Lost 2 LPS

[LawrenceP]

Hey everyone,

I'm hoping someone has some suggestions. I had a hammer coral in my tank that looked great for 3 weeks and then slowly closed up and died. I thought I'd try again with a trumpet coral because they're supposed to be pretty hardy. I got it from a different shop than the hammer coral. Same thing - it looked great for 3 weeks and then closed up and died.

My tank had been up and running for about two months when I put the hammer in and three months when I put the trumpet in. Could my tank simply be too new to support corals?

I have a Marine Orbit LED over the tank. In the reviews people said they had success with corals but it's not specifically advertised as a light for reef tanks. Am I not giving them enough light?

https://www.amazon.com/Current-USA-M.../dp/B00GFTK7CQ

My tank is a 20H. I had both corals mid level with medium flow. Tank parameters:

0 ammonia
0 nitrites
<5 nitrates
0 phosphates
7 dkh
420 calcium
8.4 pH
78 degrees F
1.024 SG

I have a magnesium test kit on the way. Could magnesium be the culprit?

Could my water be too "clean"? I actually measured 0 nitrates a couple days ago.

I use RODI water and change out about 10% weekly.

There are two ocellaris clownfish and a royal gramma along with a handful of cerith and nassarius snails. All are doing fine. The fish have been in there for three months.

Right after I started using the light I had a couple blooms of what I think are diatoms. Could that kill the corals? Is the algae consuming all the nitrates?

I'm open to any other ideas. These were my first two corals and I thought I knew what I was doing but obviously not. It's heartbreaking to watch the corals suffer

Thanks in advance!

 

[sbash]

Could my tank simply be too new to support corals?

Quite simply, yes...

What and how much food were you putting into the tank?

Were you feeding the corals directly?

How old is the tank?

My tank is a 20H.

What does this mean?

Could that kill the corals? Is the algae consuming all the nitrates?

Unlikely, and possibly.

Either way, sorry for your loss.

I find hammers to be the most delicate hardy coral I have ever kept.

It is likely you had several variables working against you. Lack of nutrients in the water column, low lighting (unless they were close to the top), potentially flow issues.

 

[LawrenceP]

I use new life spectrum marine food for the fish. I've had good luck with that brand for cichlids. I give them as much as they can eat in 2 minutes twice a day. It's a pair of clownfish and a royal gramma so I'm not putting a whole lot of food in there.

I was not feeding the corals directly. My LFS said they get all the nutrition they need from the light. Would hammers and trumpets benefit from feeding?

It has now been about 3 months since I put the fish in, which was after a fishless cycle of about 3 weeks. I waited another month after putting the fish in to put the hammer coral in.

Tank is 20 gallons high.

 

[Vincent100]

No no3 no po4 lps won't like that very much and with your tank being so young that won't help ....just my 2 Bob's worth

 

[sbash]

I use new life spectrum marine food for the fish. I've had good luck with that brand for cichlids. I give them as much as they can eat in 2 minutes twice a day. It's a pair of clownfish and a royal gramma so I'm not putting a whole lot of food in there.

Okay, that seems good, so there is a reasonable amount of nutrients going into the system.

My LFS said they get all the nutrition they need from the light. Would hammers and trumpets benefit from feeding?

This is not really true. They either do not understand how the organisms work, or they are over simplifying it. Most, if not all corals will benefit from being target fed. Hammers you can feed when the lights are on, trumpets (which we call candycanes where I am from) should be fed after the lights are out - you will see the polyps extending. So, like Vincent100 says, your nutrients are low, so they would likely need supplement. I use mysis and spirilina brine mixed together; but your tank is very small, so just pick one, get a small syringe (or a pipette, you will not need to feed a lot at a time) and feed very lightly directly into the polyps...

That said, after looking at the specs of your light, the spectrum should work reasonably well for corals, however the intensity is poor. So the corals would need to be pretty high up (i.e. close to the light). Look through the nano forum, or the lighting forum to get a sense of what others are successfully using on a 20 gallon.

 

[LawrenceP]

Okay, that seems good, so there is a reasonable amount of nutrients going into the system.



This is not really true. They either do not understand how the organisms work, or they are over simplifying it. Most, if not all corals will benefit from being target fed. Hammers you can feed when the lights are on, trumpets (which we call candycanes where I am from) should be fed after the lights are out - you will see the polyps extending. So, like Vincent100 says, your nutrients are low, so they would likely need supplement. I use mysis and spirilina brine mixed together; but your tank is very small, so just pick one, get a small syringe (or a pipette, you will not need to feed a lot at a time) and feed very lightly directly into the polyps...

That said, after looking at the specs of your light, the spectrum should work reasonably well for corals, however the intensity is poor. So the corals would need to be pretty high up (i.e. close to the light). Look through the nano forum, or the lighting forum to get a sense of what others are successfully using on a 20 gallon.

Thanks, I really appreciate the help! I'm going to let my tank run for a while longer before putting any more corals in. I'll get some food to target feed them too.