Whats Happening to these corals?

[Optional (AKA Mike S)]

I always have the same prolem over and over again. I have had 1 torch, and 2 frogspawns and on all of them, they have all ad all there heads die, exept for one of them which is usually the biggest of the bunch. The torch has lost 3 of its heads, and the 4th is better than ever(i have had it for 1 month now) and the same thing happend with the frogspwans It lost 4 of its head, and only 1 lived. I give them all pretty bright light(near the top). Is this normal for only 1 head to live?

 

[erasmu]

Can you specify the light type, wattage, tank depth and size? How long has the tank been established? Do you add several corals at the same time? Are there other creatures in the tank? What are they and do they ever bother the corals? A lot more info is needed to figure out what is happening. What chemcal tests have you done, with what brand of test kit, and what were the results? Are any items thriving? If so, for how long?

 

[Optional (AKA Mike S)]

I have 4, 65 wt PC's (2 are actinic(20000k) and 2 are day light(10000k). I just added 2 40wt coral life bulbs1 actinic(6000k), 1 day light(1000k) for extra lighting before i get new ones. The depth is 24 inches, and i have an 80 gallon tank.I dont add 7 corals at the same time. There are many other creatures in the tank, too much. NONE of the fish/corals bother these exept the cleaner shrimp which always hang out in that spot which sometimes interfears with the feeding behavior. Here are the water reading I TEST:
Nitrate-30ppm
Nitrite-0ppm
Ammonia-0ppm
pH-8.2
Calcium-450ppm
Salinity-1.026(slowely going down...)
Temp-79 degrees F.
I use a salferest(sp) test kit. There are some things thriving:
Fijji Polyps(For about 2 months, the lfs kept the under NO( i mean dark lighting) light)
Mushrooms(for about 2 months)
Yellow Polyps(for about 3 months)
Colt (For about 1 month)
Maybe the hammar(about 2 months)
Ditto ditto bubble(ditto ditto)
The tube anemone(about 2 months)
The Sea whip. (for about 2 months)
All of those are doing the best. I keep those listed above in the brightest spots in the tank. I know those are easy to keep corals that are in fact thriving(i think, they are growing, some spliting(mushrooms, polyps, hammars tenticles, sea whip growing). Hope this helps.

 

[xKEIGOx]

Did you damage them when you put them in? Are you sure you have enough lights? I don't know the correct amount of lights should be use in an coral tank but I always goes for at lest 4 watts per gallon. And er..I think that PC light are not quite suitable for aquarium with that depth. what do you guys think? :?

 

[erasmu]

The tests you have run look ok. Do you usually have nitrate of 30 though? Has this recently increased to this point? I think your lighting should be ok for the upper portions of the tank with these corals. 24" down you would need to stick with softies and mushrooms probably. You show the longest thriving inhabitants as been going 2-3 months. How long has the tank been established. If the tank has only been going 3 months it may not be very stable yet. Do your test readings stay consistently at the levels you listed, or for example does the calcium go up and down from that level? If all but one head dies back, and the coral has only been in the tank a month, I don't expect the remaining head is healthy despite its appearance at the moment. Multi-headed pieces seem to die back a little at a time so I believe the coral is not happy with the conditions or the treatment. What acclimation procedures did you use when adding it to the tank? Are you feeding the tank, with what, and how often? Thinking of the nitrate level again, do you have a DSB and what depth? Are you using a skimmer? I seem to be asking more questions, but I think it has to be the handling, some test parameter TDA, or instability of conditions, perhaps due to the tank being resonably new.

 

[Optional (AKA Mike S)]

The nitrate has always been at 30ppm, 1 time it did go up to 60ppm, but i got it down with an reef safe nitrate remover. I have had the tank for about 5 1/2 months now. Actualy, nothing goes up or down. The levels listed have been like that since week 3. Everything stays the same. I check regulaly(every week) just in case somthing does go up, in this case, it would be the salinity. Iwas toping off evaperations with sw and slowly went up. I aclamate all corals for 1 hour using the drip method, some i aclamate 2 hours depending on size/species. I am feeding the tank Marine snow(every 2 days 4 capfulls(5ml per cup)) and DT's phytoplakton every week 2 capfulls(5ml per cap), Bionic calcium buffering system+Alkinity+ some iodine every week. I dont have a DSB, i have a 4 inch CC bed. I am using a Prizm skimmer(medium) and let that run 24/7.And xKEIGOx, I never touched the actual coral(s) before, i just touched the base. Now the torch(the 1 that is living) just gets bigger, and looks healthy. The only thing i could think of is ????

 

[danmhippo]

I didn't see PO4 reading. PO4 affects corals, especially hard corals on their calcification. What's your PO4 reading? Also, what's your alk reading?

 

[Optional (AKA Mike S)]

I have never tested alkilinity or PO4 before. Oh, and what is PO4? Guess i should test for these. I will get them as soon as i can(maybe today, or on tuesday). Post bac when i get this.

 

[esmithiii]

but I always goes for at lest 4 watts per gallon.

Watts per gallon is a meaningless measure. Lighting depends on so many factors, but most important IMO is intensity (which varies by type of lighting, wattage and color temp of the bulb) and distance from the light source to the corals (usually tank depth).

4x55W PC is enough for euphyllia paradivisa if it is placed within 10" of the light source. I have a specimen that thrived under half that light in my 55G tank. Each polyp split twice!

I think calcium and alkalinity are critical parameters to watch here.

Ernie