Corals not opening up and coloring up

AlexR · 04/11/2019, 02:14 PM

My corals are only opening up 3/4 way. Mainly a frogspawn and hammer coral.
Zoas aren’t fully opening either.
I’m thinking about what I can do...

I have tried moving them around.
The frogspawn and hammer are now both on the sand bed and in very low current areas.

The hammer is new, just a day now but was open more in the tank it came from.

The frogpawn has been in tank for a couple weeks now and was worse when higher up and medium current.

The zoas have been in the tank for about a week now and aren’t fully opening.

It’s hard for me to say what’s wrong except my magnesium is high.

Phosphates- 0
Nitrates - 2.5
Calcium - 400
Kh - 9
Magnesium- 1800
Ph - 8.2
Salinity 1.026
Temp- 79-80

I’m afraid my lighting is either too strong or too weak and can’t find the middle ground.
They are Chinese knockoffs of the kessil 380 (same chip). I have 4 over a 60” 125g tank. 20” deep.

Here is a pic with lights at about 1/4 strength.

AlexR · 04/11/2019, 02:40 PM

Some more pictures

travisstewart · 04/11/2019, 03:10 PM

How old is your tank? By the looks of the algae, def some nutrient issues. Using RO water?

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AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travisstewart

How old is your tank? By the looks of the algae, def some nutrient issues. Using RO water?

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Yea. Tank is 5 years old. Just started stocking.
Using rodi water only.

I have been doing weekly 15g water changes for 2 months now. Before that the tank was sitting for years without water changes.

About 2 weeks ago I just cleaned all LR and did a new aquascaping. I removed all rock and scrubbed them down and put them back in.

I have an ATS that’s been running for 3 weeks now. Phosban reactor with GFO. And a ceramic bio-filter block.

Looks like a bad case of diatom algae. I may just start dosing some h2o2. But I don’t want to kill anything.
Strange because all my readings are good. Except for high magnesium levels.

travisstewart · 04/11/2019, 03:17 PM

In my experience high mag always helped any algae issues I had. Did you have fish in there this whole time or do you currently?

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AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:17 PM

I am however doing water changes using NSW.
I live near St Augustine, there is a place called Whitney Laboratory for marine bioscience where I get my water from.
Many locals around here use it.

All top off water is 5 stage rodi.

AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travisstewart

In my experience high mag always helped any algae issues I had. Did you have fish in there this whole time or do you currently?

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I did have fish the entire time. Just a couple. A cardinal and a watchman goby. They are both still alive and well 5 years and counting.

Just recently (month ago) I’ve added a large clean up crew, some emerald crabs and a cleaner shrimp.
The fish also were added a month ago.
Powder brown tang
2 fire fish
Flame hawkfish
Coral beauty angel
Another cardinal fish
2x clowns
Bartlett’s anthias
Mccosker flasher wrasse

All fish are doing very well.

travisstewart · 04/11/2019, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

I did have fish the entire time. Just a couple. A cardinal and a watchman goby. They are both still alive and well 5 years and counting.

Just recently (month ago) I’ve added a large clean up crew, some emerald crabs and a cleaner shrimp.
The fish also were added a month ago.
Powder brown tang
2 fire fish
Flame hawkfish
Coral beauty angel
Another cardinal fish
2x clowns
Bartlett’s anthias
Mccosker flasher wrasse

All fish are doing very well.

Thanks for the info. Did you add all those fish at the same time? With a small bioload for that long, you really have to space out fish additions. Your tank needs to slowly learn how to adjust/handle the new wastes from each fish.

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AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:25 PM

I did have a blonde naso tang that died a week after placing it. That was my only death so far...

Here is a pic of my ATS after 3 weeks of use

AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travisstewart

Thanks for the info. Did you add all those fish at the same time? With a small bioload for that long, you really have to space out fish additions. Your tank needs to slowly learn how to adjust/handle the new wastes from each fish.

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They were mostly at the same time. Only a couple were about a week apart. This was a bit over a month ago now.

travisstewart · 04/11/2019, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

I did have a blonde naso tang that died a week after placing it. That was my only death so far...

Here is a pic of my ATS after 3 weeks of use

Obv removed the dead fish, right?

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AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:27 PM

I am afraid my rock and sand is spewing nutrients. Or maybe silica from the sand.
I am not sure how to battle it.

travisstewart · 04/11/2019, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

They were mostly at the same time. Only a couple were about a week apart. This was a bit over a month ago now.

