Coral not looking so great

[Adam22Ross]

Hi!
So recently I bought a hammer coral and it was doing great for the first few days and then all the sudden it closed up and has stayed closed for the past 4 or 5 days. The water has gotten cloudy since then I’m not sure if it is the hammer that is causing this? All the other corals in the tank have not been looking as happy now either.
My latest water test showed
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Ph-8.0
Alk-13
Calcium380
Phosphate-0
Salinity-1.025
The only thing I’ve really been able to think of is the Alk since the coral was used to being around 8.5 and now it’s at 13 but people I have talked to said that wouldn’t be affecting the coral and I don’t know if that would make the water cloudy.
This is in a 10g nano so would it be best to remove the hammer if that is what is causing the cloudy water?

I also did a decent size water change yesterday hoping it would help clear everything up but the water is still looking pretty cloudy today.

 

[Saltyreef]

You may want to figure out why your alk is at 13. Some of the higher alk salt mixes mix up to 11.5 but 13 is too high. What are you using to measure your salinity? Are you dosing or adding anything else to the water besides fresh salt mix?
Have you done a salinity cal mag and alk reading on your fresh mixed salt?
What salt are you using?

 

[Adam22Ross]

I figured out the other day that my LFS uses instant ocean reef crystals for their reef water which has a alk of 13 so I bought some regular salt water from them yesterday which has a alk of 11 and did a water change. I currently take my water to the LFS to get the water checked since they are only 10 minutes away.

 

[Adam22Ross]

The only thing I have added to the tank is Seachem Marine Buffer for the ph but that was last week and I used half a Teaspoon

 

[ScottB]

The only thing I have added to the tank is Seachem Marine Buffer for the ph but that was last week and I used half a Teaspoon

Adding buffer increases alkalinity.
I would take the hammer back ASAP until you get your parameters MUCH closer to your LFS parameters. A difference in ALK like that will prove mortal to almost any corals. Except of course palys.

Without buffer, what is your pH like? 7.8 or higher is enough. Open windows if you can.

 

[Saltyreef]

I wouldnt use buffer in your tank at this point to chase PH. You need to be very careful with LFS water too. They likely dont use 0ppm RODI to mix it. Filtered natural sea water would be the better choice if buying pre mixed water.
Your issues could be stemming from the quality of their RODI. I was paying for RODI from an actual water service store. They had a huge DI resin bottle that they would turn on to divert their RO through it just for me when i came by. Needless to say it still tested at 11ppm. It was the root cause of my un happy tank and coral. Drop the alk slowly.

 

[BeejReef]

Uncomfortably high alkalinity.

Your calcium is very low in comparison. At least if it were higher, you might get some of the excess alkalinity to precipitate out of solution.

How much alkalinity does your tank consume in an average day? You might be able to ride it out if the system is sucking it up. If you have minimal consumption, I'd seriously think about taking steps to get it down.

How old is this tank? Cloudy water could be the issue or a symptom of the issue.

 

[Adam22Ross]

Alright I will make sure to check on the water at my LFS and see if that is what could be causing the problem, To drop the alk what would be the best way to do so? Just let it sit or water change?

 

[Adam22Ross]

The tank is a month old but cycled in the first week, I used live sand and rock that had been in another tank. I know I probably shouldn’t have got the hammer though.

As far as calcium consumption a day I haven’t checked but I figure it is not very much because I don’t have a whole lot of corals, Mostly have GSP, but also a few mushrooms, 2 zoas, and 2 heads of frogspawn

 

[Adam22Ross]

Adding buffer increases alkalinity.
I would take the hammer back ASAP until you get your parameters MUCH closer to your LFS parameters. A difference in ALK like that will prove mortal to almost any corals. Except of course palys.

Without buffer, what is your pH like? 7.8 or higher is enough. Open windows if you can.

Alright I won’t be adding anymore ph buffer, Luckily I haven’t added anymore in the past week. My ph is at around 8 now but it was lower. I will try to take the hammer to my LFS.

