What is going on with my corals? see pics.

[Dfoster1]

I have had a Nano 24 gal for alomost a year now. Everything has been going good, but the past 4 months some corals are doing great and some are not.
Could anyone have an idea on what is going on?

Tank is a 24 gal. Nano.
- Filtation - back chamber has foam block, bag of bio balls, & bag of chemipure.
- pumps/powerheads - standard pump in back chamber w/ (1) additional nano powerhead.
- Light - 150 MH (14K bulb) on about 7 hours.
- temp - 78
- calcium - around 500.
- ph - high (i think around 8)
- KH - 13/14
- sal - .026/.027
- CUC - 12 snails/3 BL crabs/ coral banded shrimp.
- fish - (1) clown.

I do a 5 gallon water change every other week.
Every week I add a cap of (2) part bionic cal./alk buffer.

I think that is it.
My frogspawn, ricordia, & candy canes are doing great.
The mushrooms, zoo's, & my brain are not doing very good.

I would think if something would be wrong everything wouldn't be doing good?
Could it be too much light?

Also I feed the clown very little rods food every other day and put phytoplankton (sp) in the tank 2-3 tims per week (20-30) drops at a time.

 

[tigerarmy90]

what fish do you have in there?

 

[Jeremy0322]

- fish - (1) clown.

 

[ReefLady]

Our shrooms and LPS never seemed to do quite as well under MH lighting. It may be that the light is too intense.
The salinity is a bit high, but I'm not sure that has anything to do with it.
Have you tested nitrates/phosphates? I would assume any elevated level would impact all corals, but you never know.
The only other thing I can think of is that the bulb may need to be replaced.
Could you describe what you mean by not doing very well?

 

[nicoleblkwidow]

When was the last time you cleaned/replaced the foam block?? These trap lots of nitrate and phosphate producing gunk, as do the bio balls. Test for both!!

 

[BLAKEJOHN]

I dont know what problem your haveing exactlly. But the foam block, bio-balls and Phytoplankton are all tank polluters. You do not need the phyto for anything in your tank. You should test your nitrates and phosphates with a high quality test that can read as low as .000. Otherwise you may get a false reading of zero. I would probly bump up the water changes to every week.

 

[rdvab]

Lower the salinity.025,get rid of the bio-balls and stop the phyto
JMO

 

[Zeppelin]

"- ph - high (i think around 8)"

Thats not high, IMO. I run 8.2 or so for ph. Only time it dips down to 8 is at night.

 

[BigAl07]

Hello :hallo: and welcome!

Nice looking tank for sure!!

Here are some pointers for you:

• A) Stop dosing your bio-buffer because your Calc is already getting up there. Your bi-weekly water changes should take care of those items.
  
• B) Slowly (like over a couple of months) remove the bio-balls a few at each water change. Your tank may be partially "Depending" on them right now but they aren't designed for a REEF tank. My nanocube came with an "addendum" stating to NOT use them from the beginning.
  
• C) If you decide to still use the Foam Sponge it needs to be cleaned/replaced a few times PER week. That's the penalty for using them.
  
• D) Get a test kit for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Magnessium and test YESTERDAY!
  
• E) Slowly (like over a week or so) lower your SG a tad bit. you have NO room for error with it already that high. How often do you top off for evaporated water?
  
• F) Toss the Phyto into the TRASHO! You're adding something else your particular tank doesn't need and potentially "polluting it"

I'm very curious to see what your Nitrates (NO3) test at. I suspect they are fairly high.

You mentioned

I would think if something would be wrong everything wouldn't be doing good?

No different corals can handle different "situations" better than others.

Could it be too much light?

It could be but that shouldn't happen over a YEAR'S period unless you recently added them or changed the lighting.

I highly suspect you have some water parameters out of whack.

Good luck and hang in there. This isn't anything new and we should be able to get you back on track again.

Happy Reefing

 

[BigAl07]

Lower the salinity.025,get rid of the bio-balls and stop the phyto
JMO

rdvab that's good advice but need MORE information or it's almost dangerous. Changing the salinity needs to happen VERY slowly over a controlled period of time.

