Bubble coral problem advice needed

[Ricunger]

My bubble coral will not "inflate" like it should or did days ago. The water is test are ideal temp it about 78 deg. My set up is this... 12 aqua pod with current 150 watt 14k mounted 6-7" above water line. I have a small powersweep directed away from the bubble coral so it just gets a very small current if any at all directly. I have sea gel in the back chamber with some foam. i also run a super skimmer p/t because i have 1 clown goby. as for the live rock it is about 20 -25 lbs & a 2" to 5" live sand bed that gradually slopes right to left(left being the 2") One thing i did notice is a small amount of hair algae growing on the skeleton closest to the "flesh". Any help would be great! here is a picture of it the fullest it has been recently. another thing it is at sand level in the front left hand corner of the aqua pod.

 

[akindbro4u]

I see your temp, but what are you other peramiters? With a sand bed that thick, and a gobie, I would be checking nitrates.

 

[fishnut321]

the hair algae is iritating the bubbles, also check your alkalinity, mag and calcium levels it looks to be receding and will not be able to build its skeleton without

 

[Ricunger]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12794404#post12794404 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by akindbro4u
I see your temp, but what are you other peramiters? With a sand bed that thick, and a gobie, I would be checking nitrates.

Nitrates are always zero. as for the sand bed i stur it every other day so it get a good mix and to get some food in the water. i did move it about 3 times within the week but always on the bottom so it would get basicly the same lighting intensity.

 

[Ricunger]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12794716#post12794716 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishnut321
the hair algae is iritating the bubbles, also check your alkalinity, mag and calcium levels it looks to be receding and will not be able to build its skeleton without

My dkh is 9, the mag is 1310, and the calcium is steady at 440. I gave it a careful brushing to get the skeleton clean today. i use seachem test kits in the plastic case for the mag & calcium. i might switch the kit to double check my results.

 

[akindbro4u]

how long have you had this coral? with the coaline growth on the skeleton looks like it has bben receading for a while.

 

[Ricunger]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12795287#post12795287 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by akindbro4u
how long have you had this coral? with the coaline growth on the skeleton looks like it has bben receading for a while.

I got it from a friend that was seling his tank... he had it about 9 months. It has been in my tank about 4 months. it had always looked good untill recently. When i cleaned it (after picture was taken) there was sand in its blades. i had a pump fall while i was out of town so maybe it blew some sand toward it and ****ed it off. Sound like a good reason?

 

[akindbro4u]

the pump may have actually blown some tissue of and did most of the damage. Sand will irritate it though. All in all it looks healthy, and should recover fine.

 

[Logzor]

Bubbles can have a long recovery time. They seem to get stressed out fairly easily in my experience. Although, I made a fatal mistake.

I had a massive bubble which nearly expired, it is still slowly coming back to what it used to be.

The cause for tissue recession was a combination of overfeeding and a dip in my alk.

I got in the habit of feeding my bubble twice a day without considering the consumption of alk and calcium in my tank. Shortly after a massive growth spurt in my aussie duncan and bubble all of the tissue on their bodies peeled off (I was feeding them a lot!). They simply could not support their own growth due to a lack of buffering.

It was really awesome a first because the bubble would swell to the size of a grapefruit after feeding.

Now the skeleton is smaller than my fist. The growth is now only on the right side of the skeleton but somehow small bits of tissue are coming out of random areas all over the coral.

So keep that thing free of algae, scrub scrub scrub. Also, make sure that now aptasia are hiding in there!

 

[Ricunger]

good stuff guys! Thanks for the second opinions!