Torch coral and gsp look unhappy

[raul lopez]

hello, I’ve had my 4.1 gallon lifegard reef tank for about 6 months now and have slowly been adding coral, I used to have a clownfish but sadly it passed away a few weeks after it’s purchase and I haven’t introduced fished ever since, I dose neonitro(nitrate suppament), Dr.Tim’s waste away, and Acro power, I feed mysis shrimp and reef roids and I’m currently using the aquaknight v1, I have medium flow, 2 hermit crabs and 2 astrea snails, my salt level is 1.025 and doesn’t really fluctuate since I do have a ato, I’ve dipped every coral when I introduced them using revive, my temperature is 76-78, and I do weekly 50% water changes, my levels are:

nitrate~5 ppm

ammonia-0

nitrite-0 

phosphates-not sure 

ph-I haven’t tested ph in a while but i remember it being a good level as well as my alkalinity

calcium/-I haven’t tested them but I doubt they fluctuate due to my weekly 50% water changes

my monti cap is doing just fine too and I haven’t been able to spot any hitch hikers so I am quite confused on why my torch and gsp look like that the gsp has been been looking sad for about 2 months now and the torch was never looking so well but has worsened this past month but the rest of my coral are doing just fine and they all came from the same lfs.

 

sorry about all the reading 

[seabass]

No detectable nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) would potentially upset your GSP.  I would think that your torch is more alkalinity sensitive.  And if alkalinity is high, with no detectable nutrients, that's another potential problem (although I'd think primarily for some SPS).  Your torch is probably more sensitive to alkalinity swings.

 

Maybe consider discontinuing Waste-Away, as that might be bottoming out your nutrients.  I'm not really sure about that, but having detectable nitrate and phosphate levels is usually good for photosynthetic life.

[raul lopez]

On 9/24/2020 at 10:48 PM, seabass said:

No detectable nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) would potentially upset your GSP.  I would think that your torch is more alkalinity sensitive.  And if alkalinity is high, with no detectable nutrients, that's another potential problem (although I'd think primarily for some SPS).  Your torch is probably more sensitive to alkalinity swings.

 

Maybe consider discontinuing Waste-Away, as that might be bottoming out your nutrients.  I'm not really sure about that, but having detectable nitrate and phosphate levels is usually good for photosynthetic life.

While I don’t test for alkalinity I have tested the past week for ph and my ph is steady at 8-8.1 so wouldn’t the ph also be swinging if the alkalinity was swinging?

 

[Tired]

You should really check your phosphates, or, yes, stop using the waste-away. Your nitrates could get considerably higher without causing any problems, and the worst that phosphates will ever do is just cause some algae. They don't hurt corals. 

 

Also, when you decide to get another fish, don't get a clown. They need 10 gallons minimum. In a 4-gallon tank, all your good options are tiny fish, like trimma gobies. Or, clown gobies are always nice, but sometimes don't want to eat. See if the LFS will feed one before you buy it, so you can watch if it eats.

[seabass]

2 hours ago, raul lopez said:

While I don’t test for alkalinity I have tested the past week for ph and my ph is steady at 8-8.1 so wouldn’t the ph also be swinging if the alkalinity was swinging?

The pH will typically change throughout the day.  However, in fully aerated water, with normal outside air, pH and alkalinity do maintain a direct relationship.  Although CO2 in the air or water, or dosing something which affects CO2 can change this relationship.

 

Typically we are more concerned with alkalinity than pH, but you are partly correct.  Also, I'd like to see more consistent testing of pH before calling it consistent.  However, I mention alkalinity swings simply because they are often the cause of issues with stony corals.  Sometimes our corals are good indicators.

 

Finally, testing alkalinity (or even pH) after a problem might not tell us what actually caused the problem.   Regular testing can help us maintain stability, or at least identify instability.

 

Note, alkalinity might not even be your problem.  It was just an observation.

[paulsz]

can you post a picture of the  entire tank?

 

What light are you using?

 

What are the other corals you have in that tank?