Coral Problems Xenia & Toadstool leather

[Dylan Grech]

Hi,

3 days ago I got my first corals 1x Xenia and 1x Toadstool leather. To my disbelieve I had insane amounts of problems with both and after a ton of research I came to some theories which maybe you could pin point so I don't repeat them in the future.

Quick background
The tank is 630ltr display + 300ltr sump. It was setup about 7 weeks ago and the cycle has been completed about 5 weeks ago. The tank has about 70kg worth of live rock and as per stocking it only has 2 small sapphire damsels. As per filtration I'm running Japenese matting (mechanical), Crystal Bio (bio) and caulerpa in a fuge which is lit 24/7 under an led grow lamp(caulerpa is doing great). Tank is lit with 6x 10w led flood lights.

Water Parameters
ph 8-8.2
kh 9
salinity 1.025-1.026
mag 1420
ca 380
No3 0
Nh4 0

Problems

1. Xenia is almost dead, fully deflated and no matter what I do it doesn't seem to help it all so for now just letting it be and hope for the best...
2. Toadstool has 2 heads and they seem to be alternating when it comes to opening up and even when 1 of the heads is almost fully open it never reaches 100% opened and it's constantly shedding.

Theories, reasoning and concerns

• Light Issue
  The leather seems to absolutely hate light and even more so it hates complete darkness. I have bought some filters for my flood light to dim them down to a point where I can barely see in my tank anymore and that is the only light they will try to open up to. If I increase the light slightly they close up and as soon the lights go off they close off as well... It makes no sense to me.
  
  
• Refugium is sucking up all the nutrients
  I have some coraline algae growing super fast in the refugium due to the 24/7 light cycle and it's bring down kh and ca down fairly fast, it's so fast that water changes are no longer an option and as of today I will start dosing kalkwasser. This however begs the question... Softies don't really need calcium and the levels are still fine so could it really be an issue?
  
  
• No protein skimmer = not enough oxygen?
  I can't afford a protein skimmer for the time being I'll get to it in a couple of months so I thought maybe I have low levels of oxygen however I do have a powerhead pointed at the surface of the water and the overflow drain pipes are about 1m high so there is plenty of aeration and even more so the damsels never showed any signs of oxygen related problems.
  
  
• New tank syndrome?
  I've read that in the first 6 months the reef just goes to very rapid and major changes that might happen between water tests (I do all tests daily) that might stress corals but not bother hardy fish at all. To me this theory just seems too far fetched especially considering the size of my tank it will take 1hr just to drop .1 of a degree let alone swing the ph / kh in drastic ways in less then 24hrs...
  
  
• Incorrect dipping
  Yes I have to admit that I totally screwed up the dipping process... After dipping them I forgot to rinse the corals before putting them in tank therefore some drip trace elements are in my tank but I did a 10% water change a couple of hours after adding the corals so most of those elements should have been diluted severely.

 

[Zack K]

Those are both REALLY EASY corals to keep. Your problem is NOT lighting, Not dipping, and would bet against NTS. The number one killer of most softies is lack of nutrients (Nitrates and Phosphates. They are starving to death IMO

 

[Dylan Grech]

Those are both REALLY EASY corals to keep. Your problem is NOT lighting, Not dipping, and would bet against NTS. The number one killer of most softies is lack of nutrients (Nitrates and Phosphates. They are starving to death IMO

So what do you suggest?

 

[Zack K]

So what do you suggest?

You can start dosing both, or you can overfeed until you see a rise in them.

 

[Dylan Grech]

Had no idea you can dose nitrates. I'll ask lfs if he has any

 

[Zack K]

Had no idea you can dose nitrates. I'll ask lfs if he has any

IT isnt called "Nitrates in a bottle" but if you search through some threads on here you will find what products and how much to use. Here is a thread that is developing at the monet that just happens to be on how to dose. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-nitrates-how-much.304777/

 

[Dylan Grech]

Talked to lfs and he agreed with you about nutrient issues. Got coral food and a kalkwasser alternative "purple up" The toadstool reacted very well to all products. Will post back progress in a couple of days.

Btw the thread is super interesting thanks

 

[Dylan Grech]

Its been 2 days and everything is doing much better to a certain extend.

1 of the heads if opening up almost fully, but the second head seems to be completely closed all day BUT they are getting stronger and closer to each other and shedding has almost stopped completely.

No3 is now 5ppm and PO4 is 3ppm.

Xenia also seems to be getting back its white color even though still deflated it might make a come back fingers crossed.

Now I have a new question... When I dose coral food the leather closes up completely and starts opening up again a couple of hours later, is this normal?

 

[Zack K]

PO4 3ppm or .3ppm. And yes the feeding thing is normal IME

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

3ppm po4 seems like alot. Mine is at .3ppm and my softies are fine. Nitrtates are good though, worry more about po4 as it inhibits calification

 

[Zack K]

3ppm po4 seems like alot. Mine is at .3ppm and my softies are fine. Nitrtates are good though, worry more about po4 as it inhibits calification

Her parameters aren't paired up if nitrate is 5 and PO4 is 3. I have 160 NO3 with 3 PO4

 

[Dylan Grech]

It was a typo guys. PO4 is 0.3 ppm not 3

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

It was a typo guys. PO4 is 0.3 ppm not 3

That is perfect then, just enough to provide for your corals but not enough to cause issues.

 

[ubasu]

Its been 2 days and everything is doing much better to a certain extend.

1 of the heads if opening up almost fully, but the second head seems to be completely closed all day BUT they are getting stronger and closer to each other and shedding has almost stopped completely.

No3 is now 5ppm and PO4 is 3ppm.

Xenia also seems to be getting back its white color even though still deflated it might make a come back fingers crossed.

Now I have a new question... When I dose coral food the leather closes up completely and starts opening up again a couple of hours later, is this normal?

Yes this is normal. Its grabbing nutrients from the water column and digesting it.

You can turn off the flow and squirt the coral food (gently) with a turkey baster and let it sit for a few minutes so it can grab the food.

 

[stevo01]

Agree with above statements. I like my no3 around 15ppm and with po4 no higher than .5ppm

Side note on the toadstools. They are very sensitive to changes. Light, movement, flow, no3 and po4. If I move mine or change the light or flow I give it 3 weeks. Each evening when the lighting changes my leathers close and then open again an hour or so later.

 

[Dylan Grech]

Side note on the toadstools. They are very sensitive to changes. Light, movement, flow, no3 and po4. If I move mine or change the light or flow I give it 3 weeks. Each evening when the lighting changes my leathers close and then open again an hour or so later.

I noticed that too however now it's doing much much better. 1 of the heads has been closed for days now however I think it's on purpose as the other head is splitting into 2 including the stem and it stays open for most of the day. I was thinking of fragging the closed head as to give more space to the one that is splitting however I have never fragged a coral before so I don't really have the tools and expertise so I'll wait a bit till I've done enough research to feel competent in the matter.