My corals are not doing well

[Evie123]

Hey,

I've been struggling to find what's wrong with my corals all of a sudden. This early afternoon they were still doing fine and later today they were not doing well all of a sudden.

My water parameters using colombo test kits are as follows:

KH 10.5
Ca 490ppm
Mg 1400ppm
Po4 0.3-0.4 ppm
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 2-5ppm
SG 1.022-1.023

I run my tank around 76 degrees Fahrenheit. And as mentioned they were doing find early this afternoon (see pictures below).

And see the picture of them now below this line as well.

The blastomussa corals have always been doing bad and I can not figure out the reason.

Please help me as these corals were quite expensive and I do not want to lose them. Is there anything that i am doing wrong?


I am running a red sea max e-led 170 for more than a year now. It also contains a peppermint shrimp, two clownfish, one firefish and a lawnmower blenny.

Please tell me if something is wrong, I would like to get as much opinions on this as possible and get it sorted out quickly.

 

[gbroadbridge]

T

Hey,

I've been struggling to find what's wrong with my corals all of a sudden. This early afternoon they were still doing fine and later today they were not doing well all of a sudden.

My water parameters using colombo test kits are as follows:

KH 10.5
Ca 490ppm
Mg 1400ppm
Po4 0.3-0.4 ppm
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 2-5ppm
SG 1.022-1.023

I run my tank around 76 degrees Fahrenheit. And as mentioned they were doing find early this afternoon (see pictures below).

And see the picture of them now below this line as well.

The blastomussa corals have always been doing bad and I can not figure out the reason.

Please help me as these corals were quite expensive and I do not want to lose them. Is there anything that i am doing wrong?


I am running a red sea max e-led 170 for more than a year now. It also contains a peppermint shrimp, two clownfish, one firefish and a lawnmower blenny.

Please tell me if something is wrong, I would like to get as much opinions on this as possible and get it sorted out quickly.

The first thing I notice is that your salinity is too low for coral. It should be 1.026.

That would not cause a problem in hours though, what else has changed?

Has anyone sprayed anything in the room, any kids visiting?

 

[kevgib67]

Nothing is really jumping out at me. I like my nutrients a little higher, nitrate 10-15 and phosphate.05-.1. But I wouldn’t think your levels would cause a problem. More likely what @gbroadbridge is suggesting but wouldn’t be measurable. I would do a large water change and add activated charcoal. No sudden deaths, sea cucumber or anemone? Is a leather coral shedding?

 

[Evie123]

There are no sudden deaths that I am aware of. I do not have a sea cucumber and all the anemones that are in there are still there and doing well. I do think one of my leathers shed around a week ago. However, I always use activated carbon in my tanks. Also nothined was sprayed in the room of the tank recently and no children present who could put their hands on the aquarium either.

 

[kevgib67]

There are no sudden deaths that I am aware of. I do not have a sea cucumber and all the anemones that are in there are still there and doing well. I do think one of my leathers shed around a week ago. However, I always use activated carbon in my tanks. Also nothined was sprayed in the room of the tank recently and no children present who could put their hands on the aquarium either.

All I can suggest is fresh carbon and a large water change and see how they respond, fingers crossed!

 

[gbroadbridge]

There are no sudden deaths that I am aware of. I do not have a sea cucumber and all the anemones that are in there are still there and doing well. I do think one of my leathers shed around a week ago. However, I always use activated carbon in my tanks. Also nothined was sprayed in the room of the tank recently and no children present who could put their hands on the aquarium either.

As @kevgib67 mentioned, if you can't see anything else amiss, the easiest way to help things out is a large water change and new activated carbon.

It's risk free and may help put right whatever has gone wrong.

You could send a water sample for ICP testing but any answer there would be weeks away.

 

[Evie123]

But could shedding of a leather coral cause this problem? And if so how?

 

[kevgib67]

But could shedding of a leather coral cause this problem? And if so how?

I hope this helps, this does not mean the leather coral is the cause. I’ve had one in my tank for almost two years but I know people will throw carbon in which bind toxins if released during a shed.