My corals wont open

Jt2swag · May 4, 2022

Obsessed with fish said:
There are 2 possible reasons:
1. Bad water parameters.
2. Stress due to a change in environment.
What are your water parameters?

I use salifert brand

Salinity 1.027
Phosphate 0.1
Calcium 400
Kh 9.9-10.2
Mag 1380
Ph 8.0
Ammonia 0.5
NO2 0
NO3 0

Woodyman · May 4, 2022

Jt2swag said:
I use salifert brand

Salinity 1.027
Phosphate 0.1
Calcium 400
Kh 9.9-10.2
Mag 1380
Ph 8.0
Ammonia 0.5
NO2 0
NO3 0

The biggest thing that sticks out from this is your nitrate being 0.

You may be starving them out. Your salinity is elevated, but some people run on the higher side..

The bad part is we have no idea what your previous tank tested at.

Swings in parameters will stress out corals.

So while your Ca is towards the lower range, Mag is towards the high range, salinity, and Alk is higher, if your tank consistently runs at those numbers it's not an issue. However, if your tank is swinging from CA in the 450+ range down to 400, and salinity is swinging from 1.027 to 1.024, etc. That will stress them out as well and cause them not to open as much.

I'm guessing you don't have any historical data from the previous tank?

What is your water change schedule like?

Any dosing?

Jt2swag · May 4, 2022

Woodyman said:
The biggest thing that sticks out from this is your nitrate being 0.

You may be starving them out. Your salinity is elevated, but some people run on the higher side..

The bad part is we have no idea what your previous tank tested at.

Swings in parameters will stress out corals.

So while your Ca is towards the lower range, Mag is towards the high range, salinity, and Alk is higher, if your tank consistently runs at those numbers it's not an issue. However, if your tank is swinging from CA in the 450+ range down to 400, and salinity is swinging from 1.027 to 1.024, etc. That will stress them out as well and cause them not to open as much.

I'm guessing you don't have any historical data from the previous tank?

What is your water change schedule like?

Any dosing?

Yeah unfortunately no historical data, i usually do 15-20% water change every 2 weeks and no dosing.

Woodyman · May 4, 2022

Jt2swag said:
Yeah unfortunately no historical data, i usually do 15-20% water change every 2 weeks and no dosing.

What is the filtration like on the tank? skimmer, fuge, etc?

You might want to increase feeding or reduce time the skimmer runs to get some reading on the nitrate test.

Jt2swag · May 4, 2022

Woodyman said:
What is the filtration like on the tank? skimmer, fuge, etc?

You might want to increase feeding or reduce time the skimmer runs to get some reading on the nitrate test.

I use the octo regal SS skimmer, runs it on level 4 nonstop, i use cups with floss and carbon in them instead of filter socks. we feed the fishes twice a day and reef roids once a week, phyto everyday

Woodyman · May 4, 2022

Jt2swag said:
I use the octo regal SS skimmer, runs it on level 4 nonstop, i use cups with floss and carbon in them instead of filter socks. we feed the fishes twice a day and reef roids once a week, phyto everyday

I'd throw that skimmer on a 12 hour on 12 hour off cycle for the next few days and check again. Ensure you check both NO3 and PO4. You can further dial in from there with more or less run time to get nitrates where you want to run them.

Typically people shoot for 20 or less, but tanks can be run above 20.

You could also turn down the skimmer, but you would have to make adjustments probably, so I'd do the timer option first. If you don't want to or can't, you can dial it in on a lower setting again.

Jt2swag · May 4, 2022

Woodyman said:
I'd throw that skimmer on a 12 hour on 12 hour off cycle for the next few days and check again. Ensure you check both NO3 and PO4. You can further dial in from there with more or less run time to get nitrates where you want to run them.

Typically people shoot for 20 or less, but tanks can be run above 20.

You could also turn down the skimmer, but you would have to make adjustments probably, so I'd do the timer option first. If you don't want to or can't, you can dial it in on a lower setting again.

Thanks for everything! I will definitely try! Really really appreciate you helping and giving advice!

Woodyman · May 4, 2022

Jt2swag said:
Thanks for everything! I will definitely try! Really really appreciate you helping and giving advice!

