Im THE coral killer....

OK, for the life of me, i simply can not figure out why i cant keep my coral alive. Ive alternated locations, amount of flow, and NOTHING is keeping these things alive. Ive lost a green tree nepthia, and some other leathers, and seem to be losing a Xenia and even some button polyps (and supposedly any jackass can keep these...)

Specs...

30 Gallon, Current light fixture- total of 128 watts
2 hang on the back filters, coral life protein skimmer, 2 koralia 1's, a marineland 160 canister filter
30lbs live rock, 20+ lbs crushed coral substrate
2 perc clowns, lawn mower blenny, and a 6 line wrass.
~10-15 various hermits (red/blue legs)
~10-15 various snails (astrea, and god knows what else..)
and Peppermint shrimp and a sally light foot.

I have been using r/o water so thats not it either...
I dose phytoplex ~3 days, along with purple up every (other) day, and a supplement called microbe lift about 1-2 times per week.

pH-8.3
Nitrate (ite), ammonia, phosphate 0
alk- 10 dKH, 179 ppm KH/GH
calcium- 450
iodine- .06
temp- fluctuates between 76-78 depending on the time of day

water changes- change 20% monthly, test weekly and adjust as needed

The only hint that i have that may be the culprit is the fact that before each coral died- it appeared as if some form of brown algae LIGHTLY accumulated on parts of the coral. Ive increased the water flow once i witnessed this and still nothing...


-On another topic, any recommendations on cutting back on my green/brown algae which accumulates every couple days on the glass, but is easily wiped off?

HELP!!

 

have you checked your phosphates?

 

Was the brown stuff on the living parts of the coral? sounds like brown jelly.
and purple up every other day isn't so good as it contains iodine and without testing for it you could be overdosing it.
also what is microlift? what is its purpose.
just throwing things out there.

 

How long have you had your tank up and running? How do you acclimate them? Do they appear to be healthy at the lfs?

 

Phosphates-0

Micro lift is a suppliment like seachem/kent- just another reef additive with omega 3's, and '70 elements' etc.

Tanks been up and running since summer (8-9 months)

When i acclimated them, i let the bags float for +/- 20 min, then added 1/2 cup of tank water every 20 min for 1 hour...

And of course, they looked great in the store....

And last but not least, the brown stuff was on the living part of the coral- on the zoas, its on the shaft towards the top of the botton

 

Also, i test my idodine (red sea test kit)

 

I would cut back on the purple up as a precaution....as it does contain iodine (even though it appears your testing for it)....Have you ever used copper or any other type of medication??? Also do you dose mag??? As for the algae problem might want to add a refugium..

 

Here's my 2 cents worth, I'm just recovering from a problem kind of like yours...I had red slime algae...ALL AND I MEAN ALL my test said 0 nitrate and 0 phos. but the algae was eating up or using up the nitrate and phos. so they didnt show up...but they were there...so you may be getting like a false positive on your readings...just a thought. Since i got rid of my red slime algae NOW the readings are showing.

 

May have to consider- dude at my LFS said the same thing. I mean i am testing for it, and it has NEVER exceeded .07 (.08 is max). The other thing about it is that its my main regimine for my calcium addition (minus the crushed coral substrate).

As far as medications- ive never dosed a single anti biodic/fungal/parasite or anything with copper in it. The closest my tank ever came to copper is when i origionally set it up, no one told me of r/o, and gradually changed it to r/o with 20% water changes, starting at month 2. By now, should be fine... However, i have never tested for it....

I dont dose magnesium bc its in purple up and my microbe lift, also, dont test for this either (and prob. should)

Ive considered a fuge but i dont really have the space for it, and dont really see a major benifit to it (not to push ne ones buttons/or inflict my beliefs). I just dont see a need with the amount of filtration i have, and dont feel like moving my tank to make space for it... Plus, ive spent enough money on euipment damn it


On the red slime algae- this part kind of troubles me. I have a live rock that i purchased from a LFS with mach 3 red coraline on it, and am wondering if the red algae spreading in my tank is from that, or red slime. Whats spreading doesnt look brown/ unfavorable, just bright red and there..

 

It would be a lot easier if you waited some months before you add more corals and let your tank catch up to itself. Maybe your tank didnt finish its cycle and you have added to early and you are running 2 filters and skimmer and water changes and your fish could be polluting creating algea throwing off your pars and trying to add corals on top with them dying also polluting. Give it time, and get it clean for a while.