coral not opening

[DeNero1331]

I've recently picked up some new corals and they at first semmed to be doing fine but they are increasingly opening less and less. I have a sinularia finger leather, lemnalia tree coral, and some button polyps.

I had flouresent green mushrooms and red mushrooms which both seem to be doing fine.

My tank is a 125g w/: 2 96w 10,000k, 2 96w 50/50's, and 2 96w actintics. All of the corals are down about 12"-14" from the top.

Here is my water info:

Amm - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 0
PH - 8.2
Calcium - 460
Kh - 6/107.4
Phos - 0

I had recently done a 15% water change. I have not added any supplements or plankton. I don't think it's a lack of supplements since the shrooms are growing steadily. And I thought it might be a lack of plankton but if I add plankton and they are all closed up would they be able to eat?

Any thoughts? Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[seaham358]

How long has it been???? some corals can take longer to get adjusted then others

 

[MarineFlake]

Kh 6..Your Alk is 6.0 dkh? If so, you need to get that up to a minimum of 8.0. Prefer 10. You're probably experiencing a dip in alk and I suspect you need to check mg levels due the high ca. Most keep 400 - 450 ca, so yours is juuuusst a hair on the high side. ca/alk/mg are the magic trio, you'll be restling with those the rest of your hobby's life ; ) Anyway, you need to raise your alk to 8, better is 9 or 10 some go as high as 12 but I keep my around 10 dkh. I use Kent's superbuffer. However, BEWARE..you need to raise it slowly. Maybe ~1 dkh / 2 -3 days. Once thats up you seriously need to check your mg levels. I suspect they are depressed. mg should run about 3 x your ca. So if your running ~450PPM ca then you should aim for 1350ppm mg. (Thats nsw levels ; )

best of luck!

 

[DeNero1331]

thanks for the info...I had thought my alk was on the low side but never heard anything about mg before.

 

[DeNero1331]

I've gotten my alk up to 9 and the sinularia is looking tons better.

However, my lemnalia seems about the same...still not too bad. And my button polyps are now all completely closed.

I've only had the polyps for a little under a week and each day more polyps would close...now they all are.

Any ideas as to what the trouble might be?

 

[DeNero1331]

Okay, not one set of the button polyps are officially dead. The stalks are breaking off. There is another smaller set on the same rock that are looking too fantastic.

Any input at all would be appreciated...

 

[DeNero1331]

I tried moving the polyps and so far no change. Of the two groups on the rock, the larger set is dead and the smaller set is going down hill. I'm going to re-test everything again today but my water should still be in good shape and the alk should be up to 10 by now.

Is it possible the polyps just suck or is it definitely something I'm doing wrong?

 

[steve-s]

There is a fungus that sometimes attacks certain species/colonies of zoo's. Most times there's nothing you can do about it except frag a healthy unaffected section and hope for the best. Raising your chem like that will have no possitive affect on any coral species. You needn't raise the alk any higher than 150 ppm.

What color are the polyps and can you post a pic?

Cheers
Steve

 

[electrikat]

Keep an eye open for predators. There is a hitchhiking snail that comes in on the colony and eats them at night. He looks like a normal snail but has a cone that covers his body opening when he closes. I believe there is a picture in the hitchhikers faq.

 

[electrikat]

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_livestock.htm
Here's the link.

 

[DeNero1331]

my alk was at 107ppm so I was hoping that was the cause. Correcting it really seamed to help the sinularia.

I'm positive there is no snail munching on the polyps but I will keep a closer eye out. The stalks seem more like they are decaying rather than being picked at or eaten.

I'm afraid I don't have any pics but they are light brown w/ a small green center. There was a large set (which are done) and a smaller set (I'm still hoping they make it). the larger ones were about 1/2 - 3/4" and the smaller ones are about 1/4" in diameter.

I think fraging might be a good idea to hedge my chances a bit... but I'm worried though cause I don't want to screw up the set that is still alive.

My lemnalia doesn't look great either. I'm going to try moving it around some more tonight.

 

[DeNero1331]

Okay so I took electikat's advice and watched the tank w/ just the moonlights on. I noticed some tentacles coming out of the lr near both of the unhappy corals. I'm not sure what the tentacles are coming from but one set is on one side of the tank and there is another set on the opposite side of the tank. I've noticed them before but never noticed them extend out so far.

Could these tentacles be the culprit? They are long and thin and I couldn't see what they were actually attached to. When I poked them with my feeding stick they retracted back into their hole.

To be safe I moved my corals around away from them but does anyone have any clue what the tentacles are or if they could be the problem?

Thanks!!

 

[steve-s]

More than possible. You should also inspect for Aeolid nudibranchs.

Cheers
Steve

 

[DeNero1331]

How can I get rid of the tentacle things? Joe's juice?

 

[ashobson]

add coral boost you can buy it from premium aquatics or that pet place. You wont belive the deference it makes until you try it.