10 months in...not much life

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Okay so I started my 60 gallon reef in January 2011 and things are not doing to well in the tank when it comes to corals.

I first started with FOWLR and no sump. I then built a 15 gallon sump and added Bubble magnus NAC6A and added HO T5 lights in February 2011. I haven't lost any fish except a sleeper goby since the start but I have lost PLENTY of coral. I have lost easier ones like waving hand and leather coral as well as torch corals along with others. The only thing that I got was a frag of zoa and it's grown 10x bigger in about 3-4 months.

The water depth is about 22". Lots of flow. I am getting lots of good crapp coming from skimmer and do about 10% change every 2 weeks. I don't have a RO/DI unit but I only add water from a local water shop that do all the filtration for human consumption. parameters:

Temp:78
Salin 1.025
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 10
pH- 8.1-8.3
Cal- 400-420

My lights:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=168327&d=1297727329&thumb=1

My live rock is really looking good these days. It has lots of tiny life in it. Super dark and lots of purple colorings.

livestock:
3 clowns, yellow tang, golden head sleeper, cleaner shrimp, urchin, pink cucumber, 2 green chromis, About 15 snails and hermits cleaning up.

photo.jpg
Starting to wonder what my problem is or if I really need to wait longer?? In the pic you can see my almost totally dead waving hand coral which I have had since February and it's very slowly getting worse.

Here is a video of when I had other fish and started changing to reef tank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR3ybeUl60A

I can add more pics tomorrow if needed.

photo.jpg
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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Tank is plenty mature for corals and I don't see anything amiss with your paramters ( I would get your alkalinity and magnesium checked though.). The fact that the zoas are doing well indicates that something is off for stoney corals. Are you dosing anything? Are you running any cabon? Lighting is fine but what kind of light cycle are you running and how old are the bulbs? Fish aren't nippers. What kind of cleaner shrimp do you have (skunk, fire)?

What brand of salt mix are you using? Any potential for metals in your system? Was the tank previously treated with any copper based meds? Any pests lingering (flatworms, etc)?
 

the wizard

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Jan 28, 2010
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test your source water for TDS. I flirted with getting water for less than the ro/di water from my LFS from a filtering station. Only bought a gallon and checked it when I got home. I drank that water and buy water for the tanks from the LFS.
 
Haven't done any dosing. Not sure what running cabon means? I got the lights 8 months ago and they were new bulbs then. Running 10 hours of T5's and about 2 hours of the moon light from 8-10PM. Here is the 36" moonlight: http://coralvue.com/moonvue-retrofit-led-tube/
None of the fish seam to bother the corals except my clown used to love the waving hand coral but everything is dying the same so I don't think he is damaging it.
skunk cleaner shrimp is about 2 months old. He molts very often (every 2-3 weeks) and is getting bigger.
Instant Ocean reef crystals are used. I don't believe there are any metals anywhere in the tank and I purchased the tank used from a guy who had a fish only tank and he got it new a year earlier. I haven't used any meds but no idea if old owner had. No pests that I know of but unfortunitly I've got 2 new Aptasia creeping up. I'll check the alkalinity and magnesium tonight.

Sorry Wizard what is TDS? Total dissolved solids?
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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Yep, Total Dissolved Solids.

If you are using a hydrometer to measure SG, you may want to verify it is reading correctly by comparing it to a refractometer or another hydrometer. Low SG will impact concentrations of calcium, alkalinity and magnesium.

Att 22", the amount of light should be fine. Are you losing corals right off the bat or do they do well for weeks and then start dieing off? Thought being light acclimation. If that is a concern, start them lower in the tank and move them up after a few days.

I mentioned cabon because it helps combat the chemical warfar that can happen when you mix coral types (softies, LPS, SPS). Probably not the cause, just a thought.
 
Okay drove into LFS and compared my hydrometer to their refractometer and mine is accurate. I also realized after I got home my kid doesn't test alkalinity or magnesium. I'll have to bring that in to have tested or get a kit?. I did get the store to test my source water and they said it's fine.
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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Can't see the video for some reason. With the exception of Mg being low or alk out of balance, I'm stumped. The tank looks healthy, lighting is fine and no coral nippers. Maybe placement was an issue with flow or initial lighting (corals didn't acclimate well)?
 

Amphiprion

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Feb 14, 2007
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Did you LFS give you number to quantify "fine" on the TDS? After checking alkalinity, you may want to get something like a poly filter or metal scouring resin just in case. What about phosphate? Rusting magnets, pumps, etc.?
 

Arakkis

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Apr 7, 2008
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could he also be over-skimming? could account for coral death though the t5 spectrum could be wrong too
 
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