LPS looking drab, unhappy...

~RuSh~

~RuSh~

New member
I've just recently set up a sump system for this tank. I re-arranged a lot of rockwork and added a lot of live rock from a 10g I've had set up for a while. The LPS in question have been doing great up until now. Sunday I set up the sump. Yesterday things looked irritated which I attributed to the changes, but today they seem slightly worse.

My frogspawn and hammer are looking poor. Very retracted and some polyps are even bailing out. I don't know what's going on. All of the LPS is looking a little down today. Candy cane, trumpet, acans, but the Frog and Hammer look the worst. Zoas are all open and look good, and the LTA and fish seem unaffected by whatever is happening. I tested the water and got these results:

IMAG0442.jpg



Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 0ppm, Phosphate 0ppm. I can only assume that whatever is going on is a result of something foreign in the water, something not able to be picked up by tests so I am going to run some carbon. I have a Marineland Magnum HOT that I filled with new carbon and I've got a water change brewing.

I'm not really sure what else to do. I haven't tested for Mg or Ca, but I doubt those levels would affect the hammer and frog so acutely. Hopefully a W/C will help.

Here is what they look like now:
IMAG0441.jpg

IMAG0440.jpg


Any advice? Anything that would cause a decline in LPS but not zoas or LTA or fish?
 
I didn't test for Alk, you're right. I'll do that tomorrow. How could this fluctuate though?

Salinity is on the low side, 1023 roughly. I'll be slowly bumping that up over the next few days hopefully.
 
im not an expert but this happen to me last time, I added some rock, and I move the tank around and my corals started to looks unhappy for a few days, I tested my water and it was all good, and my LFS told me to give them a few days, to don't worry about it, corals can get little angry if you move things around, and after a week my corals started to look very happy again..
 
adding the additional live rock could of also thrown everything off. Your salinity is still within range. 1.023-1.025 is normal. As kingfisher62 asked, what does your alk & cal look like. Did you change or put additional lights? Whats your water temp?
 
waz1234 said:
im not an expert but this happen to me last time, I added some rock, and I move the tank around and my corals started to looks unhappy for a few days, I tested my water and it was all good, and my LFS told me to give them a few days, to don't worry about it, corals can get little angry if you move things around, and after a week my corals started to look very happy again..
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input.
 
trinidiver said:
adding the additional live rock could of also thrown everything off. Your salinity is still within range. 1.023-1.025 is normal. As kingfisher62 asked, what does your alk & cal look like. Did you change or put additional lights? Whats your water temp?
Click to expand...


I didn't get a chance to test this morning, had to rush off to work. I'll test them both later today when I get back home. Water temp is steady at 78 degrees. I changed the bulbs on this fixture (Aquaticlife 4x 24w T5HO) but that was a few weeks ago already. The corals all took to the new bulbs well and there was no change other than color - I went from 2 10k and 2 actinic to 2 ATI blue plus, 1 ATI purple plus and 1 ATI coral plus.

This morning I'm happy to say that the Candy cane looks much better. It is actually inflated before the lights have come on. Even the Acans have their feeders out which is good. The frog and hammer still look frumpy but they usually don't wake up until the lights have been on for a good 2-3 hours. Hopefully the carbon helped.

I do still plan to do some further testing though.
 
Just be careful not to over do it trying to correct a problem you see on a water test to fast and crash your tank
 
Sapsis said:
Just be careful not to over do it trying to correct a problem you see on a water test to fast and crash your tank
Click to expand...


Good advice. Last night I was sort of in a panic. I definitely don't want to make things worse. Hopefully things look better when I get home from work today.
 
I am happy to report that things are looking better today. I still haven't tested Ca, or Alk, but won't those stabilize with w/c's? I did another water change tonight, just 5g and let the carbon run all day today. Hopefully this is the start of their rebound.

Frog tonight:
IMAG0443.jpg


Hammer:
IMAG0444.jpg
 
In my opinion, you're going about water quality analysis somewhat backwards. One should start with salinity, temperature and the big three water parameters - alk, ca and mag. In my experience, if those are not appropriate, other measures are less important. When those are in range (salinity 1.024-1.025, temp 76-82, alk 8-9, ca 425ish, mag 1300-1400), then start worrying about nitrates, phosphates, etc.
 
Hmmm, I guess that is the freshwater side coming out in me. So, salinity, Ca, Mg, and Alk should be priority?
 
+1 on your Ca, Alk and Mg. The Mg usually once you've reached your desired level I check it every 6 months. Your Ca and Alk need to be maintained. All three work together to help your corals grow. I use two part solution and have it on a pump. You can also dose your tank manually. I'm more in balance and use the same amounts of Ca and Alk. My levels are Ca 475 and Alk 10.5. There are a lot of different theory's on dosing your tank but the one common fact is corals need Ca, Alk, and Mg to be healthy. The more corals and the more they grow the more your tank will require.

Your corals that were not doing well after you added a sump and LR I'd look at water flow. Also you've added more water water so this could drop your Ca, Alk, and Mg that was already in your tank.
 
I see. Well I'll definitely be paying more attention to these levels now. Any brands you recommend for Dosing elements?
 
I think Bulk Reef Supply's two part is very good and affordable although I've had better luck, or maybe just paying more attention, with Seachem Reef Fusion2. Also I use the Reef Fusion because a LFS refills the bottles for a good price. I have a 180 and go through a bottle of Ca, and Alk a month which would be very expensive if you had to buy them new. I've never searched to see if I could get the stuff to make it at home. Bulk Reef defiantly for your MG. It takes a lot to get the levels where they should be. After that I just leave it alone. Also the reef fusion, if your home every morning, can be dosed right in the overflow. I'm a fireman so being gone 24hrs at a time makes me feel better that it's on a pump. There are lots of ideas on dosing your tank but as I said I saw great results with Seachem but that could be because I was watching and getting my levels in range. I"ve been wanting to go back to BRS because it's cheeper and they have good stuff. But if it aint broke don't fix it. LOL. Good Luck and I hope some other folks give you some more ideas in here. You have a lot of knowledge floating around in RC
 
Thanks for the tips Alan. I will keep that in mind.

As far as the test results, KH is between 8-9, and Ca is either 420 (21 drops), or somewhere between 440-460... I really struggled to see any difference in color after 420, but the blue color never really seemed to match the 'end point' color on the chart. Is there a different type of test out there? Easier to use? I also don't have a Mg test and couldn't find one at the LFS. Any recommendations for test kits? Brands? I do plan on ordering one, or a few. Maybe a MG test kit and a CA test kit.



Things looked about the same last night. Still no where near where they were before the change. I've been doing small water changes and I've got the salinity up to 1024. I think the reason the Candy cane is slightly upset is that I elevated it. It's about midway up the tank now and before it was on the sand bed. Probably just acclimating to that change. The Hammer is probably acclimating to flow. It was getting a lot less flow where it was before the change, but seems to be coming around. The frogspawn has me puzzled. I didn't move it at all. I stacked the new rock beside it and around it but didn't move the it, or the rock it's on. The flow it's getting seems to be similar to what it was before but still - at this point I'd say the frog is progressing the least. Still there has been mild improvement over the past few days. Just taking it slowly.
 
I actually just ordered a Mg test kit, Alk test kit, and a Ca test kit - all Salifert.

I'm fairly confident the flow isn't that much different but I'm willing to try anything I guess. I think for now I'll leave things be for a bit. I've been in the tank for the past 3 days in a row and I'm sure things are disturbed by that as well. I'll be away for the weekend anyway so hopefully things begin to bounce back.

As soon as I get those test kits I'll post those numbers again as well.
 
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