Tips for growing Chalice corals?

[j.register3]

Hello everyone. I am a new reefer & having trouble getting my chalice to be happy. Any tips on lighting & placement would be helpful. Pics attached shows first day vs now. I adjusted the aquascape a couple days after adding it & it got shaded a bit. Didn’t grow at all for about 3 weeks & even began to lose color & recede a bit. After those 3 weeks, I put it in a lower light area to reacclimate it to the light. It’s been 2 more weeks & its losing turning brown in the lowest lighting area I have. Any tips?

 

[Homebrewer]

I’ve had them in higher spots, and lower spots, they do seem to do better lower; but lower in my tank and lower in yours could be worlds apart. What lights are you running, etc.? (all the details please).

For me, lighting wasn’t so much the issue as it was parameters. Would need all of that too - and not just a snapshot of possible - how stable are things now? What is your daily alk consumption (on top of your target level). And beyond elemental chemistry, what’s the age of the system, etc.

Good data in = good data out. Tons of people here to help but there’s a lot of variables. The more info you can give, the better

 

[j.register3]

I’ve had them in higher spots, and lower spots, they do seem to do better lower; but lower in my tank and lower in yours could be worlds apart. What lights are you running, etc.? (all the details please).

For me, lighting wasn’t so much the issue as it was parameters. Would need all of that too - and not just a snapshot of possible - how stable are things now? What is your daily alk consumption (on top of your target level). And beyond elemental chemistry, what’s the age of the system, etc.

Good data in = good data out. Tons of people here to help but there’s a lot of variables. The more info you can give, the better

In all honesty, it’s a 2 month old tank & has seen some swings since entering the tank including a salt switchover. Again, I’m a new reefer, learning, & am by no means perfect. I appreciate your feedback!

Parameters currently are
Sal: 1.025
Nitrate: 10
Alk: 10
Calcium: 427
Magnesium: 1380
Phosphate: .4 (overfeeding/just started refugium)
Temp of course 78

Light is an AI Prime 16HD with a diffuser attachment.
Daily alk consumption is about .2-.3 from what I’ve seen so far. It been stable for about 3 weeks minus the phosphates although I’ve been dosing NoPox to help with that.

 

[Homebrewer]

Thanks for posting the specs. Here is what I will say, but I’m sure others will disagree and/or provide alternative theories....

My chalices, even the indestructible Hollywood Stunner, never did well with high alk. When I went to targeting 7-8 they did much better. You could perhaps look to lower that target. Also, your aware of the phosphate level, that could be a factor, but again I’m sure others will tell you they grow chalices at high alk and phosphate and that I’m wrong.

Could be the light, though I think moving something around leads to more irritation rather than the light itself. I think they are a pretty adaptable coral. How big is the tank? (Sorry if I missed it).

Finally, the tank is young and it could be something that is going on that you aren’t/can’t test for. Things get easier as the system matures, but right now there’s a lot of change going on and the coral may just be reacting to that.

So to answer your title question, I would say that the answer is pretty typical in that placing it in a low to moderate light, low to moderate flow area, then leaving it alone in a stable system will likely result in success. A wise person once said that we take care of water, not coral or fish. You take care of the water, the rest should follow.

Good luck!

 

[ReefReadyYouTube]

My chalice loves the high light. Slowly moved him from bottom to top in over a month didn’t see any growth until it was placed at top right under the light. I also daily does a wide variety of Elements fro brightwell.

 

[Jase4224]

Tidal Gardens YouTube channel has a great video on chalice coral care

 

[lauraofthereef]

It's definitely your phosphates. Brown like that means high nutrients. Lower it with GFO. SLOWLY. You don't want to strip the tank too quickly. Also NoPoX only does so much, its better for reducing nitrates. Until your refugium is up and running, use gfo, in a reactor preferably. I use high capacity. Good luck.