Trace Elements? Lighting? Please Help...?

I apologize for such a lengthy post. I want to give as much info as possible for your input. See signature for tank stats...
I started adding corals to my FOWLR tank a year and a half ago. Ive had no issues with my corals, but I dont understand why they havent grown/ spread (other than my ee shroom, that has tripled in size).
I test 2x week for ph, alk, phos, calc, mag, nitrates & nitrites, and amonia ...all params always on point. Good GE as well. (25% h2o change every other week).

Lighting: (I replace all bulbs at 8-9 months)
-(Deep Blue) HO T5s 10,000k/ 24w actinic ...2pm-midnight
-(Coralife) PC 65w ...5:30pm-9pm. I began using this as a "suppliment" light 3 months ago as I thought it could be a lighting issue.

Additives: (added manually and carefully)
Daily:
"NatuReef" Alkalinity Plus
"NatuReef" Hardness Plus
"NatuReef" Liquid Calcite
"Brightwell" Magnesium
Dr Gs Phytoplankton (every other day)

2x weekly:
"NatuReef" Iron Plus
"Brightwell" Iodine

The corals are placed according to flow and lighting needs, and look amazing ...bright colors, full/ plump polyp expansion. I poke around with a flashlight after dark to check the pod colony ...good count... and corals have their tentacles out to feed when dark. Im perplexed about their lack of growth.

Am I missing the train on this?? Advise would be very much appreciated.

 

tank doesn't look very bright. how many 24 watt t5 bulbs do you have? how many 65 watt PC bulbs do you have?

 

Its much brighter than the phone pic shows. 2 24s and 2 65s.

 

what bulbs do you buy?
also can you tell use what on point means to you? so list the parameters you maintain.

 

Sure. The T5s are Deep Blue brand. PC bulbs are Coralife

Tank temp is regulated by a chiller at a consistent 79 degrees.
ph 8.1
sal 1022
alk 7 dhk
mag 1300
calc 475 (generally runs between 450 and 500)
Phos, Nitrates, Nitrites and Amonia 0 ....Nitrates have been at .02 on rare occasion.

I dont test for iron, iodine, stronium, etc.

 

this may sound counter intuitive but you water may be to clean, soft corals and some lps like the water a little dirty, example favia.

other then that I would try target feeding some of the corals

 

You may also want to consider bringing your dkh up that directly connects to a corals ability to grow there skeleton. Your salinity is a tad on the low side for a reef tank as well, it's more in line with a FOWLR than a reef. You may want to bring it up to about 1.025.

 

Good point about the target feeding ....I forgot to mention that I do ...lol.
Water being too clean never would have occurred to me, as Ive never heard of it.
Makes perfect sense ....the ocean isnt perfect, right?
The pic is very poor quality, but based on the info Ive given, do you feel my light is adequate? (21" deep)

 

What is the safest way to raise dkh in a reef tank?

Ive read that some corals prefer higher salt content ...youve just confirmed it. Thanks!

 

Lighting is OK for LPS and softies, but they definitely would be happier with more. This might help with growth. LPS tend to be slow growing in relationship to SPS in most cases IME. Some softies go crazy and some don't. You can let your nitrates get up to 5ppm without too much trouble.