Little Shop of Horrors frag closed for weeks

[Stomatopods17]

Water params:

Salinity: 1.023
Temp: 76.8F
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 8.4
Nitrates: undetectable
Phosphates: undetectable
Alk: 10
Feeding: Reef Roids
calcium: 390 (currently raising it)
Mag, iodine, par: don't know, don't have the means to test on me rn

Other corals: Zoanthid colonies around it doing great

Lighting: ai prime, currently put it on acclimation mode to see if lighting is too high but moved it down as well.

Coral was so healthy when i got it, it was fully open in box it shipped in and stayed open with the lights out at night. Fast forward a couple healthy weeks later, it closed up and hasn't opened back up since, probably about a month now. I had a candy apple frag before this umbrella and completely die on me.

3 days ago I did a searchem dip on it for 30 minutes with no results yet. No visible pest, this frag is only 2 heads.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

what test kit are you using?
How old is your tank?
What size is the tank, or rather, how deep is it?

 

[BASEDVXO]

Nitrates: undetectable
Phosphates: undetectable

maybe your water is to clean they need some nitrates

 

[Stomatopods17]

what test kit are you using?
How old is your tank?
What size is the tank, or rather, how deep is it?

Refractometer, API, digital thermometer

Tank been running since December 2022, had a 2 head fire and ice zoa frag go from 2 head to currently 7, and an unknown zoa do the same as well.

29g display with 20g sump (approx <10 gallons filled). No skimmer, used to have one but when i turned it off a few months ago it suddenly stopped working and wouldn't turn back one and just ditched it entirely. Carbon is chemipure elite

 

[Stomatopods17]

Nitrates: undetectable
Phosphates: undetectable

maybe your water is to clean they need some nitrates

I've been trying to raise it a bit but admittingly API test kit ain't the best for those tiny amounts. I feed reef roids (target every frag with syringe) approx every week hoping that works and the diatom phase ended before this coral was introduced.
Only inhabitants is a damsel and a large mantis that lives in those two holes, she doesn't bother anything but i give her large clams which are pretty messy or pieces of krill so the fish also gets some debris to eat.

 

[xWascallyWabbit]

Zoanthids have always been hit or miss for me. Most do well but sometimes others do not. IMO zoanthids come from all over and one might like high flow/high light with high nutrients and another the exact opposite. They are also very finicky when it comes to anything touching them such as cyano or algae. Keep them clean!

 

[BASEDVXO]

Refractometer, API, digital thermometer

Tank been running since December 2022, had a 2 head fire and ice zoa frag go from 2 head to currently 7, and an unknown zoa do the same as well.

29g display with 20g sump (approx <10 gallons filled). No skimmer, used to have one but when i turned it off a few months ago it suddenly stopped working and wouldn't turn back one and just ditched it entirely. Carbon is chemipure elite

yeah remove the chemi-pure your probably running it really low on nutrients and the carbon and pho removal is not helping . how many fish do you have ?

 

[Tavero]

Water params:

Salinity: 1.023
Temp: 76.8F
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 8.4
Nitrates: undetectable
Phosphates: undetectable
Alk: 10
Feeding: Reef Roids
calcium: 390 (currently raising it)
Mag, iodine, par: don't know, don't have the means to test on me rn

Other corals: Zoanthid colonies around it doing great

Lighting: ai prime, currently put it on acclimation mode to see if lighting is too high but moved it down as well.

Coral was so healthy when i got it, it was fully open in box it shipped in and stayed open with the lights out at night. Fast forward a couple healthy weeks later, it closed up and hasn't opened back up since, probably about a month now. I had a candy apple frag before this umbrella and completely die on me.

3 days ago I did a searchem dip on it for 30 minutes with no results yet. No visible pest, this frag is only 2 heads.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

you will need better test kits for nitrate and phosphate, API does not test ultra low numbers that we need to know.

Your tank is probably 18" deep, the AI16 on acclimation mode will have very low PAR at the bottom of the tank. I have my AI16 at 80% on a 15 gallon softie tank thats 12" deep. I think you should turn your lights up.

Also, without a skimmer, try pointing a powerhead at the water surface, to help with gas exchange and get some oxygen into the water.

