How far until soft corals can't recover?

[Mr Fishface]

I received a large shipment of wild mushrooms and soft corals. I had an ammonia spike night 1, which led to some soft corals disintegrating a bit. How far is too far gone? Will these soft corals recover eventually? I am not against nursing them back to health over the next several months but I have never had these kinds of corals. They are green finger corals and leather corals I think. They are mostly reduced to the stumps, the green one shed most of its green colored it seems. Is there even a small chance for them?

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

An ammonia spike shouldn’t have caused them to disintegrate like that. Corals can Handle a lot more than fish and it’s common to have to cure new rocks with corals on them. Are they on natural rock? Or man made? Cause I’m wondering if maybe the concrete mix was off in that case. Have you checked your ph? Those look pretty rough too. I’ve had some recover from pretty bad condition but I’ve also had them die from something that I wouldn’t have thought to be fatal.

 

[Mr Fishface]

An ammonia spike shouldn’t have caused them to disintegrate like that. Corals can Handle a lot more than fish and it’s common to have to cure new rocks with corals on them. Are they on natural rock? Or man made? Cause I’m wondering if maybe the concrete mix was off in that case. Have you checked your ph? Those look pretty rough too. I’ve had some recover from pretty bad condition but I’ve also had them die from something that I wouldn’t have thought to be fatal.

Thank you, i didnt think about the ph. I checked and it is very low, less than 7.4. I added an air pump with two outlets to the water, if my memory serves that can increase the ph.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I would probably cut off (frag) the ends that have some color. Then dip in Lugol's dip (nice yellow color) for a good 5 minutes. Then add to a healthy system. Sometimes this will help and in a month or two they come back.

I had a huge die off of my gorgs and leathers when I was forced to take much longer than intended on a tank move. I fragged many leathers and although some pieces died, most actually came back and are fine still two years later. Growing and happy. Some pieces were really tiny too.

Good luck.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Thank you, i didnt think about the ph. I checked and it is very low, less than 7.4. I added an air pump with two outlets to the water, if my memory serves that can increase the ph.

PH that low is likely your problem. Yes you can increase it. Just be careful too much of that is bad too.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Yep, low ph. If you can possibly filter in outside air, it would be best. Why so low? What does your salt mix at? May need to buffer it up too. Just do slowly. Only .3 over 24hours is usually what is reommended.

 

[Mr Fishface]

Yep, low ph. If you can possibly filter in outside air, it would be best. Why so low? What does your salt mix at? May need to buffer it up too. Just do slowly. Only .3 over 24hours is usually what is reommended.

I have no idea why its so low, my salt is mixing up low too apparently. But the fresh saltwater shows exactly atound 7.4 where this quarantine tank shows an even lighter color. I've never had an issue with ph like this before so this is a new learning curve. My display tank is at 8.2 ph, just checked that in case it was off too.
I did open my window downstairs, I'll see if that helps a bit. It's just odd that one tank has a ph issue while my other tank doesnt.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

I have no idea why its so low, my salt is mixing up low too apparently. But the fresh saltwater shows exactly atound 7.4 where this quarantine tank shows an even lighter color. I've never had an issue with ph like this before so this is a new learning curve. My display tank is at 8.2 ph, just checked that in case it was off too.
I did open my window downstairs, I'll see if that helps a bit. It's just odd that one tank has a ph issue while my other tank doesnt.

As my partner says, life is acidic. So is die off since it decomposes into nitrates.

 

[Mr Fishface]

So if die off can be acidic, that explains the ph in my quarantine tank. But how about my freshly made saltwater? It shows a ph of 7.4 (lowest on the ph kit). I have an airstone on the container with fresh saltwater and I'll check the ph in the morning, but this isn't making any sense. Everything saltwater is in my basement so I would think if it's a CO2 issue in my air, it would affect my display tank and frag tank as well. But they have a ph of 8.2.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

So if die off can be acidic, that explains the ph in my quarantine tank. But how about my freshly made saltwater? It shows a ph of 7.4 (lowest on the ph kit). I have an airstone on the container with fresh saltwater and I'll check the ph in the morning, but this isn't making any sense. Everything saltwater is in my basement so I would think if it's a CO2 issue in my air, it would affect my display tank and frag tank as well. But they have a ph of 8.2.

Not sure. Have you run each test twice to account for human error and rinsing the test tube between test then flushing it again with the water you're going to test? Otherwise my guess is you're display probably has a higher carbonate hardness which is what absorbs acidity to keep the water at a level PH. As long as your DKH stays high enough to buffer it, you should be fine there.

 

[Mr Fishface]

Not sure. Have you run each test twice to account for human error and rinsing the test tube between test then flushing it again with the water you're going to test? Otherwise my guess is you're display probably has a higher carbonate hardness which is what absorbs acidity to keep the water at a level PH. As long as your DKH stays high enough to buffer it, you should be fine there.

Well i did multiple tests, about once an hour and kept getting same results. Your right though, my DT has a higher dKH. Interesting, I am learning lots about PH right now!
I tested my frag tank and bucket of fresh saltwater, both have been aerated all night and both show a ph of 7.8. So i am guessing that my fresh ro water has a lot of CO2 somehow. At least now i know to aerate the water before a water change!

Thanks for all the help though, i appreciate it!