Ok. So I have figured out that keeping corals is harder than fish. Not new to the hobby but new to the forum and need some help. Attached is a pic of my leather. It seemed to be doing well. Have had it for about a month. On Saturday I did a 30% water change and since then it has not opened or come out at all. Did I kill it? What happened? My levels are perfect, Salinity is the same as it was 1.025, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10, ph 8.1, 77.8 degrees. Also, seemed to have killed an urchin, and my feather duster has not come out. What in the world did I do wrong??
what went wrong??
- Thread starter dmmdlaw
- Start date
enchelycore808
Member
Did u use water from a different source? Is there a possibility that there were some traces of copper in the water?
Frizzo1983
New member
I don't think it is dead I have an all soft tank and all soft coral is sensitive in different ways to water changes. Often times when I do water changes, I have a few corals shed there outter coating not sure if good or bad but usually once done they come back looking better. Sometimes this process takes weeks let it be don't move it and try to keep your water a bit on the dirty side. What is the total system volume? did you possibly too big of a WC ? big swings in PH among other things can shock a tank fairly quickly. How long has the tank been up and running. Inverts are sensitive to drastic perameter changes.
Keep asking questions
Last edited:
bull shark
New member
Are you using RODI?
Are you using GFO or Phosguard?
A 30% water change may be a bit much. I do 5% per week (1 g every 12 hours).
Are you using GFO or Phosguard?
A 30% water change may be a bit much. I do 5% per week (1 g every 12 hours).
enchelycore808
Member
Did the urchin an feather duster die at the same time? That's why I asked about the copper as it is toxic to inverts. As said before, leathers do occasionally close up and shed their mucus layer. Also, with larger water changes, it becomes increasingly important to make sure that the incoming water is exactly the same parameter wise (temp, sg, ph etc) as the outgoing water.
All great questions. I am not using RO but I have bought a RO system to start using as soon as it arrives. As for the change, maybe I will limit it to 10% a week. Just wanted to make sure I had no ammonia issues. The PH and Salinity seemed to be almost identical, temp may have been a degree or two colder. The feather duster shed its crown before the other issues, although I have no idea if it is alive. The urchin died almost immediately upon water change. I have not tested for copper, but I am going to purchase a kit asap. I moved the coral down toward the bottom of the tank rather than where it was, up top close to the light. Someone posted it should be toward the bottom, and not so close to the light??? is that true? Should I put it back? below is where I moved it to. I have a 65gal tank.
apexkeeper
New member
Assuming you used tap water did you treat it at all with a dechlorinator?
Before trying to troubleshoot, let's wait to see if a problem actually exists.
Don't do anything for a week. It's not uncommon for leathers to close up and look bad for a few days at a time. They secrete a mucus coat that is thought to help clean the exterior of the coral. This coat usually sheds on it's own in a few days.
Take a deep breath and keep an eye on it for a few days. If it still looks like crap next weekend, then it might be time to take action.
Leathers can take a whole lot more light than we give them credit for. I have a lobophytum at the top of my tank. For reference, I have a monti cap and psammocora several inches lower than the leather and both SPS are growing like weeds. The lobo is as well.
Don't do anything for a week. It's not uncommon for leathers to close up and look bad for a few days at a time. They secrete a mucus coat that is thought to help clean the exterior of the coral. This coat usually sheds on it's own in a few days.
Take a deep breath and keep an eye on it for a few days. If it still looks like crap next weekend, then it might be time to take action.
Leathers can take a whole lot more light than we give them credit for. I have a lobophytum at the top of my tank. For reference, I have a monti cap and psammocora several inches lower than the leather and both SPS are growing like weeds. The lobo is as well.
