none of my corals will open! need help

[godsfriendandservant]

the tank has been set up for 2 years now..... its a 6g fluval edge the lighting is an 8w innovative marine skkye light aswell as a 10w cfl bulb.i use real ocean water from petco so the water chemistry is at perfect. idk what to do.

dont know what the problem is but none of my corals will open. any opinions?

 

[drej424]

When is the last time the bulbs were changed? In a tank that small, it doesn't take much to throw the water chemistry off. Do you replace the evaporated water with seawater or RO water? If you're using seawater, your salinity could be too high. If you have test kits at home, check all the levels. If not, try to bring a sample to a good LFS for analysis.

 

[Shastri Sookraj]

Heres my 2 cents,,,Petco ocean can be iffy, for such a small tank check out an ATI tap water filter, I have a RO/Di system and I rather use this it's great, no waste water. Next if you have the time....do a 2 cup water change per day, which will turn your full 6g system over every 2.5 months or so ( small water changes are wayyyyy better than big ones and no need to top off) that should solve 90% of water quality issues. The other 10% should be carbon and sponge. Nexttt......check your lighting mix it up and see if the cfl needs to be changed because they last about 6months to year.....I'm a noob but still...think about it and google up a few things

 

[Arnaldo24]

Heres my 2 cents,,,Petco ocean can be iffy, for such a small tank check out an ATI tap water filter, I have a RO/Di system and I rather use this it's great, no waste water. Next if you have the time....do a 2 cup water change per day, which will turn your full 6g system over every 2.5 months or so ( small water changes are wayyyyy better than big ones and no need to top off) that should solve 90% of water quality issues. The other 10% should be carbon and sponge. Nexttt......check your lighting mix it up and see if the cfl needs to be changed because they last about 6months to year.....I'm a noob but still...think about it and google up a few things

U come a long way my friend. Good to see u giving advise.

 

[rookie07]

When is the last time the bulbs were changed? In a tank that small, it doesn't take much to throw the water chemistry off. Do you replace the evaporated water with seawater or RO water? If you're using seawater, your salinity could be too high. If you have test kits at home, check all the levels. If not, try to bring a sample to a good LFS for analysis.

2 years of topping off with saltwater and his salinity "could be too high".....obviously he doesn't use saltwater to top-off. LED's are good for 5-10 years (much longer than they have been for sale by Innovative Marine), so they are certainly still good.

OP: the package saltwater is very unreliable (or so I'm told), try to make your own water or always test the packaged water first for salinity/'trates/ammonia.

 

[Shastri Sookraj]

Arnaldooo, how are you brother! Yea came a Long way...and yet my 75 is still waiting to be drilled lmao,,but I'm gathering my info greatly and helping who i can!

 

[masterswimmer]

What coral do you have in the tank? Just because you have a tiny tank and use NSW doesn't mean you don't need to test your water and possibly dose Ca, Alk & Mg. If the coral are growing for two years they could be large enough that they are uptaking these elements faster than your water changes are supplying them.

Just my $.10 minus $.08

Russ

 

[drej424]

Hey, Rookie, you may not have noticed, but this question is in the beginner forum. Just because the tank has been up for 2 years doesn't mean he's had it for 2 years! Also, I don't think CFL bulbs are LEDs. Just sayin... You might want to think before you "quote". The last thing a new person needs is to feel uncomfortable to ask questions.

Godsfriend, I hope your corals are doing better. We all were new at some point!

 

[albano]

... small water changes are wayyyyy better than big ones and no need to top off ...

???? Where do you get that info from? I would think that water evaporates...new or old...shouldn't matter, so the salinity will increase

 

[Shastri Sookraj]

Of course water evaporates, but assuming he doesn't have a bare top it will not evaporate as fast. Any sudden changes can harm a reef....therefore little goes a long way...the salinity would hardly move..hey that my 2 cents and I follow that rule of tumb...best Maintenance I would do for my tank is change a gallon every other day(compensating for my little to no water loss ) instead of a 20% every month...

 

[BaaMNYC]

Of course water evaporates, but assuming he doesn't have a bare top it will not evaporate as fast. Any sudden changes can harm a reef....therefore little goes a long way...the salinity would hardly move..hey that my 2 cents and I follow that rule of tumb...best Maintenance I would do for my tank is change a gallon every other day(compensating for my little to no water loss ) instead of a 20% every month...

Regardless of how little evaporation there is. At the end of the day the water volume is decreasing and your replacing it with saltwater. No matter how you look at it salinity will keep increasing.

And "bare top" is recommended for gas exchange. I used to use a glass top to prevent evaporation and it caused more problems than it was worth.

 

[fishman1069]

Regardless of how little evaporation there is. At the end of the day the water volume is decreasing and your replacing it with saltwater. No matter how you look at it salinity will keep increasing.

And "bare top" is recommended for gas exchange. I used to use a glass top to prevent evaporation and it caused more problems than it was worth.

+1 you have to top off your tank with fresh water. Even if you did water changes every day, you're still gonna evaporate some water. After a lil while of doing water changes, your salinity is going to increase

 

[rookie07]

Hey, Rookie, you may not have noticed, but this question is in the beginner forum. Just because the tank has been up for 2 years doesn't mean he's had it for 2 years! Also, I don't think CFL bulbs are LEDs. Just sayin... You might want to think before you "quote". The last thing a new person needs is to feel uncomfortable to ask questions

Cfl is not led, but the innovative marine LED he has is an LED! I was giving you a hard time, not the question asker. The "up for 2 years/had for 2 years" was a valid point, nice catch.

 

[rambler67]

parameters and what kind of corals would help out a lot.

 

[drej424]

?

Cfl is not led, but the innovative marine LED he has is an LED! I was giving you a hard time, not the question asker. The "up for 2 years/had for 2 years" was a valid point, nice catch.
"You might want to think before you "quote""
Next time you insult me i wont be nice about it.

Well, I'm not interested in being made to feel uncomfortable, either. ("I was giving you a hard time..."). Totally unnecessary, IMO.

 

[Donewiththisplace]

I think if we had water parameters we would be able to more effectively diagnose why the corals are not opening. Im sure all can agree that water quality will have a direct impact on a coral.

Just as poor or inadequate lighting will prevent a coral from opening, a deficiency in one area or an abundance in another can stress the corals and cause them to close, melt and/or die.

So lets get the info we need to diagnose the tank...

Do you own test kits? If so which ones? If not lets go grab some and post the readings here...

In addition, post all other variables of your tank. Lighting schedule, water flow, temperature, tank age, filtration, live rock to water volume ratio, bioload...

Look foward to helping.

 

[Rob&Gab]

some pictures tooo please.!