I am a newb idiot be nice.

chillout-reefer-dave · Feb 10, 2026

Here is an ugly sick coral.
I've been too busy to post asking for humble help . I am a total idiot currently at this phase and don't mind being told that repeatedly.

I am getting better. and there have been salinity swings, temp swings, light swings, mood swings, you name it. I'm learning. This is science. There will be a few broken beakers.
Anyway here are bad pictures just after lights off.
It's gotten worse and worse.

I will post parameters when I get home from work tonight or when I can.

Salinity is 35ppm with instant ocean.

Any ideas off the top of your heads?
I got this stuff from a tank tear down a week ago. Lots of gsp covered rocks, 2 Duncans and a zoa. The zoa seems ok for some reason.

Sorry I'm in a rush on mobile, at work. This probably reads like word salad.

JumboShrimp · Feb 10, 2026

Are you rushing your system along too fast?... how long has it been set up. The rocks look fairly mature from what little I can see, but something looks 'off' to the eye. Is this basically your only one or two corals in there, or are there several others (that are doing well)?

Mr. Mojo Rising · Feb 10, 2026

Some corals are more sensitive than others, this coral obviously is not liking the instability of the tank. Corals prefer very stable environments, and with the big swings you are describing it sounds like a system issue, there is no one thing you can do to fix that coral IMO. You need to give the system time to stabilize and meanwhile do some reading. Good luck

Privateye · Feb 10, 2026

Once you post your water chemistry, that will usually be the first place we look for clues. Especially since this happened in the span of a week.

Are there any animals in your tank that were not present with the corals in the old tank? Perhaps something that could nip at or irritate the coral? Looks like it's a duncan, and those are usually pretty hardy.

Mebbid · Feb 10, 2026

It seems to me like you already know what your problems are, and unfortunately fixing those are the key to helping that coral survive (its going to be a slim chance, but there's still a chance).

Test your water weekly with high quality test kits. If you report the results we can offer some more advice. We primarily need to know nitrate, phosphate, pH, and dKH; magnesium and calcium would be a bonus. To fix your other problems, an auto top off system to stabilize the salinity, and an inkbird to stabilize the temp.