ORA Red Planet

[BantyRooster97]

So I have had 2 Red Planet frags & both have died. Slowly STN and then they are gone. I have 20+ other corals & frags in my tank with no issues. What am I doing wrong?

Both have died while on the frag rack next to other frags that are thriving.

What conditions do these things like?

Cal - 420
Mag - 1280
Alk - 8-9
Nitrates - 0 (when I had them, 2.5 now)
Phosphate - .25
Salinity 1.26

 

[Leadfooted]

Are any others Acros? How was your flow rate on the Red's?

 

[mckinney0171]

What lights are you using? I was having the same issue with RTN from the base until I found out my radions were too bright for the ORA corals and I had to really dial them back and acclimate slowly. I Remember seeing that ORA corals grow outside in sunshine so they are not used to our aquarium lighting and need to really be acclimated slowly.

 

[BantyRooster97]

I run LEDs (RapidLED Onyx & Corona), 2 MP40s on Reef crest - good flow. The rest of the rack has acros as well, and a couple of Montis. They are kind of high up in the light. I got them from other reefers using LEDs, but I don't know where they were placed.

I am getting another friday, maybe I will place it much lower & see what happens.

 

[mckinney0171]

That’s what I do with ORA corals and have had very good success. I bring them way down and then raise the frag rack an inch every day and slowly increase the intensity of my radions over a period of 4-5 weeks.

 

[BantyRooster97]

Don't your other corals suffer? I mean those that like the high light?

 

[mckinney0171]

No. Seems that once they get used to the high light they are fine with variance in intensity. In nature it isn’t sunny all year round.

 

[BoomCorals]

I wouldn’t chase anything for two frags when everything else is great. Where did you get the frags from?

 

[AdamNC]

I run intense lights and have had good success with my Red Planet from The Reef Farm, like ORA they use natural sunlight here in NC for their farm corals. Corals on display are under Radions. I have a frag on my rack with other Acros about 16 inches from the light and another on the sand a good 25 inches from the light. The one on the sand seems to be doing better then the one on the rack. The one on the sand has full polyp extension with a green base and the one on the rack has about half polyp extension with a red base. What color is the base?

 

[BantyRooster97]

I've had 2 in the last 4-5 months and both died. I have an ORA Green Planet now that is starting to STN on the bottom, like the Reds did. I put it lower in the tank, off the rack today; so we'll see.

Both of the reds came from different sellers, when I bought several frags. All the other frags from both purchases are doing fine & growing. Its very weird. I hear these are easy corals and grow like weeds for people.

 

[Centerline]

I have had several red planets over the years and they are pretty much bullet proof. Double check all your params.

 

[BoomCorals]

I will say, there is such as thing as having an "eleanor" coral. :D

 

[2Wheelsonly]

I used to go crazy when a new coral died; now I have learned to calm a little although I still question my procedures over and over when it happens. It's human nature...

That being said realize how much care we put into our aquariums ensuring they are stable; all we talk about it stability stability stability. If you're stressing about a new coral you placed in your tank that dies next to thriving corals then stop worrying about your params but rather where the coral came from.

If you are at alk 7.5, no nutrients and LED and say you bought a coral from alk 11, high nutrients, and T5 no matter how you acclimate it, it's going to experience shock. That's not even accounting from the drastic temp changes moving from place to place.

My rules:

New coral dies: Learn more about previous environments, take note of where it came from and analyze personal track record with said source. Learn about the coral, lighting requirements/flow/acclimation. Don't touch my personal params.

Existing coral dies: This is a much bigger issue for me, this is when you check your params and procedures to ensure nothing is out of line. Doing this when a new coral dies tends to make you overthink and make un-needed changes that affect your existing livestock.

 

[BantyRooster97]

I agree, but I don't think it is the params. I try to buy from others who use LED (like me). And both times I've bought a red planet frag I've purchased numerous other frags from the same person. The other are all encrusting & growing, the Red Planets just keep dying. Now I have a Green Planet that is doing the exact same thing. I bought 10 frags recently on a live sale here on R2R & the others are all doing great, that 1 ORA Green Planet is starting to STN.

I'm not changing or chasing due to these, just trying to understand why such an "easy" to grow coral for others doesn't work for me.

 

[Centerline]

I agree, but I don't think it is the params. I try to buy from others who use LED (like me). And both times I've bought a red planet frag I've purchased numerous other frags from the same person. The other are all encrusting & growing, the Red Planets just keep dying. Now I have a Green Planet that is doing the exact same thing. I bought 10 frags recently on a live sale here on R2R & the others are all doing great, that 1 ORA Green Planet is starting to STN.

I'm not changing or chasing due to these, just trying to understand why such an "easy" to grow coral for others doesn't work for me.

