Clove polyps never seem to be happy

[jman2u]

Hi all. Always seemed to struggle with cloves in my tank, they did spread initially and then start withering and halfheartedly coming out. Not sure why.
Parameters 4/5/26
No3 7
Po4 0.1
Ph 7.7 (low today but normally fine and they are still unhappy)
Mg: 1230 (trying to bump it up)
Kh: 7.8
Ca: >500 (I don't dose ca so it's whatever is in the reef crystals I use)
Sal: 1.026


Photos of polyps and for some reason happy daisy polyps

 

[mypocketreef]

Hi all. Always seemed to struggle with cloves in my tank, they did spread initially and then start withering and halfheartedly coming out. Not sure why.
Parameters 4/5/26
No3 7
Po4 0.1
Ph 7.7 (low today but normally fine and they are still unhappy)
Mg: 1230 (trying to bump it up)
Kh: 7.8
Ca: >500 (I don't dose ca so it's whatever is in the reef crystals I use)
Sal: 1.026


Photos of polyps and for some reason happy daisy polyps

Hey! The only thing I see with the water quality could maybe be the lower nitrates. How long has the tank been set up? It could also be light or flow, but considering you have a mostly soft tank, I am unsure if that could be an issue.

 

[jman2u]

Hi all. Always seemed to struggle with cloves in my tank, they did spread initially and then start withering and halfheartedly coming out. Not sure why.
Parameters 4/5/26
No3 7
Po4 0.1
Ph 7.7 (low today but normally fine and they are still unhappy)
Mg: 1230 (trying to bump it up)
Kh: 7.8
Ca: >500 (I don't dose ca so it's whatever is in the reef crystals I use)
Sal: 1.026


Photos of polyps and for some reason happy daisy polyps

Hey! The only thing I see with the water quality could maybe be the lower nitrates. How long has the tank been set up? It could also be light or flow, but considering you have a mostly soft tank, I am unsure if that could be an issue.

Tanks been set up since last May (almost 1 year!!!!). Nitrates and phosphates usually approach zero every week so I have to dose them. Surprisingly the cloves are also unhappy when the nitrate is low

 

[mypocketreef]

Hi all. Always seemed to struggle with cloves in my tank, they did spread initially and then start withering and halfheartedly coming out. Not sure why.
Parameters 4/5/26
No3 7
Po4 0.1
Ph 7.7 (low today but normally fine and they are still unhappy)
Mg: 1230 (trying to bump it up)
Kh: 7.8
Ca: >500 (I don't dose ca so it's whatever is in the reef crystals I use)
Sal: 1.026


Photos of polyps and for some reason happy daisy polyps

Hey! The only thing I see with the water quality could maybe be the lower nitrates. How long has the tank been set up? It could also be light or flow, but considering you have a mostly soft tank, I am unsure if that could be an issue.

Tanks been set up since last May (almost 1 year!!!!). Nitrates and phosphates usually approach zero every week so I have to dose them. Surprisingly the cloves are also unhappy when the nitrate is low

Then I would assume it’s because they are low. They definitely prefer higher nutrients.

 

[dvgyfresh]

cloves like dirty water , make sure to have atleast 5-10ppm nitrate and around .1ppm phosphate

 

[jman2u]

So update: phosphates are now at 0.2 and nitrates were 5, which I raised up. Dosed magnesium and I've been feeding brightwell coral food more consistently. Cloves seem to be improving

 

[mypocketreef]

So update: phosphates are now at 0.2 and nitrates were 5, which I raised up. Dosed magnesium and I've been feeding brightwell coral food more consistently. Cloves seem to be improving

So glad to hear! Just be careful with how quickly you raise your nutrients. Nitrates take longer to build up than phosphates, so watch your phosphates to make sure they don't get to high, and know it may take a little for the nitrates to get up.