Soft corals not looking good...

[deanp88]

I have recently added better lighting to my tank of about 3 months. The new lighting consist of 6.7 watts/gallon including mh and flouresents. The same day the light was installed I replaced skimmer with an asm g1x skimmer for the 125 gallon tank. Ammonia is 0, NO2 is 0, NO3 is 5-10, sg is 8.2, temp is 79, ph is 8.2.

I had some zoas before the change and they have seemed to close up since the change and they day after I installed the lighting, I added another frag of zoas, a frag of a capnella tree coral and also a mushroom.
The new mushroom is doing great, more than twice the size it was in the store but tree coral is wilted down and the zoas are closed for the most part. I was told that my tank was okay to add these corals as they are very hardy. The tree coral is a little above mid height in the tank and the zoas are low in the tank. I have about 80 pounds of rock of which about 30 was live rock. Is this normal after adding new coral or am I screwing something up?

 

[divedeep1689]

Read up on bleaching corals sounds like wat your doing to them.

 

[divedeep1689]

Did you just upgrade the lights and continue with normal lighting time or did you gradualy increase time of light?

 

[deanp88]

I haven't noticed any discoloration in anything yet. Could the lighting be to intense for these corals? Do they usually do this after adding to tank or do they usually look good right out of the gate?

 

[divedeep1689]

New corals may stay closed up for a while, i have added diff corals to my tank some open within a hour some stay closed for two three days.

 

[melosu58]

It probably is not too much lighting but you needed to acclimate your corals to the new lighting. Several mesh screens that are from window screens on top of the tank and pull one off every few days would have helped acclimate the corals to your new lighting.

 

[deanp88]

I did not change the lighting times, still the same. I will try the screen approach to soften the light for awhile. As for the zoas, how do they handle light? Also, the tree coral, how does it handle light?

 

[divedeep1689]

not sure about the tree but zoas are a very hardy coral with your light bottom level of tank were you have them sounds good but they can be placed anywere. Is their anything bothering them as far as sand being blown on them? That can irritate them alot.

 

[deanp88]

Nothing that I can see that would be bothering them. They are not directly on the sand, just up off it on a rock ledge. My tank is not very stocked with fish and coral right now, plenty of space.

 

[deanp88]

My tank is about 3 months old with maybe with maybe 80 pounds of rock and 30 of which is live rock. Is my tank to new for these corals maybe or do I need more live rock?

 

[melosu58]

Well new tanks are a little unstable so you`ll need to really keep up with water test and PWC`s. This should help greatly.

 

[deanp88]

Thanks melosu58. I am very particular about water changes, and parameters and general cleaning of the tank. Being a newbie I just want to make sure there is not something I am missing. I am eager to see some softies thrive in the tank but not if it is to soon.

 

[deanp88]

As of today, tree coral looks fuller and some zoas have opened up but most are either closed or opened up half way.

 

[deanp88]

Tree still looks good, as for zoas, one frag is open and ther other remains half closed. My xenia is seems to stay closed during the day and open at night, which doesn't make sense. How long can they survive like that?

 

[divedeep1689]

I Have a leather that stayed closed during the day and open at night for two three weeks then it started disintegrating around the edges. prob not related just thought id share.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Some corals like Zoas can remain closed for impossibly long times. It took a full week for all of my new Zoas to open.