Angry hammer as well as palys

[ItouchedThebutt]

I don't know what's going on but one of my bicolor hammers is acting real mad and even losing tentacles. Still tissue left on it but the tentacles are just fading away. The frogspawn and hammers behind it are doing fine so was this one about a week to 2 weeks ago. At first I thought it was because it was splitting a new head but I don't think that would cause loss of the tentacles or what you wanna call them.
Rough check of parameters from last water change, less than week ago. (Will text everything again today after work)

Kh 10.5
Mag 1330
Cal. 400
Phosphate .0
Nitrite .0 - .5
Salinity 1.0255

I use the red sea coral pro salt mix but it's still in the process of bringing my KH up to the 11.5 been in that process from a month and half to 2 months via water changes. Don't know if that has a play in it or not.

I thought flow was an issue to be to great so I moved the power head to where it's not blasting it anymore or the other hammers as well. Did that Tuesday or Monday this week.

Thought maybe my lighting was to much (mainly because of my zoas acting weird) mainly my to high end zoas closing or shrinking so I dialed my lights down.

I've even noticed my birds nest not extending its polyps out as far as it used to (granted it's a frag of what used to be my big piece that I got rid of) but something's going on in my tank that I can't seem to figure out. Been this way for maybe a week or so. Here's pics of the hammer

Any advice would be grateful would really love to get things going back again and just leave it be.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Forgot to mention it is a 10gal nuvo with ato and just biological media. Did run chemi pure blue but took that out recently for the seachem ceramic bio ball media

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Geez not everyone speak up at once now

 

[OREGONIC]

I have found my hammers and frogspawn like lower alk levels. When I first started my tank I tried to maintain alk above 9.5. Hammers and frogspawns never seem happy. Over several months i let my alk fall and they looked happier and happier as it dropped. All my other corals seemed happier as well. I have now been running my alk 7.7-8.1 for over a year and all frogspawn and grown lots of new heads.

 

[Bob Weigant]

The only thing I see is maybe the alk level and possible flow. Mine hated getting blasted by flow and my alk level is most of the time 8-8.5

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

I have found my hammers and frogspawn like lower alk levels. When I first started my tank I tried to maintain alk above 9.5. Hammers and frogspawns never seem happy. Over several months i let my alk fall and they looked happier and happier as it dropped. All my other corals seemed happier as well. I have now been running my alk 7.7-8.1 for over a year and all frogspawn and grown lots of new heads.

See the others are doing just fine. And even grew a new or multiple new heads the moment the alk rose. My friend even uses the same salt mix I do and the same hammer from my tank that I gave him is doing emaculite.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

The only thing I see is maybe the alk level and possible flow. Mine hated getting blasted by flow and my alk level is most of the time 8-8.5

I turned off my main power head for now 4 days. My other hammer is loving it along with a few other corals. That problem hammer is open but still missing tentacles

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

Picture of them all after reduced flow for about 4 days

 

[OREGONIC]

You have very low phosphate and nitrate levels. From experience and what I have read lower nutrients need lower alk. What’s interesting is higher nutrient levels also do fine at lower alk levels from what I have experienced. What is your friends nitrate and phosphate levels. Also 0 phosphate is not good, should be at least detectable. I have always had an issue where my nitrates hover around 5-10 ppm but had undetectable phosphates, they were way out of balance. I started dosing phosphates a few months ago and have noticed better color on all my corals and my lps seem to have plumped up. Also dosing phosphates has brought my nitrate level down to the 3-5ppm range. I would try dropping alk a little and feed a little heavier to raise phosphates to detectable level.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

I feed reef roids and also throw in red sea reef energy 2 part. Usually red sea once a day and maybe roids 3 times a week. Maybe up that then? I've always had just about 0 phosphates and 0 nitrites. It's also being tested with api though.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

If I have to lower my alk then I'd have to change to completely different salts. But my friend his 10 gal. Has same readings as mine far as nitrite and phosphate but his hammer is lot better. I'll post a pic of his. It came from my tank to.