Yea there’s your issue. It takes a month and even longer sometimes for all that to catch up. I would think others will agree you can’t add that many fish at once.

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AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travisstewart

Obv removed the dead fish, right?

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Absolutely. Right when I found it.
But some worms and copepods were having a feast.

AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travisstewart

Yea there’s your issue. It takes a month and even longer sometimes for all that to catch up. I would think others will agree you can’t add that many fish at once.

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So you think the corals and zoas aren’t opening fully due to excess nutrients which in turn is causing the diatoms?

And just giving it time to adjust? While keeping up with the weekly 10% water changes?

travisstewart · 04/11/2019, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

So you think the corals and zoas aren’t opening fully due to excess nutrients which in turn is causing the diatoms?

And just giving it time to adjust? While keeping up with the weekly 10% water changes?

Yes that my opinion. I would even kick it to 20% for a short time.

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AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travisstewart

Yes that my opinion. I would even kick it to 20% for a short time.

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Just as info.

I only feed once a day. I feed only frozen cubes. I mix it up. Sometimes brine, sometimes mysis, sometimes the mutipack, sometimes the marine cuisine.
I always melt it in a cup of tank water first then spread it out when feeding.

I also always have a half sheet of nori for the tang. And change it daily.

AlexR · 04/11/2019, 03:49 PM

Thank you for all your advice Travis.

I’ll see if I can up the water change from 15g to 20g. Just need another 5g jug.

travisstewart · 04/11/2019, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

Thank you for all your advice Travis.

I’ll see if I can up the water change from 15g to 20g. Just need another 5g jug.

Anytime. Interested in other thoughts also. Always learning in this hobby.

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AlexR · 04/11/2019, 04:43 PM

So I really think my lights suck and are a big reason my corals aren’t very happy.

I just ordered a new radion xr30w g4 pro. I know I need at least 2 and preferably 3 of them but want to take my time. As they are expensive.

Plus like this I can compare. I will leave one of my current lights on and see the difference.

PCguy21 · 04/11/2019, 08:28 PM

Its the lights or your alkalinity and calc or mag ect is too high or low ill just be flat out honest here.

Nutrients in my experience dont do crap to corals litterally my nutrients are super high i have algae all over... and its controlled by my fish. Snails and sea urchins... i have high phosphates like .5ppm and nitrates at 20-40ppm i have 2 kinds of frogspawns.. with 7 heads... i have a huge torch coral.. a hammer coral. 3 bubble corals... 3 types of acroporas.. 5 zoanthid typs.. a neon green tree nepthea and a regular green nelthea leather... i have 4 types of mushrooms... a clam... purple sepitulara and many other corals like chalices ect..

Not one of these corals is closed. MY lights are t5s ati bulbs . Two blue. One purple one coral plus which is is a whitish pinkish. My tank is much brighter thrn yours... youres looks too dim. And too blue.

Its been proven corals grow better under less blue light... Youre tabk should have more of a purple hue... mix of blue and reds to make it seem purple.

Im sure some will dissagree but thats my experience and its been proven actuslly that blue doesnt grow corals as well as more red.whitishight does. Alkalinity should be 8-9 and calcium around 420.. magnesium around 1350-1450.

These are the best params i found.

Frogspawn prefer slow flow... and i mean like a slight flow to make then move around a tiny bit if your flow is medium.. and makes then wiggle around and wave around they will stay closed more... pur them in really slow flow and watch them extend ALOT .. hammer corals do better in medium flow not too high but enough to move the heads... torch corals like pulsing flow... slow to medium.. so slow flow then pulse...

If your tank is 24 high and ligjts are 10 inches up. Keep them in middle of the tank.

Im sure someone will disagree.. someone always does.

But im telling you this is what ny tank thrives under.. my frogspawns.. are HUGEEE like 3 heads as big as my palm extended...

Those zoas need to be higher up.. put them in the middle.. see my frogspawns... and see how much brighter and more pinmish my tank is ? When i turn on my blue leds.. all my corals shrink... Your lights imo are the problem.. also see how much are just sitting there hardly any flow

AlexR · 04/11/2019, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PCguy21

Its the lights or your alkalinity and calc or mag ect is too high or low ill just be flat out honest here.

