GPS coral not fully extending.

msavoy · Sep 8, 2021

I bought my GPS coral probably about 2 months ago now. When I first bought it, it opened up fully for about a week and was swaying in the water. Then I did a water change and it closed up for probably around a week and then started to extend again but probably only about 1/4 of what it had before. Now a few days ago I did another water change and again it’s been fully closed since then. All my parameters seem good and all my other corals are doing great. The nitrates are a little high at around 10 but I don’t think that should affect much. I was kind of excited to have this coral grow and take up some space in my tank since I know they have a reputation for growing quickly, but at this rate I’m not so sure. Anyone else ever have a similar experience? Any ideas as to what is going on? Thanks for your help. (I’ve circled it in the pic and I showed the whole tank so you can see how everything else seems happy).

unchaotic · Sep 8, 2021

Mine did the same thing. They reacted poorly to my lighting at first so I moved them into a dimmer location. This was a bad idea and they've still barely recovered. I got another batch from a local reefer and put it in direct light and it's encrusting my back glass like crazy.

If yours seems to be related to water changes maybe you need to do parameter checks on your newly mixed saltwater compared to the tanks water before the change. Maybe a significant pH or Alk difference. My newly mixed water has such a low pH I'd be worried if I had to do a significant water change.

msavoy · Sep 8, 2021

Thank you for your response. You know what, it could actually be the lighting with mine as well. I have it placed near the bottom on the side. It does get some light but not as much as if was up higher. If it eventually doesn’t improve I will try moving it to a place with more light.

And yes it does seem to have something to do with the water changes. It’s funny my other corals don’t seemed bothered by the changes and it’s just this one. I’ll suggest as you said and check my parameters before and after the change and see if the difference is big. Thanks again for the info.