Kenya tree not opening

[fisheriesdoc]

I’ve had this piece of Kenya tree for about half a year now. It has grown a bit, but hasn’t opened fully over the last four or five months- the picture shows what I’m taking about- and it’s fairly ugly. I’ve tried changing the water flow, but haven’t found anything that works.
Water quality is very stable and pretty normal:
pH: 8.1
PO4: 0.3-0.5 (Hanna)
NO3: 5
Ammonia: 0
Mg:1350
KH: 9-10
Ca2: 460-480

I have several hammers and LPS that are marginally more difficult to keep and they all seem to be thriving.

Any thoughts on how I can make this coral happy?

 

[CMMorgan]

Lighting? Mine shrivels down like that at night. It will occasionally get temperamental if my SG is out of whack - say I have to top off or I just did a water change. I've never had one stay that way for more than a few days though.... they are sort of bullet proof. Try to up the lighting location maybe.

 

[Miklo_Miklo12]

Perimeters?

 

[Miklo_Miklo12]

Nvm I didn’t see it lol

 

[Miklo_Miklo12]

Try raising ph

 

[fisheriesdoc]

Perimeters?

pH is interesting. I checked my records and the coral started closing when I switched from kalkwasser to a 2-part solution. I didn’t notice much of a drop in pH (8.2 -> 8.1) but I suppose that could be meaningful since pH is on a log scale.

 

[fisheriesdoc]

Lighting? Mine shrivels down like that at night. It will occasionally get temperamental if my SG is out of whack - say I have to top off or I just did a water change. I've never had one stay that way for more than a few days though.... they are sort of bullet proof. Try to up the lighting location maybe.

Thanks. I think lighting should be fine since it did thrive at its current level months ago, but it might be worth trying to pry it from that spot as a last resort. Salinity is stable via ATO. It’s definitely bullet proof since it has looked like this for months and won’t die!

 

[GeoSquid]

I don't think small swings in ph or salinity would affect it. Try lots of light and lots of flow.

 

[CMMorgan]

I don't think small swings in ph or salinity would affect it. Try lots of light and lots of flow.

Agreed - mine is in high flow and good light. The only thing that has ticked it off lately are the vermatid snail webs.

 

[fisheriesdoc]

Agreed - mine is in high flow and good light. The only thing that has ticked it off lately are the vermatid snail webs.

Wanted to close the loop on this in case others have a similar problem. I incrementally increased the light and turned a power head to blow on the Kenya tree. It gradually improved over the last couple of months. However, I recently dosed red slime remover in response to a tiny outbreak and the Kenya tree improved drastically.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Hi doc, so the improvement of your Kenya Tree may have been a result of the water change you did a day or two after your treatment of Red Slime remover. So here’s where I’m going with this. Toxins cannot be seem nor tested for. One of your photos show that you have a lot of close quarters in your reef. Zoas, your KTC and a Frog Spawn all very close to each other, all fighting for their space. And sending out toxins by way of just touching each other or sweeper tentacles. It chemical warfare at its best. Certain corals cannot thrive in this environment. Solution: constant water changes, fresh carbon, or separation. Been through this myself. Good luck Bud.

 

[Gtinnel]

I found that if I really hate a kenya tree and passionately hope it would die in my tank, that hatred fuels it and it grows like a weed. Dropping its little demon babies all through the tank.

But I guess more light and flow could help too.

 

[fisheriesdoc]

Hi doc, so the improvement of your Kenya Tree may have been a result of the water change you did a day or two after your treatment of Red Slime remover. So here’s where I’m going with this. Toxins cannot be seem nor tested for. One of your photos show that you have a lot of close quarters in your reef. Zoas, your KTC and a Frog Spawn all very close to each other, all fighting for their space. And sending out toxins by way of just touching each other or sweeper tentacles. It chemical warfare at its best. Certain corals cannot thrive in this environment. Solution: constant water changes, fresh carbon, or separation. Been through this myself. Good luck Bud.

That might be the problem. I’ll start keeping better tabs on carbon.

Although, the picture is slightly deceiving- the hammer is 4-6 inches away- but the zoa encroachment is real and slightly annoying. This red slime remover (ultra life) doesn’t require a big water change, so I followed my normal water change routine.

 

[Ro Bow]

temp?

 

[Glenner’sreef]

That might be the problem. I’ll start keeping better tabs on carbon.

Although, the picture is slightly deceiving- the hammer is 4-6 inches away- but the zoa encroachment is real and slightly annoying. This red slime remover (ultra life) doesn’t require a big water change, so I followed my normal water change routine.

Totally good! So often we as reefers look towards chemistry and parameters and ignore natural causes. And so often hobbyists like yourself are doing everything by the book and so the only logical direction is nature. Later