Firework Clove Polyps Refusing to Open

[dvgyfresh]

It would be a good idea to invest in a more suitable light. If money is tight, there are some cheap “black box” lights that would get you closer to the correct spectrum at least. Maybe something like this; Amazon product

This is a great light , I had it when I first started

 

[AshenEmberose]

Here’s how they reacted to the red white and blue light. Gsp opened for a while then started closing and the mushroom started closing and leaning left

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Old photo doesnt show that i have coraline algae on my rock now.

Maybe take a new photo? Before returning to store maybe call where you purchased from and ask what parimaters and which light/ they used to grow these corals? I fear your taking all advice as negative although it is constructive criticism (picking up on details that you need to look into)
Your coral is reacting/ showing you it is unhappy, please look into your lighting, I had problems with mine (lighting) and only survivors of my corals was gsp and mushroom (very hardy) imo

 

[AshenEmberose]

Maybe take a new photo? Before returning to store maybe call where you purchased from and ask what parimaters and which light/ they used to grow these corals? I fear your taking all advice as negative although it is constructive criticism (picking up on details that you need to look into)
Your coral is reacting/ showing you it is unhappy, please look into your lighting, I had problems with mine (lighting) and only survivors of my corals was gsp and mushroom (very hardy) imo

I did post a photo of the rock. I just returned from the store and there’s no way I could’ve salvaged that coral on my own. They said I did the right thing by bringing it back because that coral doesn’t seem to do well in barebottom systems unless its larger and either way they prefer more frequent water changes and my system has less frequent water changes. Im having to go back to twice a week water changes now though because that coral raised my nitrates really high. I will be posting my full panel later because it had a lot of issues pop up after I added that coral. I dont have the paper in front of me with the results rn but I remember it said low calcium, higher magnesium but they said that shouldnt hurt anything, pH was good but alkalinity was off i think. I’ll get more accurate stuff later. I’m appreciating the input im getting now, i just didnt like the messages that only said “your setup sucks” and no info on what to fix about it.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Your setup definitely does not suck! I would get some test kits if you don’t have already for alk - Red Sea and Hanna are good go tos.I didn’t catch what light you use , it could be as simple as having the wrong spectrum ie freshwater light vs coral light

 

[AshenEmberose]

Your setup definitely does not suck! I would get some test kits if you don’t have already for alk - Red Sea and Hanna are good go tos.I didn’t catch what light you use , it could be as simple as having the wrong spectrum ie freshwater light vs coral light

Thank you, I’m definitely going to find a better light. My LFS is having me go back again in a week for another water test since they have all of the really expensive testing kit things with the digital screens. I’m gonna keep monitoring my 2 corals til i get the new light in and the store gave me some of their water to use for water changes to balance everything back out. I added seachem prime since nitrates are scary high now from the firework clove refusing to open since it was brought home. They told me it should be fine now that they have it at the store in their system again and it wasn’t dead, it just needs to bounce back. I showed the guy helping me my GSP and yuma mushroom and he said they are looking great so I dont need to bring them back, i just gotta stick with small 10-20% water changes and he gave me something to add to my filter bag to level nitrates and phosphates out. The guy that sold me the corals was really helpful with getting me everything I needed to balance my tank back out. He told me that my setup was the dream setup to have before that coral died. Since its such a small tank it really didnt take much to throw it off but im hopeful that itll bounce back. The other guy i talked to had horrible advice. He told me to 100% water change immediately and shock my system he also didnt acclimate the firework clove back to their tank at all, just stuck it right in. Im glad the first guy who sold me the corals was there again. The other guy judged me harshly for even having a nano and didnt seem to know anything on keeping such a small tank. He also roasted the guy who tested my water quality the first time bc he refused to believe my parameters were so good before but turns out he was the guy who tested my water both times! The irony am i right?

 

[AshenEmberose]

The corals are doing good. Did a 10% water change on the 2nd and a 20% water change on the 4th. That firework coral really messed up my tank but i got a chemipure filter and used seachem prime and i have an indian almond leaf piece in the tank as well bc my alkalinity is too high and needs to be lowered and i have a ton of the leaves left over from when i bred show bettas. The GSP continues to open up more and more and its really cool to see. The mushroom moves around a bit in protest whenever its lights out time so ive been doing a more gradual lighting transition.

