Dying corals

I bought 7 corals from a local reefer on kijiji. They are: Kenya tree, Red Mushroom, Finger coral, Acropora yellow/green, Orange birdsnest, ORA Teal Birdsnest and Montipora Danae.

I got the corals on Oct 20. They all had great color to them. Now, a few of them are bleached/bleaching, or going green. I only realized how bad they looked compared to when I first got them, when I looked at old pictures of them. I moved the corals that started bleaching, to lower locations in the tank.

Here are some before and after pics:

Birdsnest before



Birdsnest now: it's a little hard to tell, but the only color to the coral is a greenish tint. Also, the skin seems to be peeling?



Acropora before



Acropora now (the danae in this picture is not as light as the picture below. The light reflects off of it in a weird way)



Kenya before



Kenya now



Mushroom before



Mushroom now



Finger coral before (it was only on the sand because it fell)



Small birdsnest before



Finger coral and small birdsnest now (yes, I'm aware of how bad the kenya looks now.. I was thinking it was dead, but didn't want to remove it just in case it wasn't.




My tank parameters:

Temp: 80F
Salinity: 1.027
PH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
dKH: 7.3
Calcium: 370


Anyone know what's happening? :/ Any answer is greatly appreciated!

 

Ammonia should be non existent. New tank?

How are you measuring salinity?

The birdsnest bleached, but it's recoverable.

 

Temp: 80F fine
Salinity: 1.027 a little bit high, but fine
PH: 7.8 that's really low, 8.2-8.4
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm to high, not sure how
Nitrite: 0 ppm good
Nitrate: 0ppm fine 2-3 is best
dKH: 7.3 I think that's your problem, way to low 8-10 dkh
Calcium: 370 a little low 420-550

I don't know how you have ammonia after the cycle. Are you using API test kits.

 

Most those are dead probably due to ammonia. I would stay away from stony corals and read alot.

 

Refractometer for salinity. Am I correct in assuming the small birdsnest is dead?

PH is actually 8.0. Meant to correct that. Had a fish pretty much get torn to shreds about a month ago. Could explain ammonia? API test kit for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/ph. Salifert for Calcium. Red Sea for Alk.

Also, I'm thinking my Ammonia test solution is out of whack. I've never really gotten a reading under 0.25 ppm. I'll buy a new one when I get the chance, and/or bring my water to my LFS to get tested

The only one that looks dead to me is the smaller birdsnest.. I didn't know much about corals before I jumped into them. I just got 'em cause there was finally an ad on kijiji for saltwater. Not a good move

 

Your level are all at the low end but I've grown SPS at lower. Stability is the important ting. I bet your NH4 is elevated do you have any algae in your tank?

 

Lots

 

No, the birds next still has all it's tissue and polyps from what I see. It's just bleached.

I'd say ammonia your problem, or at least a problem.

 

OK the API ammonia test kits are like that, mine is to. Maybe lighting is the problem, to much?

 

I meant the smaller birdsnest. I know the big one isn't dead.

I'm going to get a new ammonia test kit. I'll get my Alk and Calcium up before I raise my lights, to see if that helps