 

[BASEDVXO]

I've been trying to raise it a bit but admittingly API test kit ain't the best for those tiny amounts. I feed reef roids (target every frag with syringe) approx every week hoping that works and the diatom phase ended before this coral was introduced.
Only inhabitants is a damsel and a large mantis that lives in those two holes, she doesn't bother anything but i give her large clams which are pretty messy or pieces of krill so the fish also gets some debris to eat.

bro easy fix , get more fish don't run a protein skimmer and don't run carbon until you actually need it and if i had to guess this is a new setup so under 3 fish in a 30gallon slow down on water changes for now . then watch all your corals start to take off

 

[Saltyreef]

THe main issues i see with new tanks and hobbiests is the difference in water parameters from where the frag came from.

Dont feel too defeated. LSOH are high ends for a reason. They arent the hardiest!

 

[Stomatopods17]

you will need better test kits for nitrate and phosphate, API does not test ultra low numbers that we need to know.

Your tank is probably 18" deep, the AI16 on acclimation mode will have very low PAR at the bottom of the tank. I have my AI16 at 80% on a 15 gallon softie tank thats 12" deep. I think you should turn your lights up.

This is what i have it normally set to, i put on acclimation for a 'see what happens' rather than lower them manually, incase maybe the light was too high. This isn't anyones preset just me rough guessing with the dips trying to be clouds like I read some like to do. CWs are manually turned down with the ML setting off since i was battling a bloom awhile ago and i got comfortable with everything as is once the bloom ended.

Also, without a skimmer, try pointing a powerhead at the water surface, to help with gas exchange and get some oxygen into the water.

Going to try now. I was relying on the overflow drainage for air too much.

 

[Stomatopods17]

bro easy fix , get more fish don't run a protein skimmer and don't run carbon until you actually need it and if i had to guess this is a new setup so under 3 fish in a 30gallon slow down on water changes for now . then watch all your corals start to take off

Going to take out the carbon and see what happens, is it specifically just my brand of carbon (chemipure elite) and i can run something as cheap as tetra carbon for safety reasons or should i just ditch the concept of carbon entirely?

 

[Reef.]

If other corals are fine I would go changing things around just to suit a new frag.

Also I would not trust api for po4 until you check it with a Hanna, chances are it’s not zero, especially since you are feeding reefroids and clams.

 

[BASEDVXO]

Going to take out the carbon and see what happens, is it specifically just my brand of carbon (chemipure elite) and i can run something as cheap as tetra carbon for safety reasons or should i just ditch the concept of carbon entirely?

just to make sure, can i ask why your running it in the first place ?

The brand is fine nothing wrong with it but typically you should use this as a tool to bring down nitrates and the pure model i believe also has pho removal which is typically not needed in a new system specially with only one fish.

so in my experience your stripping out the little nutrients you have in the tank and on top of it if your using a skimmer theres no real way of your soft corals to grow aside form the salt nutrients

 

[Stomatopods17]

just to make sure, can i ask why your running it in the first place ?

I rinse my hands off very thoroughly, but its mainly paranoia of introducing unwanted chemicals like sanitizers and cleaning solutions (i live with germaphobes that sanitize the door and even sink handles, personally that ain't my beliefs we need to do that but i'm trying to work around it.)

Its not really for nutrient control tbh, i could easily swap the brands.

 

[BASEDVXO]

I rinse my hands off very thoroughly, but its mainly paranoia of introducing unwanted chemicals like sanitizers and cleaning solutions (i live with germaphobes that sanitize the door and even sink handles, personally that ain't my beliefs we need to do that but i'm trying to work around it.)

Its not really for nutrient control tbh, i could easily swap the brands.

well it not about the band its about what they do .

the carbon removes and polishes the water but in between the reaction with the water it also removes nitrates I use carbon and phos removals in my main tank also but it i can get away with it because i have a ton of fish and need it for my levels to stay at a good place .

I don't know what kind of chemicals you use in your home and how often as long as you don't spray to close to the tank you should be okay. id say maybe first get a good test kit for your tank and then take it slow . start with finding out what your levels are at if i am right and they are too low start with getting the water some more nutrients but also at a healthy level . you can search on youtube and kind of learn a little more off videos and ask questions on here