I'm ready to tear my hair out (what little remains). Tank is relatively new (@6 months old). Parameters are perfect. 1375 mg, 470 ca (a little high), alk 9, ph 8.1, PO4 = 0, NO3 = 0. 150 gallon tall tank. 2 30w gen 4 pros (60% power). 2 mp40s @50% power. Tank is 30" tall & 4' Wide.
Have a beautiful frogspawn bought locally along with an acropora frag and a pavona frag that were doing ridiculously well. Deep Purple Acropora growing and branching (small, but good for a month in a relatively new tank). Frogspawn fully extended and swaying in the current. pavona not really growing noticeably, but fully extended and great gold coloration. Now the trouble starts.
The acropora was one of several items purchased in a cherry corals live sale. Some blastos are doing well (bright red, puffy, and even spawning little ones. A paly and a zoa doing ok as well once I realized they needed a different spot in the tank. Lost a few other zoas, though, due to insufficient lighting and the other acropora was basically white (though polyps still extending). Favia doing well as well (coloration, never saw sweepers except for the first day in the tank).
Thought we'd sorted out the problem when we moved the zoas and they started coming back well.
Then went on a binge (those live sales will get you every time!). Got a bucket load of beauties from the WWC sale two weeks ago. Having learned my lesson, I left them all on their frag plugs so I could move them around the tank more easily. Two acropora died within 48 hours (thank god for the 10 day guarantee .... they weren't doing well to begin with). The others were beautiful when they arrived, but have slowly, over the last two weeks, gone incredibly dull. They look like the live rock around them in color or paler. The chalices are fine but fading. One of the original blastos is now retracting a bit but that may be due to increased flow (See below). Ricordeas are doing amazingly well (shocker). Favia has started to fade after being moved lower in the tank. But the acropora all look either bleached or brown. Just dull. Polyps are somewhat extended on most, but not the way they should be. Same with chalices.
I've tried what I can think of. Too much light? Move them lower and let them acclimate. Too little light? Move the favia back up to get color back. Too little flow? Turn up the mp40s to 70%. Now that looks like it's tossing the frogspawn around a little hard and the chalice/blasto doesn't seem to be as happy. Millipora, once moved into more current, is now extending again.
I can't figure out whether this is light, or flow, or even nutrients (too low?). I've taken out half the cheato in the fuge and I haven't run GFO in over 3 months. I don't have a heavy fish load, but I'm considering upping my feeding to get the NO3 and PO4 up a little (from 0 for both now).
Two small side notes. Alk was a little low last week (closer to 7.5-8.0) which I adjusted last night during the water change. The protein skimmer was off for about a week because we used two part epoxy that sent it into overdrive. Both issues have since been resolved.
I'm hoping you guys can come up with something. The colors on these corals should be beautiful. They were when they arrived and the photos are awesome. The ones that are thriving from two months ago are still beautiful. I realize I've tossed out a whole bunch of information, but I'm just hoping something jumps out and says "this is clearly the issue". Help!!
Have a beautiful frogspawn bought locally along with an acropora frag and a pavona frag that were doing ridiculously well. Deep Purple Acropora growing and branching (small, but good for a month in a relatively new tank). Frogspawn fully extended and swaying in the current. pavona not really growing noticeably, but fully extended and great gold coloration. Now the trouble starts.
The acropora was one of several items purchased in a cherry corals live sale. Some blastos are doing well (bright red, puffy, and even spawning little ones. A paly and a zoa doing ok as well once I realized they needed a different spot in the tank. Lost a few other zoas, though, due to insufficient lighting and the other acropora was basically white (though polyps still extending). Favia doing well as well (coloration, never saw sweepers except for the first day in the tank).
Thought we'd sorted out the problem when we moved the zoas and they started coming back well.
Then went on a binge (those live sales will get you every time!). Got a bucket load of beauties from the WWC sale two weeks ago. Having learned my lesson, I left them all on their frag plugs so I could move them around the tank more easily. Two acropora died within 48 hours (thank god for the 10 day guarantee .... they weren't doing well to begin with). The others were beautiful when they arrived, but have slowly, over the last two weeks, gone incredibly dull. They look like the live rock around them in color or paler. The chalices are fine but fading. One of the original blastos is now retracting a bit but that may be due to increased flow (See below). Ricordeas are doing amazingly well (shocker). Favia has started to fade after being moved lower in the tank. But the acropora all look either bleached or brown. Just dull. Polyps are somewhat extended on most, but not the way they should be. Same with chalices.
I've tried what I can think of. Too much light? Move them lower and let them acclimate. Too little light? Move the favia back up to get color back. Too little flow? Turn up the mp40s to 70%. Now that looks like it's tossing the frogspawn around a little hard and the chalice/blasto doesn't seem to be as happy. Millipora, once moved into more current, is now extending again.
I can't figure out whether this is light, or flow, or even nutrients (too low?). I've taken out half the cheato in the fuge and I haven't run GFO in over 3 months. I don't have a heavy fish load, but I'm considering upping my feeding to get the NO3 and PO4 up a little (from 0 for both now).
Two small side notes. Alk was a little low last week (closer to 7.5-8.0) which I adjusted last night during the water change. The protein skimmer was off for about a week because we used two part epoxy that sent it into overdrive. Both issues have since been resolved.
I'm hoping you guys can come up with something. The colors on these corals should be beautiful. They were when they arrived and the photos are awesome. The ones that are thriving from two months ago are still beautiful. I realize I've tossed out a whole bunch of information, but I'm just hoping something jumps out and says "this is clearly the issue". Help!!
