What's Wrong With My Frogspawn?

[Taya]

Hey everyone, I have a very odd frogspawn. Also know, however, that I am a bit of a reef noob and while I know water chemistry well, things like lighting and flow are still a learning process for me. So, here's the problem:

I bought this single branching frogspawn head about a month ago. It was closed at the store because they were messing around in the tanks, but the same kind of frogspawn was open in a tank nearby. I brought it home, and it seemed to open a bit! Since then, the coral goes from deathly looking to kind of OK throughout the day. The most extended I see it is when the lights are all the way off. Makes me wonder if it is a light thing? So, I turned my lights down. Two days have gone by, no change. This little guy has not ever looked like a normal frogspawn. What am I doing wrong? Could it be that my coral is sick? Any help is appreciated.

Water Parameters as of 11/24
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
KH: 9.3
Mg: 1290
Ca: 440
Salinity: 1.024

Light: Hipargero LED light, 30W saltwater lighting

Pump: 26gph

This is a 10 gallon nano tank

Stocking: Premium snowflake clown, ruby red dragonette, peppermint shrimp, reef hermit crabs, conch, turbo snail


Additional Notes:
Some of my zoanthids on the opposite side of the tank have been closed, seem to be opening a little bit more with the low light. Pulsing Xenia never cares about anything happening. Pearl Bubble coral happy and growing. Frogspawn is showing beginning signs of splitting, but the deathly appearance has been happening since I bought it.


I hope that I give enough information for you all to do your magic. I really appreciate it, thank you so much!

 

[tnewell]

You wanna raise nitrates a little bit, maybe try low flow/low light, if the corals is already stressed, might as well attempt to destress it.

 

[Taya]

Oh, thank you so much! <3

 

[tnewell]

Oh, thank you so much! <3

Have you checked for any critters crawling around it bothering it? I personally run dimmer lights and my froggie expands like there’s no tomorrow. Do you feed regularly?

 

[Taya]

Have you checked for any critters crawling around it bothering it? I personally run dimmer lights and my froggie expands like there’s no tomorrow. Do you feed regularly?

I have looked it over for critters, haven't seen any. I dipped when I got it, I could try dipping again. I feed my tank every 3 ish days

 

[kichimark]

I notice my LPS tend to do better when there are a little nitrates in the water. But, your coral was most likely not in the best condition when at the store. How is the tissue on the side of the skeleton? Is it receded all the way to the top?

 

[Taya]

I notice my LPS tend to do better when there are a little nitrates in the water. But, your coral was most likely not in the best condition when at the store. How is the tissue on the side of the skeleton? Is it receded all the way to the top?

That lighter, white part? there's about 1/2 inch down, doesn't seem to be damaged or discolored. There is a section that looks brownish, but is not dead.

 

[tnewell]

I notice my LPS tend to do better when there are a little nitrates in the water. But, your coral was most likely not in the best condition when at the store. How is the tissue on the side of the skeleton? Is it receded all the way to the top?

definitely raise your nitrates by over feeding your livestock, put him in lower flow and low to moderate light, and if you need to dip it in revive.

 

[Taya]

definitely raise your nitrates by over feeding your livestock, put him in lower flow and low to moderate light, and if you need to dip it in revive.

Gotcha, thanks! Imma go make them fat right now! Is revive a brand of coral dip or are you saying to dip it to revive it?

 

[kichimark]

That lighter, white part? there's about 1/2 inch down, doesn't seem to be damaged or discolored. There is a section that looks brownish, but is not dead.

Awesome.

It may take some time to recover in your tank due to being stressed in the previous tank. Keep your parameters stable and as mentioned before, perhaps feed the tank a little more for the nitrates and observe.

If your coral is higher up I would probably move it down lower for now just in case. That tends to be the general rule to get corals used to your lights in case yours are stronger than the stores. I wouldn't do anything else such as dipping since that may cause more stress to an already stressed coral.

One of the things I learned over the years is that this hobby requires patience and I know I lost a few pieces due to me being overly aggressive in treatment.

 

[Taya]

Awesome.

It may take some time to recover in your tank due to being stressed in the previous tank. Keep your parameters stable and as mentioned before, perhaps feed the tank a little more for the nitrates and observe.

If your coral is higher up I would probably move it down lower for now just in case. That tends to be the general rule to get corals used to your lights in case yours are stronger than the stores. I wouldn't do anything else such as dipping since that may cause more stress to an already stressed coral.

One of the things I learned over the years is that this hobby requires patience and I know I lost a few pieces due to me being overly aggressive in treatment.

Yeah for sure, as a newcomer I obviously want to do everything I can to hard correct things, but you're right about moving too quickly and killing them. Thank you so much!

 

[tnewell]

Gotcha, thanks! Imma go make them fat right now! Is revive a brand of coral dip or are you saying to dip it to revive it?

Revive is a brand of dip, it’s really a medicine based for the coral. It’s awesome, but as previously stated, don’t dip unless you really need too. Just slowly raise nitrates over time, be patient with it, and feed that froggie

 

[kichimark]

Yeah for sure, as a newcomer I obviously want to do everything I can to hard correct things, but you're right about moving too quickly and killing them. Thank you so much!

No worries. We do the best we can with what we got. Frogspawn are such cool LPS's and I love mine. Don't think I would have my reef without them.

In the first picture that you put, it looks like the coral is a little light in the green section (stems), would you say that is accurate?

The Revive is a brand of coral dip. It is a popular brand and used for new corals to remove any possible pests.

 

[Taya]

No worries. We do the best we can with what we got. Frogspawn are such cool LPS's and I love mine. Don't think I would have my reef without them.

In the first picture that you put, it looks like the coral is a little light in the green section (stems), would you say that is accurate?

The Revive is a brand of coral dip. It is a popular brand and used for new corals to remove any possible pests.

Ah, that picture makes it look very bleached huh. I suppose it does look a bit lighter than the ones in the store.

 

[Taya]

It doesn't have that vibrant green appearance when it is fully extended. Here is a picture of it right now, it isnt deathly looking!

 

[kichimark]

Got it. Pictures are so hard to capture the reality in our reefs sometimes. I was just going to add that it might be a little bleached (no doubt from stress) but honestly in a stable condition system, it will come back 100%.

 

[tnewell]

It doesn't have that vibrant green appearance when it is fully extended. Here is a picture of it right now, it isnt deathly looking!

That actually doesnt look to bad, but I’m sure it’s stressed. Only thing you can do is keep parameters stable and raise nitrates.

 

[Taya]

Sounds like a plan! Thank you guys! Do either of you have frogspawns? Can I see pictures?

 

[kichimark]

Pardon the algae in the back, I was trying to take an image of the black storms but you can see the frogspawn here.

A larger picture of my nano:

This was my 100g reef before I moved. I sold it but kept a few pieces which are in my nano and trim to sell to others since only so much can fit in a nano haha. I have the frogspawn in the lower left. I kept one head once I sold the tank and because of the nano, I tend to frag once it gets more than 2 heads from space.

 

[Taya]

Pardon the algae in the back, I was trying to take an image of the black storms but you can see the frogspawn here.

A larger picture of my nano:

This was my 100g reef before I moved. I sold it but kept a few pieces which are in my nano and trim to sell to others since only so much can fit in a nano haha. I have the frogspawn in the lower left. I kept one head once I sold the tank and because of the nano, I tend to frag once it gets more than 2 heads from space.

Wow! I hope that mine recovers to look healthy like those