Hammerhead coral help

[Mapexdrummer09]

Hey guys so I have been in the freshwater hobby for many years right now but am new to the salt water part of this awesome hobby. I set up a reef tank 3 months ago. I have two Zoas in there that are doing great and I got a hammerhead coral 2 weeks ago that was opening up all the way the first two days but now will only open up partially. I can't tell if it's my water parameters, flow (to much or to little) lighting (same, to much or to little). I came on here for some help.
Water parameters are as follows;
Temp 79.4
PH 8.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate was around 5ppm but I reduced my feeding because of an algae issue and am currently reading 0ppm ,
Phosphates .25 ppm
Alkalinity 11.9 dKH
Calcium was 325 last week until I switched salt mixes and did some water changes and am now reading 440ppm
Salinity 1.025

Lighting I'm using a Aqua illumination prime. I have the light ramp up over 5 hours and at peak strength the LEDs only hit 50%
Flow I'm using a Jebao rw8 model. I have it set to a lower setting with what I would think to be a nice lower flow through out the tank.

Only other thing to add, I did use coral dip before placing the coral in the tank.
The coral I bought from a reputable place and when I bought it, the coral looked really healthy.

Any help would be awesome! Thanks

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Hammer corals need to be in low/med light and low flow. But having stable water parameters is paramount.

 

[Mapexdrummer09]

Thanks. Based off of my water parameters what do you think? I know my phosphates are on the higher side and I am thinking about getting gfo to help with that.

 

[ZeeSparrow]

Other than the phosphates, parameters look ok though the alk is a bit higher than I prefer. How long are the lights on? Is the hammer on the bottom in the sand?

What size tank? I have two of the RW8 on my 75 and they can definitely move the water more than my euphyllia like... I have three hammers and two frogspawn that are all on (or very near) the bottom of the tank. The more protected they are from direct flow, the more extension they have.

 

[Mapexdrummer09]

Good questions. The tank is a 29 gallon with about 30 pounds of live rock in it. The lights are on for 12 hours but ramp up and down over a period of 5 hours. My buddy was saying it could be the alk but every thing I read on line says between 7 and 11 dKH or 8 and 12 dKH is acceptable but 9 dKH the preferred. So how do I lower it?

 

[Mapexdrummer09]

I had the coral at first towards the lower to middle part of the rocks. To days ago I moved him down to the sand bed to see if I get any different results

 

[Mapexdrummer09]

Two *

 

[ZeeSparrow]

What salt mix were you using, and what did you change to? Are you dosing anything via top-off or otherwise?

 

[Mapexdrummer09]

I was using instant ocean in the purple bag and switched to instant ocean reef crystals. I ran out of salt and since my calcium was low I figured I'd try it. Worked with bringing the calcium up. I'm currently not dosing anything. I do not own a ro/di system yet (plan to get on very soon currently I am using distilled water for changes and top off

 

[ZeeSparrow]

Reef Crystals has higher calcium, true, but it also has higher Alk (reference). As long as you are using a calibrated refractometer to test your salinity then I think you can just wait and let it fall naturally. Hopefully you're mixing your salt ahead of time and not using it immediately... that can sometimes cause issues, too.

Here is one thread that may be of interest.... here's another.

 

[Mapexdrummer09]

Thanks! Yes I mix my water and salt in a bucket using a power head and a heater to bring it up to temp. Usually over a few hours then do my water change. I started out using a hydrometer but then quickly upgraded to a refractometer. Definitely worth the extra money. Thanks for the links, I will read though then when I get a minute.