Back In The Game w/92 lg Corner Reef

[Liquid360]

After I had a MASSIVE tank failure a couple years ago, I've begun my return to reefing.

 

[bigdeb]

Looks good. I'm fairly new. My tank is only six months old. It's been rough but I am trying to hang in. Good luck.

 

[Liquid360]

Thanks a lot!! Yeah, starting a tank is hard, unless you happen to have incredible patience. I do not.

 

[bigdeb]

I don't have much either!! What I noticed is the corals look so big in pictures but they are not so big in real lol. I want them to GROW. The purple coral in your tank. What is that?

 

[Liquid360]

Yeah you're correct! They look much larger in photos. It's best to buy from sites that list actual dimensions of their pieces or at least show them on 1x1 grid pieces. Growth is always sooooo slow, relatively speaking [emoji57]
That's a piece of "Blue Monster" acropora.

 

[Liquid360]

Or that other purple piece is just GSP's that withdraw at night.

 

[bigdeb]

Could you tell me what would cause this coral to bleach out?[IMGhttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160131/c7557ea0fba8e30a1bf1f7e95617d2ec.jpg[/IMG]

 

[bigdeb]

 

[Liquid360]

Bleaching is generally a lighting issue. What lights are you using and how far up in the tank is it? Assuming it's light, trying moving it to the sandbed. A lot of people think if light is good, more light must be really good. I find its best to think about where the coral is found on the ocean and what kind of light what would it have naturally.
That's a good size colony!!

 

[bigdeb]

I'm running fluval pro led's. Just changed to them a couple of weeks ago. I really hate to move the coral. My tang loves it there and it is glued. I have my light on a timer. I think I may try lowing the light during the day to see if that helps. Another question is with the new lights could my tank go through another diatom? It's six months old and seems like the brown diatom is back during the day and resides at night.

 

[Liquid360]

Then too much lighting isn't the issue. Those aren't strong lights at all... which could be the problem also. To use LED's exclusively requires serious led's. I have a Kessil A360WE and that's not enough. I supplement with 5-7hrs a day from a 250w halide fixture. Assuming your chemistry is good, the only remaining factors are light and flow. For that coral, flow isn't so vital. So you're left with lighting.
Are you feeding any micro algae? Or any other coral food? I don't think that's the source of the problem, but when trying to pin down an issue, it's good to make sure everything else is good.
This hobby can be brutally frustrating when these things arise.

 

[Liquid360]

I just looked up that fixture. I think lighting is likely the problem.

 

[bigdeb]

Well that does not make me happy. My lfs totally assured me that light would allow me to grow the corals I wanted.

 

[bigdeb]

What about the brown break out. I thought that's from too much light.

 

[aaron23]

Nice welcome back

 

[Liquid360]

It can be either too little or to much. LFS are famous for saying such things. All I can tell you is from my experience, that's not enough light. I have over 20yrs doing this, yet even so... I'm still learning. Just remember light, chemistry, flow are the factors. Of those three I'm betting light. Were it me, I'd move it higher up in the tank for a couple days. If that hasn't helped, move to the sand bed. Again, assuming chemistry is solid.

 

[Liquid360]

Diatom breakouts can happen anytime. Just do reg water changes and give it a week.

 

[bigdeb]

Hey could I get a little advice. I ordered a Fruit Loop Acan coral. Where should I place him when he gets here. Given the price I don't want to mess up. Any information on this coral would be appreciated

 

[Liquid360]

Depends on your lighting. In mine I have a flat rock in the middle of the tank. I place new pieces there first and see how they react over a couple days. If your lighting is seriously intense, the sandbed is the best spot. Acans are pretty hearty and should be fine pretty much anywhere except up high. The Fruit loop acans are really nice! Congrats!! Be sure to acclimate as always!

 

[bigdeb]

I have a new Australia Pink Hammer coral. Is it normal for it to stay closed when you find get it. How long is normal and where should it be placed in the tank?