Nutrients in my experience dont do crap to corals litterally my nutrients are super high i have algae all over... and its controlled by my fish. Snails and sea urchins... i have high phosphates like .5ppm and nitrates at 20-40ppm i have 2 kinds of frogspawns.. with 7 heads... i have a huge torch coral.. a hammer coral. 3 bubble corals... 3 types of acroporas.. 5 zoanthid typs.. a neon green tree nepthea and a regular green nelthea leather... i have 4 types of mushrooms... a clam... purple sepitulara and many other corals like chalices ect..

Not one of these corals is closed. MY lights are t5s ati bulbs . Two blue. One purple one coral plus which is is a whitish pinkish. My tank is much brighter thrn yours... youres looks too dim. And too blue.

Its been proven corals grow better under less blue light... Youre tabk should have more of a purple hue... mix of blue and reds to make it seem purple.

Im sure some will dissagree but thats my experience. Alkalinity should be 8-9 and calcium around 420.. magnesium around 1350-1450.

These are the best params i found.

Frogspawn prefer slow flow... and i mean like a slight flow to make then move around a tiny bit.. hammer corals do better in medium flow not too high but enough to move the heads... torch corals like pulsing flow... slow to medium.. so slow flow then pulse...

If your tank is 24 high and ligjts are 10 inches up. Keep them in middle of the tank.

Im sure someone will disagree.. someone always does.

But im telling you this is what ny tank thrives under.. my frogspawns.. are HUGEEE like 3 heads as big as my palm extended...

I really dislike my lights. And I agree they look bad. In photos they do look worse.

I’m waiting on a radion xr30w g4 pro to come in. I will only have one for now and I will mix it up with my current lights until I can get another radion.

My levels are all ok except magnesium is on the high side at 1800.

Overall I agree my lights stink. Can’t wait for the radion to come in.

AlexR · 04/11/2019, 08:34 PM

I do have a calcium reactor running. It’s keeping my Alk and calcium at good and even levels.

PCguy21 · 04/11/2019, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

I really dislike my lights. And I agree they look bad. In photos they do look worse.

I’m waiting on a radion xr30w g4 pro to come in. I will only have one for now and I will mix it up with my current lights until I can get another radion.

My levels are all ok except magnesium is on the high side at 1800.

Overall I agree my lights stink. Can’t wait for the radion to come in.

Im unfamilier with leds.. i stick to t5s... but i hope they do work for you. I would chsnge flow accrodingly and arrange corals to be under your new light and see if it changes anything before you buy more lights..

1800 is high.. mine is at 1450

mcgyvr · 04/12/2019, 06:48 AM

You have new corals in a tank that was poorly maintained for a while, just recently stirred everything up and are having quite a big diatom or dino problem and keep messing with the corals..

Um... yeah...

don't expect them to be happy..

Get your diatom problem solved...Focus on parameter stability.. Stop messing with stuff and give them time to adjust.. You certainly aren't putting them into an optimal habitat right now so don't expect happy corals..
And I'd caution you to watch the GFO use.. It can do more harm than good when used when not needed..
Its for those with a phosphate problem.. Zero is NOT a problem..

04/11/2019, 02:14 PM	#1
AlexR Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Palm Coast, FL Posts: 574	Corals not opening up and coloring up My corals are only opening up 3/4 way. Mainly a frogspawn and hammer coral. Zoas aren’t fully opening either. I’m thinking about what I can do... I have tried moving them around. The frogspawn and hammer are now both on the sand bed and in very low current areas. The hammer is new, just a day now but was open more in the tank it came from. The frogpawn has been in tank for a couple weeks now and was worse when higher up and medium current. The zoas have been in the tank for about a week now and aren’t fully opening. It’s hard for me to say what’s wrong except my magnesium is high. Phosphates- 0 Nitrates - 2.5 Calcium - 400 Kh - 9 Magnesium- 1800 Ph - 8.2 Salinity 1.026 Temp- 79-80 I’m afraid my lighting is either too strong or too weak and can’t find the middle ground. They are Chinese knockoffs of the kessil 380 (same chip). I have 4 over a 60” 125g tank. 20” deep. Here is a pic with lights at about 1/4 strength.

