Christmas tree worm rock dying?

[Ewelina]

I noticed today the right side of the coral doesn't look alive anymore. I was so healthy before, but I was gone for s week and it developed some hairy algae. What could be the reason for it? Is it reversable?

 

[Ranjib]

Hard. There is tissue recession . You need double strategy that improves the nutrition/ health of the coral and another for dealing with hair algae . But this is possible , I would guess reef roid (or small particle food) is good for the coral and after it’s healthy may be try either biological (fish or bacteria ) or chemical ( reef flux , as last resort ) tactics
Water chemistry is also very important

#reefsquad

 

[Ewelina]

Hard. There is tissue recession . You need double strategy that improves the nutrition/ health of the coral and another for dealing with hair algae . But this is possible , I would guess reef roid (or small particle food) is good for the coral and after it’s healthy may be try either biological (fish or bacteria ) or chemical ( reef flux , as last resort ) tactics
Water chemistry is also very important

#reefsquad

I'm feeding it phytoplankton for the sake of the worms and also coral frenzy. Should that do it? I've been feeding it same way every time, but last week was a little different, with automatic feeder. Also, I raised ph of water, because it was desperately low.

 

[ca1ore]

That is porites coral, a type of SPS. Is your tank capable of growing SPS - proper lights, mineral additions, flow, etc.? That will go a long way to keeping the coral alive. How much/often do you feed your fish? That may make phyto and coral frenzy unnecessary. Also, how did you raise pH - chemicals are unwise and may contribute to SPS losses. Best not to chase pH.

 

[Ewelina]

That is porites coral, a type of SPS. Is your tank capable of growing SPS - proper lights, mineral additions, flow, etc.? That will go a long way to keeping the coral alive. How much/often do you feed your fish? That may make phyto and coral frenzy unnecessary. Also, how did you raise pH - chemicals are unwise and may contribute to SPS losses. Best not to chase pH.

I feed my fish twice a day, and coral twice a week. Flow is pretty good (2 hydor powerheads), lights are kept 20% white and 80% blue for 8 hours (led). I raised it using a little bit of soda carbonate. It was around 7.8 if not even less so I was quite desperate to do something

 

[Ranjib]

I feed my fish twice a day, and coral twice a week. Flow is pretty good (2 hydor powerheads), lights are kept 20% white and 80% blue for 8 hours (led). I raised it using a little bit of soda carbonate. It was around 7.8 if not even less so I was quite desperate to do something

How long you have this coral?
Nothing will impact corals as much as sudden changes, particularly SPS. What ever issue you are trying to take, employ your mitigation measures gradually. If something is bad for long time (like ph as you mentioned) without any serious stress to corals, then you should not worry too about it. It is possible that corals have adjusted to it or the measuring process is not accurate. My pH hovers around 6.5 to 7.8, which is not good at all, but i am not sweating about it, cause my sps are not receeding and i am taking the time to understand the values are correct etc.

I would do some water changes to make the tank feel as it used to be (whatever is your old process), often time it means just salt and water mix, in correct temperature thats all. Doing this will allow you to target feed more as well.

 

[Ranjib]

Relevant:

 

[Ewelina]

How long you have this coral?
Nothing will impact corals as much as sudden changes, particularly SPS. What ever issue you are trying to take, employ your mitigation measures gradually. If something is bad for long time (like ph as you mentioned) without any serious stress to corals, then you should not worry too about it. It is possible that corals have adjusted to it or the measuring process is not accurate. My pH hovers around 6.5 to 7.8, which is not good at all, but i am not sweating about it, cause my sps are not receeding and i am taking the time to understand the values are correct etc.

I would do some water changes to make the tank feel as it used to be (whatever is your old process), often time it means just salt and water mix, in correct temperature thats all. Doing this will allow you to target feed more as well.

The coral has been in my tank for about 2-3 months. It looked like it was doing very well. It got those beautiful green spots, that I couldn't see in the store. I'm doing water change tomorrow, I'm filtering water now. So I guess I should use any other salt as well, right? I was kid of blaming low ph on the salt. My husband bought the purple sea salt instead of the orange reef crystals and I have to use it up..
I heard people saying that those numbers I have are very bad and that's what scared me. Besides I thought I'm not doing that much of a difference with washing soda- I added about 2 tablespoons a day, like twice, and tank is 54 gallon

 

[ca1ore]

My pH hovers around 6.5 to 7.8, which is not good at all

Hopefully you meant 7.5 not 6.5 - latter is hugely problematic and well below the point at which calcium carbonate dissolves.

 

[ca1ore]

I was kid of blaming low ph on the salt. My husband bought the purple sea salt instead of the orange reef crystals and I have to use it up..
I heard people saying that those numbers I have are very bad and that's what scared me. Besides I thought I'm not doing that much of a difference with washing soda- I added about 2 tablespoons a day, like twice, and tank is 54 gallon

It's not the salt - regular IO is just fine. Low pH is a common problem, particularly during the Summer when many houses run AC and are sealed up. I'd suggest that as long as your other parameters are good, anything above 7.6 is ok. My tank typically runs at 7.7 at night and 7,9 during the days during the Summer.

 

[Ewelina]

I did the water change- I'm still kind of rusty with it, so I hope noone in the tank is upset with me! I hope this will help. I'll check the chemistry tomorrow. Thank everyone for your help!

 

[Reefer79]

I have a massive Xmas tree rock, unfortunately it's dying off fast but the worms and crabs living in it are still doing fine. I was told its only a matter of time until they die as well. I assumed they only needed the holes in the coral to live. Its a shame as I paid so much for it. It must have about 50 different colored "trees" and beautiful purple avd orange crabs living in it. Coral is almost white now. My tank just doesbt like sps corals. I won't buy another for awhile.