 

[maleks.reef]

Blue and red is definitely an odd combination for a DT. Before buying new lights, try to get a par reading. Your LFS might be renting out a par meter. If it does then I highly suggest you use it so you can know for sure if your light is too weak or not.

 

[AshenEmberose]

Blue and red is definitely an odd combination for a DT. Before buying new lights, try to get a par reading. Your LFS might be renting out a par meter. If it does then I highly suggest you use it so you can know for sure if your light is too weak or not.

Thats a good idea I will have to ask them if they have one. They told me to use their premixed water for water changes on my tank and that i could just add it without checking anything and my tank would be fine but I was wrong to trust them because their premixed water had an extremely high salinity and now my ricordea yuma mushroom coral is acting a looking weird because i added the premixed water right before going to bed and it raised my salinity to 1.030 when it was 1.023-1.024 and i only added 10%. I tested their premixed water on its own and it was in the 1.030-1.036 range and they had ENCOURAGED ME to do a 100% water change and swap to their water because it was “reef ready” my nitrates in my tank are still high but no nitrites or ammonia present so im just having to be super careful with my water changes and im hoping that coral will make it. The green star polyps are doing better than ever opening up more then i ever saw them open up in the store. The yuma seems to have a puffy white mouth now and it goes from curling closed like this to spreading open. I cant tell if its eating or not but i know the mouth looking puffier like that isnt very good so Im trying to fix things asap without shocking the tank.

 

[AshenEmberose]

Thats a good idea I will have to ask them if they have one. They told me to use their premixed water for water changes on my tank and that i could just add it without checking anything and my tank would be fine but I was wrong to trust them because their premixed water had an extremely high salinity and now my ricordea yuma mushroom coral is acting a looking weird because i added the premixed water right before going to bed and it raised my salinity to 1.030 when it was 1.023-1.024 and i only added 10%. I tested their premixed water on its own and it was in the 1.030-1.036 range and they had ENCOURAGED ME to do a 100% water change and swap to their water because it was “reef ready” my nitrates in my tank are still high but no nitrites or ammonia present so im just having to be super careful with my water changes and im hoping that coral will make it. The green star polyps are doing better than ever opening up more then i ever saw them open up in the store. The yuma seems to have a puffy white mouth now and it goes from curling closed like this to spreading open. I cant tell if its eating or not but i know the mouth looking puffier like that isnt very good so Im trying to fix things asap without shocking the tank.

 

[maleks.reef]

That jump salinity is huge... Only reason your current corals are not dead YET is that they are super easy. Fix it asap and let your LFS know that they almost crashed your tank.

 

[maleks.reef]

Also, you will probably need a new light either way. You won't find the success you want with red and blue. This mixture is used in refugium to grow macroalgae so you can expect to see algae growth sooner or later.

 

[AshenEmberose]

That jump salinity is huge... Only reason your current corals are not dead YET is that they are super easy. Fix it asap and let your LFS know that they almost crashed your tank.

They already crashed my tank by selling me a damaged coral that died in the take home bag bc they ripped it off the display and packed it in the smallest possible bag with little water. By the time i got it home and acclimated it, my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates went from 0,0,0-5, to 0.1, 0.1, 187 -.- my tank had been stable for so long i barely had to do any water changes, just topped off freshwater as it evaporated. The tank has been running for 2 years and its a 10 gallon nano so one coral dying before it even made it into the tank crashed it. And now with the amount of water changes im having to do and finding out the salinity is insane, i swear my LFS is just trying to scam me at this point. We have to go there in person to speak with the managers because the guy told me as he was handing the sickly looking coral to me that if it didnt do well in my tank, as long as i brought it back to the store asap id get my $50 store credit back but give it 24 hours to open up. Im convinced if i hadnt of bought the firework coral my tank wouldve been fine. Here’s how the yuma coral is looking right now. How concerned should I be? Are those the stinger tentacles around the mouth? I fed dried mysis today to the clowns and i balanced my salinity out already but i know my nitrates are still bad, but undetectable nitrites so Im going to hope my next water change fixes it back up. Im going to test the premixed LFS water for nitrates and nitrites too to see if adding that could be doing more harm than good.

