My LPS aren't doing well. Need some advice for my first tank.

[CapnWreckz]

I'll get the tank stats out of the way first.

20 Gallon Cube AIO with AI Prime 16HD running on David Saxby preset. It's about 6 months old (not including the cycle), and for the first few months everything was going well, corals were completely open and growing, and now pretty much all of my LPS is shrunken with low polyp extension. None of them have died, but they aren't opening all the way nor are they growing. My soft corals are all doing great.

My Hammer, Torch, Alveopora, Blasto, Candy canes, and Duncan are all smaller than they used to be and not doing well. My Acans are fine, though.

My Ricordea and Rhodactis mushrooms, GSP, Zoanthids and Palys, Clove Polyps, Green leather toadstool, and Kenya Tree are all doing very well and growing.

This has been going on for around 2 months, the previous 4 months before that everything was happy.

Nitrate: 10ppm
Phosphate: 0ppm
Magnesium: Over 1500
PH: 8-8.15
Alk: 8.6DKH
Temperature: 78deg Fahrenheit
Salinity: 1.024

For water changes I've always used distilled water. I do a 25% water change around once a month, and I feed my corals once a week with reef-roids. I also dose amino acids.

I'm honestly not sure what the problem is, maybe it's my non-existent phosphates? Truly I have no idea why they're so low. My tank is overstocked to be honest, with 6 (small) fish in 20 gallons, and plenty of hermit crabs and snails. I feed quite a lot, around 2-3 times a day, both frozen and pellet foods.

In an effort to raise my phosphates I removed the Chemi-pure Blue (which I had because I heard that you need to run carbon because of toxins that leather corals release) and the majority of the Chaeto I have growing in the rear compartment of the tank around a month ago, but I still haven't seen an increase in phosphates.

Truly I don't even know if the phosphates are the problem but the rest of my parameters look perfectly fine to me, although I am definitely a beginner and not as knowledgeable about these things as most of you are.

As an example I'll post a picture of my hammer from 2 months ago, and a picture of what it currently looks like.

Any help would be appreciated. I've grown a love for this hobby and I'd like to be successful with my tank, though I understand that nothing good happens fast.

[TheKleinReef]

Any changes in lighting? My LPS are super mad when i tinker with lighting too fast.

Flow changes too: I had to adjust my vortechs almost every day to find the right placement and program.

 

0.0 phosphate probably isn't ideal, some is good. You're doing the right thing with removing media and macros.

 

I'm having a similar problem with 0 nitrate right now.

[CapnWreckz]

Just now, TheKleinReef said:

Any changes in lighting? My LPS are super mad when i tinker with lighting too fast.

Flow changes too: I had to adjust my vortechs almost every day to find the right placement and program.

 

0.0 phosphate probably isn't ideal, some is good. You're doing the right thing with removing media and macros.

 

I'm having a similar problem with 0 nitrate right now.

No changes in lighting at all. It's stayed on the exact same preset since the cycle ended and I put in the first livestock. I think I'm just going to try and dose some phosphates slowly and see if that helps. 

[TheKleinReef]

You could try that, but just be slow with it. reefroids is basically pure phosphate so you can maybe add that into the routine.

Water change size and frequency was another thing I had to fine tune. My tank responds better to smaller more frequent changes than a bigger one less frequent.

[mcarroll]

1 hour ago, CapnWreckz said:

Nitrate: 10ppm
Phosphate: 0ppm

Analogy time!  (Not my forte....that was a warning, not a promise.  LOL)

 

If you imagine the photosynthesis centers in a coral as your car's engine....you can further imagine that nitrate is like gasoline....and phosphates is like oil.

 

If oil and gas tanks are full, no issues....the engine runs and runs.

 

If your oil tank is empty, but your gas tank is full...the results are predictable.  Eventually there is a meltdown and the engine is no good anymore.

 

From: https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingas####/comments/izr3ty/the_exact_moment_an_engine_explodes/

 

 

Fatality!

 

(If both oil and gas tanks are empty, the car won't go....but it won'y be killed either.)

 

This is what's happening in your corals right now.  Hope that analogy made sense!

 

1 hour ago, CapnWreckz said:

I'm honestly not sure what the problem is, maybe it's my non-existent phosphates? Truly I have no idea why they're so low.

Proves that you DO know....just weren't sure.  👍

 

1 hour ago, CapnWreckz said:

In an effort to raise my phosphates I removed the Chemi-pure Blue (which I had because I heard that you need to run carbon because of toxins that leather corals release) and the majority of the Chaeto I have growing in the rear compartment of the tank around a month ago, but I still haven't seen an increase in phosphates.

Remove ALL of the macro.  I would also discontinue water changes for the time being – don't do ANY when PO4 is already registering zero.

 

1 hour ago, CapnWreckz said:

 

Perfect!! 

 

Now look at this photo from Marine Solutions Bulletin in 2017 where they analyzed the effects of nutrients:

 

From Phosphate deficiency promotes coral bleaching and is reflected by the ultrastructure of symbiotic dinoflagellates

H=high L=low P=phosphate N=nitrate.  Every dark little dot is one "engine" in my analogy above.  (Actually individual symbiotic dino's.)

 

Your old photo looks like row "HN/HP" or "LN/HP" – either of the high-phosphate scenarios in the study.  Plenty of "engines" in the tentacle cross-section in the center column and a healthy looking coral on the left column.

 

Your corals are heading for the photo marked "HN/LP"....the worst scenario.  You can tell which coral scenario in the photos has the most damage and least "engines" left.  The right column shows cellular abnormality of individual dino's from the pictured coral.

 

(See figure. 1 in the linked article....click through to the original at the Marine Pollution Bulletin if it seems interesting!!)

[TheKleinReef]

3 hours ago, TheKleinReef said:

 

0.0 phosphate probably isn't ideal, some is good. You're doing the right thing with removing media and macros.

Here’s a TLDR of the previous reply. 
lol