CORAL NOOBIE I seek help!

Hey guys, I'm on my second week into the coral.

I don't really like how they're looking. Judging from how they looked at the LFS.

They all just look like they're not "popping" or full of life. At the same time they don't look like they're on death's doorstep.

Right now I have a heat problem 85 on average, and I check salinity this morning and it was a bit high 1.030 (I suspect it is high, but not actually that high due to heat being out of range). I'll get that down with a water change. And heat, I'm still waiting on the Azoo Quad fan I ordered on fostersmith.com (I love the expensive shipping they have via the only choice of glorious fedex :-|).

I was told my lighting is sufficient. 30" long 18" deep, light supplied by T-5 bulbs 36" long (yes it's longer than my crappy tank) 4*39w Tek light (suggested by a one mr. pharmjohn). 1 white and 3 blues (suggested to me by the custmer service dude @ reefgeek when I told him I wanted it for corals.

Ammonia has been low last week or so, 0-0.25, Nitrites 0, Nitrates was up, but now moved back down to 40. I haven't bothered testing the PH cause of the alkaline addition over the last couple days.

I dose "Reef Solution" every other day. And I'm just now starting up with 2 part Alkalinity/Calcium supplement suggested to me by ReefSparky via bulkreefsupply. Which I have been only dosing since Friday.

I'm sure I'm being way too impatient. I'm sure they need time to "settle in". I'm sure my water parameters being off is a problem.

But is there anything I'm overlooking? Outside of the reef solution, do I need some sort of food? Should I play mozart during the day to cheer them up? what? what?

 

hey there, your nitrates are still high for corals not to mention the trace of ammonia. I would stop dosing reef solution and if you aren't checking your alk and ca I would stop adding the 2 part also.

 

I have been checking the ca and alk but they're still not coming up on the scale. Nonexistant so far. I think it's gonna take a while before it starts showing up via the test. A salifert, just so you know.

 

You have ammonia still? How long has this tank been up?

 

The heat alone will cause corals to look pretty beat. I would stay under 82....
Like stated the trace NH3 is NOT good, work on rectifiying that, also 40ppm of NO3 is enough to cause nasty algae as well as slow or stunt coral growth.
Do you have a sump?
Do you use a glass top?
How long is your photoperiod?
Instead of getting the fan from DFS why didn't you opt with cheap little 3.25" fans or something to blow over the tank?

 

I agree, your two main issues right now are the ammonia and temp. Either or could prove to be fatal if left unchecked. It sounds like you are on the right track with the temp, so look to the source of ammonia. How old is the tank? How much rock do you have? What size tank, and what livestock? I would also suggest stopping the dosing, and checking the CA, MG, and Alk with a different test kit. There's no reason they shouldn't be registering. You may have a bunk kit.

 

I actually have very little algae growth, to atleast what I consider to be little. I have to scrub the glass every 4 days or so cause it gets a little cloudy. Even then it's cause i like the glass to be crystal clear.

Yes, I have a 10 gallon sump. I intend on putting the fans over the sump.

Yes, I have a glass top. But only on the tank. Not on the sump.

I have the lights on from 7am to 9PM. The white and one of the blue bulbs on from 7am to 9pm. The other two bulbs come on from 12pm to 6pm.

The tank has been running for about 6 months now.

I have about 30-40 lbs of live rock. It may even be 50 lbs.

The tank is 30 gallons, 30x18x12.

Livestock is
1 x neon Goby
1 x blue damsel
1 x talbot's damsel
1 x maroon clown
1 x purple face firefish
1 x 3 striped damsel
1 x diamond goby

I was told in another thread my bioload was too much for my size tank, so I cut back and above is the current list. All my fish are small. The clown, neon goby, daimond goby, firefish are the only ones more than an inch long. If that makes a difference.

In regards to the validity of the test. I brought it up in another thread and ReefSparky suggested I do another 1ML of the last regeant (the one that should cause the color change from the pink to the blue) and I did, and still nothing, and the third syringe-full (1ML) was the one that changed it to the "clear blue" the intructions said I should see. I did it in front of my cousin, because I'm colorblind and didn't trust my own eyes/judegment. But he backed up the evidence.

I'll look into getting another kit. In the meanwhile I'm not sure if I should stop dosing or continue.

 

Hello? Where did everyone go?

 

Is your glass top totally covering up your tank? If your lights have a cover over the bulbs you may want to remove the cover it should lower your temp some. I think I have read in other threads that its really bad to have a cover on your tank but can't remember why.

 

Hmmm… It’s like everything in this hobby is a catch.

I didn’t get covers for the lights because they were $50.00. Money I’d rather save that money and put it on a chiller. I’m gonna pop the top off the tank for a couple days, see how that fares…