Few Quaestions

[CrazyReefer]

Hi There,
my tank is 33gal has been set up for 6 months ,all parameteres are fine
Ammonia 0,Nitrite 0.1(it has been there since my tank done cycle),Nitrate 0- 0.1,PO4 0.1-.2,Temp 79F.
Lighting 150W MH 10ksylvania/osram bulb.I`v tried some sps corals in the past(wild acro and policepora(sp??)) They all tend to brown out in a week or so.Is that normal?
However,Would someone please tell me what corals can I keep happy in such a system?Can I keep blue maxima clam?
Something else I have a green striped mushroon which brown out too and another red mushroom which still as red as it gets.Any explination?
Thanks in advance,
CR

[scubadude]

Hey CR

You shouldnt have any Nitrites, even .1 if your tank is cycled. If you suspect your test kit is off get a new one, or better yet take your water in to a LFS and get tested for free.

As far as your lighting, and corals/clams you can keep happy goes, You definately have good lighting. Maybe its the way the corals/clams are getting acclimated to your system? What lighting where these corals coming from when you bought them? You might have the light too far or too close to your corals, or you may be burning your bulb too long or too short of a photoperiod? all of these things must be measured and compensated for.

What type of filtration do you have? Circulation? how many lbs of LR you have? Skimmer?

[zhenya]

Hi CR and Welcome to Reefland!

Rocky rased very good questions and your answers could help us to narrow down possibilities of what could be going on.
Having said that, wild collected Acroporas tend to brown out when first introduced even in well established systems. it may take 6 month or so for them to color up again.
I also noticed that your PO4 levels are elevated quite a bit. Phosphate levels above 0.003 could retard growth of corals and fuel all sorts of unwanted algae growth. Do you use top water or RO/DI? My advice would be to check up on your water source and see if you can pinpoint where that phosphate is comming from, besides the foods that you put in the tank.

[CrazyReefer]

My light is on for 10hour a day .All of my corals are wild cought(soft,lps and/or sps).I test my water using salfian test with zero nitrite(I guess my old test isnt working anymore).
I use tap water since it does not containe any NH3,PO4 or NO3.I used to overfeed my tank ,thats where the PO4 came from,I stopped doing that.I hate it when my corals turn brown .I`ll keep working on my water quality though.