hi. a newbie here.
i did some research but indeed underestimated sensitivity of those wonderful tiny coral beings.
i got tiny 5L tank with filter, pump, heater to 26C and blue LEDs. got matrix 'stones', live sand, dry rock and a volcanic rock (from travels in Iceland) in. kept it just running for 10 days and then brought in 3 frags (zoa, stylophora and {unsure}). a snail included.
didn't dip them, but i broke the bottom part of the ceramic frag, so perhaps stressed them(?)
anyway, once in tank, they didn't look healthy. zoas kept closed and (what i think was) stylophora slimed thin 'hair' around, and seems with its green shiny parts (the algae symbionts?). after maybe an hour i gave them some reef roids. sliming stylophora seemed feeding through its pores.
but in few hours, stylophora was bleaching. no slime anymore, but next day no shine at all. same with the unknown one. zoas kept closed.
the snail behaved weird as well - found him naked moving wildly side to side.
tried partial water change and tested things, all looked ok (ph, 35 ppm salt, no ammon.,low nitr., but quite high hardness). but i didn't test on alcalinity. it is 10 days now, two bleached frags and zoas that didn't open.
i call my tank a memento mori now.
do you have any thoughts here? could it be that (black mushy) lava rock (metals?) or the Himalayan salt ? and what would you check first? the bleaching happened very fast, white in a day or so.
i did some research but indeed underestimated sensitivity of those wonderful tiny coral beings.
i got tiny 5L tank with filter, pump, heater to 26C and blue LEDs. got matrix 'stones', live sand, dry rock and a volcanic rock (from travels in Iceland) in. kept it just running for 10 days and then brought in 3 frags (zoa, stylophora and {unsure}). a snail included.
didn't dip them, but i broke the bottom part of the ceramic frag, so perhaps stressed them(?)
anyway, once in tank, they didn't look healthy. zoas kept closed and (what i think was) stylophora slimed thin 'hair' around, and seems with its green shiny parts (the algae symbionts?). after maybe an hour i gave them some reef roids. sliming stylophora seemed feeding through its pores.
but in few hours, stylophora was bleaching. no slime anymore, but next day no shine at all. same with the unknown one. zoas kept closed.
the snail behaved weird as well - found him naked moving wildly side to side.
tried partial water change and tested things, all looked ok (ph, 35 ppm salt, no ammon.,low nitr., but quite high hardness). but i didn't test on alcalinity. it is 10 days now, two bleached frags and zoas that didn't open.
i call my tank a memento mori now.
do you have any thoughts here? could it be that (black mushy) lava rock (metals?) or the Himalayan salt ? and what would you check first? the bleaching happened very fast, white in a day or so.