what is my tank missing?

[ren9999]

I have had my 90g for almost a year now. I have been going very slow. all I have is 2 clowns, 1 lawnmower, 1 firegoby, some inverts.
I have 1 torch, 1 hammer and some polyps.
During the past month or 2, all the purple coraline has been fading color, the torch and hammer has pretty much lost all of its color. and the polyps are dying.
All the fish and inverts are doing fine.
I do 10g water change once every 2 weeks. is this the problem ??
all my water parameter are normal.

 

[ren9999]

oh ya, one thing I havn't tested for is calcium. but my alkalinity is 2.5 and my ph is 8.2 during day.

 

[ren9999]

oh ya, also forgot to mention that I do have MH lighting.

 

[tizzo]

What about your lights?? What kind are they and how long since you changed a bulb??
Do you do regular water changes to replenish all the minerals and such??

 

[ren9999]

MH and i have had the bulbs for about 10 months.
I think I am behind on water changes. but would this be the bottom of the problem?

 

[acrylic51]

Water changes are an important key to the whole picture, probably not the whole problem, but a big source of things.......What are your exact water parameters?

 

[ren9999]

water temp 81
sg 1.26
ph 8.2
amonia 0
nitrite/nitrate 0/0
alk 2.5
calcium never tested <-- oredred salifert test, waiting for it to arive.
should I do a water chagne every 3-4 days for a few weeks to bring back the nutrients to the water?

 

[promisetbg]

Your alk is too low..it needs to be around 4.00 meg/l.I suspect you will find that your CA may also be low..it is necessary for good coraline algae growth.It needs to be 430-450. You may consider dosing this tank ..a 2 part additive {A&B} but wait until you can test for the CA.Magnesium levels also play a role in the equation...Mag should be 1250-1500.
What type of salt do you use?For a reef I recommend Tropic Marin Pro...the elements in this salt are at a higher concentration than IO or similar salt.The latter being suitable for FO tanks.
If your MH bulbs are 10 months,it is time to consider replacing them soon.

 

[ren9999]

could you give me the exact name of the a recommended 2 part a/b additive?
I use reef crystal. teh fish store guy says this is the best kind of salt he sells.
does anyone think I shouold do a few water changes in the next week?
lastly, i only have 3 small pieces of coral, 30 hermit, 100 tiny snails. would this stuff consume so much calcium that my rocks turn white? and coraline algae start to fade??

 

[promisetbg]

Perhaps you can see if your LFS will test the three values I mentioned..and go from there.
If your CA is at 300 it would definately have an effect on coraline.
There are many additives,but some use higher quality ingredients.
I use Ocean's Blend.
Kent products are also popular..I believe it is known as B-Ionic.

 

[ohiorn67]

I have a 90 gallon....I does reef complete once a week between every 10 day water changes. I also alternate with reef carbonate to keep my alk up because it tends to want to stay low. My corals can't grow fast enough and I have coraline growing on everything like mad....I was using instant ocean salt....seemed that my calcium was always low, I just switched back to oceanic after several months because when I started with oceanic, my calcium never dropped as much...with instant ocean my calcium liked to stay about 360 to 380....and even with dosing would not raise much....although I am concervative with my dosing....with the oceanic, I think my calcium remains in the 400's for longer periods of time between the dosing, my corals seem happier.
good luck to you!