Plate Coral - HELP!

henryhahn · Jan 17, 2017

After weeks of eating and looking happy, my plate coral is no bueno. I believe, it is due to my diamond goby spitting sand on it. Lately, he has taken to moving the sand from one side of the tank over to his side. It hasn't eaten, and has white areas.
I have since moved it on top of this rock to give it some space from the sand and hopefully help it recover.
Do I dip it? (Ihave coral rx)
Do I leave it alone on the rock?

Parameters:
S - 1.0245
pH - 8.2
NH3 - 0
No3 - 10
No2 - 0
Ca - 420
KH - 12

revhtree · Jan 17, 2017

Doesn't look good..

Leave it in the tank and it could survive. If not it might produce babies!

henryhahn · Jan 17, 2017

revhtree said:
Doesn't look good.. Leave it in the tank and it could survive. If not it might produce babies!

No do our Anything that'd help?
I had heard it best to leave them in

bios · Jan 17, 2017

Kh 12

henryhahn · Jan 17, 2017

bios said:
Kh 12

It's usually between 11-12. I was told it was on the high side, but I didn't know this was a prob. Someone had said it would help keep my pH stable.

henryhahn · Jan 17, 2017

henryhahn said:
No do our Anything that'd help?
I had heard it best to leave them in

Ugh DYAC!
No *Dip, or anything that would help?

henryhahn · Jan 17, 2017

bios said:
Kh 12

Looked back and it was 11. Retested to be sure too. Actually hasn't been 12 since 12-19

Jakepen · Jan 17, 2017

Even 11 is on the high side. Might want to lower it, as that leaves you little room for fluctuation.

henryhahn · Jan 17, 2017

Jakepen said:
Even 11 is on the high side. Might want to lower it, as that leaves you little room for fluctuation.

Would I lower it by cutting back on dosing?
I dose Fusion 1 & 2 (7ml each) 3x/week - and Fuel (11ml) 2x/week {Not sure if this actually affects alk}

Jakepen · Jan 17, 2017

Yeah, just add a little less alk when dosing. Slowly, and test daily.

henryhahn · Jan 17, 2017

Jakepen said:
Yeah, just add a little less alk when dosing. Slowly, and test daily.

With tomorrow being one of the days that I do the 2-part, should I do 7ml cal and 6ml alk?
How long after dosing should I wait to test?

Jakepen · Jan 17, 2017

Wait fifteen minutes or so. Also test your calcium, tough to adjust one of those two without the other fluctuating.

cmcoker · Jan 17, 2017

Mine looked close to that a couple months ago and it's now flourishing again.
IME they are pretty hardy and if you keep up your tank maintenance there's a chance of recovery.
Do you have any peppermint shrimp? Mine was getting picked at by one, the sand from my watchman goby and pistol shrimp don't seem to bother it, unless it was completely buried..

henryhahn · Jan 18, 2017

cmcoker said:
Mine looked close to that a couple months ago and it's now flourishing again.
IME they are pretty hardy and if you keep up your tank maintenance there's a chance of recovery.
Do you have any peppermint shrimp? Mine was getting picked at by one, the sand from my watchman goby and pistol shrimp don't seem to bother it, unless it was completely buried..

I am very diligent about my weekly routine, and have very stable parameters as a result. I have evicted all crabs and shrimp because they picked on various corals. I only have snails and hermit crabs as CuC.
I know my diamond goby has been relocating sand and getting quite a bit on the plate coral which I have been clearing off with a dropper. I assumed this was the cause of the irritation, but I am certainly no expert.

henryhahn · Jan 18, 2017

Jakepen said:
Wait fifteen minutes or so. Also test your calcium, tough to adjust one of those two without the other fluctuating.

