Slowly dying...

[Markclaster]

Apart from my spirit, I’m losing corals. Most of my zoas won’t open fully or at all. I’ve lost a hammer, a frogspawn, my montis l look dead, the pic below is of what was until recently a Hollywood Stunner, a birds nest, and now my cyphestria (sp) They basically have turned brown.
I can see two veremitid snails on a frag but not everywhere. They are coming out.
I’ve tried higher flow, lower flow, lowered the lights, raised the lights. I’m running out of ideas.
My nitrates are pretty high but I’m due for a WC although they run high.
Parameters stay pretty consistent
Ph 8.1
Kh 10
Nitrates 40
Salinity 1.026
Phosphates 0
Calcium 470
Magnesium 1380
Temp 77.5
Any ideas what I should check?

 

[ActiveAngel]

Your Kh is slightly high, not terribly so, but potentially a contributing factor.

Thanks for providing your parameters! How do you measure temperature; glass thermometer or digital? And how do you measure salinity; Refractometer or hydrometer?

 

[ActiveAngel]

It’s always better to have slightly lower light intensity and lower temp, than higher ones.

Otherwise, what else can you tell us about the tank:
How old is it?
What size is it?
What livestock do you have?
Do you have a skimmer and/or refugium?

 

[Markclaster]

Your Kh is slightly high, not terribly so, but potentially a contributing factor.

Thanks for providing your parameters! How do you measure temperature; glass thermometer or digital? And how do you measure salinity; Refractometer or hydrometer?

Thanks for the reply. Digital from my BRS heater controller and a refractometer that is calibrated with fluid.

 

[Markclaster]

It’s always better to have slightly lower light intensity and lower temp, than higher ones.

Otherwise, what else can you tell us about the tank:
How old is it?
What size is it?
What livestock do you have?
Do you have a skimmer and/or refugium?

Tank is 36g new in January. I have two clowns, a gramma, a kupang damsel, and a six line wrasse. A fire shrimp and assorted snails and hermits. I have a hob skimmer and two powerheads and a green killing machine that I don’t run all the time.

 

[ActiveAngel]

Thanks for the reply. Digital from my BRS heater controller and a refractometer that is calibrated with fluid.

Great. Your salinity may be a slight contributing factor. I’d recommend dropping it slightly to 1.025... that said, 1.026 is totally acceptable and isn’t likely your issue here.

Temperature on the other hand. I recommend buying a cheap $1 glass thermometer. Heater controllers are some of the most unreliable of all temperature measuring devices. That alone may be your issue. Getting a glass thermometer will tell. Your goal should be somewhere between 76-78 degrees.

 

[Markclaster]

My kh has always been 9-10 even when the tank was at its best

 

[ActiveAngel]

Most of that all sounds reasonable. I think what we’re looking at is thermal/light stress, which could be from the temperature, or your lights. What types of lights do you have on the tank? And how long are they on each day?

 

[Markclaster]

Great. Your salinity may be a slight contributing factor. I’d recommend dropping it slightly to 1.025... that said, 1.026 is totally acceptable and isn’t likely your issue here.

Temperature on the other hand. I recommend buying a cheap $1 glass thermometer. Heater controllers are some of the most unreliable of all temperature measuring devices. That alone may be your issue. Getting a glass thermometer will tell. Your goal should be somewhere between 76-78 degrees.

ok I’ll check the temp with something else as well. Should I get the brown things out? I was hoping they’d come back. The Hollywood stunner almost looks like it has something on it but could be algae I guess

 

[ActiveAngel]

High dkh is more acceptable with higher nutrient loads. However, 9.5 and above can start having issues in some tanks.

Yours seems like a grey area from my experience, so I don’t think it’s the primary cause this time.

 

[Markclaster]

Most of that all sounds reasonable. I think what we’re looking at is thermal/light stress, which could be from the temperature, or your lights. What types of lights do you have on the tank? And how long are they on each day?

I have Mars Aqua 165. They are on at the lowest settings about 11 hours. White is only in about 6

 

[Markclaster]

Most of that all sounds reasonable. I think what we’re looking at is thermal/light stress, which could be from the temperature, or your lights. What types of lights do you have on the tank? And how long are they on each day?

I just check the temp with a digital thermometer and it’s 76.5 and the controller says 76.7

 

[ActiveAngel]

That’s hard to say If you should remove them; I don’t see any sign of disease in the photo. I probably would leave them.

Im not familiar with Mars Aqua. Maybe someone else with experience with that light can chime in.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I just check the temp with a digital thermometer and it’s 76.5 and the controller says 76.7

That’s good news, but definitely get a glass thermometer as well. They’re the most reliable, and at $1 you can’t argue too much with the price

 

[ZapataInc]

Looking at your parameters it looks like your Nitrates are really high. And I say this bc I went through this just recently. My Nitrates were up there with yours in the 40s (API test kit) and my corals were looking horrible and my SPS were bleaching out and dying. Try getting that down some. Now I'm at around 0-5 on my nitrates. And everything is happy and growing.

 

[Markclaster]

That’s good news, but definitely get a glass thermometer as well. They’re the most reliable, and at $1 you can’t argue too much with the price

Definitely will. I raised the lights too so we will see if that helps. Thanks

 

[ActiveAngel]

Yeah, that’s a good plan regardless! I know a lot of people swear by high nutrients... but I’ve had the best success with low nutrients for years. Hopefully, it’s that simple

 

[ActiveAngel]

Thank you for making it easy; and providing us all the numbers so quickly! That helps a lot to diagnose all the common issues.

 

[Markclaster]

Looking at your parameters it looks like your Nitrates are really high. And I say this bc I went through this just recently. My Nitrates were up there with yours in the 40s (API test kit) and my corals were looking horrible and my SPS were bleaching out and dying. Try getting that down some. Now I'm at around 0-5 on my nitrates. And everything is happy and growing.

Any tips on keeping nitrates down? Even with regular water changes they seem to stay 20-40

 

[ZapataInc]

Umm with your setup bc you don't have a refugium you can possible use a nitrate remover BRS link

Or you can look up vodka dosing. I know @civics14 does this on his tank...and he has a beautiful thriving tank and he doesn't run a refugium.