spineshank385
New member
i have a calustrea (sp?) coral that has been in my tank for a few days now. Water quality is pretty good (8.3 ph, 78-80 deg. 1.026 sg, no nh3, no2 or no3, minimal po4, 450 to 500 ca, .8 sr, 1400 mg, 3.5 alk), and last night after the lights went out, i saw the sweepers come out for the first time.
Now tonight after the feeding (zoo and phyto), i see it expel brown material (zooxanthallae?), and it is getting whitish bands around the edge of the tissue. Head is also shriveling a little bit. The other 2 heads (which did not extend sweepers last night) are doing fine.
Lighting is 175w 10k xm MH, 65w actinic over a 29g tank. This particular coral is about 2/3 of the way down in the tank, in a low to moderate flow area. The only inhabitants are a strawberry pseudo, some cortez red legs, nassarius snails, and a few margarita snails. Tank has been set up for a little over a month now, with a shallow sand bed, and about 50 lbs of live rock (which was cured by the time i added the coral). Filtration is a 20g rubbermaid refugium with chaeto, and a 15g sump with a sponge mechanical filter and a corallife super skimmer (65g version). Water flow: 500 gph closed loop system with a scwd and 500 gph sump return through spray bar. Closed loop system has minimal velocity, but lots of flow. In addition, 2 minijet 404's are on opposite sides of the tank, pointing at each other.
it almost looked like the coral took a dump, as the material was a dark brown, and wasnt real stringy. Was it zooxanthallae or crap, or something else?
Now tonight after the feeding (zoo and phyto), i see it expel brown material (zooxanthallae?), and it is getting whitish bands around the edge of the tissue. Head is also shriveling a little bit. The other 2 heads (which did not extend sweepers last night) are doing fine.
Lighting is 175w 10k xm MH, 65w actinic over a 29g tank. This particular coral is about 2/3 of the way down in the tank, in a low to moderate flow area. The only inhabitants are a strawberry pseudo, some cortez red legs, nassarius snails, and a few margarita snails. Tank has been set up for a little over a month now, with a shallow sand bed, and about 50 lbs of live rock (which was cured by the time i added the coral). Filtration is a 20g rubbermaid refugium with chaeto, and a 15g sump with a sponge mechanical filter and a corallife super skimmer (65g version). Water flow: 500 gph closed loop system with a scwd and 500 gph sump return through spray bar. Closed loop system has minimal velocity, but lots of flow. In addition, 2 minijet 404's are on opposite sides of the tank, pointing at each other.
it almost looked like the coral took a dump, as the material was a dark brown, and wasnt real stringy. Was it zooxanthallae or crap, or something else?
