Yet another 'what's wrong with my corals' question.

[Joe31415]

I wouldn't recommend doing a water change right now since your parameters yesterday looked great. I really do think you are over working this issue. Just sit on your hands for a couple of weeks and do nothing unless you see thing getting a lot worse.

I just poured a half a bottle of CoralRX in....is there a way to remove it?

Calm down, I didn't (and wouldn't) do that. But I did already do a small water change. I know I need to leave everything alone, but it's really hard to just sit here doing nothing. I'll post some parameters in a little while, but I'm thinking everything will be close to the same.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I just poured a half a bottle of CoralRX in....is there a way to remove it?

Calm down, I didn't (and wouldn't) do that. But I did already do a small water change. I know I need to leave everything alone, but it's really hard to just sit here doing nothing. I'll post some parameters in a little while, but I'm thinking everything will be close to the same.

If you really feel the need to,do,something, just take some dollar bills and a lighter and have a great time. You will be accomplishing the same as you were before.

 

[Joe31415]

If you really feel the need to,do,something, just take some dollar bills and a lighter and have a great time. You will be accomplishing the same as you were before.

Kinda what it feels like sometimes.

 

[jassermd]

For what it's worth, I think you're doing too much...
Your tank is still quite young and what you're dealing with is instability. Reading through your posts, I see you've dosed, dipped and even used a additive made for freshwater planted aquariums... And, you've done 2 water changes within a week or so. That's a LOT of change and instability for the coral and the ecosystem.
I assume you're using API tests? If so, they are notoriously unreliable and inaccurate.
Your Mg has fluctuated as have your no3 and po4. These all create issues for the coral.

It takes a moderate level of skill to care for hammer corals; like most other coral species, euphyllia require stable tank conditions, and are intolerant to major swings in water quality.

moderate light and water flow
Temp 77-79
ph 8.1-8.3
salinity 1.025
nitrate < .5
phos < .04
Ammonia < .03
mG 1300
Alk 8-9
CA 440

The most important aspect is stability!
My advice here is to stop doing so much, let things settle for several weeks and see how they do.
If you lose them along the way, welcome to the club! It's part of the learning process... That said, given the age of your tank, you may want to wait a month or 2 to allow the tank to stabilize before adding anymore coral.
Sorry to be a thorn...!

 

[Joe31415]

I assume you're using API tests

API just for Nitrate (but I have a salifert test coming). Everything else is Hanna, Salifert and Red Sea (and an ammonia badge, because, why not).

If you lose them along the way, welcome to the club!

Agreed and I'm well aware and accept that as a possibility/probability.

wait a month or 2 to allow the tank to stabilize before adding anymore coral

I promised myself, short of losing everything, nothing else is going into this tank until the current corals (and possibly inverts) are out of QT and into DT.

nitrate < .5

<.5? My understanding is that the corals need something in the range of 5-10 (or a big higher).

 

[IslandLifeReef]

<.5? My understanding is that the corals need something in the range of 5-10 (or a big higher).

There are a lot of opinions about nutrient numbers. A lot of people have success with a lot of different numbers. I wouldn’t chase any of those nutrient specifics. IMO, if NO3 is less than 20 and PO4 is les than 0.15 then Just leave it alone. Rapid ups and downs do more harm than stable higher number or low numbers. I try to ask myself, is everything happy? If the answer is yes, then don’t change it. For what it’s worth, my NO3 is 0.2 and my PO4 is 0.012. My corals are growing well.

 

[Joe31415]

If the answer is yes, then don’t change it.

But what if they aren't happy?

I'll post some parameters in a little while

Parameters are almost exactly the same. From the last time I posted them to right now (after the water change), they are:
pH 8.1 -> 7.99
Nitrates 0-5 -> 0-5
Salinity 1.025 -> 1.025
Alk 9.6 -> 9.4
Phosphate .07 -> .05
Calcium 414 (two days ago, anyway) -> 451
Mag 1400 (dosed it after my last test said 1100) -> 1400

 

[jurgenph]

But what if they aren't happy?

give them some time


J.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

But what if they aren't happy?

Most corals, if they become unhappy, take days to weeks to get back to normal. If you change something every day or every other day, you are probably ticking them off more often than making them happy. If your parameters are good and your corals just look unhappy, not dead or losing tissue, then leave things alone for a bit or make one change and then wait a week or two and see how things go. That is all I can tell you. If you are insistent on chasing a magical number, or constantly messing with the tank, you are going to kill more corals than you are going to save. Best advice I have seen on this site is "Keep you hands out of the tank."

 

[ScottB]

This is a new, relatively sterile, non-diverse biome. Additionally, there is no fish waste.

Your corals would stand a better chance with some live rock and fish IMO. I get that this is just a QT system, but these animals need a more "natural" environment with a constant ammonia / bacteria / phosphate interaction thing going on.

 

[Reef Nutrition]

That's the one that was out of it, the other places in the area don't seem to carry it to begin with. I'm there often enough, I'll keep checking.


yes,

We will be in your town next year for MACNA, so make sure to come see us!

Chad

 

[Joe31415]

Just a quick update. The 'problem' corals were added to my DT 3 days ago (which had it's first three fish added about a week prior) and almost immediately started looking better. All three began opening within 24 hours and as of now are probably half the size they started out at. Still smaller, but not closed up.
Just today I added two cyphastreas. Today was day 76 in the QT and while I wasn't having any major problems with them, I felt they had a lot of room for improvement, so we'll see what happens.
I have some inverts in QT still, but they'll be a while, plus I ordered a few things from Dr Reef, but I have no idea when those will arrive.

Since the coral QT and the DT had very close paremeters, I'm thinking the light may have been the issue. When I moved them into the DT, I did some quick reading on PAR levels for them and they were likely being blasted with far too high a level of light. I placed them in much lower light areas in this tank. Plus, just due to where I randomly put the powerheads, they're getting a bit less flow as well. At least for now, the power heads may get moved/adjusted at some point in the future.