My Tachy looks like its deflating?

Kuhn · Aug 13, 2022

Hello, all!

I got this gorgeous Trachy on Thursday of last week and I'm just not sure if it's happy or not...
It came in perfect and puffy, put it in my tank (acclimated it first of course) then the next day started getting smaller and less puffy... I know they can deflate at night, but tbh it seems to remain pretty deflated compared to its original shape..

First photo is what it looked like on day 1 (Last Thursday)
Second photo is a few days later (Saturday)

My parameters are a little out of wack which I've been working on. Though I'm not sure why my Alk, Calcium and Mag are so high? I dosed these three like 3 weeks ago then realized I may have dosed too much. So I stopped dosing entirely and have since done 3 water changes..
Still high in these three parameters...
Are these the reason why my Trachy is the way it is?
Or is it because of my Ammonia and Nitrates?
I'm also dosing NOPOX because in struggling to keep my Phosphates and Nitrates down... Could this be the cause?

Parameters as of today:

Salinity: 35ppt
Temp: 78F
Ammonia: 0.68 ppm
Nitrates: 14.8 ppm
Phosphates: 0.83
pH: 8.0
Calcium: 574 ppm
Alkalinity: 17.5 ppm
Magnesium: (unknown due to my Hanna tester being garbage... have not been dosing Mg because of this. Getting a new test kit from Red Sea on Monday)

ANY tips on how to make my Trachy happy would mean the world to me... I love this thing with all my heart and I'd be devastated if I kill it... please be kind, but please know I am working on my parameters.
I am dosing NOPOX (2ml for my 30 gallon) everyday to fight Nitrates and Phosphates.
And have been adding Nitrifying bacteria to help fight Ammonia (my tank was cycled but for what ever reason - maybe due to over feeding - my parameters shot up)

Thanks in advance

Jbell370 · Aug 13, 2022

Ammonia should be 0 and alk is way to high, how old is the setup?

Kuhn · Aug 13, 2022

Jbell370 said:
Ammonia should be 0 and alk is way to high, how old is the setup?

It's about two months old.
And yeah I have no idea why my Alk is so high... I haven't dosed Alk in a WHILE

I'm hoping to cross reference my Alk and Calcium testers with the Red Sea set I'm getting on Monday

Tcook · Aug 14, 2022

Kuhn said:
It's about two months old.
And yeah I have no idea why my Alk is so high... I haven't dosed Alk in a WHILE

I'm hoping to cross reference my Alk and Calcium testers with the Red Sea set I'm getting on Monday

What test kits are you using? You want to avoid a salt high in calcium or alk for now. Also be careful on how quickly you drop alkalinity. Is the 17 real? Take a sample to the lfs.

Kuhn · Aug 14, 2022

Tcook said:
What test kits are you using? You want to avoid a salt high in calcium or alk for now. Also be careful on how quickly you drop alkalinity. Is the 17 real? Take a sample to the lfs.

All tests were done with Hanna testers.
I've tested several times and got pretty much the same result. My Cal, Alk and Mag always seem to be in high ranges...

My other corals seem fine though. It's just my Trachy... do you think it's deflating because of my Alk?

I'll be testing those three again on Monday when I get the Red Sea test to cross reference with my Hanna testers.

If they're still high, I'll definitely take a sample to my LFS

Kuhn · Aug 14, 2022

So an update:
I think the photo I originally took may have been my Trachy stressed out from shipping.
When I compare my Trachy now vs the photo of it on the website, it seems to be relatively similar in shape. I think that means it's happy now. Here is a photo of what the image showed in the site I bought it from vs what it looks like in my tank.

Might not be as nice a photo as the one taken by the vendor but you get the point haha

I THINK my trachy is actually okay!!