Making a colt/kenya tree happy?

Molehs

Molehs

the H is silent
System has been up for a little over a year. Most of my corals are leathers, mushrooms, anthelia and 2 good chunks of kenya tree/colt. A few months ago I had some medical issues and while the horses did just fine my tank parameters got a little wonky. I've since brought everything back up to snuff and the only thing that hasn't really bounced back is my kenya tree/colt corals.

They never open up anymore. For a week or more at a time, I've had them in and out of flow and tried higher and lower. Nothing seems to have any positive effect. Is there a 'food' that would motivate them? I'm currently culturing my first batch of phyto to potentially be a benefit for the whole system. But that is mostly because a friend just stopped growing so it was a zero investment for me to borrow the equipment.

My system is in my sig. I know I run cold and lower light than a typical reef/FOWLER tank but the trees were very happy for a good 8-9 months. They would be fully open and drop arms like crazy.

Any advice on what I can do to bring life back to these guys?
 
Not sure which leather we are talking about. The colt coral is a cla diella species. The kenya tree is capnella sp. Cladiella are more autotrophic; need more light than capnella. which draw some organics from the water rcolumn and are less dependent on light.

Both are pretty hardy. Allelopathy from other corals, salinity or another parameter could also be affecting them.
 
I've not been sure what it was as pics between species seem pretty similar to me. Here a couple pics of what it looked like back when it was happy:
IMAG0672.jpg

IMAG0671.jpg


More light may not really be an option at moment, but I can try to get them a bit closer to the top. Would the phyto be a viable organic, if it's kenya tree?
 
thats a kenya tree.. colt corals look more fluffy.. and even the touch of them is slimy and squishy. kenya trees are a little more stiff
 
Okay so we pretty sure it's a kenya tree. That means it needs 'food' and is only partially feed by light. Will phyto provide the food it needs? I have a batch that will be ready in a couple of days that I plan to start dosing to perk up corals that would benefit. As well my water should be pretty 'dirty' due to the nature of a seahorse tank.

Here is a picture of what it has looked like for a while now. Completely retracted:
IMAG1428.jpg


Has yet to be positively affected by any change of placement, more/less light and/or flow.

With the warmer weather the tank is now at the summer time high max of 73*F rather than the winter low of 70*F, which has seemed to make no difference either.

Any further advice or thoughts?
 
They haven't changed one bit. I've done a massive water change, as well tried new locations, altering light or flow.

Way back when I first set up I had a tiny kenya tree that was fine for a few months and then eventually shrank up and either slowly disappeared or got pitched. These had been happy healthy and dropping arms for months before they just got mad at some point and never got better.

And at this point they don't seem to change at all, not better or worse. Not sure what to do about it..?
 
As stated, softies really don't need food. You could try coral frenzy (I use this) or some kind of fine particle SPS food. THey will pull it out of the water. AGAIN, softies usually don not need feeding. Maybe more light or a different light cycle?
 
It's just frustrating that it seems that half of my softies, are doing just fine and half are mad/fading. Several of my leathers are doing great and others not so much. My main interest is keeping my seahorse happy and healthy, which they are, but I'd like to have a clue as to what is up with some of the softies. As well I don't want to add anymore softies if they are just going to fade like these...
 
Here's a thought. About 6 months ago I got a new bigger skimmer. Could it be stripping too much food from the water for the softies? I consistently pull lots of dark green skimmate with this skimmer. I've also been running a turf scrubber for a month or 2 but the softie issue way predates that.

Going to kill the skimmer for a week or 2 and see what happens.
 
Sorry, i missed the post about the skimmer . Thought about it but didn't see it in your signature descrition ,so I figured you didn't Yes, capnella like dissolved organic material ime. Mine grow better in lightly skimmed tanks. They tolerate lower light but do even better in good light if organics are present. They don't exhibit a feeding response ,so, I think they depend on meeting their non photosynthetic needs by absorbing some organics from the water.
 
my colt corals always do good in my tank but I cant keep toadstools or similar leathers alive to save mine or their life. Ive tried several times and just lost a yellow Fiji leather and a green toadstool.
 
kenya's love less than "clean" water. It may be that the water is too clean or it may be that you are futzing with it too much

I have a few kenyas and they hate being touched and it could take a day or two before they perk up again. sensitive little buggers
 
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