OK What to do

[RFD]

Hi All,

Can't get over the hump- My brain coral ied after two week- the grand total is one candy cane coral, one plate, one brain- one talbot damsel. Parm are good except for the dreaded Nitrate which is at 80 ppm.
So what is the problem? Lighting ( using a stock light from Biocube) water ( everything is fine with exception of nitrate) flow (did I have the brain and plate in the wrong spot), is my tank not established?

Please some on give me a clue- Birdsnest and bubble coral growing nicely.

What to ddo?

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

Your description says you've had your reef setup for 2 months. I would think your tank needs more time to mature. It's hard to resist those tasty looking corals at the LFS but you have to do the right thing and wait. Your nitrate is HIGH! You need to get it LOW! 2 words.... Water Changes. Do you have a skimmer? If you have a healthy birds nest then I would think your flow is OK and should've been enough for your lost corals. Please don't take anything I've said negatively. Just throwing out some opinions. Just get a hold of your nitrates and give your tank a couple of more months. Are you still in your algae cycle?

 

[bjohanson1234]

what else do you have in your tank????
I noticed that it is only a 14 gal tank. The smaller the tank, the harder it is to keep stable. Also you cant load a saltwater tank like you can a fresh water tank. Sounds like you either have it over stocked or dont keep up on waterchanges like Mr Sniffles said. I know it is hard not to buy things for your tank but the only thing that happens fast in our tanks are disasters!!!!! Let things settle down before you buys more, keep up on the water changes, read up on things, enjoy what you have and take it slow.

Hope everything gets better, it happens to all of us.

Brian

 

[Bifferwine]

Well, nitrates at that level could very well have killed them. Those nitrates are way too high -- and are way above what is normally considered fatal to inverts.

Are you using tap water by any chance? Or any sort of HOB or canister filtration? Or crushed coral substrate?

 

[RFD]

Thank you for help,

i perform water changes every Saturday- 2-3 gallons. i test weekly for everything I can. I listed my Parmss last week and then last night.


Calcium - 480 - 520
Nitrate - 20 -80
Phosphate .5-1.0
dKH - 10- 12
Ammonia 0-0
Nitirte - 0 - 0
Ph -8.2 -8.2
Gravity - 1.026 -1.026
temp -78 -78

I did lose a Damsel - Everything else looked great yesterday morning. I should clarify that I did not lose the plate ,candy cane and brain at the same time. They were over a period of two month.

I am real curious to see if the lighting is part of the cause the brain and plate were on the bottom of the tank. If the light or flow in that area or too little or to strong cold that be part of the problem?

 

[yote]

Rich
Up your water changes to 7 gallons untill those nitrates are WAY down before adding anything else to the tank.
It could be the lighting that got your corals.Bio-Cubes dont really have good lights.Their ok for stuff like mushroom and zoanthids,but thats about it.

 

[mng777777]

Your lighting may or may not have lead to your corals deaths, but without addressing those nitrates we'll never know.

what else do you have in your tank????

Are you using tap water by any chance? Or any sort of HOB or canister filtration? Or crushed coral substrate?

Please answer these questions to help locate and get advice on your nitrate source. Sadly, you will not be able to enjoy success in this hobby until you get them down!

 

[daugherty]

i am suprised that the birdsnest is not the first one that died. just up the water changes. cutdown the feeding of the tank. what kind of food do you use and are you using tap water.