Every coral I put in my tank dies

Gsxkid

Well-Known Member
BRS Member
Every coral I put in dies off. I’m running 3 black box 165 watt led lights. Any guidance here? What can I change ?
Water parameters are .......

Cal. 400

Nitrate. <5

Phosphate. 0

Nitrite. 0

Ammonia. 0

Ph. 8.2

KH. 8

Salinity. 1.025

Temp. 80.4



Tank is 135 gallons, 55gallon sump, ATO with RODI water. Led on the sump with Chaeto in it. Protein skimmer is a little small for what I have. Phosban/ charcoal reactor
 
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What kind of corals and how did it die or how long does it take to die?
Those numbers are fine.
 
Some montipora,Xenia,hammer they just slowly fade away. That’s why I started the other post about the refractometer. I’m wondering if mine is just that badly out of wack that maybe the salinity is off and its not what I think it is.
 
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Xenias are pretty tough.

There can be multiple things that can be wrong if all corals are dying -
1. Test kits -- Although the numbers look fine, it might be worthwhile to check the water parameters through different test kits. Check if any LFS near your area offers water testing.
2. As you mentioned, salinity can be off especially if you are using hydrometer.
3. Light schedule and intensity -- too high or too low intensity can be a culprit.
4. Check if there is any stray voltage in the water.

Good luck..
 
recheck water temp as well.. how are you testing the water temp? try measuring with a different instrument.

Basically if the problem is this drastic, question everything... and eliminate the potential causes one by one.


Good luck.
Sumant
 
I’m using a cheaper refractometer I’m going to upgrade. The temps I’m using 2 separate digital thermometers. They read within .3 of each other
 
What kind of light are you using? If all water parameters are good then it sounds like a light issue. How do you clean the outside glass of your tank? Does anyone burn candles or spray air fresheners in the same room as the tank?
 
check all the wires on your equipment if your running a sump. Sometimes you can be leaching electricity in the water. Normally u would feel a shock tho
 
Outside of the tank doesn’t get to bad but there’s a canaopy on the top of the tank. No candles or anything like that. Maybe I just don’t have my lights adjusted right. I can control the blue and white spectrum. Lights are just black box LEDs
 
Hmm that can be your issue right there. My mother used one on her reef and her corals always just withered away slowly as well. Coral do need more color spectrum than just blue and white. I’m definitely leaning on that your lights are your issue. If it was me I wouldn’t buy anymore coral and invest into a new light.
 
Photoperiod can kill corals. Too much is just as bad as too little. 10 hours of quality light each day is average. Some add a dawn dusk to each side and really only have the highest intensity for around 8 hours.
 
Lights are considered Full spectrum I looked back. I mean I know there cheap lights but 3 Kessils would probably be 2100$ I know I’ve seen people use the black box LEDs. I’ll try and get another temp probe tomorrow
 
Such a crap shoot here.... you need to establish a baseline. Are your test kits reliable? Is your salinity correct? Temp correct? Light intensity (par) “appropriate”? If that’s all good and you have a “decent” water change schedule you’re hard pressed to kill corals.

It’s possible your lights are too strong..... and that’s the hardest, more expensive thing to test. Shade the corals you’re seeing die, see if you see improvement.
 
What are the percentages of white to blue on your lights? What brand are they? If we know the brand someone may know the best percentage to run those lights at. You may want to get an icp test through ATI or some other company to rule out any water issues. This may take a few weeks to get results but at least you could rule out water as the problem.
 
i would focus on the water chemistry looking for a contaminant.

what are you mixing RO in? check it with a TDS. run a triton test. stop doing so many water changes and ditch the phosban reactor/charcoal reactor-not necessary really. with clean water you should be able to keep some of those corals alive with minimal effort and varying key parameters...
 
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