Convict Chalice not looking good.....advice welcome!

the.fish.guy · Aug 15, 2011

So i bought this guy bout 2 months ago. The first picture is what he looked like when i recieved him. The last two are photos i took tonight. As you can see there is new growth on the lower section. But the white keeps spreading.

Tank is a 120gal. proper filtrationa and all. I have many other chalices that are doing great.
All parameters are good except alk. Between 7-8dkh.
Lighting is 2 54watt ati blue plus, 2 39watt uvl supers, 1 48" reefbrite led blue strip, and 2 250watt radiums SE. The only thing is i haven't been running the halides because of the heat.

If anyone knows what is going on please feel free to post. Id like to not loose this guy. And if its as simple as higher light or lower light id like to keep him happy.

What the frag looked like when i got it.

What it looks like now.

Thanks in advance for the response.

Me z · Aug 15, 2011

I have had similar problems with chalices. Mine ended up bein too much light and an sg problem. If your using a refrac to test sg make sure it is calibrated with a calibrating solution not RODI water. That was another problem I had. Thought sg was 1.025 then I bought a calibrating solution and found out I was actually running at 1.030. Once i placed my chalices in lower light and got the sg thing back in line they came right back to life. I have heard alk does affect chalices more so than other corals but I have no personal experience with alk problems somebody who has should chime in before long. Good luck hope you get it figured out always hurts to see a coral go down hill especially when everything else is doin fine.

lps1212 · Aug 15, 2011

SHADE I know Frank keeps the convict under shade we got our frag from Kien and I had it before this growout I'm in its one of the toughest chalices to keep happy very finiky :squigglemouth: you can try askin who you got it from what type of lighting were they giving it and I'm suprised you have growth after only 2 months we have had ours for over 3 now and haven't gotten anything out of that gem even when I spoke to one of the originators Pnoy he told me it was a very slow grower :sad:

sexycorals · Aug 15, 2011

From my experience the wild pieces of this coral/species tend to beach out alot.. i tried 2-3 mini wild colony only to have them bleach on me .. and wither away.... on the real convict from kein or Pnoy had kept its color and grow for me..

i tried shading it and also really low light to actinic only but its just the way it is sometimes... with wild pieces yo take a gamble.

the.fish.guy · Aug 15, 2011

thank you all for the replies.....
Me Z: i do have a refrac. but calibrated it with rodi, ill pick up some calib. fluid tom.

LPS: Ill try giving it some shade....ive been feeding mine fauna lps food every other night which might be the cause for the growth.

Mike: Honestly not sure if its wild or not. I got my frag when A.R.C. was selling them a couple months back. Ill have to p.m. them to see where it came from.

lps1212 · Aug 15, 2011

Yea I would definetly ask A.R.C about lineage as wild pieces have been known to clone originals so people just tag the name along side of it and chaching not sayin yours is fake just clearify lineage to be on the safeside. I know Kien has had success growin his out but it dosent grow like wildfire that's forsure as far as Pnoy Idk if he still has his MC

thewackyreefer · Aug 15, 2011

the.fish.guy said:
LPS: Ill try giving it some shade....ive been feeding mine fauna lps food every other night which might be the cause for the growth.

I would stop feeding so often. Those pellets are pretty powerful, I limit my feedings to 2x / week max on my acans and chalices.

How clean is your water? Any nitrates?

Alpha Aquaculture · Aug 15, 2011

I would frag it asap. If the bleaching is spreading it will eventually kill your entire colony. I had this happen to two different convict pieces and was only able to save what I fragged that was 100% healthy. Make sure you frag through the heatlhy portion and not try and edge around the decay. Get a nice and clean healthy frag so at lease you can still grow it.

the.fish.guy · Aug 15, 2011

mk....well i guess first would be check saln. then try to find where ill came from and frag the healthy portion off.
water is good. nitrates and phos. both 0.

Alpha Aquaculture · Aug 15, 2011

the.fish.guy said:
mk....well i guess first would be check saln. then try to find where ill came from and frag the healthy portion off.
water is good. nitrates and phos. both 0.

Wouldn't you be happier right now if you had fragged it when you first noticed any bleaching? You could have some larger pieces of healthy coral now. If you frag now you will have less than before but still some. If you wait any longer you might risk losing the entire piece. The eye on the right looks like its starting to bleach

the.fish.guy · Aug 15, 2011

yea, i noticed that after looking at the pics...... why couldn't this happen to my alien eye instead

Alpha Aquaculture · Aug 15, 2011

the.fish.guy said:
yea, i noticed that after looking at the pics...... why couldn't this happen to my alien eye instead

It might! Just make sure you frag it early

Good luck hope it pulls through. btw, I haven't had luck with my convict in lower light than 90 par if your trying to shade it to stop the bleaching. It has always killed the bleached frag. My best luck was fragging and keeping the frags at the same light level I had, 90 par.

Nuocmam · Aug 15, 2011

Man I'm so so so sorry to hear about your troubles. I've kept mine shaded since day 1. I hope yours pull through. GL.

the.fish.guy · Aug 15, 2011

Thanks guys, fragged it last night so well see how it does. ill keep this thread posted with my progress.

KLR · Aug 15, 2011

I have found with most of the stripe patterned chalices that they like REALLY low light. They will bleach aroudn the edges of they are in bright. For example,I cut a few frags 2 were placed 3ft from a 4bulbt5 fixture and 2 were placed in the shade at the same depth.

The ones in the shade never really lost color and the ones in the light bleached around the edges and lost alot of color.

I would also suggest fragging off the bleached parts if possible.

fab1971 · Aug 15, 2011

Imo that is a different strain of convict than I got from Ktar but I believe the same rules might apply to it. Keep it under shade. I've had my piece under almost complete shade for 3 months now and it has been doing great. On the other hand I bought another striped chalice with similar traits and kept it in the light for about 10 days when I got it. It totally stressed out and bleached on me and even now under complete shade continues to worsen. I'd immediately move to the shade and leave it there. Try to continue feeding it because now that it is bleaching on you, it will need any assistance to receive nutrients, as it won't be able to do so on it's own. Sometimes these pieces come back from bleaching but it will take time (months). Other times with wild colonies, once stressed out they continue to deteriorate until there is nothing left. I think you should definitely contact the seller and any others that bought from him to get more specific information on this colony. Good luck and I sincerely hope it gets better.