So a couple of questions I would ask myself if this happened to me - and it has - several times over the years. Did I test the alk in the bag to see if it was close to the tank it was going in. Did I slowly acclimate the corals. By slowly I mean an hour or so. Did I dip the corals right away? Waiting 24 hours if purchased from a reliable vendor isn't always a bad idea as shipped corals are already shocked from shipping and if you dont have a very gentle touch with dipping - such as dripping the dip solution rather than just dumping the coral in. And lastly, are my LEDs killing these things. I'm sure a bunch of people would call that a crazy notion but LEDs are extreme point source lights and I killed a bunch of corals before I learned how to manage them. Are the corals being placed in the same area of the tank where the other corals struggled and is my par meter capable of recognizing blue LED lights - if not this could be an issue? If I had scored those corals from a few different venders. acclimated mindfully and every thing else in the tank is doing well - something isn't right. So the notion of not "chasing" numbers with new corals is in my opinion a recipe for dead corals. I understand the reluctance that some have to obsessing about parameters but sooner or later, for most reefers that ends up in a crashed tank. Just some things to consider.

 

[BantyRooster97]

No I did not test the ALK in the bags (maybe I should start), I did float & drip acclimate them slowly, 1 group of corals I dipped & 1 I did not (came from a very trusted seller), all corals were light acclimated - starting low & slowing raising up in my tank, 1 group was actually acclimated on the front glass & the other on a side (so different light scenarios), getting a PAR meter this weekend to test (never tested that before).

If I was having an issue with all corals, I'd be chasing #'s, but it is just this 1 type of coral I can't seem to keep alive. And of all things it is a coral a lot of other find easy to care for. I'm just kind of baffled.

Are they a low ALK coral? Low flow coral? Low light coral? Low Nitrate coral?

You know if they are 1 thing but the rest of my corals are another, I'll just avoid them. Problem is I like them.

Thank you for the replies!!!

 

[Reefltx]

Idk what to add.. but I’m going through the same thing!! I never could keep a RP alive long term.

 

[Kalibur2]

Yea I’ve gone through three red planets fro ora with no success as well and everything else is thriving. Go figure

 

[2Wheelsonly]

No I did not test the ALK in the bags (maybe I should start), I did float & drip acclimate them slowly, 1 group of corals I dipped & 1 I did not (came from a very trusted seller), all corals were light acclimated - starting low & slowing raising up in my tank, 1 group was actually acclimated on the front glass & the other on a side (so different light scenarios), getting a PAR meter this weekend to test (never tested that before).

If I was having an issue with all corals, I'd be chasing #'s, but it is just this 1 type of coral I can't seem to keep alive. And of all things it is a coral a lot of other find easy to care for. I'm just kind of baffled.

Are they a low ALK coral? Low flow coral? Low light coral? Low Nitrate coral?

You know if they are 1 thing but the rest of my corals are another, I'll just avoid them. Problem is I like them.

Thank you for the replies!!!

What’s your source? All the same? Even though it’s ORA doesn’t mean it came directly from their tanks...my RP seems to thrive in all areas of my tank high light low light low flow high flow as I keep fragging the mother colony and create new ones to fill in space.

I bought from vendors overtime where their corals just would not thrive in my tank and it’s not like the vendors were bad. They were very reputable, awesome people and had amazing displays. it’s just for some reason when I bought corals from them they did not survive my tank. I don’t blame them I just realize that there is something in their system that just is not compatible with mine.

 

[Centerline]

No I did not test the ALK in the bags (maybe I should start), I did float & drip acclimate them slowly, 1 group of corals I dipped & 1 I did not (came from a very trusted seller), all corals were light acclimated - starting low & slowing raising up in my tank, 1 group was actually acclimated on the front glass & the other on a side (so different light scenarios), getting a PAR meter this weekend to test (never tested that before).

If I was having an issue with all corals, I'd be chasing #'s, but it is just this 1 type of coral I can't seem to keep alive. And of all things it is a coral a lot of other find easy to care for. I'm just kind of baffled.

Are they a low ALK coral? Low flow coral? Low light coral? Low Nitrate coral?

You know if they are 1 thing but the rest of my corals are another, I'll just avoid them. Problem is I like them.

Thank you for the replies!!!

No they are not low alk or high corals. I typically keep all around 10-11. They don't seem to be sensitive to moderate nutrients, they like flow and are forgiving of moderate temp swings. And I have grown them under 600+ par with 400 watt Radium MHs. Maybe try ordering one from @WWC. I go down there all the time and they are obsessed with making sure there are no bugs on anything that they ship. One thing that we really haven't discussed here is the possibility of some sort of acro eating nudi or other such pest that is either making it through your acclimation/dip process or is resident in the tank (though you would see base up issues if there were). Another place to look might be @BSA Corals . I have spent MANY thousands of dollars with them and have never lost a frag. Red planets are beautiful fast growing corals and you really should be able to keep one with no problems.