Corals not opening (Leateher toadstool, GSP)

[tsdpurdue]

For the past month or so my leather toadstool has been opening up when the lights are off. However once the lights come back on the coral shrinks back down and will not open again until the lights are about to go off. What could be causing this? (is it just more of a night owl) lol


I have the coral half way up the rock work. Is it getting shocked by the light? (I have two smaller frags that are on the sand bed and one is even shaded on from the light and follows this same schedule...) so unlikely i think.

Temperature issue


Could it be a pH swing issue? I have tested it early morning and the lowest I have have seen is only 7.8.

My GSP has not been opening much at all. (however it is still only two weeks old) could be related though.

Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated it.

My tank:
55 gallon
Nova Extreme t-5 6 bulbs 324 Bulbs are 6 months old
Prism skimmer
Rena canister filter (used to create flow)
3 hydor PH one is 750 other 2 or 550
Temp 78 degrees
Ca 420 (Red sea)
Alk 9-10 (Red Sea)
Mg 1300 (Red sea)
pH 8.0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0

Livestock
Two percula clownish
one damsel
5 hermit crabs
Misc snails
branching hammer coral
leather toadstool
misc zooanthids

 

[AZ_reefer]

how much wattage are the bulbs? Could definitely be shock from strong lighting. Try removing 2-3 bulbs as a test. My GSP hates it if I have the 150w MH on for more than a few hours each day. They were doing the same thing, out at night only, then quit coming out. I left the MH off for a few days, came right back out. Also, for a 55 gal, try pulling out that hydor 750gph. GSP are not a fan of extremely high flow IME. I have had GSP recede under a hydor 3 years ago.

Hope this might help.

 

[tsdpurdue]

Bulbs are 54 watts and i think this is my bulb set up. If you were going to only run 2 or 3 bulbs what would be the combo u would suggest.



3x 54 watt 10K T5 HO Fluorescent lamps
3x 54 watt 460nm T5 HO Fluorescent lamps

 

[cloak]

Are you running any carbon? Sometimes "allelopathy" can hinder a corals growth or alter it's behavior. It's worth a shot. GL.

 

[tsdpurdue]

I do weekly water changes (10% - 20%). I do run carbon every once in a while. Last time i used it was probably 3 months ago. I have a low bio load with only a few corals so i figure its not needed all of the time.

 

[tsdpurdue]

After getting home i looked at my Hydor pumps. I have an 850 and two 550 plus a canister filter that is putting out 300 gph

Im looking at 2250gph which comes out to be about 41x. Is that too much flow? I only have lps and softies

 

[cloak]

I don't think you have too much flow. The corals in question seem to like the extra water movement IME.

 

[AZ_reefer]

After getting home i looked at my Hydor pumps. I have an 850 and two 550 plus a canister filter that is putting out 300 gph

Im looking at 2250gph which comes out to be about 41x. Is that too much flow? I only have lps and softies

My tank has around 32x flow. Its not the total # that concerns me, but rather the intensity that the big hydors can create. If it is aimed directly, or even indirectly, and you can see heavy swaying in the GSP, I would try to redirect it so that they are not being blasted.

I think that my 96w x2 36" are the PC bulbs in 420/460nm and one 10k/460.

The GSP should be really easy to care for. If your water is good, then it is just a matter of narrowing down the flow or lighting. I also just added some BRS ROX .8 along with GFO in a media bag in my Aquaclear 70 that I converted into a DIY fuge. I did that last night after my water change. The GSP, kenya trees, and pulsing xenia are fully open this morning.

Experiment. It should really only take a day or two for them to recover and let you know if your changes are working. Cant hurt, they're receding anyways right?

 

[Dapg8gt]

I don't think it's flow either. I have GSP that are in direct path of 3 MP10's at 100%. Honestly they Love the flow. As does my tyree toadstool. Why would it be flow related if they come out at night during the same flow? Just sayin. I would look at water chemistry some more. And also the light. But if acclimated properly they should be fine. I have GSP and toadstool under 250 watt Phoenix and 100 watts of ATI t5's. Good luck

 

[tsdpurdue]

I don't think it's flow either. I have GSP that are in direct path of 3 MP10's at 100%. Honestly they Love the flow. As does my tyree toadstool. Why would it be flow related if they come out at night during the same flow? Just sayin. I would look at water chemistry some more. And also the light. But if acclimated properly they should be fine. I have GSP and toadstool under 250 watt Phoenix and 100 watts of ATI t5's. Good luck

The flow is the same at night and the leather comes out everynight. That's why I wondered if it was a water chemistry issue. I'm reducing the light and only running four bulbs, even though I don't think that's the problem. I will try it for a couple weeks and if no change I will try reducing the flow. I don't want to change to many things at once because I want to know what actually effects the coral. Is two weeks a reasonable time frame? I know it will take time for them to adjust. This situation is just strange and I don't know what to do. I guess I will just have to try one thing at a time until something works. If anyone has more ideas to try, I'm open to anything.



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[jlong11]

Your fish could be bothering the corals fish normally sleep at night I know I could never keep gap or any leather or Xenia one day noticed my damsel nipping and took him out everything has thrived since

 

[jlong11]

Gsp *

 

[tsdpurdue]

I will keep a close eye on my fish to see if they are picking on the coral. Also I run my lights for 12 hours. Could that have any effect on the coral? Should I try to run them for 10 and see if that makes a difference?

 

[AZ_reefer]

lol...flow the same at night...missed that! at least thats one variable eliminated.

 

[tsdpurdue]

Well i have been running 4 lights (out of the 6) since last Wednesday (12-26-12) and no real changes yet. How long should i give it before I move on to something else.


Could it be my bulbs?? The bulbs are only 7 months old, but they are the stock ones that came with the Nova Extreme light. Im going to buy ATI when I get new ones..

I'm going to try to get some pics up as well.