04/11/2019, 08:28 PM	#21
PCguy21 Registered Member. Join Date: Mar 2019 Posts: 263	Its the lights or your alkalinity and calc or mag ect is too high or low ill just be flat out honest here. Nutrients in my experience dont do crap to corals litterally my nutrients are super high i have algae all over... and its controlled by my fish. Snails and sea urchins... i have high phosphates like .5ppm and nitrates at 20-40ppm i have 2 kinds of frogspawns.. with 7 heads... i have a huge torch coral.. a hammer coral. 3 bubble corals... 3 types of acroporas.. 5 zoanthid typs.. a neon green tree nepthea and a regular green nelthea leather... i have 4 types of mushrooms... a clam... purple sepitulara and many other corals like chalices ect.. Not one of these corals is closed. MY lights are t5s ati bulbs . Two blue. One purple one coral plus which is is a whitish pinkish. My tank is much brighter thrn yours... youres looks too dim. And too blue. Its been proven corals grow better under less blue light... Youre tabk should have more of a purple hue... mix of blue and reds to make it seem purple. Im sure some will dissagree but thats my experience and its been proven actuslly that blue doesnt grow corals as well as more red.whitishight does. Alkalinity should be 8-9 and calcium around 420.. magnesium around 1350-1450. These are the best params i found. Frogspawn prefer slow flow... and i mean like a slight flow to make then move around a tiny bit if your flow is medium.. and makes then wiggle around and wave around they will stay closed more... pur them in really slow flow and watch them extend ALOT .. hammer corals do better in medium flow not too high but enough to move the heads... torch corals like pulsing flow... slow to medium.. so slow flow then pulse... If your tank is 24 high and ligjts are 10 inches up. Keep them in middle of the tank. Im sure someone will disagree.. someone always does. But im telling you this is what ny tank thrives under.. my frogspawns.. are HUGEEE like 3 heads as big as my palm extended... Those zoas need to be higher up.. put them in the middle.. see my frogspawns... and see how much brighter and more pinmish my tank is ? When i turn on my blue leds.. all my corals shrink... Your lights imo are the problem.. also see how much are just sitting there hardly any flow Last edited by PCguy21; 04/11/2019 at 08:41 PM.

04/12/2019, 06:48 AM	#25
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	You have new corals in a tank that was poorly maintained for a while, just recently stirred everything up and are having quite a big diatom or dino problem and keep messing with the corals.. Um... yeah... don't expect them to be happy.. Get your diatom problem solved...Focus on parameter stability.. Stop messing with stuff and give them time to adjust.. You certainly aren't putting them into an optimal habitat right now so don't expect happy corals.. And I'd caution you to watch the GFO use.. It can do more harm than good when used when not needed.. Its for those with a phosphate problem.. Zero is NOT a problem.. __________________ Who me?

04/11/2019, 02:40 PM	#2
AlexR Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Palm Coast, FL Posts: 574	Some more pictures

04/11/2019, 03:10 PM	#3
travisstewart Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2017 Posts: 165	How old is your tank? By the looks of the algae, def some nutrient issues. Using RO water? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

04/11/2019, 03:17 PM	#5
travisstewart Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2017 Posts: 165	In my experience high mag always helped any algae issues I had. Did you have fish in there this whole time or do you currently? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

04/11/2019, 03:25 PM	#9
AlexR Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Palm Coast, FL Posts: 574	I did have a blonde naso tang that died a week after placing it. That was my only death so far... Here is a pic of my ATS after 3 weeks of use

04/11/2019, 03:27 PM	#12
AlexR Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Palm Coast, FL Posts: 574	I am afraid my rock and sand is spewing nutrients. Or maybe silica from the sand. I am not sure how to battle it.

04/11/2019, 03:49 PM	#18
AlexR Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Palm Coast, FL Posts: 574	Thank you for all your advice Travis. I’ll see if I can up the water change from 15g to 20g. Just need another 5g jug.

04/11/2019, 04:43 PM	#20
AlexR Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Palm Coast, FL Posts: 574	So I really think my lights suck and are a big reason my corals aren’t very happy. I just ordered a new radion xr30w g4 pro. I know I need at least 2 and preferably 3 of them but want to take my time. As they are expensive. Plus like this I can compare. I will leave one of my current lights on and see the difference.

04/11/2019, 08:34 PM	#23
AlexR Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Palm Coast, FL Posts: 574	I do have a calcium reactor running. It’s keeping my Alk and calcium at good and even levels.