having problems with Lps's

[drummin]

I have had trouble keeping LPS corals sense i started my tank nearly a year ago. they are all pretty much down to only the skeleton just showing very short small tenticles, they go in looking really really good, and stay like that for a few days then go down hill. i test my water about once a week, and it always tests out perfect. ive brought it into fish stores several times too to make sure they say its good to, and everytime...perfect. the tank is 29 gal, has a 330 filter on it, 100 protien skimmer, power head, and 30'' lunar aqualight (2x65) on timers for 8 hours a day. i add reef carbonate, reef plus, reef iodide, reef strontium, and roti feast. the temp is always 76-78. i dont really know what to do. everything seems like it should be a perfect environment. the fish are all coral safe and always do really well. zoo's and star polyps always look amazing too, its only the lps's (torch, hammer, and spawn). anyone have any ideas to turn this around??

[Lorna]

You say your water tests perfect? We would like to know what the exact parameters are.....sg, ph, alk/dkh, ca, mg, phos, nitrates, ammonia. Why are you dosing iodide, strontium and reef carbonate and reef plus. If you are doing adequate regular water changes these trace minerals would be in balance already. When and how much was your last water change, what type salt mix are you using. What exactly are the other occupants in your tank? how much live rock do you have, is there a sand bed? inverts?

What exactly is a 330 filter and 100 protein skimmer? what manufacturer are these.....as I am not familiar with them.....a mechanical filter isn't necessary and can actually promote nitrates which may be your problem....though without knowing all the other parameters it would be difficult to pinpoint one area. also, how much and how often do you feed your tank, you say you add rotifeast? not sure what you are feeding with this....as most will feed off what ever else you are adding.

[TRe]

well said lorna!

[drummin]

salt is 1.024, kh is 12, calcium is 460, nitrate is 0, nitrite is 0, ph is 8.2, ammonia is 0, phosphate is 0, mg is around 1300. its a penguin 350 bio wheel, not 330, sorry, aquarium supply "sea clone" 100 skimmer, i feed flakes in the morning and frozen food at night (usually bloodworms). i have a 2 yellow tailed damsels, a 3 striped damsel, firefish, small orange skunk fish, occelaris clown fish, and a bicolored blenny. i do a water change once a month, 10 gallons each time (my last one was about a week ago). and i buy the water from a fish store by my house, pre mixed. i have about 30 lbs of live rock. i have 25 lbs of live sand in the tank. i have about 15 hermit crabs and 10 snails, a very small leather coral, some zooanthids(sp?) and pulsing xenia.

[1979camaro]

Well...to start with, your tank is really overstocked (even by TRe's standards ). I'm surprised the damsels and clowns aren't killing each other. I have a feeling something you are dosing is probably causing problems (especially since you aren't able to test for a lot of it); a good rule of thumb is to not dose anything you cannot test for. Also, you are not really doing enough water changes. It is really hard to narrow it down because you have so many unknown factors and such a fish overload. Another possibility would be toxic warfare between the soft corals and the LPS. I would start doing 10g a week water changes, run a little carbon, and stop dosing everything and also look for a way to fix your stocking problem.

[Fishmonger70]

Your not using that filter cartridge in the bio wheel are you? I'd remove it if I were you and just use the empty bio wheel for water movement.

[drummin]

alrighty, i can give the damsels back to the store im sure, but they have been fine with the clown for about 8 months. but ya, ill try without the filter, stop adding the stuff and do more water changes, thanks a ton, ill let you know how it works out.

[drummin]

any ideas on how long it will take to see any sort of results by the way?

[Lorna]

hmmm well adding to the stocking issues.... I agree whole heartily get rid of the damsels......the skunk and ocellaris may have problems as each establishes territory....reduce your feeding to every other day frozen (a good frozen quality food that contains mysis, and fish etc such as prime reef or such) the frozen can be alternated with mysis, cyclopeeze etc. Quit feeding rotifeast as nothing in your tank needs it. Quit dosing anything....that includes reef builder etc. Take the filter pads out of the filter and put in a small bag of activated charcoal, (make sure it is one that wont leach phosphates into the water) Black diamond is a good brand. This will help with any chemical warfare going on.....I am suprised you haven't had a huge hair algae breakout yet....but maybe we caught it in time... I am sure if you follow this advice you will be fine. Watch for improvements over the next couple of months.....it won't happen immediately but it is good practice in husbandry....You are also running 2x 65w pcs? right? these lights are somewhat on the low side for most hard corals though if placed very high in your tank most lps would be okay, though this could also be problematic...

[Lorna]

oh and change the carbon every couple of weeks.

You may also want to invest in some quality test kits such as salifert and do your own water testing.....I would never rely on the lfs for my testing.... good luck