Retracted Euphillya & other coral problems

[Liam_1]

*I know it is a long one, but i need help :(

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the hobby and 2 months ago decided to start my own reef tank.
i have everything - protein skimmer, wave pump, sump, ventilator, etc

i have ran full cycle for a month and checking i'm done by testing ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and low nitrate.
on Monday i brought 4 beautiful corals, but my Euphillya as you can see was very open in the first day that i brought it (see pic) but since then until now it has been barely opened.

my candy cane coral also shows a bit of a problem and i see a lot of bubbly mucus hanging out of it.

i will mention though that this week was a rough one - i had a problem with high nitrate i detected the very next day (was 50 ppm) but i added bacto + been changing big amounts of water (30-40 percent) every 2 days until it dropped

unfortunately besides that i only found out after changing the water for the 2nd time that i mixed less salt than i should have but then covered it by adding highly salted water, drop by drop using an air tube with a valve.

anyhow, finally yesterday after correction of everything i have the results:

amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5 ppm
phosphate very little (small than 0.03 but makes since though cause i didnt feed because of the nitrate levels)
alkalinity is 12.5 dkh (i know its higher than it should be, im working on it)
and ph is at 8.15.
calcium over 500 and magnesium over 1500 but ive been told by the shop owner its nothing to worry about.
salinity is at 35 ppt and the only stable parameter i had during this week was the temperature which was 24~25 celcius.

i also changed a light and added the wave pump in this very week.


so i do think that maybe they are just traumatized and need to have more time to acclimate, but im very afraid from them and since im new i cant detect another problem but that so maybe you all could help me out here?

attaching the photos here. the white pic of the whole tank is from the day i brought them. the other white pic of that coral is from the day after and the other photos of the same coral in blue lights were taken today. and by the way if someone can tell me the name of that coral i would love that :)

I hope it is just stress but if it isnt \ you see something special, please let me know how i could treat this.

 

[Liam_1]

Anyone has any idea?

 

[Sawacoral]

I think this is just a very new setup and your tank may not be stable enough to effectively host coral. The parameter swings can really do a number on coral-fish are just hardier. If these don’t work out I would just stick with fish for awhile until you get your bearings and have your tank stable for awhile.

 

[Liam_1]

I think this is just a very new setup and your tank may not be stable enough to effectively host coral. The parameter swings can really do a number on coral-fish are just hardier. If these don’t work out I would just stick with fish for awhile until you get your bearings and have your tank stable for awhile.

So what do i do know in order to keep them alive?

 

[Sawacoral]

Work on keeping parameters as stable as you can, that includes salinity. Regular water changes won’t hurt, and consistent testing for alk phos and nitrates. And let your tank evolve and mature, it will given enough time.

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Tank is very new and from the recent swings in parameters that is going to affect the corals. On top of that your high alk and low nutrients will lead to losing your corals. I would recommend to find someone to help watch the corals while you get the tank under control and stable.

Also I do not recognize the light? But it may not be the correct spectrum nor strong enough for corals such as lps.

 

[Liam_1]

Tank is very new and from the recent swings in parameters that is going to affect the corals. On top of that your high alk and low nutrients will lead to losing your corals. I would recommend to find someone to help watch the corals while you get the tank under control and stable.

Also I do not recognize the light? But it may not be the correct spectrum nor strong enough for corals such as lps.

The light im using is prime 16hd of AI, im using a template of sps corals with half the intensity (its not the lamp in the white light pic, i changed it already)

The guy at the store told me i had nothing to worry about causs the alkalinity is ok :(

I dont have anyone to watch the corals but how can i myself take care of them? Do i add some supplements? Add more bacteria? Food?

And btw if anyone has a good lighting plan for Lps tank amd recoomendations on intensity of the wave pump i would love it.


If i keep the values stable do you think the corals have a chance to survive? Or are they gone?

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

The light im using is prime 16hd of AI, im using a template of sps corals with half the imtensity.

The guy at the store told me i had nothing to worry about causs the alkalinity is ok :(

I dont have anyone to watch the corals but how can i myself take care of them? Do i add some supplements? Add more bacteria? Food?

