Few coral questions

[arbaugh]

So we have about 20 coral frags in 45 gallon and a few of then aren't doing great. There are a various bit of questions here. So I'll start with tank specs. Tested everything last night. Here is what everything was

Nitrites 0
Nitrates 15
Kh/alk 11.8/4.22
Mag 1260
Calcium 485
Salinity 1.025
Temp 79

45 gallon with led lights and an overhang skimmer and canister filter below. Carbon bag running thru filter

Here are a few photos with questions.

alt="" />

The question is with the white torch. It won't go up. It only falls down. Plenty of flow. Other corals around it are swinging freely. It gets scared a few times a night and closes all the way up. It's been doing this sense the day we bought it.

alt="" />

I can't tell if this is dying.

alt="" />

alt="" />

This is a beautiful orange Polly we bought. It opened up for a few days then began closing. Day after day for about 2 weeks now we would get it to open just a tiny bit. Monday we had alk up a bit and all 3 were opening. Came home today and it looks like the new wrasse has nipped half of it off. I can't figure out why or why it won't open.

alt="" />

And I think this candy cane is dead. It's mostly skeleton now and can hardly see green in the middle any longer. Purple used to be visible but now all I see is shell.

Any advice would be helpful.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lsu_fishfan]

First off, your alk is on the high side IMO. It should be in the 8-10 dkh range. The nitrates aren't dangerously high but they are getting pretty close, I had the same problem, once I got the NO3 levels below 10 ppm my corals started looking happier. IME, when a soft coral starts to recede, try moving it to an area of lower light or flow.

 

[arbaugh]

Our nitrates have never went down to 0. I'm thinking it has something to do with the canister filter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lsu_fishfan]

arbaugh;1036726 wrote: Our nitrates have never went down to 0. I'm thinking it has something to do with the canister filter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The goal isn't to have your nitrates at 0 but ideally <10 ppm, mine stays in the 3-5 ppm range.

 

[ringo®]

-what are you checking salinity with?
-are you rinsing your carbon before use? What kind of carbon?
-how much flow is plenty?
-you said you had alk up. Did you raise it by dosing? How much did you raise it?