Shriveled Candycane corals.

[sdellin]

Help. They've been like this for two days now.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10
PH - 8.2
SG - 1.024 (normal for my tank)
Phosphates - .5

Temp is okay. I changed the lighting recently to help with algae. I have the actinics on from 7 to 7, I have the daylight on for two hours during the day, then off for two hours, then on for two hours again.

 

[ace1uno_00]

I dunno much about those.
I want them to be o.k. I hope they branch out again like in the other pics you showed me of them.

 

[steve r]

the random 2 hour light pattern is not what a coral would be used to. some of my coral take about 2 hours to open up after the daylights are on. i would say they are not getting enough light and or that the pattern is not stable enough.

steve r

 

[demodiki]

What's your calcium and alkalinity? Where's that anemone at?

 

[sdellin]

I will change the light pattern back, that makes sense. I will check the calcium and alkalinity tonight and post results. The anemone is on the other side of the tank now, but he was definately on the move. it was right after he started moving again that I noticed this problem.

 

[steve r]

the moving anemone is probably also a symptom that something is not right. they will usually tell you first when something is off by moving around. they are trying to find the condiditons it is used to

steve r

 

[DragonForce]

I think lack of lighting is your problem. Your actinics are most likely not giving nearly enough light. Try and standard 7-7 light cycle with all the lights on and tell us how it goes.

The candy cane coral do look good, besides the fact they arent open all the way.

 

[sdellin]

I changed the light pattern back, we'll see if that helps.

My calcium is at 340, it's been low before and the candys were okay, but I added some liquid calcium. Haven't added kalkwasser. Alkalinity is 160. It's been down to 120 before, but tends to stay a little high in my tank. LFS thinks that level is okay, but the test kit says it should be 105-125.

I'm using RO water. Should I be adding kalkwasser? I've never used it yet because it just sounds so complicated since it requires a drip, but I'm sure eventually I'll need to take the plunge. The instructions on the liquid calcium say to use strontium and molybdenum, but I haven't added those at all.

 

[steve-s]

The low Ca level is part of your problem but may also be from the intensity of the light. Get the Ca upwards of 400-420 over the span of a week, not all at once. Also move the coral lower in the tank. You'll be suprised how much this coral does not like to be too close to the light source.

Cheers
Steve

 

[cmor1701d]

Don't add anything you don't test for. Regular PWCs will take care of all trace elements. Target water parameters should be:

pH 8.0 - 8.3
SG 1.022 - 1.025
Alk 1.5 - 3 meq/L (NSW) or 7 - 12 dKH or 125 - 200 ppm CaCO3 equivalents
Calcium: (Ca) 380 – 450 ppm calcium ion or 950 - 1125 ppm CaCO3 equivalents
Mg 1000-1500 (3x the Ca level)
(reposting those numbers from forum advisor Steve-s)

 

[steve-s]

Calcium: (Ca) 380 – 450 ppm
(reposting those numbers from forum advisor Steve-s)

'Cept I would never recommend anything above 420 ppm Ca depending on salinity levels..

Cheers
Steve

 

[sdellin]

Thanks, those are about the ranges I shoot for, I don't test for trace elements, I read here on the forum that you don't add anything you don't test for. So according to your numbers, my alkalinity is okay?

I assumed pwc replenished trace elements, so that's good, I don't like adding things. Should I be using kalkwasser for calcium or is the liquid calcium okay? It does get the calcium up for awhile when I use it, but I'm wondering if it will stay up if I use the lime water.

I was thinking of moving the candys to the sand on the bottom. They are about halfway up in the tank now, so any lower and they'll be on the botton. Should I be conderned about the multiplying tunicates? I posted about that before, but they sure are multiplying. You can see them in the branches, they're like lime green.

They are tunicates, right? They have little funnel-like tubes where I'm assuming the water goes in and comes out.

EDIT: I tried adding a close-up of the tunies.

 

[steve-s]

Those are yellow rock boring sponges. They are quite common on this type of coral and really shouldn't be a bother. Mine have been like that for years without harming the coral although it does slow the corals growth a fair bit.

As far as moving to the sand, yes. I would not really suggest much higher than the bottom ¼ of the tank unless your lights are on the weaker side which they are not.

Do not use kalk to fix the Ca unless alk is also low, 160 ppm alk is a good number. Kalk raises both alk and Ca in unison. Use a plain 'ole CaCl additive. You can use this calculator to see how much is needed, just remeber to divide the additions over a weeks time. Don't add all at once.

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

Cheers
Steve

 

[DragonForce]

sdellin, you should look into a product called Fiji Gold made by walt smith. It's 12 bucks for a jar and keeps my CA at 480. Everything in my reef has been looking better since using it.

 

[sdellin]

Those are yellow rock boring sponges.

Okay, I read this first part of your post and started to panic, I was almost out of my chair on my way to the tank to dig them out...until I read the rest of the paragraph. "rock boring sponges" sounds scarey.

We'll see how the move to the bottom goes, I did leave the daylights on all day and believe it or not, a few of the coral heads have swelled some.

There is just no price I could put on the valuable information I learn on this site! I'll post again tomorrow with an update.