Oh okay the full tank shot was prior to the prime I gotcha now.

And over 12dkh imo is way to high and typically high nutrient systems are only able to run that high. If it was me I would use a salt with low alk such as purple bag of instant ocean which typically comes in around 9.5 dkh and do gradual water changes to lower it. Lets say 10-15% a week

At this point its a waiting game, you cant drop the alk to fast or you will do more damage than good. Also I would encourage more frequent feedings throughout the day to bring up nutrients. 3-4 small feedings and feed just enough for all fish to eat without much waste being left in the tank. For instance you could feed a small amount of pellet food 2 times a day and 2 small servings of frozen all spaced out an hour or two if possible. Decrease feedings once nutrient levels start to increase until you reach a desired level.

Frozen foods contain higher nitrates and pellet/flake foods contain a higher level of phosphate. You can use specific types of foods to help control which nutrient you would like to increase.

 

[Liam_1]

Oh okay the full tank shot was prior to the prime I gotcha now.

And over 12dkh imo is way to high and typically high nutrient systems are only able to run that high. If it was me I would use a salt with low alk such as purple bag of instant ocean which typically comes in around 9.5 dkh and do gradual water changes to lower it. Lets say 10-15% a week

At this point its a waiting game, you cant drop the alk to fast or you will do more damage than good. Also I would encourage more frequent feedings throughout the day to bring up nutrients. 3-4 small feedings and feed just enough for all fish to eat without much waste being left in the tank. For instance you could feed a small amount of pellet food 2 times a day and 2 small servings of frozen all spaced out an hour or two if possible. Decrease feedings once nutrient levels start to increase until you reach a desired level.

Frozen foods contain higher nitrates and pellet/flake foods contain a higher level of phosphate. You can use specific types of foods to help control which nutrient you would like to increase.

Thanks mate.

I did buy a red sea blue bucket salt, the one with 8 dkh alkalinity. It helped me drop alk from 14.1 last week to 12.8 the last time i checked, planning on using it from now on to decrease it.

What type of frozen foods are you recommending? And when do i need to check phosphates and nitrates again after feeding so i would see if it made a change?

By the way i also need a bit help with my protein skimmer - i have a bubble magus qq1 skimmer and im having hard time to adjust the cup - its always either too low and no skim is being collected and when i try to fix it, it gets too low and overflows with watery foam. What level do i need to set it in order for the skim to be collected but not overflow it with water?

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Thanks mate.

I did buy a red sea blue bucket salt, the one with 8 dkh alkalinity. It helped me drop alk from 14.1 last week to 12.8 the last time i checked, planning on using it from now on to decrease it.

What type of frozen foods are you recommending? And when do i need to check phosphates and nitrates again after feeding so i would see if it made a change?

By the way i also need a bit help with my protein skimmer - i have a bubble magus qq1 skimmer and im having hard time to adjust the cup - its always either too low and no skim is being collected and when i try to fix it, it gets too low and overflows with watery foam. What level do i need to set it in order for the skim to be collected but not overflow it with water?

Nice thats good keep it up! I would reach a 8-9 dkh level and maintain in that area.

Any type of high quality frozen works. LRS, Rods Food are the main 2 frozen I feed and sometimes use the san francisco bay brand. And if you are having issues maintaining nitrate/phosphate and it continues to lower I would check at least every 2 days. If its maintained its levels without dropping you could test 1-2 times a week until you get into the desired range.

I have no experience with bubble magus skimmers, but I would google search and read issues others have had and try what they used to fix it. Or make a thread here in R2R for more coverage on your specific issue and have someone with that style skimmer chime in.

But typically the main issues with skimmers are set higher/lower than recommended water height. So lets say they recommend 7"-8" for your skimmer but its at 9". You could see issues setting proper skim height.
Some skimmers also have a long break in period (sometimes weeks) before being able to properly get them set. I would suggest doing some research and asking questions to those that run or have experience with that specific skimmer

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

I do want to add. You should turn your skimmer off until you can get nutrients under control. You could be removing organics before breaking down into Nitrate/ phosphate and being such a new system there isn't much there to remove which could be another source of your skimmer issue.

