Failure to thrive

[Kris&Dad]

About a year ago I had a major die-off in my tank (discovered that the water I was purchasing was tainted:shock. I broke everything down, scrubbed it all to remove any possible contamination, started with new sand and filtration...just like starting over. I switched back to filtering and making my own water. However, since then my new corals have failed to really thrive. They don't seem to grow with the same vigor that I had prior to the die off, I also have a hard time keeping snails. I am always replacing them. My hermits, feather dusters and fish have had no issues.
I do a 10% water change every week or two, always checking the chemistry. I suppliment with trace minerals, iodine and strontium as per their directions. I feed "Marine Snow" as directed. And keep CA between 450-400ppm.
I have a 55 gal tank with 2x96w CF (50/50) and 2x150w MH (12,000K), Eheim 2026 Professional II filtration with skimmer and one power head on a "wave maker" timer.
All the equipment is the same pre and post die-off. I did replace the lights about 5 months ago, but that was done, in part, because of the corals lack of growth and overall "good health".
My well water is filtered through an "Aquarium Phamaceuticals" Tap water filter and I use Tropic Marin pro reef salt. All according to directions.
Any suggestions?

 

[Scooterman]

What you supplement, do you test for it? I would recommend stopping all supplication except what your doing for calcium,alk. & mg & I hope your keeping the three in balance? If your not testing then you may have issues right there. Your regular wc's will supplement the rest, as far as we know you could be way over dosing & using TM pro you already have all you need.
AP tap water filter is great for FW tanks but probably not enough for reef tanks, Have you tested your water before adding salt to see what TDS it is? When you testing your make-up water what are you considering good & what are you testing with & for what? Your Pro filter, what is in it? Do you have live rock?
PC lights aren't by far the best of lighting but replacing them every 6 months isn't so bad, your MH may be plenty depending on a few things like water depth, types of corals you have etc? Snails dieing off like that means most likely you have ammonia or nitrates in your water or maybe too low salinity, what are you testing salinity with & what is it at?

Basically what I'm getting at, If you want reliable help we need all of this information as detailed as possible to really be helpful, it is very important to give thorough details.

 

[burning2nd]

If you dont/cant test for it Regularly, Dont add it

"Aquarium Phamaceuticals"

b4 you waste anther penny on life go to
www.thefilterguys.biz

 

[Kris&Dad]

I will cease the supplimentation of the iodine, strontium and trace minerals. What you said about not adding unless I test for it makes sense. I currently test for pH, Alk, NH3/NH4, NO2, NO3 and Ca.
The fresh water (by hydrometer) has a salinity of 0 and 31-32 after the addition of salt. I also check the tank prior to water changes and use filtered fresh water to normalize, if needed.
I am looking into upgrading to RO/DI to prepare my water.
I have never considered my lighting to be an issue. Everything I have read indicates that I have more than enough lighting for what I'm stocking (Leathers, LPS, Mushrooms, and polyps).
I have about 100lbs of live rock and 60lbs (about 3") of sand.

 

[Scooterman]

What type of hydrometer do you use, is it a glass tube type?
Should be up to 35ppt
Lighting shouldn't be much issue with what your keeping, it is the lps & sps & clams that need more lighting, you're probably fine on that part.
I think you may need better water to help also. What is in your power filters? Reason why I ask is it could be a problem also.

 

[Kris&Dad]

OK...I went to the filterguys (great, by the way!), got the Ocean Reef+1 been running it for two weeks have done 3-10%+ water changes. CA=400ppm, NH3/NH4+ = 0ppm, NO2 = 0ppm, NO3 = 0ppm. However, thats what I have always read, even prior to the new water filtration. I have noticed less red algae growth with the new water. Any other suggestions?

BTW...Scooter, my hydrometer is an "Instant Ocean" simple one...according to it, if my salinity is 35ppt then my salinity would be 1.027. Isn't that too high? Or is it my instrument (no jokes here, please)?

 

[Scooterman]

They swing arm types can be the worst ones as for as being accurate or not. Let me see If I can find boomer's salinity adjustments links.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rhf/index.php

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20893

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rhf/index.php

 

[Sherman]

It sounds like you're getting on the right track. I wouldn't even think of considering an RO/DI unit to be optional, no matter what water you're using. Consider a couple larger water changes, perhaps 30% or even greater, to get a larger volume of the cleaner water in there.

You posted that you have one powerhead in the tank. Which one is it? I wouldn't expect just one single powerhead to be sufficient, either, especially on a wave timer. With a 55g tank, my personal recommendation is at least 1000gph of water movement in the tank. More is even better. Lots of people typically run at least 30x tank volume in water flow (in gph. As an example: Your 55g x 30 = 1650gph total flow rate), some even much higher. It doesn't sound like your aquarium has stony corals, so I wouldn't be stressing as much about such super high flow rates.

It would be great to see some photos. This hobby is GREAT for eye candy.

 

[burning2nd]

get a refracometer... hydrometers are like the worst thing ever invented