Corals not extending for feeding..

jamiec266 · Oct 10, 2017

So before (since ive had my tank) my corals have always extended for food. Or been fast to grab a bit of prawn meat or musscle meat. Lately tho they dont extend, tenticles arnt coming out even when i put polyp mix in to make them extend infact last night wen i put it in to make them extent i woke up and parts of the corals had bleached or flesh burnt. Even my elegance im putting food infront and on him and his not even interested. Also alot of my corals are inflating.. does anyone have an idea to what this cause be a causr from? High amonia? And no i have no idea what my parameters are as ive tested once in 2 years i generally do a water change once a week and never had a problem till now. I do have test kits but if anyone has an idea to wat wud b the cause from this i wil test and try fix the issue [emoji4][emoji4] thanks heaps for any info on what info ive supplied [emoji4][emoji4]

Crabs McJones · Oct 10, 2017

jamiec266 said:
So before (since ive had my tank) my corals have always extended for food. Or been fast to grab a bit of prawn meat or musscle meat. Lately tho they dont extend, tenticles arnt coming out even when i put polyp mix in to make them extend infact last night wen i put it in to make them extent i woke up and parts of the corals had bleached or flesh burnt. Even my elegance im putting food infront and on him and his not even interested. Also alot of my corals are inflating.. does anyone have an idea to what this cause be a causr from? High amonia? And no i have no idea what my parameters are as ive tested once in 2 years i generally do a water change once a week and never had a problem till now. I do have test kits but if anyone has an idea to wat wud b the cause from this i wil test and try fix the issue [emoji4][emoji4] thanks heaps for any info on what info ive supplied [emoji4][emoji4]

We would need to know your parameters to start. Also have you changed anything recently? Salt mixes, added or removed anything from the tank?

jamiec266 · Oct 10, 2017

Added some dried rock and more sand. Im jus looking for ppls personal experience. Like i said i havent tested my water in 2 years theres plenty of ppl that dont and can go off of info ive given to let me know if they think it wud b from something to high or low or added from there own experience and knowledge. If i have to test i will but perfer try find the issue without testing as ive only ever tested once with my tank in two years ive had it

Crabs McJones · Oct 10, 2017

jamiec266 said:
Added some dried rock and more sand. Im jus looking for ppls personal experience. Like i said i havent tested my water in 2 years theres plenty of ppl that dont and can go off of info ive given to let me know if they think it wud b from something to high or low or added from there own experience and knowledge. If i have to test i will but perfer try find the issue without testing as ive only ever tested once with my tank in two years ive had it

Sounds good, I'm unsure. Asking for help without parameters is like telling a doctor you need a blood test over the phone...Not a whole lot the doc can do without a sample

maybe someone from #reefsquad may have a better idea.

sebastiaan1985 · Oct 10, 2017

Could be a lot of possibilities for the corals not to respond to food. Agree with previous respons, some additional info would get you better answers.

More rock and sand normally are beneficial, but perhaps nutrients are dropping... Or new rock is leaching phosphates, making the corals unhappy. The latter being an example of what I have experienced in my previous tank.
Comparing parameters to previous measurements are not possible, but how long have they not been responding to food? Shortly after introducing the new rock and sand? Or perhaps already before the rock and sand were added?

RyanCSGO · Oct 10, 2017

agree with the above.
its definitely hard to say what it could be fore sure without water parameters to work off of.

when you say "dried rock" does that mean the rock was once cycled and used previously, and has been dried out until being reused?
I ask because if that's the case, then that may have caused a mini cycle in your tank.

not saying its that for sure.
would want to know the following to help narrow it down.

nitrate:
nitrite:
ammonia:
alkalinity:
calcium:
magnesium:

jamiec266 · Oct 10, 2017

crabs_mcjones said:
Sounds good, I'm unsure. Asking for help without parameters is like telling a doctor you need a blood test over the phone...Not a whole lot the doc can do without a sample maybe someone from #reefsquad may have a better idea.

