Why can't I keep chalices alive?

[KatyEnochs]

To interject with an outside perspective here : agreed that a little PO4 is beneficial. I wouldn't however, tank any advice from a reefer who let(s) their phosphates creep up to 1.65

Your right, don't take advice from me, take it from the current chalices I have...not like I need to explain, but the tank that got up to 1.65 wasn't my main reef tank it was a full non photosynthetic and seahorse tank, both require heavy feelings, and even a week late on changing the gfo can cause a spike this high when you are feeding that heavy. But as I said, here is what I currently have growing

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[KatyEnochs]

I wasn't done yet...

And a full tank shot of one tank

But your right, who am I to talk about chalices? Silly me


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[Nuocmam]

I'm no expert but IME keeping chalices isn't as easy as some say it is. Especially in a sps tank. My experience has been that the closer you are to ULN the slower chalices grow and are prone to recede without regular feedings. I have seen tanks with higher nutrients with algae growing everywhere and chalices chugging right along.

 

[KatyEnochs]

I'm no expert but IME keeping chalices isn't as easy as some say it is. Especially in a sps tank. My experience has been that the closer you are to ULN the slower chalices grow and are prone to recede without regular feedings. I have seen tanks with higher nutrients with algae growing everywhere and chalices chugging right along.

on a random note, is your avatar a chalice? its sweet if it is!!! have any frags? lol

 

[Nuocmam]

Yes it is. Thanks. Not fragging mine though. It's the AquaSD Red Assasin. There should be a couple frags on their site still.

 

[KatyEnochs]

Yes it is. Thanks. Not fragging mine though. It's the AquaSD Red Assasin. There should be a couple frags on their site still.

awesome! ill check it out! So have you found that the pictures accurately represent the colors you get on the website? I like to verify from someone who has purchased from the place before I order, because I have got some that were so photo shopped it was ridiculous!!!

 

[mike007]

I am still confused. I don't see a answer from these post. Every one has there opinion but which one is the correct answer? I really think they are a coral and they should be in a envirement that any other coral requires. But what do i know?

 

[Jay6363]

I have had a hell of time keeping chalices as well, but I try to run an ulns.
I'm assuming this is my mistake even though I try to feed regularly?


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[Paul C.]

Everyone admits that they aren't a pro or know the secret to keeping ANY coral alive. I have many that are alive and well, and then there are some that i get from someones tank and it just doesnt like my tank for some reason. This is the hobby. Are my numbers "perfect" Absolutely not. Are they consistent, and Stable, YES. When i try to change them it is done slowly and takes me twice as long bc i never take advice at 100%. These are living creatures. We do the best we can, and we make educated decisions with the information thats available to us. When i say to you my P04 is .1 or under, u will see some say OMG...and you will see others say, sure chalices like "dirtier" water. Thats my tank, not yours.

I read that u can grow SPS on the sand bed.. What size tank is this? I see 260 gal total, so im assuming ur around a 180 ish tank? So, around 2' deep? U got a lot of power there in ur lights, chalices dont like the high power for long periods of time? How long do u run the MH's? ever check par on the floor? If u can grow SPS on the sand, ur gunna kill any piece of chalice.

Flow. They dont like much of it. 2 MP 40's turned up to 100% are moving crazy amounts of water. even if there was food in that tank, the chalices are going to have a tough time grabbing in.

Gotta feed. My tank is fed 5 days a week. And when i say fed, i mean pumps off, spot feeding, and let them feast for 15-30 mins before the Vortecs are turned back on, and another 10 mins or so before the sump is fired back up.

Just my opinion for what its worth. Regards Paul C.

 

[larangcon]

Following along, majority of people here seem to have a little phosphate in the tank, it does seem that feeding might be a key here. With 2 MP40 going at 100% these guys will not be able to get any food, turn your pumps off while feeding and see what happens...

 

[watchguy123]

I don't believe there are any secrets just broad basic guidelines in reef keeping. Exceptions to every rule and exceptional tanks that follow no rules. Stable parameters, keen observation, good husbandry, pest preventatives, avoiding chemotactic warfare, good maintenance, it's a long list. Success can usually be obtained with most of the tried and true guidelines but there are always exceptions. That is indeed the vagaries of this hobby. Not every tank, reef keeper, or coral follow all the guidelines. Just look at all the spectacular tanks and there is always a specimen or two that is not as happy as all of its neighbors. It is perseverance, patience, education and observation that lead to happy corals. Each reef keeper's road is a slightly different path.

I commend the op for presenting the topic, I relate to the frustration on many levels. I find no criticism with any of the above approaches, rather I am amazed by the variation of approaches and the success achieved

 

[Isoprene]

could it be because they were wild?

