Chalice coral care and advice needed

[Lacuna]

Still struggling to keep chalice alive ????????

Killed 7 frags so far, but I'm not giving up.

My tank's a 50 gallon reef, 24x24x22, been running for 18 months. Got a Kessil 350 LED light on it.

Current parameters: Alk's 9, Ca's 400, Ammonia's 0.25 ppm, Salinity's 1.025, and Temp's 76.

Checked PAR with a meter, and they're around 60. Flow's pretty low, though.

Other corals like Trachyphyllia, lobophyllia, zoas, palys, mushrooms, and colt are all thriving. Fish are doing great too.

What am I missing????

[FoxRise]

I've had some success with chalices in the past, and I think you might be selling them short on PAR - they can definitely handle moderate to high flow, and in my experience, they've got a structure more akin to SPS than LPS.

[FoxRise]

My chalices did well at higher PAR, 100-150, and moderate to high flow - I had them in a 200g with 2 mp40s and a 1500g return pump, so they were never in low flow.

I agree with FoxRise that lighting might be a bit low for them. Your calcium level seems low to me, I aim for at least 500ppm - what's your magnesium level? I kept mine at 1400-1600ppm.

Also, you might want to try increasing your temperature to 79-80, but don't go over that if you can help it - I think you'll see better results.

[marinero]

18 months in and I'm still seeing 0.25 ppm ammonia - what's going on here, guys? My parameters are all pretty stable, I've got my alk at 9, calcium at 400, salinity at 1.025. Temp's steady at 76. Everything else in the tank's thriving, all my fish are doing great, and my other corals - trachyphyllia, lobophyllia, zoas, palys, mushrooms, colt - they're all loving it. But that ammonia's just lingering. Anybody else ever deal with this?

[zen_9]

I've got about a dozen chalices in my tank and I've found they do better with low light, the colors look more vibrant, but I'd definitely bump that up from 60 par. I'm thinking 100s would be a sweet spot. And like others mentioned, higher cal would be beneficial, 500ppm is what I aim for. That ammonia reading of 0.25 ppm is a red flag, I'm inclined to think that's the culprit. How quickly are your chalices dying off after introducing them to the tank?