Help: Chalice losing color and tissue

SuncrestReef · Oct 11, 2019

I bought this chalice two months ago. For the past month or so, it has been slowly losing color, and now some tissue is starting to recede. I have it placed on a rock at the bottom of my tank, partially under an overhang where 3/4 of the chalice gets light and 1/4 is shaded. PAR in the light is 150, PAR in the shaded area is 35. Water flow is low-medium. Here are my water parameters:

Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 78.0 - 78.3 F
pH: 8.0 - 8.4
Alk: 8.5 dKH
Cal: 420 ppm
Mag: 1350 ppm
NO3: 4 - 8 ppm
PO4: 0.02 - 0.04 ppm

I dose BRS 2-part, and my Trident measures Alk/Cal/Mag multiple times per day so I know there have been no spikes. I also target feed Reef Roids twice per week. All of my other corals (SPS, LPS, and softies) look healthy.

Could it be too little flow? Too much light? Other ideas?

Here are before and after photos:

Aug 15, 2019:

Oct 11, 2019:

Full tank shot:
(the chalice is not visible in this photo. It's at the left side, behind the tall rock with the torch and duncan.)

mtraylor · Oct 12, 2019

First off. your tank is gorgeous. Alk is usually the first thing I look at. Yours seems to be in check and at good spot. Do you have CBB?

SuncrestReef · Oct 12, 2019

mtraylor said:
First off. your tank is gorgeous. Alk is usually the first thing I look at. Yours seems to be in check and at good spot. Do you have CBB?

Thanks! No, I don't have a CBB. My fish collection is pretty limited, and I've never seen any of them nip at any corals:

Kole tang
Pair of black onyx clowns
Tailspot blenny
Blue chromis
Diamond goby
Mandarin goby
Yellow watchman goby

A fellow local reefer with many more years of experience than me recommended lower light for this chalice, so I'm moving it to a more shaded area to see if it recovers.