Are my Corals dying?

[reef.geek]

Hi everyone,

So i bought a few corals 2 weeks ago, at first they were doing great.
I got pulsing xenia, toadstool leather, candy cane, and a clavularia so overall pretty easy lps corals.

My toadstool is doing great, xenia has grown a bit and cavularia has doubled it’s polyps,
But Sadly my candy canes aren’t doing well and they are loosing a lot of their colors,
I will post some pictures before and now.
At first i thought it might have been because of the flow and they were placed way too high, so i placed them at the bottom of my tank but its been a week and they haven’t improved.

Not sure if they are dying or if their colors are just fading.



I just did a 75% water change a week ago

So i know that my calcium/magnesium are a bit low, can i add anything that might help with that?
Maybe reef complete by seachem?

Salinity 1.026
Temperature 77 fahrenheit
PH 8.15
Magnesium 1200 Ppm
Calcium 380 Ppm
Alkalinity 10.2 Dkh
Phosphate 0.02
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 20ppm

I will also put a picture of my light setting
And want yo ask for some advice, it might be that my light is too bright.

Thank you very much for any advice and help.

 

[japicka]

Hi everyone,

So i bought a few corals 2 weeks ago, at first they were doing great.
I got pulsing xenia, toadstool leather, candy cane, and a clavularia so overall pretty easy lps corals.

My toadstool is doing great, xenia has grown a bit and cavularia has doubled it’s polyps,
But Sadly my candy canes aren’t doing well and they are loosing a lot of their colors,
I will post some pictures before and now.
At first i thought it might have been because of the flow and they were placed way too high, so i placed them at the bottom of my tank but its been a week and they haven’t improved.

Not sure if they are dying or if their colors are just fading.



I just did a 75% water change a week ago

So i know that my calcium/magnesium are a bit low, can i add anything that might help with that?
Maybe reef complete by seachem?

Salinity 1.026
Temperature 77 fahrenheit
PH 8.15
Magnesium 1200 Ppm
Calcium 380 Ppm
Alkalinity 10.2 Dkh
Phosphate 0.02
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 20ppm

I will also put a picture of my light setting
And want yo ask for some advice, it might be that my light is too bright.

Thank you very much for any advice and help.

Just personal opinion

Magnesium could be higher
Calcium could be higher as well

Nitrates are a touch high.

I generally like to stay in the ranges on this

Reef Tank Water Parameters

Need to know reef tank water quality specs? Save this reef tank water parameters chart as a handy reference.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

That being said I have never had much luck with that coral.

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Mag and Cal is a little low but do not see it causing issues within the corals at the current levels. Nitrates aren't bad but if continuing in a positive direction might see issues later.

What brand test kits are you using to measure your parameters? Also how do you measure your salinity? Are you calibrating whatever your using as well?

 

[reef.geek]

Just personal opinion

Magnesium could be higher
Calcium could be higher as well

Nitrates are a touch high.

I generally like to stay in the ranges on this

Reef Tank Water Parameters

Need to know reef tank water quality specs? Save this reef tank water parameters chart as a handy reference.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

That being said I have never had much luck with that coral.

That’s indeed what i mentioned in my post.

Does it look like they are dying tho and any recommendations on lighting?

 

[reef.geek]

Mag and Cal is a little low but do not see it causing issues within the corals at the current levels. Nitrates aren't bad but if continuing in a positive direction might see issues later.

What brand test kits are you using to measure your parameters? Also how do you measure your salinity? Are you calibrating whatever your using as well?

Mag and Cal is a little low but do not see it causing issues within the corals at the current levels. Nitrates aren't bad but if continuing in a positive direction might see issues later.

What brand test kits are you using to measure your parameters? Also how do you measure your salinity? Are you calibrating whatever your using as well?

I am using salifert test kits And for salinity i am using a refractometer. And yes i actually followed a setup on youtube

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

I am using salifert test kits And for salinity i am using a refractometer. And yes i actually followed a setup on youtube

So seeing you did a 75% water change 1 week after putting the coral in your tank could have dramatically changed some of your parameters, without knowing what your tank was at before its hard to say. You could have stripped nutrients to fast or had a huge alk swing which would affect corals such as lps

At the current moment I would raise Mag to the 1350 range, Cal should be fine but I typically like to run it 420-450 area. You already put the corals lower on the sand, make sure they arent being blasted with water movement and see if they recover.

Also I dont know what light that is, but might look at dropping the 50% whites down to 20% - %30. During the highest period they could possible be receiving to much. I run a cheap chinese black box on my nano, typically shoot for around 15%-20% white channel and around 80% on blues

 

[japicka]

That’s indeed what i mentioned in my post.

