Polyps Not Opening? Any Ideas?

G

Graham670

New member
I came home today to find that my Green Star Polyps and my Birdsnest are refusing to fully open up. Theyre both about 65% open and i dont really have a clue why.
pH- 8.1 ( a little low, but low enough to cause this problem? )
Nitrate- 0ppm
Phosphate- 0ppm
dKH-9.5
Temp- 77
Mag- Test kit ordered and will be here tomorrow
Calcium- 420ppm

If anyone has any ideas that can ease my mind it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 
Have you topped off your tank or added additives recently? Sometimes pouring fresh water onto corals or accidentally hitting them with additives (particularly alk, or at least this is what I have found) can shock the corals and cause them to not open. I had this happen with my acros. Make sure your sump isnt blowing these straight onto your corals and if you dont have a sump, try to pour them slowly into a corner where there arent any corals
 
I dont have a sump, and i havent topped off the water since yesterday morning, and even when i did they seemed fine. Havent added any additives either. I dont know whats going on. Thanks for the suggestions though, i wish that could have been it, im just concerned about them dieing
 
If your tank is 20 gallons like your profile says, I would do some water changes to make yourself feel better. Might be nothing but at that small water volume it's too easy to do.

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Thanks chaderic,ill be doing about a 20% water change tomorrow ASAP. Also going to remove the bio wheel ( more like a bio waterfall ) from my HOB filter and probably add some phosban...then cross my fingers.
 
Might not be a good idea to do all those things at once. Imho. If you do one at a time you can sort of trouble shoot trying one solution and testing it before moving on to another.

Since your already gonna take out 20% of you phosphate and nitrate with a water change, carbon may be more helpful here. Instead of messing with the gfo and bio wheel.

If I had a nano I think I would just match temp and salinity with some aged salt water and just do periodic 50% changes anyways.

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I see your join date is October, just guessing tank is 2-3 months old. How long has tank been running? Are you testing for ammonia and nitrite?
 
Well I bought the tank from a guy with the sand and about 35-40lbs LR and the water. He had the tank running for about a year and a half but had done nothing with it other yhan one damsel. Then I aquired it, kept about 60% of the water and added the other 40% using water from Aquariums, here in Edmond. That was about 3 - 4 months ago. My nitrates are at zabout 5ppm and I don't have ammonia test kit, but i thought once the ammonia cycled it wouldn't become an issue any more? And i did a 25% ( 5 gallon ) water change today, hoping that will help.
 
Just checking on any possibility of new tank syndrome. I do not remember if Aquariums does water testing, but it wouldnt hurt to have them check ammonia and nitrite just to be safe.

As for water changing that is usually the best way to start on trying to help your corals. Have you added any fish to the tank since you got it? Are you feeding your birdsnest? Sorry so many possibilities running through my mind right now.
 
The only fish in the tank is a dwarf lion fish, which seems to be doing great. And as far as feeding the birdsnest I thought that good light, water flow, and water quality would be enough to keep it happy. After I did the water change the birdsnest started opening back up, but the green star is still being reluctance. Do u think I could have too much flow around the green star?
 
Glad to hear after you water change that the birdsnest is doing better. I have kept star polyps in low-high flow and they seem to do better in higher flow for me. As for the dwarf lion, maybe he is perching on your corals, causing them to retract?
 
Ok thanks for the link ill check it out when I get home ( I'm using my phone right now ) but I had my lion fish before I had the green stars and there's never been an issue for the past few months. I called my gf and she checked the calendar I keep and I added a second power head on the 26th and the green star closed up on the 27th, so I had her unplug the new powerhead and well see what happens. Thanks for all the help and suuggestions. I'll let u know if this powerhead idea works out.
 
Star polyps can be very hardy
as well as finicky.
I've had them close up and stay that way for weeks
while other corals in the tank did fine.
Anything from flow, to amonia to bristle worms can tick them off.
 
Lytehouse said:
Star polyps can be very hardy
as well as finicky.
I've had them close up and stay that way for weeks
while other corals in the tank did fine.
Anything from flow, to amonia to bristle worms can tick them off.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks. Good to know, that eases some of my stress I just wish i knew exactly what it is that's causing it. im hoping this powerhead theory will work out.
 
Update: I did a 25% water chage ( 5 gallons since i only have a 20 gallo tank ) and i turned off my second power head. Birdsnest is 100% open up and looking great, and the green star has started to open back up. I have one main frag and a small second frag, the small one is completely open and looking good and the big one is starting to come out so hopefully within about 2 days it will be back to normal. Just thought id let u guys who gave me so much advice and suggestions know. Thanks alot.
 
try redirecting those power heads toward the surface of the water or at a wall so the flow is dispersed more evenly. What gph are they?
 
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