button coral fadding

[whitetiprs]

my button coral does not extend as much as it used to and on most of the polyps the tenticles are becoming fadded. what can I do to fix this. nothing is new with the tank and water quality and parameters are all good.

 

[steve-s]

A 20" high tank (?) may be part of the problem. While 2x96w PC may seem like a lot of light, you may not be getting much in the way of light penetration.

Where in the tank is the coral positioned, how old are the bulbs and do you use carbon?

Cheers
Steve

 

[whitetiprs]

the Coral is at the bottom of the tank and was fine for 4 months there. the lights are about 6 months old. and I do not use carbon

 

[steve-s]

Any chance you could post a pic? How close is the coral to the it's nearest neighbour?

Cheers
Steve

 

[whitetiprs]

The corals neighbor is some starburst polyps

 

[steve-s]

The corals neighbor is some starburst polyps

Which is the side where the color change seems to be taking place, I would suspect this to be your problem, move one or the other. It will take a few weeks to regain the color but it should be okay.

I would also suggest examining the zoanthud for possible nudibranch parasites. Not likely you going to find one if there been no recent coral/rock additions but it doesn't hurt to check.

Cheers
Steve