My corals stoped growing!!!! I need help/advise !!!

[rpedro04]

Phos 0.05
KH 12
Nitrates 0ppm
Calcium 400
Mag 1260
Salinity 2.2
Just tested the water today.
I have had this tank full of soft corals (clove polyps,button polyps,purple,green and red mushrooms,xenia,Torch,sml duncan) ,all zoos are gone,they slowly disappeared and the clove and star polyps are almost gone and before this two would grow like crazy with just t5's,i now have MH 14k,but this problem started over a year ago.The only coral that seams to be ok are the mushrooms and one of the button polyps.
I had a big Phosphate problem 4,5 months ago and i was able to fix it with rowa phos media and some water changes and new bio filter .
I get my water from skiptons ...
What could be wrong?

 

[stingythingy45]

2.2????

As in like parts per thousand???Maybe 22 ppt?
That's like 1.017 specific gravity.
Should be at 35 ppt/1.025 sg.

 

[frank180reef]

he might have meant 1.022

 

[B.rian]

what kind of fish do you have? and a clarification of your salinity would help.

 

[stingythingy45]

he might have meant 1.022

Maybe......
Also a DKH of 12?
Must be dosing something.

 

[RiverReefer]

how about the phosphate media leaching iron into the water because all of those phosguard products are iron based...if u left it in your water too long it could have leached.

 

[rpedro04]

what kind of fish do you have? and a clarification of your salinity would help.

Salinity is at 1.022...sorry,that was a typo !!!!
I have a sm flame angel,sm lemon peel angel,clown,firefish and a green mandarin...
I will remove the media from the bio filter since the phos have been stable for a couple of months...
I know the kh is high,i add a full cap a week of the reef complete to the tank,could this be it?

Thank you

 

[rpedro04]

Maybe......
Also a DKH of 12?
Must be dosing something.

I know the kh is high,i add a full cap a week of the reef complete to the tank,could this be it?

 

[rpedro04]

he might have meant 1.022

yes..it was a typo...sorry about that

 

[B.rian]

angels are prone to nipping corals, especially softies.

 

[Bill Nye]

angels are prone to nipping corals, especially softies.

+1

Also low salinity can cause coral growth to slow as its not optimum for them. Unlike fish, they can not osmoregulate so it really messes with them.

 

[rpedro04]

angels are prone to nipping corals, especially softies.

Yes i was told that before but all corals were at healthy and blooming with both dwarf angels in the tank until about 18 months ago things stated to change slowly...

 

[rpedro04]

+1

Also low salinity can cause coral growth to slow as its not optimum for them. Unlike fish, they can not osmoregulate so it really messes with them.

im not experienced enough about corals and that is why i chose soft corals but i kept them healthy and blooming for a few years until about 18 months ago things slowly started to change...
I did notice that other hobbyists keep their reef tanks with higher salinity than mine but since i was successful , i never changed it's levels .
Should i slowly raise the salinity ?
Thanks...

 

[joefish]

light bulbs

Yes i was told that before but all corals were at healthy and blooming with both dwarf angels in the tank until about 18 months ago things stated to change slowly...

How old are your light bulbs? what kind of bulbs? are they older then 18 months? If so, they mite have to be changed out.

 

[B.rian]

i would recommend raising your salinity to about 1.025, and keeping a close eye on your angels. even if they were 'fine' before, they are known to randomly start eating softies and lps.

also, as joefish asked, how old are your bulbs?

 

[The Ng Thing]

I'm a little confused. What do you mean by stopped growing? Do they look like they are being shredded apart, decaying or are they just completely disappearing within days with no evidence of anything else? Any pictures?

 

[rpedro04]

How old are your light bulbs? what kind of bulbs? are they older then 18 months? If so, they mite have to be changed out.

Bulbs are 3 weeks old...MH pls t5's...

 

[rpedro04]

I'm a little confused. What do you mean by stopped growing? Do they look like they are being shredded apart, decaying or are they just completely disappearing within days with no evidence of anything else? Any pictures?

The zoo's,star polyps and the clove polyps slowly disappeared and the button polyps stopped growing and the froagspawn wont bloom like before,every once in a wile he will bloom...the xenia also stopped growing and pulses very slowly...
I keep thinking that something is in the water that i cant identify ...i dont have a iron test kit...or a copper one...

 

[JohnK]

How are you measuring SG? 1.022 is too low for corals to stay happy, and if your using a swing arm type hydromter they tend to creep farther and farther away from being accurate with time. (ie, if your using a swing arm, it may be even lower than you think).

Also, what is this "bio-filter"? Most bio-filters are actually more of a problem than a benifit on reef tanks.

As far as the dosing and testing of the alk level, you should be adding supplements based on test results, not just on a regular schedule or by following the directions on the bottle. Also, you should be using seperate additives for Ca and alk. "reef complete" is a Ca addative and is not raising the alk.

What brand of salt are you using? And are you dosing any other addatives?

 

[joefish]

Bulbs are 3 weeks old...MH pls t5's...

OK! bulbs are good then. Are you feeding your corals at all. If you are what kinds? Oyster Feast, Zooplanktion or things like Trace Elements?