10Gallon Help

[soonami7730]

Hello fellow Hobbyist:
I'm writing on behalf of my friend who has a 10 gallon nano reef. He has had it running since October and has had only fish up until after x-mas. He added a flower pot coral (Goniopora) and it had died and clouded up his tank. He did a water change and a few days later added a hammer and some zoas. The zoas are doing fairly well and his hammer did not look the greatest so we tried throwing it in my tank and it started to become healthier. After a few days he put it back into his tank and it doesn't look the greatest.
He does weekly water changes and his ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels are low... his salinity is normal... i've tried to help him but I thought since my advice looks like a failure I'd come on here and ask your advice.
The following is a list that sums up his tank.
10 pounds of aragonite
15-18 pounds of live rock
2x40 PC lighting
MJ 400
Koralia Nano
Marineland Heater
Blue Damsel
Camel Shrimp
Firefish
Hammer
Zoas
Hermits
A few snails.

We have not witnessed the damsel or the shrimp attacking/eating the corals. There has been an increase in algae growth and my thought is that he may need more snails cause he only has 6 of them. What are some good snails for cleaning up algae? And what is going on with this tank?? HELP! Thanks!

[ReefLady]

Nothing jumps out at me, but my question would be what his true readings are -- ammonia, nitrite, and phosphate should all be 0. Nitrate should be extremely low if not zero. What are the salinity and temp?
My suspicion is there is a presence of nitrate/phosphate - especially if there is nuisance algae starting to appear. How often are water changes done (and how much)?
The tank may have cycled again when the Goni died, which may have impacted the other corals.

[BigAl07]

Depending oh how large the Goni was, how healthy his Bio-Filter is he very well could be going through a strong cycle here. Remember you said "after Christmas" he added the Goni, it died and nothing has been good since. That's only 3ish weeks and we're dealing with a very small quantity of water. As a general rule of thumb even a starved Goni will last many weeks and then suddenly die from malnutrition as they don't starve (which is why most die eventually because they require Nutrient Rich environment) quickly.

I suspect there is something way off on his water parameters. Below is a list of ideas/suggestions

A) Take sample to LFS and have them do a FULL set of tests (some do more than others) and get test results not "Good/Ok/Acceptable" etc.

B) What is his weekly water change amount?

C) is water premixed, agitated and heated to match tank parameters 24 hours before adding to the tank

D) Are there any filters/balls/sponges/pads or anything in this system?

I believe something is way wrong in the water parameters and I wouldn't add anything until it's resolved (snails included).

[soonami7730]

Thanks Reeflady and BigAl07. I appreciate your help. He does a water change once a week and approximately 10%. He does mix his water and he uses H2Ocean and does heat it and agitate it for 24 hours. There is nothing in there that would be a nitrate factory. I am going to tell him to bring a sample of water to the LFS. It possibly could be going through another cycle. Checked up on it today and algae is taking over...
I don't know his exact levels but I'll let you guys know. If he nitrates are high what would be the best way to get them down? How much is too much water to change and how much is to frequent?
Thanks

[ReefLady]

Is he using RO or distilled water? Tap or well water can be chock full of nitrates and phosphates.
If algae is present, the low nitrate readings could be "false" (the algae will absorb and "hide" the nutrients).
Need to test phosphates also.
I would manually remove as much algae as possible, do a 50% water change, then do at least 25% weekly (or every 4-5 days). It has to be RO or distilled water though.

[soonami7730]

It is RO water. I'll let him know. Thanks for your help.