WHY!!!!

What do you feed them?

 

Sorry to hear that Anne. I would ditch the urchin. I think your mane problem is po4 and flow.

 

how old is the tank?

 

I guess i should add that your not the only person to have this frustration... SPS can be the hardest coral to keep for many hobbyist, they require a ton of work to get to know the corals your working with and even then things can go bad.

 

Ugh I am having similar issues but all params are good. No po4. 3 koralia 3s in a 40 breeder. Still polyp extension but still STN. Very bummed. All lps, zoas, n softies doing good tho

 

A couple of other thoughts...

1) What is your temp and how much does it swing on a daily basis.
2) Are you blasting the SPS with flow? SPS like a lot of water motion, but direct flow is still too much for them.

-JB

 

How stable are these parameters you test for?

Nothing mentioned about temp. Is it stable?

How is it your salinity is 1.024 and you CA that high?

How about Ammonia? Test for that?

I would say if you actually had a PO4 level high enough to be tested that along with any of the other above listed problems could be your issue.

I have had SPS for a long time and have learned that if you have 1 parameter you can get lucky and SPS will be OK, start getting more than one source of stress and you start killing stuff.

 

fishy,,,,i have those same two powerheads in my 55,,,,,and i dont feel its nearly enough for sps....its barely enough for what i have now. lps and softies

 

ph swing?

 

What color are the corals you are losing? How has the color changed from when you received them?

 

one other important thing is lighting for sure

 

What kind of test kits are you using? Do you know anyone else in the area who can test your water for reference? Maybe your parameters aren't accurate and it is making it hard to correct the issue.

 

I should have been a bit more specific with my questions,

So the corals have turned brown prior to losing tissue?
These are all frags correct?
tissue loss is slow... a week? a month? how long?
tissue loss is occuring at tips and not at base?
If you put food in the general area of the coral with pumps on does the food settle or is it dispursed?
Where are the corals placed in tank?

The more specific you are with answers the easier it is to help, and PLEASE don't give up.......

 

Thanks for the added info, so when you say white you mean dead right or are they bleached? I would say the AE coral was RTN if it went that fast. I'm surprised the slimer browned out on you that fast, that coral has been in captivity for ages and is quite hardy.

I wouldn't worry about changing salt mixes right now, all big name commercial mixes will keep everything alive, some just have numbers that are better for certain tanks.
Whether calcium is 380-420-or below 500 I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'm guessing your test read a bit higher than it really is bc with those levels and a normal ph I'm thinking you should get some precipitate.
I would double check alk with another kit just to verify it's indeed at 10. If higher I would suggest lowering to 10 or a bit lower.
It sounds like while you need to upgrade flow at some point, you have enough to keep frags alive.
Lighting should be ok too, frags don't need as much light as a colony.

How fast did you add GFO? did you lose coral right around the time you added it?
What is your temp?