Hammers, torches, and gargonian issues

[MiniQuaid]

Hey everyone so for a while now the euphilias and gargonian in my tank have not been doing well. They hammers and torches are shrinking and bleaching it seems like and the gargonians Skeleton is showing throughout. My nitrates are around 2 ppm my phosphates are untraceable, my alk is at 10, my ph is at exactly 8.2, and calc is 425. My lighting is a 165 watt led running 20% blue and 2% white. It sits about 12” above my 20 gallon tall tank. Anyone body have any tips or ideas on what it could be?
Thanks!


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[bhodges82]

For me, the alk is a bit high to have low Nitrate and phosphate, i would try to bring it down some. Gorgonia is a filter feeder, do you feed reefroids or any other type of food for the coral? If not, i would suggest feeding the coral. Coral tends to do better with plenty of food available (ie: no3, po4), so if these are low its best to supplement with other foods.

Flow could also be an issue, too much direct flow would probably be the worst case scenario, it's hard to not have direct flow in a small tank.

I'd like to see a pic of the tank and maybe closer pics of the effected coral.

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[fidofence1]

They prefer dirty water. Increase feedings


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[MiniQuaid]

I feed reefroids, and spectrum pellets for fish , I do a weeks 2 gallon water change. I will see about lowering the alk. It’s strange because I have 2 other gargonians in my tabks md they are doing incredibly well.

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[MiniQuaid]

After doing 2 more test it seems my ph is closer to 7.8-7.9 and my alk is still around 10 anyone know of anything to help lower alk without lowering ph or perhaps increase my ph to around 8.2?


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[dball711]

On the gorgonians, the yellow one pictured needs frequent target feeding, it’s non photosynthetic, pretty sure the other 2 are photosynthetic so target feeding is not required.

Not sure I agree with Dirtier water. Some of the coral picks look like a lot more than 2% whites.

What I would do is in crease feeding and also bump up the water changes, maybe do 2 - 5g water changes a week for a couple weeks and see if anything changes.

 

[bhodges82]

On the gorgonians, the yellow one pictured needs frequent target feeding, it’s non photosynthetic, pretty sure the other 2 are photosynthetic so target feeding is not required.

Not sure I agree with Dirtier water. Some of the coral picks look like a lot more than 2% whites.

What I would do is in crease feeding and also bump up the water changes, maybe do 2 - 5g water changes a week for a couple weeks and see if anything changes.

I am not as familiar with gorgoians, but i did think that i knew there was some difficulty in keeping the yellow gorgoians, couldn't remember what it was though. Thanks for the info.

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[jcook54]

How long have you had the euphyllia pictured right next to the green lined palys? Looking at the palys, they appear to get plenty of light (not stretching, lots of green) and I'm wondering if maybe the euphyllia didn't get acclimated? It's a stab in the dark since I've got some that grow really well under pretty intense light but thought I'd ask.

 

[MiniQuaid]

How long have you had the euphyllia pictured right next to the green lined palys? Looking at the palys, they appear to get plenty of light (not stretching, lots of green) and I'm wondering if maybe the euphyllia didn't get acclimated? It's a stab in the dark since I've got some that grow really well under pretty intense light but thought I'd ask.

I’ve had it for a few months now it was doing quite well for a long time and then it started to turn whiter and whiter, it’s a black shirt polyp torch.


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[MiniQuaid]

On the gorgonians, the yellow one pictured needs frequent target feeding, it’s non photosynthetic, pretty sure the other 2 are photosynthetic so target feeding is not required.

Not sure I agree with Dirtier water. Some of the coral picks look like a lot more than 2% whites.

What I would do is in crease feeding and also bump up the water changes, maybe do 2 - 5g water changes a week for a couple weeks and see if anything changes.

The light I have is a viper spectra and I agree when I have the whites off it looks really blue but even adding 1% white it makes it look almost all white it’s very strange. I will try the more frequent water changes and increased feedings. Thanks for the response!


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[dball711]

I am not as familiar with gorgoians, but i did think that i knew there was some difficulty in keeping the yellow gorgoians, couldn't remember what it was though. Thanks for the info.

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I keep 5 varieties of gorgonians, all photosynthetic. Usually the bright colored gorgs are of the non photosynthetic variety and are difficult to keep in a home aquarium as they require much attention in the way of target feeding.

 

[MiniQuaid]

I keep 5 varieties of gorgonians, all photosynthetic. Usually the bright colored gorgs are of the non photosynthetic variety and are difficult to keep in a home aquarium as they require much attention in the way of target feeding.

That’s really good to know I asked the store when I bought it if there was anything to know about it and they said no


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[bhodges82]

That’s really good to know I asked the store when I bought it if there was anything to know about it and they said no


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They made their sale. Unfortunately they probably told you all they knew.

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[Adam]

If you're using Reef Crystals or some other Hi Alk salt mix you can lower it by adding some Muriatic Acid to the batch of water and aerating for a few hours before doing a water change.
I agree there needs to be some PO4 in there. Increase feedings slightly and push a little more time between water changes. It can be tough to find that right balance of having some measurable PO4 and having too much causing other problems.

Nice Lucky Tiki in the tank! Much Pomaika'i to you!!!

 

[AquariumSchmo]

The light I have is a viper spectra and I agree when I have the whites off it looks really blue but even adding 1% white it makes it look almost all white it’s very strange.

So maybe 1% white is not actually 1%. I have SB Reef Lights (similar black box lights). I thought I was at around 40% blues, but instead the knob was no longer controlling the intensity... it was lighting the tank at full strength 100%. You can start with increasing the intensity to see if it actually gets brighter.

 

[MiniQuaid]

So maybe 1% white is not actually 1%. I have SB Reef Lights (similar black box lights). I thought I was at around 40% blues, but instead the knob was no longer controlling the intensity... it was lighting the tank at full strength 100%. You can start with increasing the intensity to see if it actually gets brighter.

It definitely changes the intensity still I think it’s just the light itself should have more blue leds vs white leds


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[MiniQuaid]

If you're using Reef Crystals or some other Hi Alk salt mix you can lower it by adding some Muriatic Acid to the batch of water and aerating for a few hours before doing a water change.
I agree there needs to be some PO4 in there. Increase feedings slightly and push a little more time between water changes. It can be tough to find that right balance of having some measurable PO4 and having too much causing other problems.

Nice Lucky Tiki in the tank! Much Pomaika'i to you!!!

View attachment 10606

Mahalo nui!


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[Adam]

Mahalo nui!

Hoihoi loa ʻoe

I hope to see the Islands one day. The tiki was my fathers. After he passed away I've kept it in my office at work. When I saw the one in your tank I was thinking, where have I seen that before? Turned my head and looked right at it. Small world!!!

 

[enderg60]

The gorg is starving, no saving that thing.

The euphillia bleaching like that could be heat or too much light. A 165w LED is way overkill on that small tank. ALk is fine, I run 10-12 and everything is happy.

 

[MiniQuaid]

The gorg is starving, no saving that thing.

The euphillia bleaching like that could be heat or too much light. A 165w LED is way overkill on that small tank. ALk is fine, I run 10-12 and everything is happy.

I know I had to downgrade to a 20 gallon tall when I moved so the light is over kill, imma try turning it down to around 5% blue and see how they react to it.


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