Blastomussa merletti problem

[SeaSlugTeam]

I got this blastomussa merletti frag 5 days ago and I'm starting to worry about it. It does not seem to be opening up. The other lps in the tank are doing fine (hammer, 2 acan, favia, blastomussa wellsi). I was hoping someone can help me figure out what is wrong.

The water parameters seems fine and I'm running LED lights. It's currently sitting close the the bottom of the tank with low flow.

I've attached pictures for better diagnosis. One is with all the lights on and the other with the BLUE and UV off.

Some background information:
I started a salt water tank a month ago and currently have 2 clown fishes and 7 lps frags.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Find a shaded or very low light and low flow area for it, then give it some time to acclimate to your tank.

 

[chefbill]

"Params seem fine" won't help anyone too much, please post actual numbers, as well as every detail concerning your tank: size, sump, PHs, lighting (brand as well, not all are created equal), age (yours is very young yet), amount of live rock, any other filtration and so on. The more info the community has, the easier it becomes to spot any potential problems.

 

[scooter31707]

Blastos like low light and low flow.

 

[Reef Bass]

Some background information:
I started a salt water tank a month ago and currently have 2 clown fishes and 7 lps frags.

Are you sure the tank has finished cycling? A lot of new tanks would be in mid cycle after only a month.

Since you are keeping stony corals, what are your alkalinity, calcium and magnesium levels? Those are very important for the health of corals which deposit a calcium based skeleton.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I too have concerns about the young tank, but none about the nutrients of the water. Most if not all salt mix is sufficient for most stony corals. The only concern with this that I have would be if the tank had quite a few of them. In this case it wouldn't phase me on the one coral consuming those nutrients enough to have to dose or test params IME IMO

 

[SeaSlugTeam]

Params are (from last Sunday when the blastomussa merletti was added, I'll run the params again later in the week when I have free time):
Salinity 1.026
Ph 8.3
Nitrate 1.5
KH 10.9 Alkalinity 3.88
Phosphate 0
Magnesium 1275
Calcium 470
Temp 79.5-81F

The tank was cycling on a small dead squid for 2-3 weeks prior to the first inhabitant being added. In addition, I added Prodibio Start Up to the tank prior to adding the first livestock. Ammonia and nitrite are at 0.

 

[SeaSlugTeam]

Ran the params again:
Salinity 1.026
Ph 8.2
Nitrate 2.5
KH 8.3 Alkalinity 2.96
Phosphate 0
Magnesium 1365
Calcium 470

Water temperature got as high as 84 today. I'll try to keep it down.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Ya need to keep that temp down to 80 or below IMO. The higher the temp the lower the oxygen saturation you have.

 

[VoiceInTheDeser]

Give it low light and indirect flow. My Merlettis are all arrayed along the main current of my tank, but not directly in the stream. They want the water to be moving, but very gently. Too much flow or light and they will close up.