What did I do..?

[isajgh]

I just added 10 new species of coral Wednesday afternoon and am worried they aren't doing well. I have a good variety of very happy corals already established in my 40g. But this was my first real venture into sps. I have had a few pocilliopora frags in there for a couple months that are growing well with polyps always extended. Here's what I added on Wednesday: 3 types of acros (night light, ice & fire, and red dragon), mini scoly, some zoas, rainbow monti, borealis brain, war coral, trumpets and peppermint micromussa lords. My concern is that the acros have completely lost what little color they had when they came out of the box and are now totally white after just two days. Granted, they were pretty white when I opened the box but they still had some pigmentation. Also all the other corals except zoas are completely shrunken down and not opening up at all. Last night after lights out I did see feeder tentacles extended on mini scoly, trumpets, and borealis brain which I took as a good sign. Any advice would be very helpful!

Params:
LED lighting turned lower to avoid light shocking new additions
RedSea test kit
Salinity: 1.025
Ph: 8.0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 7
Phos: 0
Calc: 420
Alk: 8
Mg: 1350

Thank you to anyone who read this far lol

 

[SPotter]

Pictures would help with diagnosis and suggestions.

 

[isajgh]

I included some close up pictures of the acros I'm most worried about

 

[vhuang168]

They look dead. I don't see any flesh, only skeleton.

Unfortunately, the acros you picked (Echinata, Carduus) are sensitive and are some of the hardest to keep.

Did you do any acclimation? Did you keep any of the water they came in to test? Was the water in the bag cloudy?

Did you buy them online or from LFS?


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[isajgh]

I did do acclimation and dipped in coral rx. Bought online from pacific east aquarium. The water was not cloudy nor did it smell bad when they arrived. When they got here they still had some color on them but they were definitely faded. After acclimation and placing them in the sandbed I check on them a couple hours later and the color was gone and they've remained that way for the past two days.

 

[vhuang168]

Should check if they have a DOA policy.

Honestly, I don't water acclimate corals anymore. Most reef tanks are very similar in terms of parameters, varying only slightly.

If I'm not sure, I will quickly check Alk level of the incoming water to see if it is much higher or much lower than mine. If they are close, the coral gets temp acclimated then off the plug, dipped in Bayer, 2 washes in tank water then straight onto the rock.

I would start with something easier next order. A Valida or Tenius or Tortusa. A Millepora would be a good choice too. Stags are always a good started acro.


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[reefmutt]

They look dead to me, too, I'm sorry to say..
As has been mentioned, the acros you picked are very sensitive to shipping and moving from tank to tank.
They are also extremely sensitive to getting dipped in anything and coral rx can be tough on frags..
I would bet that the dipping is what killed them.
Next time , try a few heartier acros to start..

 

[vinhle00]

You Don't want your phosphate to be absolutely zero. Also the sps you got are known to be sensitive to dips. How are you supplementing the big three? alk,cal,mag.

 

[vinhle00]

lol Matt beat me to it on the dip

 

[isajgh]

That stinks. These were my birthday "treat yo self" frags. I even diluted the dip to make it easier on them. Luckily my other frags seem to be faring better. I'm supplementing the big three with Kent's line of products. (Tech A, B and MG) as well as adding Kent's trace elements.

 

[isajgh]

Any suggestions for easier acros?

 

[vhuang168]

I would start with something easier next order. A Valida or Tenius or Tortusa. A Millepora would be a good choice too. Stags are always a good started acro.


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[vinhle00]

Is that manual or with a dosing pump?

for sensitive frags; Next time try using bayer for dipping, i had better luck with it. you can try to shorten the duration of the dip then remove the frag off of the plug and using a baster to blow of any chance of pest and don't forget to inspect the frag after in good lighting.

The red dragon is a very hardy and fast grower is just some can't take dipping. I would try green slimmer, cali tort, purple bonsai

 

[HuskerBioProf]

I have dipped all of my SPS frags in bayer and they perked up right away. Everything has maintained color and polyp extension around a week after (aside from a couple that I think are still getting a little acclimated to my intense light). I would definitely recommend it for those that can take a dip. I have heard some of the smoother deep-water acros are more sensitive to dips, but I am very new at the SPS game.

 

[isajgh]

Great! I've just ordered the bayer for the next dipping. I'm doing manual dosing. Comes with a lot of water testing but I haven't splurged for the dosing pump yet. I have a hard time justifying spending money to automate a process I can do. My grad student budget is not very forgiving �� I just caved and got an ato! The red dragon still has a little color left around the base so I'm hoping he makes it. I'm very new too huskerbioprof, unfortunately it seems some lessons are learned the hard way in this hobby.

And thank you vhuang168! I'm sorry I completely missed your earlier post. I appreciate all the advise from everyone!!

 

[HuskerBioProf]

I understand grad school budget. I took my 75 gallon down while in my PhD (molecular biology). It gets better.

I am dosing Kalk in my ATO and it is working great so far. I am not at saturated levels yet, and it is keeping up easily. With a smaller tank I have heard Kalk in the ATO could be sufficient permanently even for SPS dominant tanks.

 

[vinhle00]

Keep an eye out for used brs doser if you change your mind. You should be able get it for pretty cheap. trust me auto dosing will go a long way. I know you won't be able wake up a few times at night to dose. Sps dont stop cusuming at night.