 

[tankstudy]

Hi!
So recently I bought a hammer coral and it was doing great for the first few days and then all the sudden it closed up and has stayed closed for the past 4 or 5 days. The water has gotten cloudy since then I’m not sure if it is the hammer that is causing this? All the other corals in the tank have not been looking as happy now either.
My latest water test showed
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Ph-8.0
Alk-13
Calcium380
Phosphate-0
Salinity-1.025
The only thing I’ve really been able to think of is the Alk since the coral was used to being around 8.5 and now it’s at 13 but people I have talked to said that wouldn’t be affecting the coral and I don’t know if that would make the water cloudy.
This is in a 10g nano so would it be best to remove the hammer if that is what is causing the cloudy water?

I also did a decent size water change yesterday hoping it would help clear everything up but the water is still looking pretty cloudy today.

You have a bacterial bloom and that will cause corals to close up. You'll want to get a UV sterilizer. Water changes sometimes may help but sometimes it won't.

As for your alkalinity, I'd just do a 50% water change with some of the lower alkalinity salts. This will help bring it down a bit.

Don't chase pH. I haven't chased pH in 8-9 years. 7.8-7.6 pH is what my tank sits at and I just leave it alone.

Take care of the bacteria ASAP. The faster you do, the faster your corals will return to normal.

 

[Adam22Ross]

Also yesterday I moved the hammer coral and it touched the glass and one of the tentacles stuck to the glass and was brown inside, Is the hammer just dead and deteriorating? Should I get rid of it? Afraid it might be killing my other corals

 

[Adam22Ross]

You have a bacterial bloom and that will cause corals to close up. You'll want to get a UV sterilizer. Water changes sometimes may help but sometimes it won't.

As for your alkalinity, I'd just do a 50% water change with some of the lower alkalinity salts. This will help bring it down a bit.

Don't chase pH. I haven't chased pH in 8-9 years. 7.8-7.6 pH is what my tank sits at and I just leave it alone.

Take care of the bacteria ASAP. The faster you do, the faster your corals will return to normal.

To know for sure there is a bacterial bloom would there be ammonia in the tank?

 

[tankstudy]

Also yesterday I moved the hammer coral and it touched the glass and one of the tentacles stuck to the glass and was brown inside, Is the hammer just dead and deteriorating? Should I get rid of it? Afraid it might be killing my other corals

When in sub optimal conditions they will shrivel up and look kind of brown. While moving hammers/torches/frogspawns, I've ripped off tentacles by accident and they will be fine. As long as your hammer is not a pile of melting goo that is falling apart it

To know for sure there is a bacterial bloom would there be ammonia in the tank?

I don't know about the presence of ammonia but if you have access to a microscope, it's pretty easy at that point.

 

[Adam22Ross]

When in sub optimal conditions they will shrivel up and look kind of brown. While moving hammers/torches/frogspawns, I've ripped off tentacles by accident and they will be fine. As long as your hammer is not a pile of melting goo that is falling apart it



I don't know about the presence of ammonia but if you have access to a microscope, it's pretty easy at that point.

Alright thank you! Where do you recommend getting a uv sterilizer?

 

[tankstudy]

Alright thank you! Where do you recommend getting a uv sterilizer?

I use the ones from Petsmart or Petco. Nothing too fancy but they can be pricey if I recall. I run one 24/7 on all my systems. These blooms don't happen often but when they do, everything looks like its melting.

 

[BeejReef]

Hope it works out.

It sounds like you prefer to run your parameters a little lower. 8.5 dkh is a great target.
This could be an issue when buying pre-mixed saltwater from the LFS, especially since theirs is 13dkh.
Every time you do a water change, you will spike your alkalinity.

A lot of people will recommend a RODI unit. I get it, it's a 10 gallon tank. That's the gold standard you should work towards if you want a bigger tank someday or are planning long term.

In the meantime, you could instead by rodi water from your lfs and mix your own salt at home. Just pick one with parameters close to what you want to keep. Sure, if you're doing a bunch of very small water changes, 13dkh water might not be the end of the world.

Someday, something will happen though, and you'll have to do a 50% water change, or a series of 30% ones. If something bad is already going on in the tank, the last thing you want to do is to provide a big parameter shock along with the remedy.