My first Acan is shriveling

[BrettE]

Hi all,

Newb here. I added some corals 17 days ago. This one is maybe starting to look deflated? What do you think?

When I put it in, my Alk was a little low (6.2), so my LFS suggested I started dosing Alk, so I did. I haven't been terribly consistent, but I'm back up to about 8.0. I have a DOS, I just need to get it setup.

I also had an incident 5 days ago where I accidentally dumped a lot of RO/DI into my sump and on to my floor. My salinity is still recovering slowly.

Current parameters:
Phosphate 0.00 ppm (I measured 3 times. got 0.00 twice, and 0.03 once, but the 0.03 was using a cuvette that I rinsed with tap and didn't rinse with RO/DI or dry)
Nitrate 9.0 ppm
Alk 8.0 dHK
pH 8.2? My salifert kit is really hard to read. Neptune Apex is reading about 7.9.
Mg 1270 ppm
Ca 400 ppm

Thoughts?

Thanks!!
Brett

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The coral might be starving. You need some phosphates and your nitrates are low IMO. Between that and the alk swing and salinity issue, it will be hard to say what the real culprit is. Do your best to raise nutrients (feeding the fish more is the easiest way), and to keep other parameters in a good range and STABLE. Hopefully it will bounce back.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

And if I'm not mistaken, that's a blasto, not an acan.

 

[BrettE]

My tank is about 3 months old now. My phosphates the day I added these was 0.12, which as I understand it is a bit high. Between the high phosphate and all the algae I have everywhere, I thought: maybe nutrients are too high.

So I turned down the lights (went from like 12 hours to 8) and reduced the intensity.

I also reduced feeding. I have an Avast Plank, and I had been feeding 12 seconds 6x a day, and I dropped to 2x.

I also added some Chaeto yesterday.

I'm guessing that when I turned down the lights and feeding that the algae sucked up any nutrients in the water. The Chaeto is probably exacerbating that.

I probably just need to leave everything alone for a while and let it chill out. At this point I've changed too many things at once.

 

[BrettE]

And if I'm not mistaken, that's a blasto, not an acan.

So the normal dude I talk to at the fish shop is pretty good, but he wasn't who I talked to that day. He's the one who said Acan, and I naively took his word for it.

Don't blastos like low light? Should I put him in the shade??

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

A three month old tank is going to have algae.

0.12 is NOT high for phosphates, especially in a new tank.

Blastos and acans have similar needs, but yes, lower PAR is often better than high PAR.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

So the normal dude I talk to at the fish shop is pretty good, but he wasn't who I talked to that day. He's the one who said Acan, and I naively took his word for it.

Don't blastos like low light? Should I put him in the shade??

What is the par where the coral sits?
(Alternatively, how tall is your tank, how high above the water is the light, and what kind of light do you have?)

 

[BrettE]

The water is about 20" deep, and the frag is sitting on the sand. I have two XR15 gen 6 lights. They're running at 40% for the peak.

With my 0.00 Phosphate, should I turn my skimmer back off? That is probably changing too many things at once though isn't it. I need to listen to my self and just let it be for a while.

I do think I need to continue to dose Alk though, since that keeps dropping.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The water is about 20" deep, and the frag is sitting on the sand. I have two XR15 gen 6 lights. They're running at 40% for the peak.

With my 0.00 Phosphate, should I turn my skimmer back off? That is probably changing too many things at once though isn't it. I need to listen to my self and just let it be for a while.

I do think I need to continue to dose Alk though, since that keeps dropping.

You can turn the skimmer off if you want, but a better idea is to just take the cup off (or remove the plug) so you're still getting the benefit of gas exchange but not exporting any nutrients.

 

[BrettE]

Just a quick update: I _think_ it's looking better? I undid most of the too-many-changes-at-once.

 

[Seansea]

Looking like a happy blasto. Will need feeding. They can gobble down quite a bit. Mine will eat like 4 whole mysis shrimp per head.

 

[MoshJosh]

Blasto for sure. . .

 

[Uncle99]

Just a quick update: I _think_ it's looking better? I undid most of the too-many-changes-at-once.

Yup, big difference.

 

[Narideth]

You've got a really pretty little blasto colony growing there, a great coral to start with.

 

[BrettE]

Thanks all! I shall go forth and try to figure out how to feed this goober.

Thanks!!
Brett

 

[Tired]

Put meaty foods on top of it for it to eat, is what it boils down to. Frozen mysis or similar are the most commonly used, but some LPS will also take pellets. Anywhere from once every 2 weeks to twice a week, making sure to feed more than one polyp so they don't all have to share.

 

[BrettE]

Seems easy enough. I’ll give it a go. Thanks!