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Reef Growth way too slow Need Advice

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nightmarepl

NJRC Member
hey guys i need some advice about my reef tank currently i have a 10g tank doing a small little reef for the past 10 months its been running pretty smooth no major issues few changes here and there changed a light change my rock landscape around things like that nothing major my coral growth is extremely slow least imo corals that suppose to grow like weeds really havent developed much, few examples of corals i have, Dunkin Whisker 2 heads for 9 months now, toast stool size of a quarter maybe alittle bigger for 9 months, Green star polyp months no major spread trying to figure out what the heck is going on, friend of mine got me a neon green birds nest branch slowly started to fade its brown skin into the white skeleton and dying off polyps still long and big on it but dying dont even know why

water changes weekly 2 gallons
salt 1.025 ( Reef Crystals ) orange bag
Calcium 480
Alk 10ish ( ATI drop reader )
PH 7.8-8.0 ( always had issues no good fixes to keep it high )
Nitrates 10-20
temp 77ish

Dosing do you guys dose anything? i was told by multiply people that since my tank is small and doesnt use up all my nutrients i wouldnt need to dose. that my reef crystal salt should supply everything.


feeding about 2-3 times daily usually do tiny pebbles, medium pebbles for the crabs and shrimps, mysis shrimp every other day

Equipment 10gallon tank , AI PRIME HD light, Filter is Seachem tidal 55, 180GPH wave maker pointed straight down the tank have about 15 pounds of live rock in 20 pounds of live sand

stock, 4 hermits 5 snails , saddle back clown , regular clown , watchman goby, scooter benny, blood shrimp , cleaner shrimp, all my live stock is pretty much thriving please help me out guys
 
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nightmarepl

NJRC Member
API test kit sorry stupid auto correct, be honest i haven’t been check phosphates just ordered a kit didn’t know they where that important
 
Trio91

Trio91

Administrator
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nightmarepl said:
Dosing do you guys dose anything? i was told by multiply people that since my tank is small and doesnt use up all my nutrients i wouldnt need to dose. that my reef crystal salt should supply everything.
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this depends on what you have in stock but yea for the most part this is true.


nightmarepl said:
for the past 10 months
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The tank is still young IMO so it could take time to see some explosive growth. If everything is ok, alive and thriving then i wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
N

nightmarepl

NJRC Member
iTzJu said:
I would actually getting a better Alk test kit then the API. I just don't trust their kits. I also like mine between 7~8 dKh, best way to lower it would be to let it just go down naturally.

fast changes don't bode well with reef tanks.
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So alk with go down on its own?
 
DangerDave

DangerDave

NJRC Member
I almost don’t want to write this and cause any confusion, but... It depends on your tank, they all have different requirements and you can get good results with many methods. I run high alk (well compared to yours @9.5) and high nutrients (I don’t test nitrates, keep phosphates amount .5 to .15.
 
jmags080307

jmags080307

SPS Grow Out Winner
DangerDave said:
I almost don’t want to write this and cause any confusion, but... It depends on your tank, they all have different requirements and you can get good results with many methods. I run high alk (well compared to yours @9.5) and high nutrients (I don’t test nitrates, keep phosphates amount .5 to .15.
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Agreed om ot depends on your tank. There's many ways to be successful in this hobby. It starts with patience and absorbing as much information from experienced reefers as you can. Take things slow and you'll be fine.

Definite get a hanna alkalinity checker. It's easy and accurate. Worth the $50.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
N

nightmarepl

NJRC Member
Ordered my phosphate tester I’ll definitely get back to you guys with the results i bumped my ai prime he to 95% at 20k so more I’ll do a full water test once the phosphate tester comes in and we’ll see what we come up with, my zoas are slowly popping up here and there and some mushrooms other than that everything is still the same
 
Trio91

Trio91

Administrator
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I use kalk in my ato and have for the longest. Definitely has worked well for me
 
Trio91

Trio91

Administrator
Staff member
Moderator
R

rowreidr

Seems like a lot of livestock and a lot of feeding with suboptimal nutrient export. Too many fluctuating parameters, in addition to temperature and salinity inherent to 10 gallons. The growth of frags I got in my 20 gallon doesn't compare with their sisters still at the LFS, because there is no way I can provide the water stability (or quality of light) he has in a professional system. Fix the parameters you can and identify potential problems you could have at this almost 1 year mark (hydrogen sulfide in your sandbed/livestock constantly irritating corals). I think a photo of the tank would help us identify other potential problems.
 
DEL

DEL

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sometimes things dont grow or take a really long time...then BAM!! they start growing like crazy!! corals all have a mind of their own. stability is key. leave it alone and they will do good.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
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