Starving Finger Coral?

[jkapit]

Hi,

I've had a finger coral in my tank for about 5 years. When I set the tank up it grew very quickly and had to pruned a few times a year.

I recently(6 months) put in a large refugium to help control algae(chaetto bare bottom refugium) and have upgraded my skimmer and believe the nutrient level is now way down.

Now the finger coral is slowly shrinking. My sense is that it is starving. What food can I add into the tank to revive it?

Thanks,

 

[atrox]

phytoplankton or remove the skimmer. I dont run a skimmer on my system, and have noticed large growth in all my corals. I do run carbon though.

 

[Jachael]

phytoplankton or remove the skimmer. I dont run a skimmer on my system, and have noticed large growth in all my corals. I do run carbon though.

I agree with phytoplankton. Spot feeding is fine.

I'm intrigued/confused by not running a skimmer on the system, especially with corals. This seems contrary to everything I have read/been told. I know that skimmer can skim out the good stuff (hence most people put their fuge after or separate from their skimmer). But doesn't not having one at all increase the waste and lower your water quality????

 

[sneeyatch]

Not necessarily. Some corals like leathers and other softies enjoy a higher, more nutrient rich water column. The key is to remove the wastes as they continually build up and he's doing so by running carbon and possibly water changes.

Personally and depending on the size of the tank / how many fish you keep, I would run a skimmer, but run it more dry if you want to keep richer waters. If you want to keep your water clean, then run your skimmer wetter.

I prefer running a skimmer on my softie tank since I keep tangs and some other decent sized fish. Helps reduce the waste and oxygenates the water.

 

[mfinn]

I've been keeping soft corals for 20 years and one thing I've learned is that all leathers need is good clean water and a wide variety of light. Anything from pc to mh lighting.
Adding food just for leather corals is a waste.
Now they may benefit from foods added to feed fish.