Does it look like they are dying tho and any recommendations on lighting?

For calcium and Alkalinity I use ESV two part to get things where I like them, there is trace magnesium in there too I believe.

I don't recognize the light app, What are the three settings I am seeing? I would concur what another has said to drop whites down to 20-30% and if that one setting is UV drop that one down as well.

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

For calcium and Alkalinity I use ESV two part to get things where I like them, there is trace magnesium in there too I believe.

I don't recognize the light app, What are the three settings I am seeing? I would concur what another has said to drop whites down to 20-30% and if that one setting is UV drop that one down as well.

I wouldnt recommend they dose anymore alk, the tank is already border line high alk and would be easy to overshoot with a 2 part. Once proper levels are achieved and corals are consuming alk then for sure a good 2 part would be much needed :)

I think using something such as BRS mag seeing its probably the most cost effective and easily use their calculator for proper dosing amount. Or you can use a pre mixed product such as Brightwell liquid mag but imo your paying more for a name and being its pre mixed which wont go very far.

 

[reef.geek]

For calcium and Alkalinity I use ESV two part to get things where I like them, there is trace magnesium in there too I believe.

I don't recognize the light app, What are the three settings I am seeing? I would concur what another has said to drop whites down to 20-30% and if that one setting is UV drop that one down as well.

The light app is AQNLED.
The light itself is

ASAqua no5 40W LED WIFI​

 

[japicka]

The light app is AQNLED.
The light itself is

ASAqua no5 40W LED WIFI​

Never ever heard of that one...found it online, looks pretty decent.

 

[reef.geek]

Never ever heard of that one...found it online, looks pretty decent.

Yeah i did some research on it before buying and a lot of people had succes with it for years, only thing that is hard are the settings on it and not sure what the perfect setting would be

 

[ReneReef]

40 Watts on 20 gallons (yes, looked up some previous posts) is low.
That light dimmed to less than 50% is way too low!

Also, if you did a 75% water change a week ago. How can you end up with high KH and low Ca/Mg a week later. Something is off there. Either in the salt or your tests.

 

[reef.geek]

So seeing you did a 75% water change 1 week after putting the coral in your tank could have dramatically changed some of your parameters, without knowing what your tank was at before its hard to say. You could have stripped nutrients to fast or had a huge alk swing which would affect corals such as lps

At the current moment I would raise Mag to the 1350 range, Cal should be fine but I typically like to run it 420-450 area. You already put the corals lower on the sand, make sure they arent being blasted with water movement and see if they recover.

Also I dont know what light that is, but might look at dropping the 50% whites down to 20% - %30. During the highest period they could possible be receiving to much. I run a cheap chinese black box on my nano, typically shoot for around 15%-20% white channel and around 80% on blues

The light is

ASAqua no5 40W LED WIFI.​

 

[reef.geek]

I wouldnt recommend they dose anymore alk, the tank is already border line high alk and would be easy to overshoot with a 2 part. Once proper levels are achieved and corals are consuming alk then for sure a good 2 part would be much needed :)

I think using something such as BRS mag seeing its probably the most cost effective and easily use their calculator for proper dosing amount. Or you can use a pre mixed product such as Brightwell liquid mag but imo your paying more for a name and being its pre mixed which wont go very far.

Thank you so much for your reply you have been very helpful!

Would you recommend any of these?

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Thank you so much for your reply you have been very helpful!

Would you recommend any of these?

I have never used those specific products but I don't see why it wouldn't work as long as you are following recommended dosage amounts.

I recommend especially for those that are not as familiar with dosing because brs has a calculator where you can input your tank volume, current level and desired level and it will tell you how much to dose. Makes it very easy

Magnesium Supplement Calculator - Bulk Reef Supply

Bulk Reef Supply - Saltwater Aquarium Supplies for Reef Tanks

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

The light is

ASAqua no5 40W LED WIFI.​

I would agree with the above comment. 40w over a 20 gallon is very low lighting. I run a 165w black box (cheap manual adjustment led fixture) over a 29g nano cube and have the blues turned up to 80% and whites around 20% which works perfect.

That light could probably sustain soft corals but im not sure about lps. But I do feel like you have more issues than light atm, if you refer back to my first comment about your large water changes and parameters

 

[japicka]

Yeah i did some research on it before buying and a lot of people had succes with it for years, only thing that is hard are the settings on it and not sure what the perfect setting would be

That is why with my latest tank I went with Kessil lighting...they have their Kessil Logic thing, you can dial the color up and down and the logic makes sure you have the right spectrum hitting the water. It's worked pretty well so far. That being said latest tank is only 3 months old. The plate coral I just put in there seems to like it so far.