I am over 3 months in on my new build and haven't even bought my skimmer yet. Until my bio load increases i do not need one. Also my 29g nano runs without a skimmer.

 

[Liam_1]

Thank you everybody for your answers.

I will wait a few more days see if my corals get any better, hopefully will stop by the store today to get some frozen food.

Do i need to keep adding bacteria on a weekly basis?
I have microbe lift's starter bacteria and special blend water care, the starter bacteria says to add every water change or new livestock addition and the other says 7
5 ml for 100 liters once every 2 weeks.

I also have bacto energy that i thinknis supposed to be added daily? So do i add them or not yet cause of low phosphate?

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Thank you everybody for your answers.

I will wait a few more days see if my corals get any better, hopefully will stop by the store today to get some frozen food.

Do i need to keep adding bacteria on a weekly basis?
I have microbe lift's starter bacteria and special blend water care, the starter bacteria says to add every water change or new livestock addition and the other says 7
5 ml for 100 liters once every 2 weeks.

I also have bacto energy that i thinknis supposed to be added daily? So do i add them or not yet cause of low phosphate?

Your welcome

And your corals won't start improving until you get your alk down to a lower level.

And no stop any bacteria dosing and let your tank stabilize and manage itself. You should only need nitrying bacteria for your cycle or nutrient control. Your past your cycle so just let the tank manage itself, later on if you have need do your research and ask questions on how to manage higher nutrients.

Right now your best friend is stability and simplicity. Learn your tank first before dosing components that give a promise for some magic fix. Many of these supplements promise the world but simply do not work as stated.

 

[Liam_1]

Thank you so much for you reply!

i do have 2 more questions about the corals:
1. they close up entirely during the night (attaching pics) - is it normal?
2. i talked to a reefer in my town, and he said he thinks that my corals are stressed because of strong lighting? could that be the reason? or just the water not being stable?

i am using my prime 16 HD lamp on 50 percent intensity - i will also attach a pic so you could see. is it reasonable that maybe the problem is with the light?

and even 1 more question - so far i have 2 fish in my tank - an indigo dottyback and a fridmani dottyback. So i havent seen them for 2-3 days in the aquarium but i knew it was due to water parameters swinging and stress. Today though as they left their hiding spots i noticed my fridmani lying on the stonework and his gills moving fast. later i saw the indigo coming out and picking on him. So i think maybe its a good idea to get rid of the indigo and get other fish (after the tank stabilizes). what are your recommendations of population in a 10 gallon tank?
i was thinking about firefish (maybe a school of 3~4 gobi magnificas and call it a day), and some people told me clownfish were a nice fit but arent they extremely aggressive? i would like to hear from you guys

I hope that the corals would survive this, waiting for them to open is one of the hardest things i had to do lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

*I know it is a long one, but i need help :(

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the hobby and 2 months ago decided to start my own reef tank.
i have everything - protein skimmer, wave pump, sump, ventilator, etc

i have ran full cycle for a month and checking i'm done by testing ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and low nitrate.
on Monday i brought 4 beautiful corals, but my Euphillya as you can see was very open in the first day that i brought it (see pic) but since then until now it has been barely opened.

my candy cane coral also shows a bit of a problem and i see a lot of bubbly mucus hanging out of it.

i will mention though that this week was a rough one - i had a problem with high nitrate i detected the very next day (was 50 ppm) but i added bacto + been changing big amounts of water (30-40 percent) every 2 days until it dropped

unfortunately besides that i only found out after changing the water for the 2nd time that i mixed less salt than i should have but then covered it by adding highly salted water, drop by drop using an air tube with a valve.

anyhow, finally yesterday after correction of everything i have the results:

amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5 ppm
phosphate very little (small than 0.03 but makes since though cause i didnt feed because of the nitrate levels)
alkalinity is 12.5 dkh (i know its higher than it should be, im working on it)
and ph is at 8.15.
calcium over 500 and magnesium over 1500 but ive been told by the shop owner its nothing to worry about.
salinity is at 35 ppt and the only stable parameter i had during this week was the temperature which was 24~25 celcius.

i also changed a light and added the wave pump in this very week.


so i do think that maybe they are just traumatized and need to have more time to acclimate, but im very afraid from them and since im new i cant detect another problem but that so maybe you all could help me out here?

attaching the photos here. the white pic of the whole tank is from the day i brought them. the other white pic of that coral is from the day after and the other photos of the same coral in blue lights were taken today. and by the way if someone can tell me the name of that coral i would love that :)

I hope it is just stress but if it isnt \ you see something special, please let me know how i could treat this.

