Need help

[crsmith]

My corals aren't doing so hot and not sure why. I upgraded from a 55gal to a 75gal about 3 months ago. Used the same water and lr let it run for 2 months while my livestock was in quarantine tank. Had a mini cycle did water change then put my stuff in DT. I have about 80-90 lbs lr live sand a sump with filter sock and skimmer rated for 125 gal tank. I have a frogspawn that is barely there a Xenia that just lost one head and the other is skinny and not looking hot and a ricordea that looks really good. I also have 2 clowns which are lethargic at times but are doing fine and eating well. Here are my param. Salinity 1.023 ph 8.4 ammonia 0ppm nitrite 0ppm nitrate 10ppm calcium 420 mg/l phosphate 0.25 mg/l kh 11 dkh temp 79F. My 55gal was high in nitrates around 40ppm and now I've gotten them under control. I know Xenia are finicky but I've had my frogspawn for 2 years and has always been the healthiest thing I've had and now it's almost gone. Still using the same lights it's always had so don't think that's it. Any help would be appreciated.

[fishorfishin]

My corals aren't doing so hot and not sure why. I upgraded from a 55gal to a 75gal about 3 months ago. Used the same water and lr let it run for 2 months while my livestock was in quarantine tank. Had a mini cycle did water change then put my stuff in DT. I have about 80-90 lbs lr live sand a sump with filter sock and skimmer rated for 125 gal tank. I have a frogspawn that is barely there a Xenia that just lost one head and the other is skinny and not looking hot and a ricordea that looks really good. I also have 2 clowns which are lethargic at times but are doing fine and eating well. Here are my param. Salinity 1.023 ph 8.4 ammonia 0ppm nitrite 0ppm nitrate 10ppm calcium 420 mg/l phosphate 0.25 mg/l kh 11 dkh temp 79F. My 55gal was high in nitrates around 40ppm and now I've gotten them under control. I know Xenia are finicky but I've had my frogspawn for 2 years and has always been the healthiest thing I've had and now it's almost gone. Still using the same lights it's always had so don't think that's it. Any help would be appreciated.

Two things come to mind, first being your salinity is a bit low. Are you using a refractometer? if so make sure its calibrated.

Secondly, the corals you have listed, tend to like more nutrients in the water. Perhaps they were well adjusted to an established tank, however, the switch to newer, cleaner conditions have starved them.

Try raising salinity over a few days if it is in fact low. Also, feed some more.

BTW, moving established corals, even in the same house is always iffy with coral. One of the worst parts of the hobby for sure

[bertoni]

I agree that the SG is rather low. The phosphate level is high, if accurate. The tank seems to need more nutrient export. I might raise the SG slowly, over a week or so, to 1.0264 and start some GFO. Those steps might help.

[crsmith]

What does GFO stand for? I'm doing a water change Tom so I'll increase the salinity in it a little. I'm not as worried about the Xenia bc I know they are unpredictable but the frogspawn was my first coral so I really don't want to lose it

[crsmith]

Refractometer is calibrated just checked it. I'm running phosban bags in my filter sock and slowly dosing to lower it. For some reason my rodi unit is taking everything out except phosphate. I'm dosing my water change water and checking it before I do my change to make sure I'm not adding things I don't want in my water changes

[fishorfishin]

Gfo= granular ferric oxide,

When I switched tanks, I'm the same house, I lost some corals that I had long time, including a welso brain, Duncan which went from one head to 12, and acans. Everything else survived.


When you change tanks, you change the microbial life that was matured, as well as flow patterns and light differentials.

As far as the fish go, most clownfish can become active to playing deadz so chances are you're seeing normal behavior, but because your coral aren't doing well, its putting that same light or projection on the fish.

[crsmith]

Well that explains why the ricordea is doing well bc I just bought it. So from here on out I should be good with new corals. It's just the old ones were accustomed to high nitrates and now that they aren't high it's shocked them. I just don't want to go out and buy more if I'm going to kill them. Just didn't know if there was something I was missing

[fishorfishin]

Good possibility they didn't like the "shock" of changing tanks.

No way to really know other than to add some stuff after salinity s corrected.

Some will disagree, but .4 for most LPs and soft stuff isn't bad. Just a matter of what they were used to. Chances are you're old set up had higher po4 and did well.

I would also look into some for of export, via bio pellets, carbon dosing etc. That .4 isn't bad now, buy can slide to worse in time.

[bertoni]

As stated, GFO is basically rust with a lot of surface area. It bind phosphate well, and thus often can help a lot with nutrient problems. Every tank is different, though, but I think it's worth a shot. PhosBan is a common-used GFO product.

[crsmith]

Yea I'm running 2 phosban bags in my sump intake. Also dosing thrive phosphate remover. Lost the Xenia last night. Gonna give up on them. I've failed 3 times with them. The frogspawn still looks the same but is hanging in there. Hopefully all the new stuff I get will make it since the new ricordea looks great. I thought I might have jumped the gun after the mini cycle but everything has been stable since then so I don't think it was that. Oh well I love my new tank and won't be changing it again so I guess it was worth it if I only lost 2 corals.