Havin trouple gettin softies to grow?

Okay, so my 29g biocube is doing great, water params are stable and the corals are growing(ONLY LPS and SPS) but my softies are not growing at all, IME Softies like nutrients in the water and i was thinking if i add another small fish(Six line wrasse? Or some other small wrasse) They might get up and goin?

The current stock is

Manderin goby
Randalli
2 clowns

So its not that HEAVY bioload

The current params are

Nitrate-0
Nitrite-0
PH-8.2
Calc-420
Salinity-1.024
Ammonia-0
Phosphate-0

So everything is like PERFECT, i should be doing an all SPS tank right now with these params lmao! But i dont really want to..Thinking about keeping the current SPS i have and just adding more Softie and LPS. IF i did that, if me not doing 5g water changes weekly, and maybe starting doing them monthly and got this other fish, would the LPS and softie start to grow?

 

What are your dKh and Mag values?

If those are not known/at correct level - then there's a great potential for your problem . . .

 

Oh right..I knew i was forgetting something..

Alk-8
Mag-1260

 

I had the same problem with my Toadstool and my Devils Hand. They always looked smooth, didn't seem to swell, the mouths did not come out, and they didn't want to grow so I moved them around the tank every few days. One day I came home from work and they were large and swelled. I think I had too much air hitting them and now they are growing. Have you tried moving them around?

 

Yes I have..I moved everything..The only thing that is doing good is my kenya tree..He drops babies every other day and is a weed..The xenia isnt growing, the GSP isnt growing and the LPS is growing but not at the speed i have had them before when i had 6 fish in the tank..I got rid of abunch and knocked the stock to 3 fish but then it got boring so i got the manderin, but he still isnt that entertaining..So i have 4 fish and the nitrates and stuff are still 0ppm.

 

IMO you are maxed out on fish for that size tank. Thats already 4 fish in probably less than or around 25 gallons of water. Adding another fish will not assist your soft corals in their growth. If you are looking to increase DOC then if you are running a skimmer, do not run it 24/7 or cut back on the amount of water changed.

IME I have found that it is harder to balance the needs of sps against the needs of soft corals in such a small tank, I have tried. For instance I have a trouble keeping simple mushrooms because the lighting is too intense in most of the tank and very low in nutrients. I do keep some colt and xenia but they are pretty controlled because of the decreased nutrients available to them. The tank only gets feed every 3 days.

 

Honestly, i would rather do an all LPS and softie tank since its easier and less costly, and i can probably get a better income, since my fish tank pays for my fish tank(IF that makes sence ) and if i did that, i would get rid of the SPS i have now and just have softie and LPS.

How would i go by getting the best growth out of them if i did that? Just dont do weekly 5g water changes?

 

My softies seem to do the best with nitrates under 20 ppm and grow quickly.

I love movement that comes with soft corals and some LPS, it makes for a very attractive tank. Sps not a lot of movement going on.

Just do not over polish the water with carbon, gfo, skimming and the soft coral will be happier IMO.

 

I have carbon and phosgaurd in there right now..I have the stock biocube skimmer(Its a POS!!!) i just took it out..Imma sell the few SPS i have right now and a large bubble coral that i have, its gotten too big.

So if i took out the carbon and stopped doing water changes down to monthly..The LPS and softies would be happier?

 

I would leave the carbon just do not change it out as often. Every 3 months is sufficient. If you are not having an issue with phosphates or algae you can probably get by with out it.