Is my coral dying?

[Jennduhh]

HI there,
I am personally new to reef tanks, but have recently taken one over. My boyfriend has had reef tanks for years, but he kinda...gave up...on it recently so i took it over & here we are.
I've had freshwater tanks for years, but never saltwater. I've been doing a ton of research recently & things have been going well. That being said I have one coral that was extremely happy, but in the last 3 weeks I haven't seen it open AT ALL.
There are 2 other corals in the tank, both of which haven't opened in about a week.

I believe the big guy is a leather coral, but someone please correct me if I'm mistaken. It's almost taken on a bruised appearance in the last few weeks & the more I look, the more afraid I am that it may be dying.

If anyone has any insight, it would be greatly appreciated.

Picture included.

Tank mates:
2 coral banded shrimp
2 hermit crabs
1 conch snail
1 nassarius snail
1 emerald crab
1 lawnmower blenny

20gal tank.
Water params:
Ammonia 0ppm
Alkalinity 9ppm
Nitrates 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Calcium 413ppm
pH 8.2
Salinity fluctuates 1.025 to 1.026

I haven't changed anything, aside from my normal water changes, since this began. I'm completely perplexed.


Thanks for the assist!


ETA: There is also a film that has shown up on the surface of my tank, this morning. I broke it up & now there are..chunks. This tank does not have a wave maker, but 1 power head does break the surface water & the other is angled under the surface. Should I be concerned with this?

 

[moldos]

Have you noticed a film of some form on the leather coral itself?

 

[DPScoral]

It seems like your corals might be stressed. Check the lighting, water flow, and watch for pests. Keep an eye on them, make minor adjustments, and if the issue continues, seek advice from experienced reef enthusiasts or your local fish store. Patience and care are key in reef-keeping. I know it kinda basic but the is most important.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

First, leathers often look like they're dying but it's just the way they shed periodically. But...

Second, with nitrates at 0, your corals might be starving.

 

[cloak]

assuming parameters and lighting are within reason, these corals like a lot of flow. wave action so to say. chaotic. GL.

 

[Jennduhh]

Thanks yall!
Things got better for a bit & they went back to normal after the next wc, but now I've noticed he (the coral) has holes...

 

[officialreefbros]

If you can re-test your nitrates to confirm and test your phosphates. Your nutrients could be low and at risk of dinos and coral starving. Feed more!

 

[jabberwock]

If you can re-test your nitrates to confirm and test your phosphates. Your nutrients could be low and at risk of dinos and coral starving. Feed more!

Agree with this. You have a pretty good clean up crew. Remember, you are not feeding the fish, you are feeding the tank.

 

[Lavey29]

It looks like something is nipping at the soft coral. If your nutrients are bottomed out your corals are starving to death. You need nitrates at 10 and phosphate. 05 to .1. Weekly water changes are critical for nano tanks. Pictures seem like water is cloudy. What is your light source? You need flow in the tank and good surface ripple across the tank for gas exchange. Also if you have leather corals you need to run carbon because they can put turpenes into the water to harm other corals as a defensive mechanism.

 

[Kasrift]

HI there,
I am personally new to reef tanks, but have recently taken one over. My boyfriend has had reef tanks for years, but he kinda...gave up...on it recently so i took it over & here we are.
I've had freshwater tanks for years, but never saltwater. I've been doing a ton of research recently & things have been going well. That being said I have one coral that was extremely happy, but in the last 3 weeks I haven't seen it open AT ALL.
There are 2 other corals in the tank, both of which haven't opened in about a week.

I believe the big guy is a leather coral, but someone please correct me if I'm mistaken. It's almost taken on a bruised appearance in the last few weeks & the more I look, the more afraid I am that it may be dying.

If anyone has any insight, it would be greatly appreciated.

Picture included.

Tank mates:
2 coral banded shrimp
2 hermit crabs
1 conch snail
1 nassarius snail
1 emerald crab
1 lawnmower blenny

20gal tank.
Water params:
Ammonia 0ppm
Alkalinity 9ppm
Nitrates 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Calcium 413ppm
pH 8.2
Salinity fluctuates 1.025 to 1.026

I haven't changed anything, aside from my normal water changes, since this began. I'm completely perplexed.


Thanks for the assist!


ETA: There is also a film that has shown up on the surface of my tank, this morning. I broke it up & now there are..chunks. This tank does not have a wave maker, but 1 power head does break the surface water & the other is angled under the surface. Should I be concerned with this?

It's fine. Leather's shed, think of a snake shedding it's skin to grow larger. Same concept except it takes longer, the leather can look unhappy for a few weeks then be perfectly fine.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks yall!
Things got better for a bit & they went back to normal after the next wc, but now I've noticed he (the coral) has holes...

This is normal. It's how they "self frag". The holes will get bigger until a piece of the coral falls off. If you want, you can speed up the process and frag the coral yourself. With the coral OUTSIDE the tank, cut it with a razor blade or very sharp scissors (depending on how thick the crown is). Dip any frags as well as the original coral in iodine and then return to the tank. There's likely going to be a bit of slime... To encourage the frags to attach to rock, you can either put them in a mushroom box with some rubble/small rocks/empty shells, or you can tie the frag pieces to plugs or rocks with sewing thread.
(But you don't HAVE to do anything... It will go through the process on its own with no problem, it will just look kinda crappy for a little while)

 

[Garf]

I’d also throw a little activated carbon in when they do this (in a mesh bag) due to the chemicals possibly released as mentioned above.