Why do my green slimers always die?

[SamAPFish]

So I’ve tried to keep green slimer acroporas 3 times, and every single time it has browned out with just a little green on the tips. Also, they never have any polyp extension. All of this usually happens in about a week. About a week ago I bought some harder acroporas from a different(and better) store and these ones have amazing extension and color. Anyway, I guess I’m asking why I can only keep certain acroporas.

 

[Mical]

A couple things come to mind, how old is the tank, what kind of lights do you have and what are your params?

 

[SamAPFish]

A couple things come to mind, how old is the tank, what kind of lights do you have and what are your params?

The tank is only about a year old. It’s a 20 gallon cube and I have an ai prime 16hd on it. It’s at very high settings so I couldn’t imagine the problem being the light. At the moment I have about 390 calcium and 7 dkh( I know it’s low) my nitrate is about 4 and phosphates are at about 0.06.

 

[SamAPFish]

Oh and I just started using phosguard for gha problems

 

[Mical]

I'ld work on getting params upped - all of them Alk, Cal & Mag (I'll bet Mag is low also) Your corals will be happier #s. I shoot for 8ish dkh, Cal about 450 and mag in the upper 1300s. Don't overlook SG (1.026) and temp 78-79degrees.

 

[Neoalchemist]

How is your flow in the tank? Where is you magnesium sitting?
Mine sits at about 300 par which is moderate but i dont believe they are too picky about light.
Flow on the other hand, they seem to really like chaotic and strong flow.
Careful with the phosgaurd, certain corals really dont like that stuff.
Its safer than gfo but it can aggravate certain corals.
It really might not be a good idea to remove any more po4. Your nutrients are at a decent spot. Fighting an algea out break with nutrient management when your numbers are at a good spot is more likely to cause problems. Manual removal and time are the weapons you want to be using at this point in the tanks life.

 

[SamAPFish]

I'ld work on getting params upped - all of them Alk, Cal & Mag (I'll bet Mag is low also) Your corals will be happier #s. I shoot for 8ish dkh, Cal about 450 and mag in the upper 1300s. Don't overlook SG (1.026) and temp 78-79degrees.

My salinity is 1.026 and my temp is 76-77. I’m Mostly just wondering why some species of sps seem to thrive in my tank while some die. Also I though green slimers were an easy sps.

 

[SamAPFish]

How is your flow in the tank? Where is you magnesium sitting?
Mine sits at about 300 par which is moderate but i dont believe they are too picky about light.
Flow on the other hand, they seem to really like chaotic and strong flow.
Careful with the phosgaurd, certain corals really dont like that stuff.
Its safer than gfo but it can aggravate certain corals.
It really might not be a good idea to remove any more po4. Your nutrients are at a decent spot. Fighting an algea out break with nutrient management when your numbers are at a good spot is more likely to cause problems. Manual removal and time are the weapons you want to be using at this point in the tanks life.

Does low flow cause the coral to brown out? I’m almost thinking it’s the seller. Whenever I buy sps corals from my lfs they brown out. All of my successful new acroporas have been from a guy who specializes in sps.

 

[SamAPFish]

I'ld work on getting params upped - all of them Alk, Cal & Mag (I'll bet Mag is low also) Your corals will be happier #s. I shoot for 8ish dkh, Cal about 450 and mag in the upper 1300s. Don't overlook SG (1.026) and temp 78-79degrees.

Also yeah I’ll bump up the parameters. Aqua forest seems to have really low alk. I don’t have a magnesium test or any mag to dose into the tank.

 

[Neoalchemist]

Some corals are just particular about certain things.
I also believe that corals use certain chemical cues in the water from the micro fauna. Which is one reason why tanks have trouble in the first year or so.

 

[Neoalchemist]

Does low flow cause the coral to brown out? I’m almost thinking it’s the seller. Whenever I buy sps corals from my lfs they brown out. All of my successful new acroporas have been from a guy who specializes in sps.

Could very well be that the corals you are getting are in decline before you get them

 

[Neoalchemist]

Any pics? Full tank shot?

 

[Zoajohn]

Hey OP. I was in your boat for the longest time with green slimer. I’ve had to run low light intensity for a bit when battling dinos. I beat them and bumped lighting and nutrients up and it’s gone from brown to neon green in a week. Keep phosphate and nitrates up and give it light. Mine is probably under 350 PAR right now

 

[Neoalchemist]

Also yeah I’ll bump up the parameters. Aqua forest seems to have really low alk. I don’t have a magnesium test or any mag to dose into the tank.

In that size tank a decent water change wil get your numbers squared away quick. If you can, confirm or calibrate your refractometer. Your numbers arent really low from a sea water standpoint. But if your refractometer is causing you to mix your water with alower than expected sg. All of your numbers will test on the low side.

 

[SamAPFish]

In that size tank a decent water change wil get your numbers squared away quick. If you can, confirm or calibrate your refractometer. Your numbers arent really low from a sea water standpoint. But if your refractometer is causing you to mix your water with alower than expected sg. All of your numbers will test on the low side.

No my salinity is 1.026 it’s my calcium and alkalinity that I was saying is low. I calibrate my refractometer often

 

[SamAPFish]

Any pics? Full tank shot?

Can’t today because I’m out of town.

 

[Reefer40b]

Alk at 7 is perfectly fine as long as its not drifting, you could bump up the calcium a little bit say to 400 410. This is most likely a lighting issue. When you can get a picture, we can tell more.

 

[SamAPFish]

Alk at 7 is perfectly fine as long as its not drifting, you could bump up the calcium a little bit say to 400 410. This is most likely a lighting issue. When you can get a picture, we can tell more.

I’ve always put them directly under my light at the highest light possible. When you say lighting issue, do you mean too much or too little?

 

[Reefer40b]

I’ve always put them directly under my light at the highest light possible. When you say lighting issue, do you mean too much or too little?

Could be either hard to say without seeing the scape and lighting height... Brown usually means too little though. Corals can also go brown for many reasons.

 

[SamAPFish]

Could be either hard to say without seeing the scape and lighting height... Brown usually means too little though

I can’t find any tank shots so I’ll have to get some tomorrow but my light is about 7 inches above water and my scape is terrible( at the moment) so it only goes up a little less than 3/4 high in the tank