Bubble Coral not doing well

[jonnyu]

I have had this bubble coral for two months
My tank is a 180 with 3 250mh running 6hr day 4 t5 running 12hr. I have dc12000 with 2 seaswirls. And two rw15.
Water is been stable for last 2 months at these parameters
Alk 8.3
Cal 480
PH 7.8-8.0
Phosphate 0.00 with hanna checker
Mag 1500-1600

I don't spot feed. But I did two days ago and it ate a good size krill
Here is a pic of what it looks like. It's only closed up on one side

 

[Hockeynut120]

Is it in an area of a lot of flow? If so move it to a lower flow area

 

[rt67ghy]

I would keep the PO4 in the range 0.02-0.04 for the health of all your photosynthetic corals.

 

[jonnyu]

I don't know how to raise phosphate as bad as that sounds. Maybe I can turn off my gfo reactor. Or feed more

 

[jonnyu]

It does a good amount of flow. I'm think flow is most likely the problem. I turn my one powerhead off and put the other on 20%

 

[cloak]

Maybe this link will help.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/4/corals

 

[jonnyu]

Thanks for the info. I think flow is the main problem. It seems to have random flow around it and article says it prefers one direction flow

 

[Azedenkae]

They don't need spot-feeding, but do need food, especially when their sweeper tentacles are out. The placement there looks fine. They are one of the easier corals to keep, but yeah, don't really like a lot of flow. Does look like you may not be feeding enough. Or at least the food may not be getting to it. The bubbles on one side do look healthy though, just wondering about the other. That's very odd.

Did it used to fully extend? Or has it always look like that?

 

[jonnyu]

It use to look like this

I really never fed it anything till 3 days ago. I don't recall seeing the tenicals out

 

[Azedenkae]

It use to look like this

I really never fed it anything till 3 days ago. I don't recall seeing the tenicals out

Tentacles come out just after dusk, naturally. Though after they are used to the aquarium, many Bubble Corals extend tentacles during the day as well.

How do you feed the tank in general?

If it looks like this from the start, then maybe something might have damaged it along the way too. I mean, I can't see a difference between the state of the bubbles back then and now, indicating that the coral itself is receiving enough nutrients, light and all that. Just that yeah... for some reason the other side was damaged.

 

[jonnyu]

I was thinking flow or maybe food problem as my phosphate is 0.00 with hanna. I feed frozen food to the tank everyday. How often should I feed the bubble coral ?

 

[Azedenkae]

Well mostly it just catches things. But it's actually maybe that you need to feed after lights out, when it extends its feeders.

How much frozen food do you feed?

And how many fish/corals/stuff do you have?

 

[jonnyu]

Have about 15 fish. Feed about 4-5 cubes. Tank mostly has LPS and zoas with some sps. Moving tank more towards SPS tank.

 

[jonnyu]

 

[Azedenkae]

Hm... beats me then. I don't really know. I have a feeling I'd feed them more than 4-5 cubes, or at least distribute them throughout the day, but I don't feed frozen so I don't quite know what that's like.

 

[rt67ghy]

Maybe I can turn off my gfo reactor.

+1

I'd do this and see if there's any improvement.

 

[Hockeynut120]

If you can balance out your phosphate without the use of GFO you will be much better off.
Most people use gfo to run there phosphate down in a hurry and cause a lot of problems in there tanks.
I do not use gfo at all, remember your tank has to reach its own natural balance. This comes with tank and keeper maturity. Good luck

 

[fishchef]

We have a large bubble and it doesn't seem to like the PO4 higher than .05
Also my NO3 hit 0 today and it likes nitrates at about 12.5. Our flow is variable and this particular bubble has been around about a year. I've been lazy and have been using pelleted food mostly for the fish. The Bubble loves the pellets, but I need to use frozen food to raise my nitrates, etc. If your heading to an SPS tank, it could be too clean for LPS.