Coral … exploding ?

[SkewedVision]

Hello, new to corals… LFS helped to select these a week ago.

Have been dosing
Zooplankton
Phytoplankton
Reef plus


I have a copper band and two clowns in the same tank and a cleanup crew

Have noticed a white slime on the corals when the tissue “explodes”

I am looking for some guidance or a direction to look as corals are very new to me

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It is dead, the white thing is the skeleton, there is no flesh left on it

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It will help a lot if you can share a full tank pic and all your water parameters? What kind of lighting and flow? How old is the tank?

Corals are not easy, and looking at your pics I see some red flags. A lot of research is needed in this hobby, especially to keep corals, its more of a science than just a fish tank.

 

[Mechano]

Looks like a newer”ish” tank. They recommended LPS corals which isn’t the greatest choice for new corals.

What are your nutrients at? And to be honest the tank looks too new and sterile.

More info will help ppl help you. Cheers

 

[VintageReefer]

I don’t see anything in the tank that requires Zooplankton or Phytoplankton

What is Reef plus?

 

[SkewedVision]

It will help a lot if you can share a full tank pic and all your water parameters? What kind of lighting and flow? How old is the tank?

Corals are not easy, and looking at your pics I see some red flags. A lot of research is needed in this hobby, especially to keep corals, its more of a science than just a fish tank.

40 gallon main
30 gallon sump
Two furval mini sea power heads with syncra 1.0 pumping from sump to upper tank via 3/4 inch line.

Lite is a fluval marine lite with schedule attached.

 

[SkewedVision]

I don’t see anything in the tank that requires Zooplankton or Phytoplankton

What is Reef plus?

Here is screen shots of the product page on BRS

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

How old is this tank?

 

[VintageReefer]

I’m sorry, there are a few issues here.

Fluval marine is not a good light for growing corals. It will not sustain most corals that rely on photosynthesis

Alkalinity is high, aim for 8-9 and keep it steady in that range

Calcium is very low, aim for 400+

Nitrate and phosphate are zero, this can starve corals especially in a newer system. Nitrate should be around 5 and phosphate .05

Salinity should be 1.026

 

[SkewedVision]

How old is this tank?

Tank itself is new due a large crack, that being said the inhabitants, out side of the coral have been with the same live rock, substrate, and water (besides water changes weekly at 30% ) for a total of a 8 months

 

[Cell]

Is the cloudiness from the sand? If not it's a bacterial bloom, make sure the fish are breathing normal, it looks like you have plenty of surface agitation though.

I'm confused about your light schedule. Is the midday dip supposed to be simulating cloud cover?

High alk, low calcium and no nitrate and PO4 is not a good combination.

 

[VintageReefer]

I see no harm in the reef plus product but I also see no need. It’s is for replenishing trace elements that are consumed by corals. With 40g and few corals you shouldn’t have any risk of trace elements being depleted if you are doing water changes.

 

[Cell]

Alk at 11 and calcium at 300 doesn't make sense. Double check those tests.

 

[SkewedVision]

Is the cloudiness from the sand? If not it's a bacterial bloom, make sure the fish are breathing normal, it looks like you have plenty of surface agitation though.

I'm confused about your light schedule. Is the midday dip supposed to be simulating cloud cover?

High alk, low calcium and no nitrate and PO4 is not a good combination.

Cloudiness from the sand, tank is typically crystal clear.

Light schedule was the default for the light and open and willing to any sort of suggestions !

I will evaluate and work on the alk, calcium has been slightly unstable for a few weeks spiking at 600 and lows of 300.

The nitrate I am going to test again as 0 is uncommon for this tank.

 

[Cell]

What salt mix are you using?

What test kits for calcium and alk?

 

[SkewedVision]

Cal is closer to 420
Nitrate is between 0 and 5

 

[SkewedVision]

Cal is closer to 420
Nitrate is between 0 and 5

Using instant ocean purple

 

[Mechano]

0 nutrients. Sterile.
This seems to be a trend with newer reefers now.
Don't add anymore corals for a while, instead add a fish or 2. Stop dosing whatever it is your dosing, there is absolutely no coral load in your system at all.
Get your phosphates to .05-.1 (roughly)
Get your nitrates to 10ppm
Let some diversity grow like algaes and pods etc.
again….dont dose anything , it will do more harm than good.
If u really can’t help yourself, start dosing phyto plankton and concentrate on getting your nutrients in check.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

the parameters can use adjustment and thats rather easy to correct, but for me the main issue is the cheap fluval equipment. If you upgrade your lights and flow you will get much better result

 

[Cell]

Not very familiar with the light, but it looks like there is a rather significant dip in intensity midday that isn't necessary. If blue line is blue light, white line is white light and red is red/green, I would lower red even further. It's hard to know optimal intensity though without a par meter. I don't think this is your primary issue with coral health though.

Are you skimming? You seem to be skirting on the low end nutrient wise with very little bio load.