Need help with Birdsnest and Cyphastrea

[Chris_Noles]

So I have had my birdsnest for about a month and I am unable to get any coloration on the coral but the polyps do open up it is in the top part of my tank, the cyphastrea I have had for 2-3 weeks I am unable to get any color on it but a night I see the polyps are extended.
What am I doing wrong?

Salinity - 1.025
Nitrates - 0
Nitrites - 0
Phosphates - 0
DkH - 8.2
Calcium- 450

 

[((FORDTECH))]

So I have had my birdsnest for about a month and I am unable to get any coloration on the coral but the polyps do open up it is in the top part of my tank, the cyphastrea I have had for 2-3 weeks I am unable to get any color on it but a night I see the polyps are extended.
What am I doing wrong?

Salinity - 1.025
Nitrates - 0
Nitrites - 0
Phosphates - 0
DkH - 8.2
Calcium- 450

Zero nitrates and phosphates likely the culprits

 

[Dkmoo]

Feed your fish more, or feed your coral more. Don't try to raise no3 or po4 directly. Corals like direct nutrition feom fish waste or coral food a lot better.

What is par level where the birdsnest is? The green varieties actually like lower light compared to regular sps

 

[Chris_Noles]

Zero nitrates and phosphates likely the culprits

I figured but spiking those up could cause problems in my tank

 

[Chris_Noles]

Feed your fish more, or feed your coral more. Don't try to raise no3 or po4 directly. Corals like direct nutrition feom fish waste or coral food a lot better.

What is par level where the birdsnest is? The green varieties actually like lower light compared to regular sps

So this is the green variety and I am using a Nicrew 50w light and there aren't any PAR readings anywhere on the light, I only have 1 clown and 1 gramma so I only feed very light probably like 10 - 15 pellets and a very tiny chunk of mysis, I also feed AB + for my coral, probably twice a week, could my skimmer be stripping away all the nutrients?

 

[mdb_talon]

I figured but spiking those up could cause problems in my tank

If those levels truly are zero then they need to be increased unless running a ULNS system and dosing appropriately for that. Not taking the risk of other problems will starve your coral if those are accurate numbers. Would be like not feeding fish cause it causes nutrients....you can end up with no nitrates....and dead fish.

 

[Dkmoo]

Ull need a par meter to take a par reading at the specific location in the tank. It varies depending on how far or close it is to the light source.

I'm not familiar with that light so can't estimate if your corals are getting enough light.

When dosing ab+ i usually turn skimmer off for a few hours afterwards.

The skimmer certainly is pulling nutrient out. Sounds like your system is new still? At this stage its a bit hard trying to find that sweet spot between using it and strip out too much vs not using it and get a algae bloom. This is one reason people usually wait until tanks mature a bit before adding in corals.

You have a few choices, but choose only 1 and stick with it for a month at least and see how yiur tank reacts. Too often people get impatient and try to do too much too fast and get into more trouble. Your choices are either

1) feed more your current fish
2) add 1 more fish
3) turn off skimmer
4) dose more ab+ more frequently.

 

[Chris_Noles]

Ull need a par meter to take a par reading at the specific location in the tank. It varies depending on how far or close it is to the light source.

I'm not familiar with that light so can't estimate if your corals are getting enough light.

When dosing ab+ i usually turn skimmer off for a few hours afterwards.

The skimmer certainly is pulling nutrient out. Sounds like your system is new still? At this stage its a bit hard trying to find that sweet spot between using it and strip out too much vs not using it and get a algae bloom. This is one reason people usually wait until tanks mature a bit before adding in corals.

You have a few choices, but choose only 1 and stick with it for a month at least and see how yiur tank reacts. Too often people get impatient and try to do too much too fast and get into more trouble. Your choices are either

1) feed more your current fish
2) add 1 more fish
3) turn off skimmer
4) dose more ab+ more frequently.

This is the par that amazon provides but I am also running 2 of these on a 25 gallon lagoon, I was thinking of adding a clown goby but a doubt that would do anything for the tank, what route would you suggest I go down? And yes my system is about 3 months old

 

[Dkmoo]

I'd go either 1 or 2. This generally raises your nutrient more holistically than what target dosing does.

 

[Rmckoy]

What kits are you using for testing ?
#1 I’d feed heavier until you’re able to test higher nitrates 5 ppm is detectable and sufficient .

how far are the lights mounted above the water ?
When it comes to par and leds . I really don’t know what’s best .

