OP
OP
Fishology
Active Member
I would also like to add that over the past couple days several do the polyps have opened so it my have just been sand or it feeding on food. Either way I’m still going to by a alkaline and calcium testers
Corals polyps won’t open
- Thread starter Fishology
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educatedreefer
Active Member
Man reading through this lengthy post was rough hahahah xDI would also like to add that over the past couple days several do the polyps have opened so it my have just been sand or it feeding on food. Either way I’m still going to by a alkaline and calcium testers
Anywho, what you have here is a Tubinaria peltata (Green Tubinaria frag) and is considered as an LPS (long polyp stony coral).
Keys to thriving in this hobby is: water quality testing, lighting, flow, and patience (stability).
Parameters to strive for:
Salinity: 1.025-1.026
Alkalinity: 8-9dkh
Calcium: 420-460ppm
Magnesium: 1400-1700ppm
Nitrate: 10-25ppm
Phosphate: 0.03-1
1. Make sure to invest in a good quality salt mix and insure to mix it with RODI or at least Distilled water as tap water has many contaminates. I use Fluval Marine Pro salt since Tropic Marin and Red Sea Marine salt got too expensive to use hahah
2. If possible, invest in a better light and stay away from most Amazon brands such as Nicrew, Hygger, etc. A decent light can last a long time and will provide necessary photons to aid in coral growth. Try Fluval Marine, Kessil 360WE, AI Prime 16HD, Hydra 32 or buy it used off a reefer
Typically a light that produces 100+ PAR on the sand bed at 24 inches should be ideal with LPS and 250+ PAR on the top half of the tank would be ideal with SPS.3. Measure measure measure!
Measure salinity daily with a ($19) refractometer, Salifert Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium test kits ($21 each), Salifert Nitrate/Phosphate test kit ($22 each). Or at least measure salinity and alkalinity daily in the morning. Measure in the morning and wait 24hrs and test to see how much element is being used by your corals to determine daily dose needed to maintain the aforementioned ideal water parameters and follow the instructions on respective dosing containers.
4. Unless you’re doing weekly 10-20% water changes, there’s no need to dose alkalinity, calcium, or magnesium unless your tank is heavily stocked with corals as a water change should be able to replace the absorbed elements. However, if you do, I suggest using Tropic Marin All For Reef as you just dose accordingly depending on your alkalinity level. (Kind of an “all-in-one” magic solution imo)
5. Maintaining nutrients (Nitrates & Phosphates): Not as important as the three elements (Alk, Cal, Mg) but significant enough to test weekly as corals can thrive without nitrates, BUT NEED phosphates. If you cycled your tank, you shouldn’t be able to detect ammonia or nitrites as your bacteria should be able to break waste and food down into nitrates. If your nitrates are higher than 25-30ppm then perform a water change, otherwise allow the beneficial bacteria and corals uptake the nutrients. (I actually don’t do water changes since my corals and bacteria take care of nutrients into their growth). Just make sure your nitrates/phosphates don’t hit 0 or competitive organisms such as cyano, brown, diatoms could make your tank look “unpleasant”.
6. Lastly, try dosing amino acids daily but be careful not to OD as it could cause problems with excess nutrient levels.
7. Use the aforementioned water parameters as a guide not necessarily your goal, but do strive to keep things consistent and free from wild swings and changes. “Corals hate dramatic swings even towards ideal parameters”
Just my honest advice to help you since it’s an expensive hobby and easy to make “financially poor” decisions
One of my 250g tanks crashed years ago and I lost at least $21K in corals and fish so learn from my mistake hahahah
(p.s. don’t rely on electronic testers and just use Salifert since it gives you the most accurate, “financially speaking” results and let us know what salt brand you’re using!)
To answer your question: ive had tubinaria corals before and they enjoy indirect medium flow and tend to do best on a rock on the sand bed. Polyp closing may be due to light overexposure, magnesium low, alkalinity fluctuations, shrimp or fish irritating the polyp, lack of flow (just enough so detritus doesn’t settle.
Try to stabilize your water parameters and then try to deduce if the above issues may be causing the polyps to recede or why other corals may be dying.
Last edited:
TheSheff
Active Member
IK this isn’t answering the original question you asked but zoas actually really like flow. If they don’t have any detritus build up on the base and can kill them if it gets bad enough. Most people that keep their zoas in a low flow area turkey bast them occasionally.
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