corals on bottom of tank not happy

[newfound77951]

In addition to my unhappy brain coral, it now seems that almost all the corals on or near the bottom of my tank are not happy. This includes zoos, 3 small leathers and the brain coral. Other zoos and a big leather higher up are just fine. Other corals in the tank that are happy include candy cane, frogspawn, cabbage and GSPs. The only corals that seem to be OK down there are some mushrooms (ricordea and smooth) and one fuzzy leather. Is this just coincidence or could there be something that is bothering them down there?

Tank is a 30g long with 4x39 watt T5s, so I think they have plenty of light.

 

[Devilishturtles]

How closely are all of the corals sitting? LPS and leathers are infamous for their chemical warfare problems, mainly LPS corals. Make sure the brain is "downstream" from the other corals, and that the leathers are not getting irritated either.

Do you run carbon at all? If not, might be a good idea.

 

[melosu58]

I agree with Lindsay that you`ll need to check how close the corals are to each other. Brain corals like being on the substrate so I`m thinking they are too close.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

If I remember correctly, the brain newfound has is a platygyra - those don't need to be on substrate like the trachyphyllia.

Newfound77951... what was the last coral you added before the problem started? Was it one of the mushrooms?

 

[newfound77951]

None of the mushrooms has been added recently. The last batch of corals to go in were several frags, 3 small leathers and 2 zoos. All were fine at first but now are not, except for one leather. They have been in there >2 months now.

The brain is a Platygyra, and is on the substrate.

 

[melosu58]

Just make sure there is plenty of space between the leathers. There could be a chemical war going on. I would do some frequent PWC`s and run AC for a little bit.

 

[newfound77951]

I mixed up some SW yesterday and will do a PWC tonight, and move them all further apart. I'll run some carbon, too. My skimmer has been acting up (as in not working) so a good cleaning to get it going again may help too. I may just bring some of the leathers to the LFS, maybe trade for some more mushrooms or zoos which I like better anyway.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I definitley think it's a chemical warfare issue then. If your skimmer isn't working to pull anything out of the water and you aren't running carbon, perhaps your corals are just being irritated.

This is exactly why lots of people stay away from LPS, however their charm and appeal is hard to overcome.

I had a open brain that was looking horrible, wouldn't open, mouth always gaped open. I moved it ahead of my other corals, off by itself, and it looks like a new healthy coral now.

Best of luck.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

My skimmer has been acting up (as in not working) so a good cleaning to get it going again may help too. ...

I think THAT could be a huge reason.

 

[melosu58]

More than one leather in a 30 gallon tank is too much. I agree with Lindsay about the chemical warfare.

 

[newfound77951]

OK....I think the leathers should go, except for my big happy finger leather who looks fine.

The skimmer has only been down for a couple of days, and the corals have been cranky longer than that...it certainly isn't helping, but I don't think that was the cause of the problem.

I'm a little confused...I thought the leathers were the ones that produced substances that bothered the LPS corals, not the other way around. In my tank, more of the LPSs are fine (the candy cane and frogspawn look great) and it's the leathers that are bothering each other, and the brain. Am I right, and/or is it certain LPSs that are more bothered by certain leathers?