Chesterfieldensis Acro closed up!?

[ReeferMadness80G]

hello again fellow problem solvers, I have yet a new mystery to me that happened today.
I changed my tank location yesterday from one room to another, relatively easy bc it's just a 14gallon nano with 10 gal Sump. Everything was set up in its new spot and all the corals appeared to be loving it! I decided with the new move I would also up the percentage of my Cool Whites on my Prime HD. I tested my water parameters around noon and they were as follows
Cal-460
Alk-10.5
Mg-1440
pH-7.8
Phos-0
Nitrate-0
Temp-78
Salinity-34
This is on a 14 gallon nano with 10gal diy Sump so I figure maybe around 19 gallons.
Everything seemed good with the tests except I thought maybe my pH was a little low at 7.8 so I decided to do a water change since it was about that time anyway. I performed a 20% water change, around 4 gallons. After the water change and a quick break I noticed my Chester Acro who is usually furry with polyp extension, had almost no PE! I gave it a couple hours thinking it would be fine but still no PE, it's been around 7 hours now and it's still naked. I'm a little nervous so I check the parameters again, as follows
Cal-460
Alk-10.5
Mg-1335
pH-8.0
Phos-0
Nitrate-0
Temp-78
Salinity-34
The only real change I see is Magnesium went from 1440 to 1335. Could this be the reason why it's closed up? I'll post pictures below
Btw- it's a mixed SPS dominated tank. I have several other SPS and all have normal PE.
#reefsquad

 

[deaclauderdale]

Pic?

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

this is usual PE for this Chester

it's pretty furry and is pretty resilient.

This is it now, notice the surrounding SPS has Polyp Extension.
Thanks for your help!

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Pic?

I posted some

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Anyone have any idea what's going on? I'm worried this is just the first Acro affected and I'm hoping with help I can stop something from happening any further. #reefsquad

 

[deaclauderdale]

I was going to say that your Alk may be to high, but if that's what you normally run it at then it may be that the move has irritated the coral. From the images I don't see any pest and I don't believe that the drop in Mag is significant enough to create the issue you're seeing. Although I am reminded that a quick swing in Alk (8 hr period) cost me my Red Planet, Wasabi Coral, and a significant portion of my Red Dragon.

Hopefully a more skilled reefer will chime in.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

I was going to say that your Alk may be to high, but if that's what you normally run it at then it may be that the move has irritated the coral. From the images I don't see any pest and I don't believe that the drop in Mag is significant enough to create the issue you're seeing. Although I am reminded that a quick swing (8 hr period) cost me my Red Planet, Wasabi Coral, and a significant portion of my Red Dragon.

Hopefully a more skilled reefer will chime in.

Thank you! Sorry for your loss! I hope I don't lose it but I guess we'll know more in the morning

 

[Sabellafella]

Anyone have any idea what's going on? I'm worried this is just the first Acro affected and I'm hoping with help I can stop something from happening any further. #reefsquad

Imo i dont think its much of an issue. The photos you provided, those acros look great. Every now and then some of my acros pe wont show for a day or two. First Check for a host, like redbugs (or any bugs), flatworms or something thats ticking them off for them to retract their polyps like that. Then check your water quality

 

[Sabellafella]

Reason i say this, no pe usually indicates a pest problem IF everything is doing well. How long have they ben without pe?

Ill edit this, try to get a clear photo in a whiter setting

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Imo i dont think its much of an issue. The photos you provided, those acros look great. Every now and then some of my acros pe wont show for a day or two. First Check for a host, like redbugs (or any bugs), flatworms or something thats ticking them off for them to retract their polyps like that. Then check your water quality

Thanks! That'll help me rest a little tonight, I'll make sure I go nocturnal and see if I see anything. I don't see anything on it now, it's just weird that 4 frags on that frag rack, just the Chester is acting this way.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Reason i say this, no pe usually indicates a pest problem IF everything is doing well. How long have they ben without pe?

