Anyone know what is up with my softies?

Dre619

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I have a young tank of softies. My toadstool and and zoa colonies are not opening up (prt of the colony opens the rest doesnt). Also my lobo has not opened up since given to me last week. Theyve been like this for a few days now. No changes in the system. The water parameters are all in good range. There was a slight temp increase only about 1 degree but this was after they stopped opening. All of my other corals are doing great. Any help would be great!

Sad coral 1.jpg Sad coral 2.jpg Sad coral 3.jpg unidentified 2.jpg
 

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Do you run carbon? Soft corals are notorious for chemically p'ing each other off.
 
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Dre619

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Nitrate is under 10ppm and phosphate <.25 as low as my test can go atm. Got new one coming soon
 

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Nitrate is under 10ppm and phosphate <.25 as low as my test can go atm. Got new one coming soon. Will feed lobo tonight after work
Your tank needs more nutrients. Leathers like "dirty" water. The best way to get this is through nutrient input.

This is going to be the hard part. You need "dirtier" water, but at the same time you don't want the algae to take over, but you do want algae. It is a tight rope for sure.

People expect pristine tanks because they see that in the "beautiful" aquariums. This is like seeing a Madonna. That isn't really what she looks like. She has been enhanced. My tank is realitively clean sand but there is a lot of algae on the rocks. This is normal but people don't really understand this. Algae is a really important part of the ecological cycle and starving your tank to get rid of it makes things worse.

When you feed the lobo wait until about an hour after your lights go out. Then try and get mysis on the mouths. That lobo is in a really bad place and you are going to need to be patient with it as it tries to eat. Turn off the pumps and keep the mauraders away. It could take up to 2 hours for that lobo to eat. Keep doing this and over time it will get faster at uptake. For now you should be trying to feed every day. It will take up to 2 weeks to turn that coral around.
 
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Dre619

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Your tank needs more nutrients. Leathers like "dirty" water. The best way to get this is through nutrient input.

This is going to be the hard part. You need "dirtier" water, but at the same time you don't want the algae to take over, but you do want algae. It is a tight rope for sure.

People expect pristine tanks because they see that in the "beautiful" aquariums. This is like seeing a Madonna. That isn't really what she looks like. She has been enhanced. My tank is realitively clean sand but there is a lot of algae on the rocks. This is normal but people don't really understand this. Algae is a really important part of the ecological cycle and starving your tank to get rid of it makes things worse.

When you feed the lobo wait until about an hour after your lights go out. Then try and get mysis on the mouths. That lobo is in a really bad place and you are going to need to be patient with it as it tries to eat. Turn off the pumps and keep the mauraders away. It could take up to 2 hours for that lobo to eat. Keep doing this and over time it will get faster at uptake. For now you should be trying to feed every day. It will take up to 2 weeks to turn that coral around.
Thank you for the advice! Maybe my water is a little to clean. Should I leave my skimmer off then? What would be the best way to "dirty" my water? The lobo i will be patient and feed it nightly. My cleaner shrimp is a pain as he steals EVERYTHING! But I will keep him at bay ahah
 

HuduVudu

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Thank you for the advice! Maybe my water is a little to clean. Should I leave my skimmer off then? What would be the best way to "dirty" my water? The lobo i will be patient and feed it nightly. My cleaner shrimp is a pain as he steals EVERYTHING! But I will keep him at bay ahah
No leave the skimmer on, that is it's purpose. You need more food to ... move through ... the system. Seems like a waste but if you are using a skimmer (as a new hobbyst you should) you want an input balanced with an output, so that there is always available food.

It is really hard to learn to move the tank slowly. All it takes is one little tweak and everything moves and when it moves it moves too fast because of cascade. That is one of the difficulties of this hobby.

The shrimp is going to be a real problem. :(

You can put something over the lobo to keep things out (and in). With the shrimp you want to completely cover it. Make sure that you set a timer or something so that you remove the thing covering it. Leaving it on all night will kill the lobo. If you do use something you shouldn't need to cut your pumps. A possible good solution would be the clear pyrex storage containers. I have some that I got from the grocery store. Target and Walmart might have something that you could pick up too.
 