I’ve always used t5’s

 

[Dkmoo]

Lighting is such a loaded topic. To maintain or add color, par and spectrum both need to be right. I dont have experience with those nicrew lights so can't really comment on its performance compared to higher end leds like ai primes.

Neither coral are THAT light demanding so its probsbly more a nutrient issue than a lighting issue but again we can't confirm that without a par and spectrum measurement inside your tank. BrS rents them for a decent price

If you plan to get higher end SPS in the future id consider get the par measurement and see if yiu need to upgrade light first.

 

[Chris_Noles]

What kits are you using for testing ?
#1 I’d feed heavier until you’re able to test higher nitrates 5 ppm is detectable and sufficient .

how far are the lights mounted above the water ?
When it comes to par and leds . I really don’t know what’s best .

I’ve always used t5’s

So for dkh and calcium I use the Hanna testers, nitrates and nitrites I use API and Phosphates I use salifert, the LEDS are mounted about 10 inches from the water

 

[Chris_Noles]

Lighting is such a loaded topic. To maintain or add color, par and spectrum both need to be right. I dont have experience with those nicrew lights so can't really comment on its performance compared to higher end leds like ai primes.

Neither coral are THAT light demanding so its probsbly more a nutrient issue than a lighting issue but again we can't confirm that without a par and spectrum measurement inside your tank. BrS rents them for a decent price

If you plan to get higher end SPS in the future id consider get the par measurement and see if yiu need to upgrade light first.

So apparently these lights provide higher PAR than the AI primes but provide none of the lighting features that the AI have, so what I might do is see if my LFS has the PAR tester and try that, because no one has posted par from the tank that I have or any PAR readings from these lights at all, everything else is growing fine in my tank, I have Zoas, psammy, Favites and a burning banana stylo. I have been looking to add another fish but my LFS hasnt had anything that I liked I've been looking for a clown goby, croucher goby or captative breed mandarin but my LFS has not had one of them yet, I'm going 30 minutes north this weekend and there is a huge aquarium store up there so I might check out what they have I will probably add another fish in my tank this week, hopefully that helps.

 

[nereefpat]

Cyphastrea is a lower light coral, FYI

 

[Dkmoo]

So apparently these lights provide higher PAR than the AI primes but provide none of the lighting features that the AI have, so what I might do is see if my LFS has the PAR tester and try that, because no one has posted par from the tank that I have or any PAR readings from these lights at all, everything else is growing fine in my tank, I have Zoas, psammy, Favites and a burning banana stylo. I have been looking to add another fish but my LFS hasnt had anything that I liked I've been looking for a clown goby, croucher goby or captative breed mandarin but my LFS has not had one of them yet, I'm going 30 minutes north this weekend and there is a huge aquarium store up there so I might check out what they have I will probably add another fish in my tank this week, hopefully that helps.

If those lights are that strong then it might be too much for these two corals and is being bleached

Cyph is mostly good in the 50 - 100 par. They can tolerate more if brought up slowly.

Green birdsnest id put somewhere in the 100 range as start.

Watch how they change color. Generally too little light = turn brown, too much light = bleach.

 

[Chris_Noles]

If those lights are that strong then it might be too much for these two corals and is being bleached

Cyph is mostly good in the 50 - 100 par. They can tolerate more if brought up slowly.

Green birdsnest id put somewhere in the 100 range as start.

Watch how they change color. Generally too little light = turn brown, too much light = bleach.

I might try the cyph in my sandbed and I will try to re glue my birdsnest in a probably the lower half of the tank bc the part that is shaded during the day has darker polyps,

 

[Dkmoo]

See if you can get a par meter first. An accurate Par map of your tank will take out all the guesswork out of "is this enough light" for all your current and future corals

 

[Chris_Noles]

See if you can get a par meter first. An accurate Par map of your tank will take out all the guesswork out of "is this enough light" for all your current and future corals

I'll try to get a par meter, the one BRS offers is $60 for a week which is pretty ridiculous

 

[Rmckoy]

I'll try to get a par meter, the one BRS offers is $60 for a week which is pretty ridiculous

Buy a seneye .
they are cheap , and a video posted by brs they were comparable in quality

 

[OneSockERock]

I'll try to get a par meter, the one BRS offers is $60 for a week which is pretty ridiculous

Ask at your local stores that sell coral, I was able to rent an apogee MQ-210 from a LFS for $25 ($300 deposit up front though)