WTF Am I Doing Wrong??

[Tooch81]

So i have two issues and i'm very confused about both??

1) all of my snails have been eaten by my crabs? The crabs are not starving by any stretch of the imagination but for some reason 2 of them keep going after the snails? Is this one of those "just get rid of the crab because its 'bad'" or is it something i'm doing wrong?
2) My zoas are shriving up and dying? When i got all 4 of them, they were big and vibrant, now they barely open and are shrinking? what am i doing wrong? All my parameters are below and nothing has really changed in the past several weeks. I'm so lost right now because my fish are great but my corals are just @#$%@#. 3 of the zoas are 5+ weeks old, one is 2+ weeks old and the polyp is also 5+ week old. None have grown at all....they just keep shrinking.

Any help/advice/comments/info? I'm completely scratching my head because nothing had changed in 7+ weeks?

30G biocube
40lbs live sand
15lbs live rock

Lighting
lunar blue glow LED - 24/7
actinic lights - 8-11AM and 7-10PM
10000K daylight fluorescent 10AM-8PM

Temp - 79F-80F

5G water change every other week

Levels
pH - 8.0-8.2
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Phosphate - .25ppm
Calcium - 480ppm
Hardness - 232 ppm KH

Fish
2 black and white ocellaris clowns
1 blue velvet damsel
1 green spot goby

Inverts/Snails
1 emerald crab
1 blood red shrimp
1 scarlet skunk shrimp
2 scarlet reef crabs
2 electric blue hermit crabs
2 bumble bee snails

Coral
1 2" round green star polyp
4 various zooanthid polyps in various sizes (the eagle eye is now gone?? Just flat out gone, off the rock and not in the tank?)

 

[CoralJunkie]

I wish I could help but unfortunately I'm having the same issues with my zoas, they've been in the same spot for months and were growing then all of a sudden they starting to shrink. I lost 2 different kinds and now a third is on its way out.

 

[reefstarter]

Try shutting off the lunar lights I have heard of people having issues from them actually being too intense . and what kind of flow goes over the zoas ? They do like a decent amount

 

[PSU4ME]

I would look for pests on the zoas

 

[frank180reef]

Try shutting off the lunar lights I have heard of people having issues from them actually being too intense . and what kind of flow goes over the zoas ? They do like a decent amount

Yup not enough flow

 

[Tooch81]

There is decent flow now, but i'll adjust it to give the a little more. I'll also shut off the lunar lights to see if that's a issue.

 

[Owen386]

Relax. Seriously, patience is virtue in this hobby. Im sure your not doing anything wrong. How old is your tank? Reefs are thousands of years old in billions of gallons of water. Just keep an eye on all parameters make sure they are in good range for growing coral. Monitor for pest, keep up your husbandry and give it time. I have watched zoas melt and die only to look down months later to a colony.

 

[ebattistoni]

What's your mg level and are you dosing with anything? I had a GHA breakout and was using algaefix which is reef safe and it messed up only some of my zoas.


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[mnavick]

As mentioned, how old is the tank?
Are you using RODI?
Being only 30g do you have an ATO, parameters can swing pretty quickly with smaller tanks?

 

[delta]

What's your ALk reading?

Your Ca is pretty high

 

[PSU4ME]

With all the new additions, you certain there are no pests? Nudis? can/have you dipped them?

 

[nickrobertson87]

What does your specific gravity read?
KH of 232 ppm, isn't that equal to a dKH of ~13? If so that seems a bit high.

 

[Tooch81]

What's your mg level and are you dosing with anything? I had a GHA breakout and was using algaefix which is reef safe and it messed up only some of my zoas.


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Color me stupid? I don't have a mg test and dosing?

 

[Tooch81]

As mentioned, how old is the tank?
Are you using RODI?
Being only 30g do you have an ATO, parameters can swing pretty quickly with smaller tanks?

The tank is about 5 months old now and i'm sorry, i'm lost again....can you tell i'm new to this?

ATO?
RODI?

 

[Tooch81]

the alkaline is 13

should i worry about the calcium?

 

[Tooch81]

With all the new additions, you certain there are no pests? Nudis? can/have you dipped them?

I did dip all the corals in iodine prior to putting them in teh tank and i don't see any pests. Is there a better way to test than a visual one?.

 

[Tooch81]

What does your specific gravity read?
KH of 232 ppm, isn't that equal to a dKH of ~13? If so that seems a bit high.

Sorry - 1.024

And yes it's equal to 13. should i be concerned?

 

[nickrobertson87]

RODI water (reverse osmosis deionized water) is used for mixing with whatever salt mix you are using (ie Instant Ocean). RODI water is also used with an ATO (automatic top-off) to replace the water that evaporates, so that you do not concentrate the salt content in your tank, which allows you to maintain a desired specific gravity of the water. What water source are you using for water changes and for replacing the evaporated volumes?

 

[ebattistoni]

Mg and calcium work together. Sometimes one can be high and the other low. Adjusting them to be within the recommended ranges help stabilize. As for dosing -- do you add any chemicals to your system such as stuff to get rid of algae, medications .... while the bottle says reef safe some corals still get really grumpy.


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[reefstarter]

13 is a bit high for alkalinity. I would shoot for 8-9 mag 1400 and calcium 450 or so for sps 420 but that comes later after you can keep things where you want at will