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I dose potassium nitrite powder to feed nitrates but not feed algae.

It takes daily no3 testing with Hanna Checker to make sure no3 stays btwn 10-15.

Less than 10, not enough nutrients in nitrates

Greater than 15, LR and glass start to show signs of over abundance of green algae film
 

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Thank you for the advice! Maybe my water is a little to clean. Should I leave my skimmer off then? What would be the best way to "dirty" my water? The lobo i will be patient and feed it nightly. My cleaner shrimp is a pain as he steals EVERYTHING! But I will keep him at bay ahah
You can use a mushroom cage for a little while until the uptake gets faster.

 
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Dre619

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No leave the skimmer on, that is it's purpose. You need more food to ... move through ... the system. Seems like a waste but if you are using a skimmer (as a new hobbyst you should) you want an input balanced with an output, so that there is always available food.

It is really hard to learn to move the tank slowly. All it takes is one little tweak and everything moves and when it moves it moves too fast because of cascade. That is one of the difficulties of this hobby.

The shrimp is going to be a real problem. :(

You can put something over the lobo to keep things out (and in). With the shrimp you want to completely cover it. Make sure that you set a timer or something so that you remove the thing covering it. Leaving it on all night will kill the lobo. If you do use something you shouldn't need to cut your pumps. A possible good solution would be the clear pyrex storage containers. I have some that I got from the grocery store. Target and Walmart might have something that you could pick up too.
SIck thank you will give this a go! Really appreciate the advice for a newbie!
 

outhouse

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You were giving very bad advise. Your water is dirtier then the natural sea water these corals thrive in. They never close up due to clean water. They love clean water. I would be curious how bright your lights are, how many hours you run them, and what kind they are. You have only 2 possibilities here, 1 is lighting and the other water conditions. In 30 years I have never had a single LPS close up due to new water. Water that is night and day cleaner then yours. Do not let your water get worse then it is, or you will have more problems then now.
 
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Dre619

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You were giving very bad advise. Your water is dirtier then the natural sea water these corals thrive in. They never close up due to clean water. They love clean water. I would be curious how bright your lights are, how many hours you run them, and what kind they are. You have only 2 possibilities here, 1 is lighting and the other water conditions. In 30 years I have never had a single LPS close up due to new water. Water that is night and day cleaner then yours. Do not let your water get worse then it is, or you will have more problems then
Thank you for a second opinion! I run a Nicrew 100w light at the moment. I am looking at upgrading at the moment. Myabe it is not enough light? I run them for 10 hours a day. What other water conditions are you refering too? All parameters seem to be in check
 
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Dre619

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Thank you for a second opinion! I run a Nicrew 100w light at the moment. I am looking at upgrading at the moment. Myabe it is not enough light? I run them for 10 hours a day. What other water conditions are you refering too? All parameters seem to be in che
You were giving very bad advise. Your water is dirtier then the natural sea water these corals thrive in. They never close up due to clean water. They love clean water. I would be curious how bright your lights are, how many hours you run them, and what kind they are. You have only 2 possibilities here, 1 is lighting and the other water conditions. In 30 years I have never had a single LPS close up due to new water. Water that is night and day cleaner then yours. Do not let your water get worse then it is, or you will have more problems then now.
I also run the lights at 50%
 

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Can we get a list of full parameters?

What is the size and dimensions of the tank?

Flow?

What is a nice crew light? I hope you don’t mean this one?
 
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Dre619

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Can we get a list of full parameters?

What is the size and dimensions of the tank?

Flow?

What is a nice crew light? I hope you don’t mean this one?

SG- 1.025
Temp 79
Alk reading at 7dKH
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5-10
Calc 360
Mag 1300
pH 8.2

40gal breeder tank not sure on dimensions
Have one powerhead on at the moment. Seems to have enough flow in the tank with the skimmer output as well.


this is the light at the moment. Like i said in the middle of upgrading
 
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