Often when retracted, its is due to too much light and/or flow as well as low calcium and high phosphates

 

[Liam_1]

Often when retracted, its is due to too much light and/or flow as well as low calcium and high phosphates

calcium and magnesium were tested to be over 500 ppm and 1500 ppm each, phosphates are almost 0
i just changed the light 2 days ago and put it on half the intensity meaning 100-150 PAR in the higher part of the tank and 50-100 PAR in the lower one, do you think i should maybe even lower it from the 50 percent?

btw would love to hear your opinion on my latest question

 

[Uncle99]

It’s just way too early.
Corals would starve.
It takes many months of stable chemistry to create an environment corals can both live and feed in…..this stuff comes very slowly.
Softies, maybe, but anything else, can’t see that.
Can’t see that working.
Sorry

 

[Liam_1]

It’s just way too early.
Corals would starve.
Can’t see that working.
Sorry

isnt there a way i could somehow feed them?

 

[Uncle99]

isnt there a way i could somehow feed them?

Not that I’ve ever seen.

Leathers and Kenya trees, maybe they would survive but there’s no micro-fanua to feed on the phosphate and in turn, deliver that to the corals.

They first do well…..then plummet….as there’s nothing in terms of water delivered food, just the light.

One test I do before adding anything except fish is watch for collarine algae to start, even if small dots.

This is a good sign, your waters are ready.

 

[Peair]

*I know it is a long one, but i need help :(

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the hobby and 2 months ago decided to start my own reef tank.
i have everything - protein skimmer, wave pump, sump, ventilator, etc

i have ran full cycle for a month and checking i'm done by testing ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and low nitrate.
on Monday i brought 4 beautiful corals, but my Euphillya as you can see was very open in the first day that i brought it (see pic) but since then until now it has been barely opened.

my candy cane coral also shows a bit of a problem and i see a lot of bubbly mucus hanging out of it.

i will mention though that this week was a rough one - i had a problem with high nitrate i detected the very next day (was 50 ppm) but i added bacto + been changing big amounts of water (30-40 percent) every 2 days until it dropped

unfortunately besides that i only found out after changing the water for the 2nd time that i mixed less salt than i should have but then covered it by adding highly salted water, drop by drop using an air tube with a valve.

anyhow, finally yesterday after correction of everything i have the results:

amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5 ppm
phosphate very little (small than 0.03 but makes since though cause i didnt feed because of the nitrate levels)
alkalinity is 12.5 dkh (i know its higher than it should be, im working on it)
and ph is at 8.15.
calcium over 500 and magnesium over 1500 but ive been told by the shop owner its nothing to worry about.
salinity is at 35 ppt and the only stable parameter i had during this week was the temperature which was 24~25 celcius.

i also changed a light and added the wave pump in this very week.


so i do think that maybe they are just traumatized and need to have more time to acclimate, but im very afraid from them and since im new i cant detect another problem but that so maybe you all could help me out here?

attaching the photos here. the white pic of the whole tank is from the day i brought them. the other white pic of that coral is from the day after and the other photos of the same coral in blue lights were taken today. and by the way if someone can tell me the name of that coral i would love that :)

I hope it is just stress but if it isnt \ you see something special, please let me know how i could treat this.

Frags could be a ***** sometimes especially if the plugs have algae on them, I would avoid experimenting with chemicals, just keep the tank clean and have stable parameters, then let it go on it's own and see how things turn out, and if you see any recovery you can add a couple more cheap frags, take it slow.