Also the bio-balls coming out needs to happen even SLOWER to allow the system to "Recolonize" the bacteria that's being removed. Simply pulling the bio-balls out all at once could potentially cause a cycle to take place.

Slow and steady will win this battle

You rush it...

You CRASH it

 

[motocrosstcw]

rdvab that's good advice but need MORE information or it's almost dangerous. Changing the salinity needs to happen VERY slowly over a controlled period of time.

Also the bio-balls coming out needs to happen even SLOWER to allow the system to "Recolonize" the bacteria that's being removed. Simply pulling the bio-balls out all at once could potentially cause a cycle to take place.

Slow and steady will win this battle

You rush it...

You CRASH it

Great words BigAl this is the truth alot of knowledge here i absolutly wont use sponge block no more cause of the hassel they bring....

 

[Zeppelin]

Ya, I didn't even want to give any detailed advice on how to accomplish anything in a tank that small. My water changes are equal to about twice the water volume of that entire tank. I've not attempted a nano.

Sounds like Al has you heading in the right direction with some great advice though.

 

[cheeks69]

- KH - 13/14

That is very high !

- Light - 150 MH (14K bulb) on about 7 hours.

This can be a problem for the Mushrooms and Brain but usually zoanthids do well with intense lighting IME.

 

[rdvab]

You are correct Al ,but on a tank this small wouldn't the salinity swing pretty rapidly even with evaporation?I think dropping .027 to .025 would not be too drastic.And as far as the"nitrate balls" I was thinking with the liverock in the tank there would still be enough bacteria in the system,
But slow is always better in this hobby.
JMO

 

[Dfoster1]

Thanks for everyones advise! I plan to stop using the phyto, slowly get rid of the bio-balls, and get rid of the foam.
I plan to step up my 5 gal water changes to every week. Should I keep the foam block & just rinse it every week when I do water changes or just pitch it? I think my nitrates are probably high. I plan to check tonight. What is a safe # to be under? Should I still keep the bag of chemi pure in the back chamber?

 

[prow]

calcium - around 500.
- ph - high (i think around 8)
- KH - 13/14
- sal - .026/.027

here is where i would start. your alk and Ca+ are too high, likely your getting abiotic precipitation. what is your ph swing, night and readings before and after lights on? what are you using to test it?
salinity is fine IMO though i would bring it down just a tad. what are you using to measure it?
what are your NO3 and NH4 levels?

 

[prow]

I plan to stop using the phyto, slowly get rid of the bio-balls, and get rid of the foam.

good idea's. esp phyto in a nano.

Should I keep the foam block & just rinse it every week when I do water changes or just pitch it?

up to you, i would ditch it but thats me...

I think my nitrates are probably high. I plan to check tonight. What is a safe # to be under?

i think so too. best to have nothing detectable. long term and short term exposures are different, long term i would not want NO3 to be above 10. short term upto 25 even 50++ if very short term for corals in general. your corals for the most part are pretty tolerant but a year with high exposures will stress them out.

Should I still keep the bag of chemi pure in the back chamber?

how long has it been there? i would change it out every 2 weeks, never more then a month. FYI; IMO, chemipure i a waste of money. its just carbon, phosban(ok just the iron part but samething) and DI resign(which does nothing for saltwater). just buy some good carbon and phosban(if needed)

 

[Dfoster1]

I am testing with API test kits.

My NH4 tests at 0.
My NO3 tests around 20-30.
PH - I haven't tested when lights are off, but on they were 8+.

The chemi pure has been there for a couple of months.
I will switch it out with new carbon.

I think between using the phyto, using the sponge & bio balls, & having that chemipure in back chamber is pushing my nitrates up.

I plan to make some slow changes & test NO3 as I'm doing this.

 

[prow]

I think between using the phyto, using the sponge & bio balls, & having that chemipure in back chamber is pushing my nitrates up.

I plan to make some slow changes & test NO3 as I'm doing this.

sounds like a plan. dont forget to adjust and test your Ca+ and alk levels aswell...O and i would check the phosphate levels too.