Chalice colonies RTN'ing after acclimation

[Catra2030]

I recently purchased two chalice colonies, both at separate times from different sellers. Upon acclimation and about 24 hours later both colonies were mostly gone. A majority of the tissue was gone or peeling away. Both colonies were acclimated in the same manner and the same as everything else in the tank. I also made several purchases and acclimated several corals in between these two events, all being fine and looking normal. Before I post my water specs, one thing I did notice with these two colonies hat were the same was the fact that the water they were in had a very very very foul odor, so much so that I almost lost it. Knowing this, I knew there may be issues, but nothing to the degree that I witnessed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I love this hobby and I love chalices, but it's just plain wrong for this to happen and if it's something I'm doing wrong I'm not seeing it, but I need to get a handle on this before I make another purchase in the future.

Below you'll find my acclimation details and tank parameters and a pic of the specimen.

Acclimation is as follows. I acclimate for about 2.5 hours unless the coral appears it needs more and that doesn't include the float. Float for 30, then drip acclimate starting out at a very slow drop, I'd say about a drop every 2-3 seconds until the one gallon container is full. The. I speed the drip up to a rate of about a drop every second until the gallon jug is full. After that I speed it up to a constant flow/drip until the jug is full. It all takes about 2.5 hours. I do a short dip using coral rx and place the coral in an area of medium flow and low lighting.

 

[Ian]

Why are you acclimating so long? I float them for 15 minutes and drop them in.

If the water in the bag appears to be fouled I skip the float and just drop them in...

 

[SDguy]

If the water smelled bad enough to make you heave, I would have immediately transferred the corals into tank water. IMO rotting water will kill coral much faster than slightly different salinity or alk.

 

[gmoney243]

Water temp in a bucket will drop a lot after 2 hours. You need to re temp acclimate or at least check the bucket temp to make sure they are the same as DT temp. Temp is the most important factor. A lot of people including myself only temp acclimate fish/ corals without losses.

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[Catra2030]

Tank parameters have been the following for as long as I can remember, and test every other day or so for alk. Alk 10.2, ca 420-430, mg 1410, ph 8.2, salinity 1.025, temp 78.5. Tank inhabitants include a kole tang, damsel, and mystery wrasse.

 

[nova65ss]

With the foul odor I wonder if they were not already dead or dying? Were they shipped or purchased local?

Also maybe I am doing it wrong but I have never acclimated a coral of any kind. Out of the bag dipped and in the tank. I guess what I am saying is I dont think that was your problem.

 

[fab1971]

sorry to hear about your colonies. I personally float for 20-25 minutes, do a light dip and put into the tank. haven't had a loss adding a piece in all these years of collecting. I believe there were several articles and websites that have recommended this method. Besides that, the chalices were sitting in there own dirty water for all that time. delaying them with a long acclimation only made it worse. sounds like they were already melting away from the shipping stress. gl, Frank.

 

[Catra2030]

I'm having trouble getting the pic up from my phone. But thanks for the replies, that was quick. I've always been under the impression a proper drip acclimation was in order instead of a float and drop in. I should have realized the foul water shouldn't have been messed around with. From now on if I do float and drop in, will a slight salinity or alk difference cause issues?

Ian, a little off subject, but that Miami lobo I got from you last year is crazy, the size and coloration have been amazing.

 

[Catra2030]

You guys are awesome. The mummy eye colonies has one major area I damage and the bazooka joe I had to frag down to a quarter of the original colony. One was purchased off r2r and the other from a vendor. I feel awful as these two cases have been the only issues like this, but seeing that others do a float, quick dip and drop in makes me feel better for future instances. I do agree, letting them sit in the foul water was a bad move on my part.

 

[Chameleon]

I always just float and drop coral and fish. Temp is the main thing you are concerned with there. Now inverts I always drip and drip long. As previously mentioned temp change after long drip could cause issues. Im still inclined to think it was shipping stress.

 

[Catra2030]

I'm now inclined to think the same. I will do the float, dip and drop in the tank from now on. Thanks for the advice, I was afraid I somehow had a serious issue with my parameters

 

[gmoney243]

I always just float and drop coral and fish. Temp is the main thing you are concerned with there. Now inverts I always drip and drip long. As previously mentioned temp change after long drip could cause issues. Im still inclined to think it was shipping stress.

Even shrimp and clams I just temp and drop without issue

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[SDguy]

FWIW, yes, you should have taken them out of their fouled water. However, IMO, these corals should have been packaged properly to begin with. Not sure if this was the case here, but I've seen it happen many times... people go cheap on shipping larger colonies. They are so used to being able to ship tiny frags in nothing more than a few millileters of water, and think that they can get away with similar proportions when shipping colonies. They also don't take the time to clean off any extra stuff from the rocks (ie sponges, algae, etc) before shipping...

 

[Catra2030]

Agreed, I've had frags shipped to me with more water than some colonies I've received, but this has been a vital learning experience, although tough to swallow. Thanks for all the advice everyone