Your welcome, It'll be a bit of a pain and learning curve, but for the next 2-3 months you should aim to check all those parameters weekly.

After that you should monitor PO4 and NO3 regularly and then get a bead on CA/Mg at least monthly.

You could skip NH4 and NO2, or do them monthly as the tank is cycled already. You will get varying advice here, personally I only check NH4 when setting up a new tank, I don't even both with NO2.

The other advice would be to verify you've got the lighting and flow similar to before. Other than that just time, and if you can some spot feeding wouldn't hurt.

bruno3047 · May 4, 2022

Dude. You got .5 PPM Ammonia in your tank and you’re wondering why your corals won’t open? Are you serious?

Obsessed with fish · May 4, 2022

+1 on not enough nitrate, you can use a nitrate supplement to get nitrates into your tank, but this might not be the issue.

Jt2swag · May 4, 2022

bruno3047 said:
Dude. You got .5 PPM Ammonia in your tank and you’re wondering why your corals won’t open? Are you serious?

Im literally a beginner at this… im trying to learn, thats why im on here asking for advice..sorry im not good at this yet

Jt2swag · May 4, 2022

Obsessed with fish said:
+1 on not enough nitrate, you can use a nitrate supplement to get nitrates into your tank.

How much should my nitrate be at?

Obsessed with fish · May 4, 2022

Jt2swag said:
How much should my nitrate be at?

4-10ppm is an acceptable range for soft and lps.

bruno3047 · May 4, 2022

Jt2swag said:
Im literally a beginner at this… im trying to learn, thats why im on here asking for advice..sorry im not good at this yet

What’s really sad is that you’ve had more than one “expert” on this board giving you advice and not one of them pointed out that .5 ppm ammonia is poisonous to your corals. That’s what’s sad.

bruno3047 · May 4, 2022

Jt2swag said:
Im literally a beginner at this… im trying to learn, thats why im on here asking for advice..sorry im not good at this yet

.02 parts per million (ppm) it can be extremely toxic to saltwater fish and many of the organisms living in your aquarium. Ideally, a marine tank should have an undetectable level of ammonia. Levels above 0.1 ppm are a problem and should lead to an immediate investigation and remedy.

How to Get Rid of Ammonia in Your Saltwater Aquarium

BeChewy gives you tips on how to get rid of ammonia in your saltwater aquarium.

be.chewy.com

Jt2swag · May 4, 2022

bruno3047 said:
What’s really sad is that you’ve had more than one “expert” on this board giving you advice and not one of them pointed out that .5 ammonia is poisonous to your corals. That’s what’s sad.

What can i do to lower it? My tank just finish going through the whole cloudy water phase, new sand and new tank but old rocks, fishes, n corals.

bruno3047 · May 4, 2022

Jt2swag said:
What can i do to lower it? My tank just finish going through the whole cloudy water phase, new sand and new tank but old rocks, fishes, n corals.

I just added something to my previous post that gives you some instruction on how to handle high ammonia. Also mentioned is the addition of bottled bacteria. Here’s a list of the top bottled bacteria solutions on the market you can add to the tank to bring down the ammonia. I would go with Dr. Tim’s or Marineland BioSpira is what I used on my tank.

8 Best Aquarium Bacteria Starters of 2024 - Reviews & Top Picks | PangoVet

Creating the perfect environment in your fish tank includes well-balanced and healthy bacteria. Our reviews of the natural yet effective starters are the only guides you'll need.

petkeen.com

bruno3047 · May 4, 2022

Keep this in mind for the future. Most of the beneficial bacteria in an aquarium is in the sand, not in the rocks. The rocks provide a good amount of bacteria, but most of the bacteria is in the sand. So if you throw away (change) all the sand, the bacteria that’s left in your rocks is not going to be enough to support the same bio load. If you buy any bottled bacteria, make sure that it’s not expired. Bottles should have an expiration date. Good luck.

Tamale · May 4, 2022

bruno3047 said:
What’s really sad is that you’ve had more than one “expert” on this board giving you advice and not one of them pointed out that .5 ppm ammonia is poisonous to your corals. That’s what’s sad.

Was really surprised when I read that and no one but you said anything. .5ppm ammonia is pretty high... glad OP is open to advice and critique at least!