Ill edit this, try to get a clear photo in a whiter setting

Since I did a water change around noon today, so about 9-10 hrs now

 

[redfishbluefish]

You're magnesium is not going to drop that much with a water change unless you changed to a salt that has very low magnesium.....testing error.

Are phosphates and nitrates alway zero? I'd be looking at that. You need a little N and P to keep the coral happy. That's my guess.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

 

[Sabellafella]

Thanks! That'll help me rest a little tonight, I'll make sure I go nocturnal and see if I see anything. I don't see anything on it now, it's just weird that 4 frags on that frag rack, just the Chester is acting this way.

Lol its good to be concerned but they look fine. Check an hour after lights out, if there fully extended, its prob nothing important to worry about

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

You're magnesium is not going to drop that much with a water change unless you changed to a salt that has very low magnesium.....testing error.

Are phosphates and nitrates alway zero? I'd be looking at that. You need a little N and P to keep the coral happy. That's my guess.

Well I get premixed saltwater from my reef guy, and last week I was having an issue raising my mg, I bout some Kent tech m and dosed and it raised my 1110 to 1410 or so and I guess when I did a water change it brought me back down, do you want me to retest now?

As for nitrates and phosphates, they're usually pretty close to 0, I guess I forgot to feed or dose acropower

 

[Diesel]

Don't you love this hobby.................
Corals are not doing exactly what you want them to look like.
I have SPS in my tank that never showed PE during the day only during the night for years and they grew like weeds and had all the color of the rainbow.
You probably want to start looking into dosing just No3 if you have hard time keeping a reading.
That said what kind of reactors you have all running on your tank?
having a 14 gal tank and want to be perfect on Acro's you must know that the balance of your parameters will be off a lot faster that a 50 or 90 or 180 or more.
Not saying it is impossible but I just haven't see much nano's with SPS long term.
It's more like a challenge than a larger tank that's for sure.
IMO and that's my $0.02 leave it to be but check for pest by dipping it every 5 days in Bayer and rinsing it good, really good after the dip in tank water from a water change that you have in a bucket.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Don't you love this hobby.................
Corals are not doing exactly what you want them to look like.
I have SPS in my tank that never showed PE during the day only during the night for years and they grew like weeds and had all the color of the rainbow.
You probably want to start looking into dosing just No3 if you have hard time keeping a reading.
That said what kind of reactors you have all running on your tank?
having a 14 gal tank and want to be perfect on Acro's you must know that the balance of your parameters will be off a lot faster that a 50 or 90 or 180 or more.
Not saying it is impossible but I just haven't see much nano's with SPS long term.
It's more like a challenge than a larger tank that's for sure.
IMO and that's my $0.02 leave it to be but check for pest by dipping it every 5 days in Bayer and rinsing it good, really good after the dip in tank water from a water change that you have in a bucket.

Haha that's what's great about the hobby tho, learning new things every day! I fell in love with SPS and haven't got my 80 gallon up and running yet and I can't help but try and grow them bc it's the only thing that I'm actually attracted to as far as corals go. I put a Sump on to try and increase water volume and so far it has worked. I went from not being able to keep acros alive for more than a couple weeks to keeping them for the last 2 months so far. They are growing and showing good color and then this happens! Lol! All I have is a media reactor that is running npx bioplastics, I actually just started it up again on Friday.

 

[Diesel]

Great little setup you have.
Don't think your carbon reactor can result in that as your other acro's are doing fine for you.
Give it time and keep a close eye on by daily testing on No3 and ALK, keep a log of that and mention in there the behavior of your corals as well.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Great little setup you have.
Don't think your carbon reactor can result in that as your other acro's are doing fine for you.
Give it time and keep a close eye on by daily testing on No3 and ALK, keep a log of that and mention in there the behavior of your corals as well.

Thanks so much! Even if I lose the Chester I value all you guys knowledge! I will keep this thread updated!

 

[Diesel]

Thanks so much! Even if I lose the Chester I value all you guys knowledge! I will keep this thread updated!

That's great.
I don't think you'll lose the chester.
It's just behaving differently than you used too with your other acro's.
Spot feed a little in the early morning.