 

[bct15]

I guess forgot to mention that when I feed my coral, two times a week it is at night and I turn my pumps all the way down for about an hour. I spot feed most coral with either a mix of reef frenzy, reef extacy, roty feast, and oyster feast, or mysis shrimp, or chopped table shimp. The small food mixture to mostly sps and nps in the tank. The mysis to my lps, and the choppe table shrimp to select lps that prefer larger food like my elegance and welso.

Some of the other wild lps that I have in there with success are listed below.
Elegance
Welso
Acans
Torch
Frogspawn
Favia
Two pectina, I've seen these listed as lps and sps

Along with the above lps I have several wild sps, zoas, a pizza anemone, and two gorgonias. Everything does good in the tank except chalices, I just can't get them to thrive.

I am planning out an experiment I might try before I move or I maybe after to trace down the problem. I will set up two additional ten gallon tanks from walmart with nothing but a hob filter and small powerhead and small pieces of live rock and a couple small fish to feed. One will have two t5s over it and one will have four. I will only do 1/2 gallon biweekly water changes on them and maintain alk and cal around 9 and 400 respectively. Then I will acquire three chalices and cut each one into three frags and place a frag of each in each of my three tanks. My display having relatively clean water and the other two will get dirty rather quick and the variable separating the two small tanks will be the amount of light. This will help me figure out what is going on in my display. All three tanks will be in same light and feed schedule.

Just have to figure out where the two tanks will go and clear it by the boss.



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[KatyEnochs]

Following along, majority of people here seem to have a little phosphate in the tank, it does seem that feeding might be a key here. With 2 MP40 going at 100% these guys will not be able to get any food, turn your pumps off while feeding and see what happens...

Lol not to confuse you anymore, but with all of those chalice colonies I showed, I don't feed any of them. They do get food that passes by but not target fed. They might grow more if I did, but I'm not sure, they definitely grow without feeding in my tanks though.

 

[KatyEnochs]

I really think they are a coral and they should be in a envirement that any other coral requires. But what do i know?

While I do see overall what you mean, I think most people run into problems when trying to create a mixed reef by using this logic. Although the ocean is one big body of water there are many different ecosystems within it. Chalices do not usually grow alongside Sps
Corals, could be too low of nutrients in that area, or too much light, etc. So for corals needing two different nutrient levels, it is nearly impossible to create the best of both worlds in a closed system, even though they both technically came from the same ocean.

 

[MoeManTheSnowMan]

I don't believe there are any secrets just broad basic guidelines in reef keeping. Exceptions to every rule and exceptional tanks that follow no rules. Stable parameters, keen observation, good husbandry, pest preventatives, avoiding chemotactic warfare, good maintenance, it's a long list. Success can usually be obtained with most of the tried and true guidelines but there are always exceptions. That is indeed the vagaries of this hobby. Not every tank, reef keeper, or coral follow all the guidelines. Just look at all the spectacular tanks and there is always a specimen or two that is not as happy as all of its neighbors. It is perseverance, patience, education and observation that lead to happy corals. Each reef keeper's road is a slightly different path.

I commend the op for presenting the topic, I relate to the frustration on many levels. I find no criticism with any of the above approaches, rather I am amazed by the variation of approaches and the success achieved

Well said

 

[bct15]

I am beginning to think my water is too clean, I am even starting to see a little burn on the end of some larger sps colonies which I have read might be due to a lack of nutrients in the water column to support the new growth but still requires further research. My lack of nuisance algae on the sand and rocks along with barely having to wipe my glass once a week leads me to believe there may be some truth to this. Perhaps the chalice recession I am witnessing is similar to the burnt tip syndrome on larger sps colonies. I am going to dirty up my water a little bit and see if that helps, and will be conducting the above listed experiment as well. I will dirty the water by reducing my gfo down to 1/2 cup every two weeks and a little less careful feeding practice for a few weeks. I feed my fish with a turkey baster as well, ensuring that all food added gets eaten before I add more. I will be a little more generous with the fish feedings.

 

[Nuocmam]

WWC has a crazy tank full of chalices. I posted on that thread asking for water parameters. They posted earlier that their tank is fed 3X a day. It's bare bottom with a huge skimmer. Perhaps we can gain some insight on their tank.

 

[Reef Puncher]

They look colorful and normal, just receding from the outside in. What I mean is the skeleton starts to show at the edge, then slowly more and more skeleton shows. If I were to cut the skeleton parts off they would look like normal colorful chalices.


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this is happening to me right now..... its the second time i tried to keep chalice and this happens. i dont get it. did you ever figure out the problem? all my other corals are fine except the chalice