 

[attiland]

I’ve had this tank going for 2 years. Hygger LED light on red and blue setting. I have two 10 gallon sized filters with charcoal bags inside, one on either side and 2 bubble filters. All of these filters agitate the water and add flow. Its a small tank so most things for flow are too big to add. My waving hand coral loved my light and flow and mushrooms have always done well. As i stated before, the waving hand just needed the kalkwasser added on a routine because my tank wasn’t set up fully enough to have pH balanced but now it does. This firework clove just got here and hasnt opened up since acclimating. It hasnt even given my lighting a chance so I can’t see how its that. If it doesnt open today I’m taking it back to the store and swapping for corals that do better in my tank.

as many before highlighted before That light is not for reef but freshwater. No matter which settings you use.

you need a light designed to grow corals

You need to stop feeding the corals as that will cause more trouble at this stage than good. Send my best regards to your LFS too. They sell you anything causing swings in nitrates snd salinity.

If you want to grow corals you will need to able to test for 6 things as minimum. Alkalinity. Magnesium, calcium, phosphate, nitrate, salinity at home - No excuses

your target levels should be ;
Mg: 1350ppm
Ca: 450ppm
Alk 8dkh
Nitrate 5-10ppm
Phosphate 0.03-0.1ppm
Salinity: 1.026

You need lights designed to grow corals.
You need an ATO too
last but not least you need more rocks.

I am sorry it may sound harsh but no pictures showing happy corals. In this tread.

 

[Not an IT guy]

Even start with a decent light like Current USA led bar. They aren’t that expensive and can grow coral. I can attest to that

 

[attiland]

Even start with a decent light like Current USA led bar. They aren’t that expensive and can grow coral. I can attest to that

It doesn’t need to be expensive it has to have the right spectrum

 

[Not an IT guy]

It doesn’t need to be expensive it has to have the right spectrum

Yup. Which is why I recommended the Current led bar

 

[maleks.reef]

You can also get some Chinese brand LED like aquaknight. Pretty decent and cheap light. Also that mushroom looks in very bad condition. How is your tank 2 years old and you're still getting nitrites? You shouldn't see any ammonia or nitrites after the initial cycle unless you drastically increase the bioload suddenly.

 

[maleks.reef]

as many before highlighted before That light is not for reef but freshwater. No matter which settings you use.

you need a light designed to grow corals

You need to stop feeding the corals as that will cause more trouble at this stage than good. Send my best regards to your LFS too. They sell you anything causing swings in nitrates snd salinity.

If you want to grow corals you will need to able to test for 6 things as minimum. Alkalinity. Magnesium, calcium, phosphate, nitrate, salinity at home - No excuses

your target levels should be ;
Mg: 1350ppm
Ca: 450ppm
Alk 8dkh
Nitrate 5-10ppm
Phosphate 0.03-0.1ppm
Salinity: 1.026

You need lights designed to grow corals.
You need an ATO too
last but not least you need more rocks.

I am sorry it may sound harsh but no pictures showing happy corals. In this tread.

I agree with everything said above, except that you NEED an ato. I dont think you need it (unless you will be leaving your tank for more than 1-2 days soon). Keep the ato down on the priority list and focus on your lights and test kits. You can forget magnesium and calcium for now since you only have softies. Focus on temp, salinity, NO3, PO4 and alk.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Provide Moderate to medium light and water flow and I suspect false readings.
What test kits are you using ?
Age of tank.
These require low level nitrate-potassium and aminos in their environment. Additionally would be addition of reef additives such as . . . calcium, strontium, iodine and trace elements along with occasional feedings of micro-plankton like foods such as reef roids And Marine snow
Get rif of colonial hydroids which may irritate them. Water flow directed towards them- Not at them will cause them to starve