bad luck with new corals

[ReefsandGeeks]

The last few times I've gotten coral frags, they all seem to die within a few weeks, but my tank has about 20 coral in it which all look healthy and are growing. Not sure what I could be doing wrong, but must be something.

I'm planning on going to a frag swap in about a month to get some new coral, and am looking for some advice on what I can do to better my chances of the new frags surviving and thriving.

What I normally do after coming home from getting new coral is put them in a bucket and drip acclimate for 30-60 minutes, then put the coral on the sandbed of my display for a few days prior to moving to their final location. I also have usually dimmed my lights, and slowly bring the brightness back up over a few weeks to help the new coral acclimate.

What else should I be doing to new coral? Should I be dipping them? leaving on the sandbed longer? What's given you guys the most success for an easy transition for coral into your tanks?

I plan on getting a couple of acros or other SPS, but may get something else as well if it catches my eye and the price is right.

 

[murphreef]

what kind of corals are you having issues with?? SPS??

What current corals do you have that are fine?

 

[billdogg]

what kind of corals are you having issues with?? SPS??

What current corals do you have that are fine?

That's my question as well.

If you have soft corals in the tank, there is a good chance that any stony corals have adapted to the turpines released by the softies and can therefore tolerate the conditions better. Running a bunch of carbon can help alleviate the situation. A better option is to set up a QT for the new corals using all new water. For topoffs due to evaporation, use your ro/di water. Keep them there for 4-6 weeks using DT water for frequent, but small, water changes, so that when you put them in the DT they will have one less thing to get stressed out about. This will allow the new corals to slowly adjust to the environment in your DT.

hth

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

last one I tried was an acro, and before that a frogspawn, before that an SPS but don't recall the kind.

I have a mix of coral in my tank. Birdsnest, An acro, many zoas, montipora, cactus coral, millipora, turbinaria. All are growing well and have good color.

Seems every time I add something new, it only lasts a week or two. Because my other coral are doing well, I assume it must be something to do with my acclimation process.

 

[Sara17]

How do you create a new thread??

 

[murphreef]

last one I tried was an acro, and before that a frogspawn, before that an SPS but don't recall the kind.

I have a mix of coral in my tank. Birdsnest, An acro, many zoas, montipora, cactus coral, millipora, turbinaria. All are growing well and have good color.

Seems every time I add something new, it only lasts a week or two. Because my other coral are doing well, I assume it must be something to do with my acclimation process.

Interesting..... How do the new corals die? Just slowly turn white or do they die rapidly?

What kind of lighting do you have? Any pictures of your tank so we can see how it looks "health" wise?

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

Unfortunately, I don't have a QT set up or any equipment or room to set one up. An interesting thought on the soft coral releasing toxins though. I can for sure run some fresh carbon the day before the frag swap and do a water change to prepare the tank for the new coral.

 

[sde1500]

Hmm, interesting that is weird. I usually just float and add and haven't had a problem with rapid coral death. Carbon may be a good start, try clear out anything that may be in the water. What lights do you use? Try buying corals that come from similar light set ups, may help acclimation to light as well. I don't even really bother with sand bed to rock acclimation. These days buying at swaps so many are frags from tanks, corals are basically acclimated to tank lighting already.

 

[mcgyvr]

How do you create a new thread??

At the top and bottom (left hand corner) of the thread listing table in each sub forum there is a "New Thread" button.. Press it

 

[mcgyvr]

Changes in alkalinity can cause problems with SPS corals as well as various other "changes" that they don't like..
Please explain a timeline and noticed effects of how the deaths are occurring..
Rapid tissue necrosis? Slowly browning out?,etc...
How old is your tank?
What are your parameters?

 

[Orsamax]

I'd also be curious about the ambient temperature for your bucket to drip acclimate. I know that the only coral I've had actually die died within 48 hours (not interesting or pertinent to this discussion) however, I did have a pavona that I almost threw away on multiple occasions that completely bleached and I refrained from throwing it away because under my moon lights it had a little bit of "glow" to it that indicated that it still had some tissue left. For the pavona, I had carried it around with me for well over an hour in its bag on a pretty chilly day (I guess I thought it wasn't that cold in the store) but I attribute its bleaching/near death in retrospect to it getting too cold before I put it in a tank. I could be off here, but maybe your bucket outside, instead of floating it in the warm tank, allows the bucket to get cold and it kills (or nearly kills) the frag. In the case of my pavona ("mmmmm my pavona" like the MJ song) it has come all the way back and is growing like crazy now in my tank. I know they are much hardier than acros though. All this to say, I'd be curious if you aren't letting your frags get too cold in the bucket outside the tank for a good length of time and the temperature just kills them before the tank has a chance to save them.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

I use the black box LED lights. The corals wouldn't die super quick, over a week or two they would lose their color and the flesh would slowly errode.

Attached are some pics of my tank for anything that stands out.

This tank has been set up and running since October, but I haven't tried any new coral since starting this tank. My last tank, when I got the new coral, had been set up for about 2 years.

Alk 9.5
Ca 450
Mag 1380
pH 8.3
Phosphate near 0
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <5

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[Daddi0]

I try and make sure I dont expose my corals (especially acros) to air. Some reefers will say air exposure is not a problem, but I dont believe them.
Cheers! Mark

 

[kynan]

Sometimes you just have to accept either a tank change it takes to accept new. I have been at this a long time after trying to get out unsuccessfully. I loo, back at some old set ups with sps growing to the tank surface. Latest 300g is slow, had the same tank break a seam and reset last October. Moving existing corals used to your water does compare to introducing new. Give it time.