Softie colonies dying?

[Luap_Jr]

I recently bought some softie colonies to fill up my tank and 2 out of the 3 disintegrated over time while the 3rd is doing great. I tried everything from increasing the flow and light, but they just didn’t do well. I was super stoked to have a tank full of softies because I’m a busy guy and I heard they’re super hardy and look just as nice as a full sps dominated tank. I sadly don’t test my nitrite and phosphates because I only have the api test kit and i heard it’s terrible but my alk is at 8 dKH and my salinity is 1.025

 

[Luap_Jr]

Also all my other corals are doing great too so I have no idea what could be the problem


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[sharis100]

Softies prefer a dirtier albeit stable tank for the most part and are typically super hardy. Unless your tank parameters are all over the place, maybe something else is going on??? Maybe your tank is too clean, ie not high enough nitrate/phosphate. Have you been dosing phyto? Have you had your water tested to make sure no contamination? Is there a critter in the tank that perhaps might find them tasty? Hard to tell what could be the cause without more info. What kind of sand bed? What softies lived and which dissolved? Some toadstools are very sensitive and will melt of not in right conditions. Did the temperature swing? Also softies love chemical warfare and can kill each other on occasion.

 

[silentdeath5]

What kind of softy colonies did you get?

 

[Luap_Jr]

I got 3 different toadstools and the biggest one was the only one that survived


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[silentdeath5]

Hm, toadstools are usually pretty hardy. Any of them have holes at the foot? I once let a camel shrimp loose on accident in my tank and it took out 2 of my toadstools

 

[sharis100]

I got 3 different toadstools and the biggest one was the only one that survived


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Were they purchased out of same system or were they new to each other? We’re there other softies already in your tank? Did you run carbon when you first introduced them to your system and noticed them dissolving? Were they healthy in the system you got them from?

 

[Luap_Jr]

they were all purchased from Nemos and there was only one green nepthea and i ran carbon when i noticed they were dissolving.

 

[Luap_Jr]

just kinda bummed out because they weren't cheap

 

[silentdeath5]

Definitely sucks to lose corals but you should definitely be testing for nitrates and phosphate

 

[Rainblood]

Sometimes stuff from the ocean just doesn't acclimate well...

 

[sharis100]

they were all purchased from Nemos and there was only one green nepthea and i ran carbon when i noticed they were dissolving.

Toadstools can be sensitive. Would recommend adding less softies at once to limit coral chemical warfare. Depends on total volume of water in system. Also would recommend doing water tests to see where you are at and see if issues. Once they start to melt, very hard to recover. Sometimes easier to take a frag if possible and start again. Also, tempting to add several softies at once, but as we all know slow and steady wins the reefing game typically less chance of issues.