candy cane coral looks bad

[TOURKID]

I see pics in peoples tanks and mine just isent so hot

I got it from live aquaria about 2 weeks ago. I peeked at night the first few days and i9t had its sweepers out and it looked normal.

I peeked tonight, no sweepers. and the green on the inside looks like its receeding

And I think the white stripes are falling off the red outta rim.

help? Ill run tests tomorrow, but a few days ago

Nitrate nitrite and amonnia were zero
salinity 1.026
Calcium 400's
temp.. always 82
ph.. 8.1
phos.. zero

am I missing anything?

It started to look bad before this, but two days ago I started switching over from pc's to 250 mh. going really slow tho.. have 4 screens over top, and started at 2 hrs a day.....

 

[Sk8r]

You're missing alkalinity. It will like it to be 8.3 to 10. It may like more light: mine sits on top, 16 inches down from a mh 250 and it thrives. Try a little cyclopeeze. It's late to get a Salifert test kit or Kent buffer, but I'm betting that alk is a little low...I could be totally wrong.

 

[TOURKID]

I dont have an alk. test, i have a dip stick, that says its in normal range.. but i dont trust it.

I dose with kent calcium, and dhk buffer when the ph is low. thats all i use.....

I keep reading all over the forums b ionic.. what is this i cant find it.. this as i understand is a 2 part that includes alk?

th

 

[Sk8r]

Someone chime in on the b ionic. I've heard it's good.

What I use are the Kent products, Turbo Calcium and the Kent Alkalinity Buffer, with the Salifert tests. The tests are easy to do, particularly the alkalinity, which I do often. The calcium and buffer are in lock-step: magnesium is the third member of the triad, but rarely drops. I would look closely at the buffer: it's pretty crucial for stonies, and the difference between 8.3 and 11, both of which could be called 'normal' , could account for some corals being happy or not. The calcium needs to be between 400 and 420. If it gets higher, a few corals get unhappy. I've found the candycane to be pretty hardy. It doesn't like to get blasted by current. Mine's happy right now at the edge of a shelf where it gets a gentle upwelling, and it's right on top, where it gets a lot of light.

Mine responds to cyclopeeze and bits of shrimp.

 

[IslandCrow]

I mail order my B-Ionic from marinedepot.com. The shipping charges kind of get you, but it's not too horribly bad. If you can actually find all the stuff for Randy Holmes' 2 part formula (look in the Reef Chemistry forum), that should save you some money. Anyway, B-Ionic seems to work pretty well for me. It took me a few weeks to get my calcium where I wanted it (it started at 350), but it didn't take long at all to get my alkalinity into a desirable range.

 

[raddogz]

How are you measuring salinity i.e. with a swing arm meter?

My candy cane coral heads will recede when one of two things happen - phosphates are on the rise, but mainly due to a high salinity.

 

[TOURKID]

no i have a refractometer. if i had to pick one thing i would guess alkalinity. Im going to an lfs today for some r/o water.. Ill look into what they stock that will help.

 

[TOURKID]

Ok, so I dident my weekly water change (r/o) like I do every sunday (instant ocean) and then went to the fish store for some odds n ends.

I asked the main guy there what he would use to raise alkalinity..
they have a million nutrients.. but nothing specific for alcalinity.. mostly all kent products.
He told me to use dhk super buffer powder from kent. I already have this... so i picked up an alkalinity test kit and left. the ONLY kind they had was the instant ocean brand. this tube in that tube count drops divide.. all that crap

I came out with an alkalinity of 7. and this was 2 hours after my water change. so i added one teaspoon of the buffer.. less than im supposed to, and ill check tommorrow. i guess if the test is right thats the problem... but i cant get past the buffer powder, not sure if this is right since its for ph.. I think I better go study

 

[Sk8r]

The buffer powder is what I use. I use 2 tsp for a 50, dissolved in ro/di water, added to the sump. Test both your calcium and your alk religiously for the next several days.

 

[lemonhead]

kents DKH super buffer is for alkalinity. dkh stands for degree(d) of carbonate hardness(kh). kh test kit is what i use and needs to be around 10-12dkh. if your using alkalinity test kit multiply the reading by 2.8 to convert to kh.

 

[TOURKID]

if i multiply my alk (7) by 2.8 thats like almost 20?!?

I thought i was using the kent dkh to raise my ph. *doh* i do need to do some studying.

how often do you guys usually have to add the buffer?

 

[lemonhead]

depends on the tank. carbonate is used up several ways. first it is used up in calcification, it is the "cement" that bonds the calcium togather. decay of waste products in the tank produce acids, the carbonate neutralizes these acids, and CO2 produced in the tank create carbonic acid which use up kh. good water movement at the surface of the water, surface skimming overflow boxes, and protein skimmers can help remove CO2.
carbonate is like the buffer reserve, at the proper levels it helps prevent ph swings and drops.

 

[gfk]

mine were lookin bad in my 20 and i did a 4 gallon water change and they looked better after that.

 

[papagimp]

gfk,

good god I almost had tears in my eyes looking at your avatar, LOL, now I have that stupid song stuck in my head....again!

 

[floridareefs]

I noticed your temperture was 82 degress. Thats getting high. How high up do you have them? As suggested, I would do a large water change, maybe drop your salinity to .24/.25 and your temp below 80 degrees.