Duncan coral turning brown?

[YoungReefer10g]

My Duncan coral is turning brown. For reference it is still opening fully but I tried to blow off the brown stuff to make sure it wasn’t brown jelly, so he closed when I was doing that. I don’t think it’s possible for this to be the cause but I just switched to new noopsyche lighting a couple of days ago. Could this light be too strong? There’s a hammer coral next to it, that is thriving. I haven’t seen any aggression from it and I don’t see how it could reach it.

thanks in advance

Tests I did
Using Salifert
Alk: 9.3
Ph: around 8.0/8.1
Nitrate: 0

 

[YoungReefer10g]

Also I’m waiting for new test kits to arrive on the other elements. I ran out.

 

[YoungReefer10g]

Bump

 

[bg2311]

Nitrates you usually want reading above 0. Need some nutrients in the water for the coral. What are your other water parameters?

Salinity, temperature, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus?

 

[YoungReefer10g]

Temp: 78
Salinity: 1.025
The other three I should be able to test this week but I ran out of tests for.

 

[bg2311]

With euphyllia coral like hammers you can have sweepers that will reach out and sting other coral. You may not see them all of the time though so keep that in mind. If the color change on the duncan started right around when you changed the lights, maybe move the coral to a less bright part of your tank and see if it improves. They don't need a ton of light. Once you have established your water parameters, a water change may also help. It's good to have a testing parameter baseline established though first.

 

[YoungReefer10g]

With euphyllia coral like hammers you can have sweepers that will reach out and sting other coral. You may not see them all of the time though so keep that in mind. If the color change on the duncan started right around when you changed the lights, maybe move the coral to a less bright part of your tank and see if it improves. They don't need a ton of light. Once you have established your water parameters, a water change may also help. It's good to have a testing parameter baseline established though first.

Ok perfect thanks for the reply! Should I start feeding more to raise nutrients?

 

[bg2311]

There are different ways to control nutrient input/output to get the level where you want it. Feeding more may increase your nitrates but might also spike your phosphates so it's a good idea to know where both are at before you start adjusting your feeding regimen. If you do need to increase nutrients it may mean doing a water change less frequently, reducing the lighting period if you are running a refugium, or setting your skimmer to a lower setting. Each system is different. I utilize a large 10" rollermat, a skimmer sized for the system, and a refugium for nutrient export. As a result, if I don't add nitrates, they will reach zero. To fix that, I dose a measured and controlled amount of KNO3 (potassium nitrate) each day when I feed the tank. This keeps the level above zero without a lot of guess work. It's still good to test nitrates once a week with this method. On a smaller tank, testing may need to be done more frequently as you have a smaller body of water to absorb any drift in parameters.

 

[YoungReefer10g]

There are different ways to control nutrient input/output to get the level where you want it. Feeding more may increase your nitrates but might also spike your phosphates so it's a good idea to know where both are at before you start adjusting your feeding regimen. If you do need to increase nutrients it may mean doing a water change less frequently, reducing the lighting period if you are running a refugium, or setting your skimmer to a lower setting. Each system is different. I utilize a large 10" rollermat, a skimmer sized for the system, and a refugium for nutrient export. As a result, if I don't add nitrates, they will reach zero. To fix that, I dose a measured and controlled amount of KNO3 (potassium nitrate) each day when I feed the tank. This keeps the level above zero without a lot of guess work. It's still good to test nitrates once a week with this method. On a smaller tank, testing may need to be done more frequently as you have a smaller body of water to absorb any drift in parameters.

Ok cool, that makes a lot of sense. I will wait to do anything until I get my phosphates test kit.