can't seem to make corals happy

[Marinne13]

so I only have LPS coral and 95% of them are softies but can't seem to get them to extend and have good color

the only thing that looks good are the mushrooms and duncan...my zoos, frogspawn, hammer and torch don't look good at all. The zoos won't even open

I have a 6 bulb T5 fixture with ATI bulbs that are on from 8-7 and all my paramters are excellent except for my calcium which was at 380 today (don't know why it is that low as I use reef crystals)...I ordered an Alk test kit today so don't have that number

I do weekly 5% water changes, the salinity is stable at 1.025, ph is stable at 8.2 and temp is 77.8

ugh just can't figure it out

 

[Civicdemon]

I would bump up Your water change to 10 % weekly or 20 % bi weekly, also might want to raise the temps just a bit. to like 78.5 Mine never drops under 78.6 F. but is usually around 79 or 80 depending on the day time temps.

 

[Marinne13]

do you think temp would make a difference?

I like the 5% because it doesn't take long and seems to be a more stable route...not sure why my calcium was at 380 because last week it was 440? the only coral I have with a harder base is a brain favites but no sps

 

[Civicdemon]

What test are you using for the Ca. ??? And the temps useto be kept lower in the hobby back in the days, But in reality the water around Coral reefs are actually a little warmer at around 81 to 84 F. So i was reading that temps closer to nature are best for overal coral health. So i bumped mine up and my corals do look better since.

As far as water changes go its recomended to do 25 % every 2 weeks So you would figures thats around 12% every week.

What are your Nitrates at ?

 

[jamespias]

How far away from the lights are your corals?

 

[Marinne13]

My nitrates and phosphates are 0...my light is 4 inches from the water and most of my coral is middle to bottom depending on requirements

My eagle eye zoos were reaching so I moved them up another couple of inches

 

[jamespias]

Pics?

 

[Marinne13]

ok so I got the ALK test in and it is sitting at 10.5 with my calcium at 420ppm

I really don't want to dose kalk but maybe I need to dose?

here are some pictures...I am most concerned with the torch and frogspawn

Torch not opening

Frogspawn


these are just others, let me know if they look good to you

 

[MitchReef]

have you checked for stray voltage? It makes everything sad....

 

[Civicdemon]

Was.this.right afyer lights on ??? I see.the candy canes sweepers out . They usually feed at night or during lights out

 

[Marinne13]

No, this was just a second ago...how do I check for stray voltage

 

[MitchReef]

If you have a multimeter just run one lead to the water in your tank and the other to a good known ground and look for AC volts....I personally just pull a plug slightly out of a receptacle and go straight to the ground prong on the plug....but some consider me nuts....If you get less than about 15V you should be okay....

 

[jamespias]

Stray voltage could be culprit. Also, maybe flow? It looks like perhaps your torch is getting blasted? Hard to tell in a still shot, but none of the corals you posted like a lot of flow (especially direct). Maybe try repositioning your powerheads and give it a day or two.

 

[Marinne13]

I have that MP40 but it seems like too much...I literally have it at 30% but still seems to blast everything and I have tried it in about every angle on the tank

if I took that out I would only have abut 1,000GPH flow with two other small powerheads

 

[jamespias]

All things considered in this hobby powerheads are relatively cheap....maybe someone in your area has one on craigslist or something where you can get a cheaper, smaller one to try it out...if nothing else you can use it for emergency back up down the line, and for mixing saltwater for water changes....You could also try putting your MP40 output behind some rock where it will disperse the flow and create more turbulence. I had a small dead spot in my tank's corner, so I bought a smaller powerhead, and put it behind some rock not only to hide it, but to direct the flow in random directions around that particular area without causing any "bad" flow elsewhere.

 

[ErinCahir]

How far away is everything from each other?

 

[Marinne13]

I had 3 total powerheads in my tank...the MP40 and two 425GPH all pointed in different directions

I did try the MP40 behind the rock and it just blew the sand around really bad and I even have reef sand, I think the MP40 is too much for my 75

all my corals are about 6 inches away from the other

 

[ErinCahir]

Are any of them "downstream" from each other flow-wise?

 

[Marinne13]

I guess you could say that...the only coral that seems pissed off all the time is the torch, I have moved it to about every position in the tank and it still won't open

I am starting to think corals are harder than people say lol, I have bought all the right equipment and stayed consistent on my mintenance but they just aren't growing or looking good

 

[Marinne13]

If you have a multimeter just run one lead to the water in your tank and the other to a good known ground and look for AC volts....I personally just pull a plug slightly out of a receptacle and go straight to the ground prong on the plug....but some consider me nuts....If you get less than about 15V you should be okay....

got a multimeter and only getting .05 on the meter so it's not stray voltage