I have been doing a bunch of reading, and I think this article is pointing me in the right direction.
I don't want to split this thread, but I am thinking I am going to alter my routine a bit, and only dose 1/2 of the calcium and no alk.
I do want to get the #reefsquad opinion too because I am very leery of messing with dosing/parameters.

saltyfilmfolks · Jan 18, 2017

henryhahn said:
I have been doing a bunch of reading, and I think this article is pointing me in the right direction.
I don't want to split this thread, but I am thinking I am going to alter my routine a bit, and only dose 1/2 of the calcium and no alk.
I do want to get the #reefsquad opinion too because I am very leery of messing with dosing/parameters.

yup, you want to keep the dosing in balance as the article states unless there's an obvious problem.. and if the rest of the tank is ok I wouldn't mess with it. But you may want to reconsider the level based on the level of nutrints and light.
What salt are you using?
Have you peeked at the coral after the lights are out, Mine are a bit grumpy in the day, and look like lil monsters at night.
If it makes you fell better I just got glue on the side of one of mine.

:mad:

henryhahn · Jan 18, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
yup, you want to keep the dosing in balance as the article states unless there's an obvious problem.. and if the rest of the tank is ok I wouldn't mess with it. But you may want to reconsider the level based on the level of nutrints and light.
What salt are you using?
Have you peeked at the coral after the lights are out, Mine are a bit grumpy in the day, and look like lil monsters at night.
If it makes you fell better I just got glue on the side of one of mine.:mad:

I use Instant Ocean Sea Salt and do a 10% change every week.
My dosing schedule is as follows:
Monday - 0 (Test all Parameters)
Tuesday: 0.5 tsp. Reef Roids
Wednesday: 7ml Fusion 1, 7ml Fusion 2, 11ml Fuel, 5ml Reef Phyto Plankton
Thursday: 0.5 tsp. Reef Roids
Friday: 7ml Fusion 1, 7ml Fusion 2
Saturday: 0.5 tsp. Reef Roids
Sunday: Water change, 7ml Fusion 1, 7ml Fusion 2, 11ml Fuel, 5ml Reef Phyto Plankton, 5ml Micro Bacter 7

saltyfilmfolks · Jan 18, 2017

henryhahn said:
I use Instant Ocean Sea Salt and do a 10% change every week.

Likely why the cal alk stay high.

henryhahn said:
5ml Micro Bacter 7

why your nutrints are low ish. Wheres your phosphate at?

henryhahn said:
11ml Fuel, 5ml Reef Phyto Plankton,

fuel may work a bit like carbon dosing but mostly is food, the phyto is food.

henryhahn said:
Reef Roids

food

All the rest of the coral is ok? Are you dosing as prophylactic? or was this the conclusion from testing.

henryhahn · Jan 18, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
Likely why the cal alk stay high.

I thought 10%/week was a good idea. The bigger water changes are more difficult for me.

saltyfilmfolks said:
why your nutrints are low ish. Wheres your phosphate at?

I don't have any tests outside of the ones above. I bought the API SW Master Kit because LFS said that's all I'd ever need. I picked up the Salt, Alk, and Cal tests thereafter because I realized I need them. Is phosphates another I should be testing?

saltyfilmfolks said:
fuel may work a bit like carbon dosing but mostly is food, the phyto is food.
All the rest of the coral is ok? Are you dosing as prophylactic? or was this the conclusion from testing.

I am dosing because my LFS said if you want to have coral, you must use this: Microbacter 7, Fusion 1 & 2 and fuel
I picked up the phyto and the reef roids based on reading and videos.

Thank you, once again, @saltyfilmfolks, for coming to my rescue

saltyfilmfolks · Jan 18, 2017

henryhahn said:
I thought 10%/week was a good idea.

it is. depending on alk/cal and No3 Po4 you may even be able to slow down.

henryhahn said:
Is phosphates another I should be testing?

yes.

henryhahn said:
I am dosing because my LFS said if you want to have coral, you must use this:

haha, were all finding out the are so few Musts in reefing.

henryhahn said:
Thank you, once again,

any time.

Randys article and this really helped me understand the how of usage and dosing of cal and alk. skip to the real world part.
https://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/the-right-way-to-use-2-part-additives/