Coral growth issues..

[incept]

I realize this is a question asked over and over yet here I am. I have searched the internet and forums and have yet to come up with any real conclusive answers. Being new to the saltwater world I am learning more and more every day. I set up a 90 gallon display tank with a sump a year ago. Initially set up with a combo of live and dry rock from the LFS. I originally was running 2 250w metal halides for about 10 months before recently switching to a Reef Radience Lumentek 240pro. Water is all RO and I am using Instant Ocean salt. My issue is that my reef tank seems to be unusually slow to grow coral. The mushrooms seem to be okay but even they are not super fast to grow. I do 10% water changes about every 10 days. Looking to get some pointers and advice here on how to get things on line. Even supposedly fast growing Monticap has had zero growth. It actually bleached right out about a week ago after doing nothing for about 6 months. I have 2 powerheads in the tank, my return pump and am running a GFO reactor in the sump. Guessing between the tank and sump about 150lbs of rock. Fish stock consist of,

1- pipefish, doing well
1- royal gramma, doing well
1- watchman goby, doing well
3- blue/green chromis, doing well
2- orange clownfish, going well
2- black clownfish, doing well
2- tuxedo urchins, doing well
1- black long spined urchin, doing well. Actually growing like a weed.
1- feather duster. Doing fine.
1-peppermint shrimp, longest inhabitant of tank
1- cleaner shrimp, doing good

various snails and crabs for CUC

Corals consist of various ones, some I know the names of and others I do not.

5- anemones (started as 2 and one split once and the other twice. Has not split now for a few months)
Torch coral- Been in tank for a while, has grown but not much
Frogspawn coral- Same as torch
Deep elegance- Growing great. Had for about 3 months and has tripled in size
Pokerstar cap- has not grown at all. Actually bleached out and has now come back in color but still not growing
birdsnest- Zero growth in about 5 months. The bottom 1/2" has actually turned black but has not gotten any worse.
Some encrusting coral, the actual head has not grown but the base around the plug has spread quite a bit.
2- Zoa colonies. one colony has developed maybe 4 or 5 new heads in about 3 or four months the other has stayed the purchase size.
2 different mushrooms. A red one which seems to be doing ok. Have a few new heads showing up on the same rock as the original. The other a watermelon mushroom which is in the same situation as the red one. I also have what I think is a Ricordea mushroom but 100% sure. It started great, probably 2 inches in diameter, now it is maybe 3/4".
2- Brain corals. Zero growth
1- sunrise flavia. Zero growth
A small group of purple polyps that I'm not sure what they are. Had them about 6 months. Started with 6 heads, still 6 heads.
Rock with two purple mushrooms - no change in size.
Few other coral I have no idea what they are called which are not doing much of anything. Not dead, just zero growth.

Something in the tank is not right. Things are not dieing. They are just not growing. Algea is not a problem. Only thing I really notice is that I have tiny feather dusters growing all over the glass and overflow. I am having trouble programming the light properly so I slowly started low and worked up the intensity to where it is now over the course of 3 months. I run the day lights about 12-14 hours then switch to the moon lights. Feed flakes daily and brine twice a week with shrimp to the anemones once or twice a month. Everything eats well. I have recently started using marine snow once a week to see what happens. I also bought a product called "Fuel" but have not used it yet.

Water parameters are as follows, as of today 09/22/14 with an API test kit

Temp - 80F
Salinity - 1.025
PH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Calcium - 23 drops = 460
Carbonate hardness - 12 DKH
Phosphate - 0.25

I have no idea what my TDS is, I do not have a meter. I get all my water from either the LFS or the grocery store RO machine until I get my RO machine installed. I don't live in town so it makes it difficult to get my water from the same place all the time. Anyways, if anyone has some pointers or ideas please let me know. I would love to see this thing start to flourish and thrive. I would also love to know the names of all the stuff I have in there, If anyone is feeling up to some ID'ing I could put up some pictures. I have asked the LFS where I got them from and he has no clue what they are called on some accounts. Thanks in advance!!!!

[Abe]

I had the same issue for the longest time and then I bought a doser and things grew dramatically. Water change every 10 days is not enough to keep chemicals stable for coral to grow.

[mikellini]

Hmm, alkalinity is a bit high. But probably not the issue. I would suggest you feed your LPS and anemones, they will grow faster with food. Other corals might benefit from an amino acid or something similar to introduce organics. Ideally you'd like a slightly measurable nitrate (1ppm or so) and a bit lower phosphate as well.

[neoh]

I've kept stable parameters with monthly water changes and no dosing. Once I started adding aquavitro fuel for amino acid supplements, things starting sprouting well.

I'd suggest giving it a shot!

[mikellini]

Oops, I see you do feed a little. I say, feed more! Many have had success feeding LPS pellets...

Also, API test kits are notoriously unreliable. Red Sea makes an OK kit (although the phosphate won't read less than 0.08); I would consider just getting a Hanna checker for alk and phosphate (ULR phosphorus), and get a Red Sea nitrate test kit. Also Red Sea has a 'reef foundation' kit that includes calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. With regular water changes, you probably only need the calcium test (if you get the Hanna checker for alk).

[reefwars]

At 0.25 for Po4 , that's part of your issue

[jordanc_17]

Also you are only getting RO water from the grocery store, not RO/DI water. I would invest in a RO/DI unit, they are cheap.

[AquaAddict]

Hi,

If you also have very little coraline algae, ie, rocks lock a little bit gray, your nitrates are too low. Corals (and coraline algae) do need a very little bit of nitrates to feed on.

Just be careful not to overdo it. Levels of 2 parts per million might a minimum to strive for but watch carefully.

AquaAddict

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by reefwars

At 0.25 for Po4 , that's part of your issue

Probably most of the issue. Temp is good, other parameters good. RO vs RO/DI is not a factor. NO3 reading 0ppm is likely not an issue, there will be some, just utilized immediately and not detectable. I never had a reading on NO3 and coral growth was crazy.

I'd aim to lower PO4 as a first action.

[incept]

Thanks for the response everyone. From what I gather the Phosphates need to come down and the nitrate come up slightly. Cool. I can do that. Now the next question, I am running a GFO reactor already with the phosphates at the level they are now. Perhaps the media is not working correctly. Any suggestions on what GFO media to try and use?? I think before I go to crazy that is the first thing to achieve. Once the phosphates come down we can drive the nitrates up slightly. To answer the coraline algea. I have next to none. It has never grown in the tank and the little bit I seeded never really did anything. Thanks for the replies, keep em coming!