Never lost a coral?

[Mrtakeoff53]

Quick question: Have any of you reefers out there never lost a coral? I’ve had a 6 for about 2 months and 2 are suddenly not looking so good. My parameters are good and I’m feeling a bit dejected. I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has never lost a coral? I pour my heart into this hobby and the disappointment is very real. Anyone else feel like this??

[swiftism]

I doubt it.

[Rafty]

I highly doubt that anyone out there has not lost a coral (unless they have only been in the hobby for a few days or weeks). I have been in the hobby for 1year and have lost a torch and two hammers. This despite my OCD nature, careful attention to all parameters and weekly expert guidance from a local reef company. I too feel annoyed and upset when I loose an animal but that is life. Unless you purposely neglected your animals, I wouldn’t take a loss as failure or defeat just try learn from each one to reduces the chances of it happening again although it certainly will .... as sure as death and taxes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MondoBongo]

i've never lost a coral, they tend to just die in place

i would be shocked if there was someone out there who has successfully kept every single coral they've ever purchased. doesn't seem possible when dealing with delicate animals with highly specific needs, and such a variable chain of custody.

[Mrtakeoff53]

Die in place...now that’s funny right there! It just makes me think “*** happened to go from growing like a weed to no polyp extension/bleaching in a day...” oh well. I’ll keep at it. This hobby is the best and most frustrating hobby I’ve ever undertaken.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by MondoBongo

i've never lost a coral, they tend to just die in place
.

I thought I had lost all of my Porites, but some of them actually returned from the assumed to be dead skeletons. One of them on a christmas-tree "rock" that would have been pricey to replace these days.

Also, a coral dying may not always have to do with insufficient parameters. Sometimes they can already marked for death if they have boring algae inside their skeleton.
I got one of those from ORA. After only a few weeks in my tank I noticed the tissue had come off the skeleton at the base and the exposed skeleton was green. The tissue receded quickly and all the exposed skeleton turned out to be green the moment the tissue came off. No way the algae settled there after the tissue loss but rather the algae were the cause. All other corals in the system were doing fine. I removed the coral the moment I noticed the green as I don't want this algae to settle in my tank.

[Daddi0]

Originally Posted by Mrtakeoff53

Quick question: Have any of you reefers out there never lost a coral? I’ve had a 6 for about 2 months and 2 are suddenly not looking so good. My parameters are good and I’m feeling a bit dejected. I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has never lost a coral? I pour my heart into this hobby and the disappointment is very real. Anyone else feel like this??

Personally I think the beginning period of keeping a reef tank can be a bit of a rocky road. I know when we first started reefing we would lose a couple corals here and there, and then panic start changing things and cause more death. It was only after getting some reefing time under our belt that we really started to figure out the needs of certain corals vs. the needs of other corals. Now that we have been reefing for a couple years and have 6 reef tanks everything seems to run smoother. With experience you learn to read your system and not freak out over one coral (or 2) dying. If I had to give advice it would be to slow down, test, test, test, and enjoy. When I make an adjustment, it is aimed at how I want the reef to test in a month or two and not in a day or 2.
Cheers! Mark

[Mrtakeoff53]

You make good points, Mark. This is my 4th tank (I only have 1 but the 4th time I’ve set one up) I’m in the military so I move a lot and have to pretty much start over each time. This is the first tank I’m trying SPS though. My previous were all softie and LPS. I had good success with them. It’s just frustrating starting from scratch every time I move. However, it does give me the chance to learn a lot. Thanks for the insights.

[bshow24]

The biggest thing to SPS is making sure you keep everything consistent. Large swings in any direction can cause problems, whether it's immediate or days/months down the line. Lighting also tends to be a huge problem, whether it's too much or too little, in these situations.

In addition, where and what type of SPS can be an issue. Aquacultured corals tend to have higher survival rates than maricultured or wild caught. Even some experts can struggle and lose the latter.

[Genevagreg]

i have been lucky but i also have avoided the more difficult ones until i feel more capable. i am having an issue with my chalice and yes it is breaking my heart. just feel like a failing parent because you are right we pour our heart and soul into these living things..good luck buddy i am sure you have tried all of the obvious moves. i will kepp reading the post and hope they pull thru

[Daddi0]

Originally Posted by Genevagreg

i have been lucky but i also have avoided the more difficult ones until i feel more capable. i am having an issue with my chalice and yes it is breaking my heart. just feel like a failing parent because you are right we pour our heart and soul into these living things..good luck buddy i am sure you have tried all of the obvious moves. i will kepp reading the post and hope they pull thru

Whenever I have a chalice problem, I move them to an area with very low light (even a little shading) and lower flow and they seem to perk back up.
Cheers! Mark

[Mrtakeoff53]

Thanks for all the advise, everyone! I double checked my parameters (all good), did a 20% water change and accepted what had I was dealt. All my other SPS are doing great and I’m not about to start changing a bunch of things. I might add some Carbon to ensure there isn’t something in the water that’s bothering them. My purple montipora is stabilizing a little bit my other coral is on its last legs. There are a few polyps left so there is still a shimmer of hope. Of course right when I’m noticed all this I got my Silver Coral Club order from WWC. All those new corals are doing well (and 100% worth the money). We’ll see what happens.

[Mrtakeoff53]

Pictures are worth 1,000 words...

[Bpb]

anyone who says they havent lost a coral hasnt been around long enough. Eventually everyone kills something.

