Meat Coral Shrinking

[TheRompe]

I've a 5 month old set up, all the parameters are perfect. Every week without fail I do about a 15% water change. I added a meat pink meat coral about four months ago. It has continually gotten bigger and full up until this morning. I noticed it didn't swell to it's normal size, only about half as much and the color looks a bit off and throughout the day it continue to shrink down in size. I've got LPS, SPS & Softies in the tank and they're all doing fine. I'm concerned I might be loosing it and haven't a clue why. Can anybody give me a suggestion as to what might be going on?

 

[bluemon]

Can you post your parameters?

“Perfect” doesn’t tell us much.

Pictures are also needed.

Any recent changes?

My lobo sometimes looks shrunk for a day while it poops or whatever so it could be that

 

[TheRompe]

Can you post your parameters?

“Perfect” doesn’t tell us much.

Pictures are also needed.

Any recent changes?

My lobo sometimes looks shrunk for a day while it poops or whatever so it could be that

What I meant by perfect I'm referring to alkaline, ammonia, nitrite, nitrite, calcium, potassium , ph etc. There's been no changes to the tank, lighting, temp etc. I'll post pics in the morning.

 

[bluemon]

What I meant by perfect I'm referring to alkaline, ammonia, nitrite, nitrite, calcium, potassium , ph etc. There's been no changes to the tank, lighting, temp etc. I'll post pics in the morning.

Exactly.

Give us those numbers.

We can’t help you from “perfect”

 

[TheRompe]

Can you post your parameters?

“Perfect” doesn’t tell us much.

Pictures are also needed.

Any recent changes?

My lobo sometimes looks shrunk for a day while it poops or whatever so it could be that

 

[TheRompe]

Phosphate

Ammonia

Nitrate

Nitrite

PH

Salinity

Calcium

Alkalinity

Magnesium

Potassium

0.25 0.25 10 0 8.2 1.25 420 9.2 1380 390

The above number are from today's test.

I'm hoping that maybe it's pooping or whatever corals do to get rid of waste. It's nighttime right now and the meat coral doesn't have its feeding tenacles out.

I appreciate your feedback.

 

[TheRompe]

Oh oh.... I just noticed when I posted my numbers which were under each category shift to the right. Still readable though... exp:

Phosphate 0.25 . Ammonia 0.25. Nitrate 10, Nitrite 0, PH 8.2, Salinity 1.25. Calcium 420, Alkalinity 9.3, Magnesium 1380, Potassium 390

 

[Shibaken3]

Any new addition to the tank?

 

[NanoSteam]

Do you usually get a 0.25 reading of ammonia? Although it's not dangerous level it could indicate something died and is decaying.

 

[TheRompe]

Do you usually get a 0.25 reading of ammonia? Although it's not dangerous level it could indicate something died and is decaying.

No, usually it's 0. Good point except everything seems to be accounted for.

 

[NanoSteam]

No, usually it's 0. Good point except everything seems to be accounted for.

It's certainly suspicious, no snails dying? Anything buried in the sand like Nassarius snails maybe?

 

[TheRompe]

Any new addition to the tank?

I added a couple of emerald crabs 2 weeks ago and last week I added a small sps

 

[TheRompe]

It's certainly suspicious, no snails dying? Anything buried in the sand like Nassarius snails maybe?

Haven't noticed any snails dying... not aware of any buried in the sand like Nassarius

 

[mcarroll]

I've a 5 month old set up, all the parameters are perfect. Every week without fail I do about a 15% water change. I added a meat pink meat coral about four months ago. It has continually gotten bigger and full up until this morning.

Have you kept meat corals before? IMO at least that's an expert level coral that seems to give people trouble.

Going into a 1 month old tank signals bravery on your part.

Folks assume "swelling up" and "polyp extension" are somehow signs of health, but I suspect we are reading too much into it.

Phosphate 0.25 . Ammonia 0.25. Nitrate 10, Nitrite 0, PH 8.2, Salinity 1.25. Calcium 420, Alkalinity 9.3, Magnesium 1380, Potassium 390

How are you testing for these numbers?

Re-test ammonia and verify your test kit. Is it past its expiration date? If you test another sample, like tap water or RODI water, do you get a good/expected result?

Something is probably wrong if that 0.25 ppm is correct.

Also, is it possible that you can post pictures of your tank?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Corals get moody sometimes for a day or more, its normal. If everything else in the tank is happy and nothing at all has changed, then don't react and don't get concerned. Monitor it and give it a day or a couple of days, if it stays closed longer than 2 or 3 days thats when you start going through the checklist

 

[TheRompe]

It's certainly suspicious, no snails dying? Anything buried in the sand like Nassarius snails maybe?

Haven't noticed any snails dying... not aware of any buried in the sand like Nassarius

Corals get moody sometimes for a day or more, its normal. If everything else in the tank is happy and nothing at all has changed, then don't react and don't get concerned. Monitor it and give it a day or a couple of days, if it stays closed longer than 2 or 3 days thats when you start going through the checklist

Thank you for your feedback.