Need some help with Pocillopora

[iLikeAlgae]

Hi all.
I need some help with my Pocillopora,
I got this frag in July, and had it for about 5 months, and been in my nano 12 gallon tank since.
My tank's water quality is not "the best" but is ok enough that LPS and softies are doing well - I can see their visible growth.
With Pocillopora however, I have no idea whether I am doing well or bad or if this thing is even alive - it has lost some of its greenness and polyps look like thinning hair.
I know SPS are suppose to be harder but thought Pocillopora would be somewhat doable.
Any advice would be appreciate, as well as the exact name of the coral.

- Nitrates - between 10 ~ 25
- Phosphates - ~0.25
- Salinity - 1.023 ~ 1.025(swings little bit every time i do water change)
- Alk - ~ 6.7 dkh ish
- No doser, but I add Reef complete and Reef carbonate twice a week
- 10% water change a week with instant ocean sea salt(purple bag)
- light is Fluval marine 3.0 36 inch

I will share the photos below:

 

[iLikeAlgae]

This is the photo of the seller and when I first placed it in my tank, you can see some greenness

 

[iLikeAlgae]

This is how it looks now, polyps looks thinner and lost its green. Its more pink now.

 

[ivan efendi]

Ini foto dari penjual dan saat pertama kali saya memasukkannya ke dalam akuarium saya, Anda bisa melihat sedikit kehijauan.

Anda dari negara mana?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I'm sorry but fluval lights won't keep sps alive, its just not a strong enough light. You can see the inside of the branches and the bottom are all white because they are not getting any light.

Also the alk is too low for sps, the nitrate and phosphate are too high for sps. The parameters need to be dialed in and kept stable.

 

[reefpanda]

Salinity swings, low alk, high PO4 and lack of light. Gonna require more effort in keeping the parameters in check for the 12 gal

 

[iLikeAlgae]

Anda dari negara mana?

Not really sure what you said so I ran google translate I am based in Coquitlam Canada.

 

[iLikeAlgae]

I'm sorry but fluval lights won't keep sps alive, its just not a strong enough light. You can see the inside of the branches and the bottom are all white because they are not getting any light.

Also the alk is too low for sps, the nitrate and phosphate are too high for sps. The parameters need to be dialed in and kept stable.

Salinity swings, low alk, high PO4 and lack of light. Gonna require more effort in keeping the parameters in check for the 12 gal

Hmm is growing SPS like Pocillopora not really manageable in small tank? I got this because this was suppose to be an easy SPS. I will try to get a small doser maybe so I can dose alk supplement.

The problem was when I cranked up a light too high all the zoas and LPSs did not fully open or looked stressed. Light's power is 46 watt and Tidal garden seems to mention that they keep these in lower light environment(https://tidalgardens.com/stock-pink-pocillopora-damicornis.html).

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Hmm is growing SPS like Pocillopora not really manageable in small tank? I got this because this was suppose to be an easy SPS. I will try to get a small doser maybe so I can dose alk supplement.

The problem was when I cranked up a light too high all the zoas and LPSs did not fully open or looked stressed. Light's power is 46 watt and Tidal garden seems to mention that they keep these in lower light environment(https://tidalgardens.com/stock-pink-pocillopora-damicornis.html).

SPS need higher light than lps or soft corals. SPS also need much higher flow than lps or soft corals. They have a different set of requirements. If they all under the same light and flow, then the sps won't be happy. SPS are also very picky about parameters, they don't like any fluctuation. SPS is a different ball game than lps and softies.

In most tanks we would place the sps higher on the rocks so it is closer to the light (and usually higher flow up top also), but in a 12 gallon its very hard to have different light&flow zones in the tank. IMO 46 watts is a good light for your size tank, its not too strong at all and should be fine for zoa's and lps.