[DLreef]

I have been reefing softies and LPS for 5+ years now and have never had a coral die accept for a bubble coral that I killed due to a flow issue..... But personally I feel corals are really hard to kill unless your talking about sps and some of the more delicate lps. I have even ran my 38g with almost no flow for a month (due to powerheads failing) and nothing died.

Are you feeding your corals?? My candy cane goes down hill quickly if I don't keep it well fed

[Tastee]

Yup, I’ve lost some. A little under 2 years in and lots of learning to go. It’s all about stability from what I have seen so far, and in the last 12 months I have learnt so much about what ‘stability’ is, it isn’t funny.

In the last 6 months the only thing I have lost is a Torch (I think it’s gone, been trying to rehabilitate it for a while now but think I’ve lost the battle). This was due to flatworms. I saw them in the tank in the early days, thought ‘they look cool’ and only realised 3 months ago they were eating the poor torch. That has given me some experience in dipping corals, so at least a silver lining.

Just to prove I still have lots more learning to go I nearly killed the biggest of my two Acro colonies a week ago. I had been tweaking my Aquaforest 3 part dosing based on my test results and had earlier gradually decreased Mg dosing as my testing was showing higher levels than I was targeting. I had gradually got to the stage where I was dosing no Mg.

After a while of this (2 months) and more research I decided the high Mg levels were not an issue and I should go back to the AF recommendations of dosing all 3 parts equally. So I turned Mg dosing back on @ 24 ml/day. My Acro turned white overnight! Not happy at all. I thought I had killed it. This was a week ago.

Happily 3 days ago it started to colour up and has been steadily improving. It’s not back to where it was, but all other parameters tell me my water is better than it was, so I am hopeful it will not only recover fully, but get to a better position than it was.

So lesson learnt (as if I should have needed it again) is change everything sloooowwwwlllllyyy. I should have ramped Mg up as slowly as I ramped it down.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ReeferNoob4ever]

I have been in the hobby off and on for 15 years and I have even lost xenia. Never lost mushrooms yet though those things could likely live through Armageddon. Don't get too disheartened, this is a tough (and expensive) hobby. We are trying to keep a mini ocean in our houses after all.

[Mrtakeoff53]

My corals are still holding on. Not much improvement in the last 2 weeks but they haven’t declined any either. The rest of my corals are growing nicely. I’ll keep up with my water changes, keep the tank stable and see if they can make a comeback. I think the worst thing to do is change a whole bunch of stuff. I did add GAC due to really yellow water. The water clarity is amazing now! Hopefully if something was irritating the coral that my filtration wasn’t removing before, the GAC will help take it out. We’ll see. Hopefully no more losses.

[cody6766]

I’m in the military so I move a lot and have to pretty much start over each time. This is the first tank I’m trying SPS though. My previous were all softie and LPS. I had good success with them. It’s just frustrating starting from scratch every time I move. However, it does give me the chance to learn a lot. Thanks for the insights

I can sympathize, especially with regard to SPS. I'm military as well, and moves can come at the worst time in your tank's development. My 120g was really hitting its stride, SPS growing like weeds and fish fat and healthy, when I got orders from OK to AK. Obviously that meant selling the livestock and starting over in AK.

I don't see a lot of this advice anymore, but back when I got into the hobby in 2007, the "corporate knowledge" said that you shouldn't expect SPS to survive until the tank is 6-9 months old. There are things that make that not so true today (dosing, bacteria starters, etc), but 6mos is not a bad rule of thumb for the time to wait to add sensitive corals.

I set up my 60g cube when I PCS'd from AK back to OK and added some acros when my parameters looked solid after 2-3 months of cycle. I lost about half of them, but my LPS and softies made it through. I started to really see SPS success after about 6-8 months total time.

We can use bacterial cultures and accelerators to speed up the normal cycle, but most reef tanks aren't completely stable for several months. SPS and other sensitive animals need rock solid stability. Some are more forgiving, but not all. All the additives in the world can't make up for the stride your tank will hit when it balances with what you're able to put in WRT water changes and dosing.

Just some military reef advice...if you plan on being where you are for 3-4 years, go light on the fancy corals. Find some types that you like to look at, but don't mind virtually giving away in a few years. If you make your money back, consider it a bonus. CONUS moves make life easier. I moved from OK to FL then back to OK when I PCS'd down to PCola for training and didn't lose anything. Starting over from scratch really extends the timeline after a move.

[Mrtakeoff53]

Cosy6766,

That’s some pretty good advise for a military reefer. I always know that a PCS could be right around the corner so I usually stick to corals in the $20 range and make sure they are easier to take care of. The expensive ones can wait until I’m finally settled.

My tank is now 5 months old...still very young. I had GREAT success with Red Cap Montipora in my last tank. It was the size of a dinner plate! This time around, ALL my Montipora are fading. Not dead, just dull. All my parameters check within a normal range and I test weekly. My goal is to maintain stability and hopefully they’ll bounce back. I’m finally seeing GOOD growth and AMAZING colors from all my Stylophora, birds nest, and a stylocoeniella I just got. I know I’m doing something right because most of my SPS are doing well, just not the Montipora. I’m battling some GHA right now too and it looks like I’m on the upswing. I increased my CUC with some Trochus snails and they are mowing the stuff down. Time will tell. More lessons will be learned I’m sure of it!