How to make corals grow?

When you say refugium, do you mean top off reservoir?

Tap water = No good.

 

Are you sure your test kits are good? What brand? It is hard to believe that you are using tap water and have all those fish and your phosphates are 0. Most phosphate kits are pretty useless anyway, they will only tell you if things are REALLY bad. Phosphates inhibit new growth promote algae growth, so that is most likely your problem. Are you using anything to get rid of phosphates? GFO, Phosguard, etc?

 

You mentioned 2 tanks, which is the one you're having trouble with?

Algae will absorb phosphates as quick as they become available, so really they are your best indicator.

Tap water kills reefs. Really. I know people say "I've done it for years and my tank is fine" then I see pics, and their tank is nothing but plague mushrooms, aptasia, xenia, maybe some zoas... There are things that will grow in water that even many fish won't survive in. The worlds oceans range wildly from the average in come places, and yet life thrives.

Tap water varies so much regionally, seasonally, even daily... as aquarium keepers, we're doing things today that were not possible outside marine biology labs 10-15 years ago, so it's no surprise that many of the lessons learned come from labs - and labs don't like variables.

the main problems I have in my local tap water are silica, arsenic - and in properties with copper plumbing, obviously, there's an issue of copper. Excess silica causes diatom outbreaks. Arsenic, like all heavy metals, is toxic to most life. Copper, as you should know, is toxic to almost all invertebrate life in quantity, and will kill or damage many corals in even trace amounts.

You can get your local water reports from your city or town hall, just make some calls, and many will even test residents water from their source for free... always worth a shot.

Still, best idea is to eliminate ALL tap water.

 

it is my tank at home im having problems with, but my tank at home, i used RO/DI filtered water so i don't know how that can be a problem. And at my shop i have a auto shutoff valve in my refugium so when it gets near empty it refills with tap water, but those were my params for my shop water not at home. If you need params for my tank at home i can post it up later tonight

 

can anyone give me any help on this matter?