 

[OREGONIC]

If all his parameters match probably not happy with the flow or lighting then. You could also try dipping yours, possibly could be a bacterial issue.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

I would say when my power head was on it did get pretty blasted for a while. To the point the tissue was folded over the skeleton. The other one even had a head that was doing the same. So I'll leave the flow down for a while.
Anyone know of a controllable power head for nano aquariums that's not super expensive?

As well as what can I do to get and keep my nitrites and phosphates up?

 

[shaun1985]

You have very low phosphate and nitrate levels. From experience and what I have read lower nutrients need lower alk. What’s interesting is higher nutrient levels also do fine at lower alk levels from what I have experienced. What is your friends nitrate and phosphate levels. Also 0 phosphate is not good, should be at least detectable. I have always had an issue where my nitrates hover around 5-10 ppm but had undetectable phosphates, they were way out of balance. I started dosing phosphates a few months ago and have noticed better color on all my corals and my lps seem to have plumped up. Also dosing phosphates has brought my nitrate level down to the 3-5ppm range. I would try dropping alk a little and feed a little heavier to raise phosphates to detectable level.

This makes perfect sense I had the same problem with my corals when I had 0 phosphate you need some for corals to be happy.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

For the most part they've always been relatively happy but had poor growth. Of course with few exceptions but that's what I've been combating the whole time I've had this tank is how to increase growth and size of them.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

So the hammer seems to be doing well now I reduced the flow. Still no tentacles on it but the flesh is poofing out more as if they were still there. Does anybody know of a moderadlty priced variable flow power head suitable for 10 gal?

Second. Still having issues with few palys. Think it may be lack of nutrients in the water as well as low phosphate levels and nitrites. Any way I can keep them or get them up? Like a solid way. I know feeding the tank can do it. But I've always had lower levels.

Will say when I do reef energy every day my sunny Ds will perk back up. Just with how many hours I work I tend to forget sometimes.

 

[OREGONIC]

I have to dose brightwell neo phos to keep my phosphates detectable. I have heard of prople dosing stump remover to raise phosphates. Neo phos costs me so little (i dose 1ml every 2-3 days) that im not willing to risk using something like stump remover. I believe brightwell also has a nitrate additive not sure what its called.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

I have to dose brightwell neo phos to keep my phosphates detectable. I have heard of prople dosing stump remover to raise phosphates. Neo phos costs me so little (i dose 1ml every 2-3 days) that im not willing to risk using something like stump remover. I believe brightwell also has a nitrate additive not sure what its called.

What size tank do you have? I may look into that. Can you get it from BRS? Right now I'm going to try upping my usage of reef roids but problem is im seeing a brown to red tint on my sand now already.
I wonder if my RO water wasn't completely pure...

 

[OREGONIC]

I have a red sea e170 that i added the sump kit to, probably around 45ish gallons with water displacement. I would just feed heavier but I only want to increase my phosphates not nitrates so I have to use an additive. Not sure why my tank processes phosphates at such a faster rate then nitrates. I do get light dusting of brown on sand that will last a day or two and disappear after that. I have noticed a big difference in my euphyllia corals, duncans, and zoas shortly after starting to dose phosphates. I am by no means an expert, just my experience.

 

[ItouchedThebutt]

I have a red sea e170 that i added the sump kit to, probably around 45ish gallons with water displacement. I would just feed heavier but I only want to increase my phosphates not nitrates so I have to use an additive. Not sure why my tank processes phosphates at such a faster rate then nitrates. I do get light dusting of brown on sand that will last a day or two and disappear after that. I have noticed a big difference in my euphyllia corals, duncans, and zoas shortly after starting to dose phosphates. I am by no means an expert, just my experience.

I had a period where everything was going great but then whatever reason started going down hill. Idk why but I feel like my light may be acting up and not be doing what it says on the app but it's all speculation. But I have a mixed reef of sps lps and zoas.