I know going out on a limb before i have to resort to testing lol. Hoping someone had an idea

EriksOasis · Oct 10, 2017

First test all prameters. Could be caused by the new rock and sand leeching phosphates into the water. I was at the LFS and was told not to add dry rock only live rock or bad things could happen.

jsker · Oct 10, 2017

I would also be guessing not knowing the parameters. Adding the rock could have spiked the phosphates and or there could be some small amount of cycling. Are you running any kind of carbon, GFO. The carbon would polish the water and also help with a ammonia spike and the GFO for the phosphates.

jamiec266 · Oct 10, 2017

jsker said:
I would also be guessing not knowing the parameters. Adding the rock could have spiked the phosphates and or there could be some small amount of cycling. Are you running any kind of carbon, GFO. The carbon would polish the water and also help with a ammonia spike and the GFO for the phosphates.

Yeah i am running carbon through the tank at the moment taking out every 24 hours and giving it a wash in rodi water and back in apart from the last two days i havent put it back in at i was waiting for my new tub of it to arrive. Makes sence with the rock possibly doing a mini cycle. Its been round the same time also. Also wud make sence with how my coral are going if my amonia was higher. Ill add the carbon back in and do a water change again. I only wanted to add live rock but my lfs went on and on about how dead rock wudnt do no harm and when i asked if it was then cured they said it didnt need to be it was good to just add straight into my tank. Same with my wanting live sand but aparently normal sand wud b fine and become live fast. This is honestly the first time ive ever had a problem with my tank in 2 years. Ive never tested water prams ive always kept up with water changes so having this happen i knew it had to be something throwing my tank out. Ill pull the test kits out tomorrow and check it out hopefully fix the situation. Thanks for your feedback guys

jsker · Oct 10, 2017

jamiec266 said:
Yeah i am running carbon through the tank at the moment taking out every 24 hours and giving it a wash in rodi water and back in apart from the last two days i havent put it back in at i was waiting for my new tub of it to arrive. Makes sence with the rock possibly doing a mini cycle. Its been round the same time also. Also wud make sence with how my coral are going if my amonia was higher. Ill add the carbon back in and do a water change again. I only wanted to add live rock but my lfs went on and on about how dead rock wudnt do no harm and when i asked if it was then cured they said it didnt need to be it was good to just add straight into my tank. Same with my wanting live sand but aparently normal sand wud b fine and become live fast. This is honestly the first time ive ever had a problem with my tank in 2 years. Ive never tested water prams ive always kept up with water changes so having this happen i knew it had to be something throwing my tank out. Ill pull the test kits out tomorrow and check it out hopefully fix the situation. Thanks for your feedback guys

I regards to testing, I used to not test either. Now with a full blown reef take I test once a week. I test Ca, Alk, Mg, Po4's mainly. Nitrates I really am not concerned about unless the nitrates get to low. I feed heavy twice a day and my only issue is phosphates. Tests are great just to know where the system is at and then I can make adjustment to my dosing.

EriksOasis · Oct 10, 2017

I myself never tested in 6 years never had a tank full of corals. Now I have a tank loaded up with corals and test once a week to see if dosing is necessary and if I should change the water to replenish what my corals used up even tho I do a water change every week anyway just good to keep an eye on what the corals are using and how much.

Sabellafella · Oct 10, 2017

jamiec266 said:
So before (since ive had my tank) my corals have always extended for food. Or been fast to grab a bit of prawn meat or musscle meat. Lately tho they dont extend, tenticles arnt coming out even when i put polyp mix in to make them extend infact last night wen i put it in to make them extent i woke up and parts of the corals had bleached or flesh burnt. Even my elegance im putting food infront and on him and his not even interested. Also alot of my corals are inflating.. does anyone have an idea to what this cause be a causr from? High amonia? And no i have no idea what my parameters are as ive tested once in 2 years i generally do a water change once a week and never had a problem till now. I do have test kits but if anyone has an idea to wat wud b the cause from this i wil test and try fix the issue [emoji4][emoji4] thanks heaps for any info on what info ive supplied [emoji4][emoji4]

Corals can handle insane amounts of ammonia. Has anything changed recently? Maybe a new bucket of salt or an addition of a new food or additive? Change in flow or light settings?

Some of my "corals that eat" took a while before theyre tenticles started to fully extend." Took a while " as in took about 6 or 7 months to see a change.