don duncan Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Ok so about 3 months after my tank leaked and I replaced it. I finally think that Im starting to get the magic back. Things are starting to grow again. Well about a week ago my corals started to show less polyp extension. I have checked everything that I can think of water parameters nitrates 0 phosphates 0 hanna MG 1400 Cal 500 alk 10 ph 8-8.3 Lighting is the same. all pumps working fine, so no water flow changes I checked for bugs. No Red bugs or AEFW Any ideas what is happening would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaJMasta Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 It could be a delayed reaction to the changes from the new tank. I swapped out my lighting almost 2 months ago (and augmented it a couple weeks back) and also recently swapped my skimmer for a better one. Even though the water changes and skimmer were keeping the params in check and the lighting was bright enough to keep the color going, my SPS were also showing less polyp extension than they had before. Just in the last couple of days I've noticed it has improved though - as well as coloration. These things also tend to improve when you've got your hands in the tank less often, so simply going without much maintenance with reasonable parameters for a while may be enough to get them completely happy again. Just my experience, I haven't been keeping SPS for too long (well, 9 months or so). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 have you started dosing? (potassium) Bulbs?(look at them real quick like when there fired up, the actual bulb) Electrical shock? (pump going bad) ETC just a few ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishypets Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Can you take a macro shot of some of the affected sps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I talked to Don on the phone yesterday about it, mine are doing the exact same thing. Colors are great...and in fact look much better without the polyps extended. Mine have been like this now for almost a month and seem to be growing just fine and look completely healthy. I've had problems with my Ca reactor so I have had some alk swings but nothing to crazy. Maybe swings back and forth from 8-10 over a couple of days, I think that I finally got that back under control. I've also had some temp swings since my heater wasn't quite big enough for my tank, so when it got cold my tank got down to 75 down from the set 78...got a new 500 watt heater and I think that is over with too. I personally don't think these swings would be enough to affect the polyp extension on at least 20 sps..but maybe. I would say that the polyps are at 40% extended compared to just a couple of months ago. I've also noticed on a few corals that there is a little bit of base recession around the edges, I do blame this on the alk swings. I have dipped everything having a problem and not a single bug. I'm just riding it out to see what happens, like I said they actually look more colorful the way they are now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 It can take months for corals to acclimate to new conditions but it sounds like the only thing that changed was the tank, that before and after lighting and water flow was pretty much the same (not that it doesn't take much change sometimes). If the majority of the corals are not expanding I'd be thinking it was a water quality issue of some kind. If it was just an acclimation or adjustment issue I would expect only a few corals to be reacting under the conditions you've described and I would also expect different reaction times between different animals, some just a few weeks after the change others maybe months. The pH you gave is good but is it different from immediately after the tank change? I've seen corals react to changes in pH of .2 from historic norms so while I don't test religiously It's important to me to monitor it regularly. It doesn't hurt to do water changes and run carbon. If you want to use a shotgun approach "chemipure" is a combination of carbon and ion exchange resins that will pull stuff out that a PS won't remove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 One answer to my tank could have been that angelfish that was removed a week ago that was nipping at some of the sps. But that has been a week ago, could they still be bothering them? Don do you have any fish that could be picking at them? I had a vlaminigi tang that started eating corals after a few months of being my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishypets Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Red bugs will not show up in a dip IME. As soon as the acro is placed in a dip the bugs will retreart into the polyp. I would look close for red bugs and if not I would suspect a fish is niping. I wouldn't think it would be the temp swing either, I've had P.E. on all sps when my tank made it down to 68 deg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Red bugs will not show up in a dip IME. As soon as the acro is placed in a dip the bugs will retreart into the polyp. I would look close for red bugs and if not I would suspect a fish is niping. I wouldn't think it would be the temp swing either, I've had P.E. on all sps when my tank made it down to 68 deg Its not redbugs, I just used interceptor a couple of months ago. I would be able to spot them on the corals, I'm familiar with what they look lile. I wish it was redbugs, that is easy to fix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don duncan Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 What am I trying to see by looking at the bulbs real quick while they are on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 look to see if the bulbs are burnig the same color, one more blue,more yellow, not lit all the way, etc. I bought brand new reeflux 20ks and within 3wks they were going bad, i must have gotten bad or old bulbs, something. im due for new MH bulbs myself. What to try? reeflux 12Ks? iwaska,ushio,phoenix mmmmmm i dont know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 This looks like a good place to relate an observation Charles Delbeck gave at DFWMAS Next Wave a few weeks ago. He was talking about starting up the 200,000 gal reef tank at the Stienhart Aquarium in San Francisco. It was set up with 2 1/2 or 3 dozen MH fixtures that were all identical including identical bulbs from the same manufacturer. From the very beginning there was clearly differences in the color of the bulbs some more yellow than others and they also aged differently and replacement is not consistant. From my own frustrations I wish someone made a inexpensive meter that would give an actual spectral chart and not just a composite average intensity like a PAR or lux meter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 so far XM has been more consistant for me than reeflux. I think that ill just stick with them. Did you find anything out DON? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don duncan Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 I am trying an experiment. I was talking with 2 other reefers that had similar symptoms. Both had just recently changed there rowa and had phos readings of zero. I have slowed my reactor way down to let the phosphates rise a little. This is what one of them did and things responded well. I will keep you posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 GFO will affect them, colors will turn pale. if they respond cut the amount you use down. I have done this in the last few weeks and my shortcakes green is gettn alot better. Some say GFO shld be run every once and awhile, i dont know yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don duncan Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 Hmm that is interesting. My short and pink tulip are pale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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