Bars
Well-Known Member
2 of the first additions to the tank were my cleaner shrimp. Added 2 blood shrimp later on. Ever since I started the tank, certain (quite a few actually) corals have struggled. Either not opening up at all, only partially opening up or completely shriveling up multiple times a day.
I believe both my lighting and flow are fine and my latest icp test didn't show anything out of place, yet these problems are still around. One example are acans. I bought a few frags almost a year ago and they never properly extended and eventually died. Now that my parameters are stable, I tried again a few weeks ago. Again, after just a few days they stopped extending properly. I've tried multiple spots, but it doesn't matter. Another example are my Euphyllia. They look great and are huge. However, they randomly shrivel up throughout the day. Sometimes just once, other times up to 3 or 4 times a day. It's always just one or two corals.
I've tried running activated carbon, doesn't make a difference. I make sure corals don't touch each other/ are out of each others reach. Never see any corals fighting. Although I rarely dip corals, I do dip them when they seem to be struggling or are often agitated. I also have a canary wrasse that hunts bugs all day long, so I'd imagine he'll pick off a lot of pests if there are any.
The only thing I can think of that's left are the cleaner and blood shrimp. They've always been in the tank. They (especially the cleaners) walk all over the corals and during feeding time they grab whatever they can, often stealing from the corals. Is it possible that they are the cause of my problems? Of course it's easy to find out, but they're among my favorite animals in the tank. If they do cause problems, I'll get rid of them right away, but I'd rather not.
Note: I don't have any fish that pick at corals, neither can I find anything at night that bothers them, except for the shrimp.
Another note: my sps is doing pretty good. Sure, not tremendous growth, but they are definitely growing with great polyp extension. It's mostly lps that struggles a bit. My tank isn't clean at all, nutrients are quite high actually.
I believe both my lighting and flow are fine and my latest icp test didn't show anything out of place, yet these problems are still around. One example are acans. I bought a few frags almost a year ago and they never properly extended and eventually died. Now that my parameters are stable, I tried again a few weeks ago. Again, after just a few days they stopped extending properly. I've tried multiple spots, but it doesn't matter. Another example are my Euphyllia. They look great and are huge. However, they randomly shrivel up throughout the day. Sometimes just once, other times up to 3 or 4 times a day. It's always just one or two corals.
I've tried running activated carbon, doesn't make a difference. I make sure corals don't touch each other/ are out of each others reach. Never see any corals fighting. Although I rarely dip corals, I do dip them when they seem to be struggling or are often agitated. I also have a canary wrasse that hunts bugs all day long, so I'd imagine he'll pick off a lot of pests if there are any.
The only thing I can think of that's left are the cleaner and blood shrimp. They've always been in the tank. They (especially the cleaners) walk all over the corals and during feeding time they grab whatever they can, often stealing from the corals. Is it possible that they are the cause of my problems? Of course it's easy to find out, but they're among my favorite animals in the tank. If they do cause problems, I'll get rid of them right away, but I'd rather not.
Note: I don't have any fish that pick at corals, neither can I find anything at night that bothers them, except for the shrimp.
Another note: my sps is doing pretty good. Sure, not tremendous growth, but they are definitely growing with great polyp extension. It's mostly lps that struggles a bit. My tank isn't clean at all, nutrients are quite high actually.
