Cant keep coral?

[Whatskillz]

I built a custom 30 gal cube tank. 18x18x24
It was a all in one when I built it, was that way for about 9 months. When I moved I took it apart and drilled it for a sump. Its been back up for about 2 months. The sump is about 5gals. Its got a bubble magus small filter roller and some left over matrix rocks in it. Temperature is controlled but a bulk reef supply heater and controller set at 78.
Also running a Kessel 360n
Have a skims skimmer I'm putting in as well

Building a new stand. And don't mind the terrible paint job on the wall. New house and a lot to do
I do a 10gal water change every weekend and the only 2 corals is been able to keep is a small hammer and a candy cane. Lost a head on both...
The hammer has never really extended its arms.
I did a triton test to find out why it gone thru 10 different frags and never had any success.......

Also in what is the dark stuff on the rock.
And those white tube things in the rock crevices


.

Triton test link for results

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[ActiveAngel]

• What is the PAR at the top of that rock? Maybe those corals are roasted with light, as it looks pretty bright there. And what is the lighting schedule?
• Have you checked your temperature with a glass thermometer as well? Heaters are always the first thing to fail.
• What type of salt are you using? What is the tank salinity? And are you measuring with a refractometer or a hydrometer?
• Is there an Auto Top Off, or are you doing it manually?
• That's a lot of water changes. When you do water changes, what is your water source: RODI, tap, etc...? If using RODI, are your filters relatively new?
• Do you pre-warm your water before doing a water change? ...this isn't usually required with small WC's, but you are doing a lot of water changes.
• Also, what is the timeframe here?
• Were the rocks live when you bought them, or were they dry rocks that you seeded? Its also possible a pest is bothering the corals.

You'll notice most of my questions were about salinity and temperature. These are at least 90% of the issues based on my past experience.
I'm only mildly concerned about those couple metals that are high... i dont think its them.
....Also, that is Turf Algae growing on the rocks. It's really hard to get rid of, nothing much will eat it. You may want to eventually try some Vibrant. It worked for Turf Algae in one of my tanks.

 

[Whatskillz]

Not sure on the par. I run the lights at 40%ish about 12 hours a day.

Have not check temp with a glass thermometer. Water always feels warm and I use a bare bra heater with separate temp prob and controller

I use reef crystal salt from petco.
Mix in rodi water from a brs 7stage rodi filter to 1.026.I do warm it before I put it in
And use a refractometer

I have an auto topoff running from my rodi water storage
Currently building a auto water changer as well

I started with dry rock and added fish food to start the cycle
I've had the same 2 coral for about 6 months and there not really getting better or worse

 

[ActiveAngel]

Hmm... lots of good responses!
I think we can rule out most pests, as well as water source and salt mix.

Definitely use the glass thermometer. You can pick them up for a buck or two either online or at any fish store, or maybe even Walmart.

1.026 is slightly high, but within a perfectly safe range. Assuming your refractometer is calibrated correctly, this shouldn’t be adding much stress if any. But if you take it down to 1.025, it may help a little... In case of machine or human error.

12 hours a day isn’t terrible. However I would never recommend beginners to start at that amount. Honestly I would recommend starting with 8-10 hours a day, so take it down to 10. Another person may be able to give you a more conservative guidance on the light intensity with your unit... But 40% may also be on the high end of an optimal range. Especially keeping in mind that your medium-light corals are top and center in your tank, right in the spotlight.

...It’s funny about this hobby that in regards to light and heat; if you are slightly too low, then corals may show minimal to no effect. But if slightly too high, it can wipe out your tank, and sometimes quite fast. It’s always better to err on the low side with these two parameters.

otherwise, good work so far! You’ve had a lot of success. Often times, it’s not any one thing that hurts our tank inhabitants. But instead a lot of minor stressors that accumulate, until the “straw that breaks the camels back” happens.

 

[Whatskillz]

OK cool. I'll grab a glass thermometer and ill look into getting a par meter. Just frustrating to keep having coral die and trying to do everything right

 

[ActiveAngel]

The club has a PAR meter that you can rent. (@jcook54 Maybe you can help us with the current PAR meter rental situation?)

Meanwhile, I would recommend, in addition to getting a glass thermometer, to decrease your lighting schedule to 10 hours, and your salinity to 1.025. If we make all the above assumptions, your current setup should technically be acceptable. But that’s like getting into gambling and betting on rolling a 10, 11, or 12 on your first several roles of the dice. While technically possible that you won’t lose everything with those bets, it’s smarter to bet on rolling 7’s. (And in this analogy, there is not a bigger payoff for more light or higher salinity. There’s a smaller payoff for high numbers as it uses more energy and material).

Plus those 2 changes are minor, can be done immediately, and are guaranteed to decrease coral stress. They’re a better bet.

Good luck brother! And keep us informed!

 

[Whatskillz]

Thank you I appreciate it. I'll change those items and keep it posted

 

[hzheng33]

@Whatskillz

hi there,

just to make sure that the kessil 360 is the Narrow version instead of the wide version.

 

[Whatskillz]

@Whatskillz

hi there,

just to make sure that the kessil 360 is the Narrow version instead of the wide version.

It is. I didn't think my tank was wide enough for the 360w