Coral Dying, what am i Missing

[bkushy]

I have an 80 gallon tank with 6 x 54w t5 lighting.
Fish are all doing fine
Sailfin Tang(he can't stay)
Blue Neon Damsel
Blue Chromis
2 clowns
lawnmower blenny and
the ever important black molly from when the tank first cycled.
I purchased the tank complete so it has been moved since the original cycle. Half of the original water was transported with the move. Using ro/di water for changes and instant ocean reef crystals.

Water
78-80 degrees
PH 7.5 - 8.0 having a hard time with the color chart, ordered a digital tester
Nitrite 0
ammonia 0
nitrate 15-20
kh 90
calcium 400
salinity 1.024

Needing to buy an iron test

Recently tried some corals and they all die within a couple days. Not sure what I am missing. Doing water changes to bring the nitrates down.
Lost a feather duster
Torch coral
palm tree coral
waving hand coral
and a frogspawn.

Not sure what is wrong, what am I missing. Bulbs are all brand new
Corals were acllimated for close to two hours.

Also 6 astrea snails died virtually instantly. Something must be way out but don't know what.

Thanks for any help.

 

[melosu58]

Have you noticed anyone picking on them? Also have you taken a water sample to your lfs to make sure to double check your water test results? Lighting looks ok for moderate light corals. There might be something in there we cant test for. Looks like some PWC's are in order.

 

[bkushy]

Have you noticed anyone picking on them? Also have you taken a water sample to your lfs to make sure to double check your water test results? Lighting looks ok for moderate light corals. There might be something in there we cant test for. Looks like some PWC's are in order.

Nothing is picking on them. Forgot I have a cleaner wrasse as well. They look ok for a few hours and then begin to break down and shrivel away to nothing. "Local" fish store is unfortunately 5 1/2 hours away so testing from them is not easy at the moment. I've been questioning my test kits as well.

 

[bkushy]

Also been doing small water changes to lower nitrates. About 10 gallons at a time. Not wanting to making drastic changes if something is already wrong.

 

[saltcreep1025]

Is it possible the previous owner medicated the tank with something still lingering around or something like that? Did he always just have fish?

 

[bkushy]

He had only fish for some time. He did give me some additives he had that he said I could throw in which I did according to the bottles. Now that you mention it I am wondering how old they were and if they had an expiry.

 

[Animal-Chin]

I don't know if its the pictures but your water looks murky, what kind of filtration are you running? Them all dying like that is an indication that something is wrong for sure. With 80 gallons I'd do a 10 gallon water change every couple of days for a while to really clean it out. In the pics the rock work really looks green too, do you have a lot of algae? Not judging, just trying to get to the rout of the problem...

 

[saltcreep1025]

Looks like base rock that is just starting to color up IMO, or is that the rock that came with it?

 

[Daniel Fishy]

Kh 90 would be about 4.9 dkh? Is that is correct your low alk would cause your corals to melt. Check your alk again and see if it's in the proper zone 8.4-12dkh.

 

[jeffaquarius]

Do you have a sump? How do you maintain water level? How stable is temp and how many watts is heater?

 

[bkushy]

Ok, where do I start lol. My pics look very green mostly due to the iphone.I do have some green growing on the tops of rocks but so far the lawnmower blenny has kept everything in check. He never stops. I checked kh again and 90 is the number I get. I believe it is a hagen test kit. States 80-105 is a good reading. No idea how this relates to dkh. I have to heaters, one in each corner and my temp does fluctuate between 78-82 depending whether or not I have the A/C on in the house. I would like to have it more stable but a chiller is out of the budget right now. Not sure how many watts the heaters are but they have no problem when needed. Water top off is done with straight ro/di and I pour it in slowly and in small amounts. I have ordered an rp3 wet dry filter system as it is the closest thing to a sump I can fit in the small space my stand allows. Have read lots of good reviews and some really bad as well. Plan to replace the bio balls with rock and go from there. The kh reading is really confusing me as according to my test kit it says it is good yet according to Daniel when converted to dkh (I don't even know what this is) it is too low and likely a problem. I am planning on possible adding a phosphate reactor as well to curb any algae but am hesitant based on my lawnmower blenny. Thanks for everyones help.

 

[Daniel Fishy]

Different kits use different reading types mine use dkh and

 

[jeffaquarius]

Since snails and corals don't survive, I would suspect the previous owner have used copper for fish treatment. Check copper level and go from there.

 

[Daniel Fishy]

... Cont ...and mequ/l and ppmCaCO3 which 90 reads about 4.9. I'm not familiar with the Hagans kit I just seen 90 and looked it up online and in my kit which is a seanalysis. Maybe someone with exp. with the hagan will chime in. My acans were melting and I couldn't figure out why my lfs tested my alk 5.4 and that was it. Of course I bought my own test kit that day.my temp swings 78-84 and I top off with rodi every day after work 1/2 gal all at once no problems there.

 

[Daniel Fishy]

Since snails and corals don't survive, I would suspect the previous owner have used copper for fish treatment. Check copper level and go from there.

Agreed since it was a fowlr copper or alk hopefully it's the alk easier to solve.

 

[bkushy]

Alk test is up there in age a bit. Will get a new one and retest tomorrow or Saturday. Will post new results. Till then any other ideas greatly appreciated. Will pick up a copper test as well. Does anyone have experience with the 18000k bulbs. They were recommended by the guy at the fish store and can't say I am too fond of the color. Any opinions on their effectiveness or are they potentially a problem?

 

[mr_X]

The lamps shouldn't be a problem. Do you have all 18k lamps, or do you have a variety? I would mix it up a bit withe the lamps. Did you get the live rock from the guy who sold you the tank? Do you see any bristle worms or pods in it at any time?

 

[chenzo9999]

It has to be medicated with copper. Get a copper test. Once in your live rock - inverts and corals cannot handle it. Easy fiber expensive fix is replacing live rock.

 

[bkushy]

Three 18k. Two blues. One supposed to be a purple but u would never know it. Live rock did come with the tank. He had the tank for 13 years. One bristle worm when moving it and none since. I've looked at night for worms and no sign of any of them or pods.

 

[bkushy]

Yikes. I don't even want to think about getting all new rock.