphates are not good, if they are truly 0.

Seeing your rather vague parameters, I'm guessing your using API test kits?

Treated tap water is OK, but not ideal. Who knows whats in your water that the "conditioner" isn't removing.

Parameters are a little out of wack. 0 phosphates are not good, if they are truly 0.

on the post I said that I was using API test kits, I don’t really want to blow a ton of money on a high end test kit I am assuming it is probably not actually zero it is probably slightly less than one.

 

[homer1475]

HAHAHA......

I was wiondering what you were on about, as I could see many large healthy SPS colonies. Then realized it was a background on the tank.

 

[Mikey0909]

HAHAHA......

I was wiondering what you were on about, as I could see many large healthy SPS colonies. Then realized it was a background on the tank.

I wish lol I have mostly soft corals

 

[vetteguy53081]

on the post I said that I was using API test kits, I don’t really want to blow a ton of money on a high end test kit I am assuming it is probably not actually zero it is probably slightly less than one.

Hate to say it bluntly, but you will have to of all equipment invest in test kits. With API notorious for false readings, you will blow money on fish and coral to watch them wither if you cant manage water quality due to false readings.
Fish and Coral dont talk - Test Kits do
I suspect High nitrate and phosphate which will send numbers higher, promote algae and cyano which your pics show algae and offer other problematic occurrences.
used Hanna kits are on the marketplace for $30-35.00 Often and worth every cent.
In the mean time, you can take a good water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use API kits and have them test for you and see what results they come up with

 

[homer1475]

Whether you "don't want to blow a ton of money on test kits" or not is a moot point.

You need a better understanding of the chemistry going on in your tank.Specially if you want to keep coral, soft or hard. Salifert is very reputable and fairly cheap.

IMO Hanna ULR phosphorus is a must for phosphates. No other test kit in the hobby can measure the low levels we try to keep.

At the very least you need:

Alkalinity - salifert titration
Calcium - salifert titration
Magnesium - salifert titration
Nitrate - API is fine as your only looking for a ballpark number
Phosphate - Hanna ULR Phosphorus

You really do need to stop using tap water if your going to keep coral.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Corals dont look bad but a couple of water changes will help as will fine tuning light and flow which should be moderate

 

[homer1475]

Hate to say it bluntly, but you will have to of all equipment invest in test kits. With API notorious for false readings, you will blow money on fish and coral to watch them wither if you cant manage water quality due to false readings.
Fish and Coral dont talk - Test Kits do
I suspect High nitrate and phosphate which will send numbers higher, promote algae and cyano which your pics show algae and offer other problematic occurrences.
used Hanna kits are on the marketplace for $30-35.00 Often and worth every cent.

I don't normally agree with you, but for this instance..... 100% agree.

 

[sfin52]

S

on the post I said that I was using API test kits, I don’t really want to blow a ton of money on a high end test kit I am assuming it is probably not actually zero it is probably slightly less than one.

Salifert or aqua forrest have a decent test kit for a little more.

 

[MaxTremors]

A few suggestions

Stop using tap water. You just don’t know what is in it, could have copper, pesticides, fluoride, heavy metals, chloramine (which is different than chlorine). Get an RODI unit (even a $60 aquaticlife 50gpd unit would be a vast improvement, and would last at least six months). Or buy from an LFS or distilled from the grocery store. If you get an RODI Unit, make sure to get a pressure gauge and a TDS meter (both around $10)

Get a refractometer, hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate. Make sure to get some calibration fluid with it.

Get quality test kits, API at best gives a vague ballpark of where your parameters are, but the resolution is really useless for reefing applications (for example, the phosphate test kit goes from 0 to 0.25, in reefing we try to keep our phosphates between 0.03 and 0.08, so the API test is nowhere near specific enough). Salifert, Red Sea, Hanna, Nyos, Aqua Forest, and Tropic Marin are all quality

Your flow is likely completely inadequate. I generally recommend 40-70x tank volume turn over for a mixed reef. GPH is not a great way to gauge whether flow is adequate, but it’s a decent starting point. In my 28 gallon, I have roughly 2400gph (or 85x tank volume), granted it’s not all direct, laminar flow, it’s wide and pulses and alternates back and forth. I would recommend adding at least one more wavemaker, ideally something that is controllable that can be randomized or pulse.

As far as your parameters, it’s hard to trust API test results, but if they’re accurate, your calcium and phosphates are low and nitrates a little high. You mentioned using instant ocean salt, which mixes to around 10dkh, your test results (kh) equals roughly 7.9dkh, so I wonder how stable your Alk is. I would test it daily (at the same time each day) for a week to see how much Alk your tank is going through weekly/daily. If it’s substantial, you may need to start dosing a two part.

Overall, your coral doesn’t look too bad. The Xenia won’t grow on the substrate, so if you want it to grow more you’ll need to put it on a rock or some kind of solid surface. What settings do you have your light on? If you have it at 100%, it may be overkill. The tap water is probably your most pressing issue (could also be the cause of your algae issues).

Edit: after reading your later comments, I think it’s important to say, if you want to keep corals, you need to invest in proper test kits, it’s just part of keeping corals. It’s no different than investing in a UVB light if you keep reptiles or getting your dog vaccinated, it’s just one of the requirements for keeping these animals (at least if you want to do so ethically). Buying corals before buying quality test kits is putting the cart before the horse.

 

[PlumbTuckered]

Turn off your skimmer for a while. This will allow nitrates and phosphates to come up. you need to have some nitrates and phosphates.

You could put your skimmer on a timer and monitor. Once you have adequate nitrate and phosphate keep your timer set that that many hours.

 

[skyjacker07]

I agree with all of them, I use api, but I also use salifert, Hannah checkers, and Red Sea test kits to test my parameters.
once I’ve got my uptake figured out then I rarely use them, with the exception of nitrates and phosphates. I’m sure these guys can give you examples of their tanks so you can see what ro/di water and testing will do.
This tank was ro/di water, reef crystals salt, weekly water changes and I did have to dose calcium weekly. Mainly just plenty of flow, water changes with good water, and feeding the corals.

 

[MaxTremors]

I agree with all of them, I use api, but I also use salifert, Hannah checkers, and Red Sea test kits to test my parameters.
once I’ve got my uptake figured out then I rarely use them, with the exception of nitrates and phosphates. I’m sure these guys can give you examples of their tanks so you can see what ro/di water and testing will do.
This tank was ro/di water, reef crystals salt, weekly water changes and I did have to dose calcium weekly. Mainly just plenty of flow, water changes with good water, and feeding the corals.

Is that a Nanocube (looks great!)? Here is mine (pic is a couple months old):

 

[skyjacker07]

Is that a Nanocube (looks great!)? Here is mine (pic is a couple months old):

It’s a jbj 28g

 

[Mikey0909]

It’s a jbj 28g

Looks great!