Firework Clove Polyps Refusing to Open

[attiland]

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.

I see ATO as the most important tool for keeping salinity stable. Smaller the tank more important it is.

 

[AshenEmberose]

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

2 year old tank, 10 gallon nano. I had the LFS test my water using the really expensive digital test devices I think they were Hanna but I wasn't close enough to read the logo, but they had that shape. I use API 5 in 1 test strips at home and they showed the same results as the digital tests, just didnt give me the precise numbers and I cant test for calcium and phosphate. I have marine snow and the store never wants to sell me iodine or anything else to specifically dose. They always say marine snow is all I need. Its been really frustrating dealing with them and Im getting in touch with the owners of the store to let them know everything thats happened. And thank you for identifying those things as colonial hydroids. The LFS kept trying to tell me they were just "feather duster worms" and I was like no they aren't! I didnt know what exactly they were but I could tell that they had to be harmful in some way. Thank you for your advice and Im going to see what I can order online so I dont have to struggle with the LFS much more.

 

[AshenEmberose]

I see ATO as the most important tool for keeping salinity stable. Smaller the tank more important it is.

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.

The bioload was drastically increased because I was basically sold a dead coral. The firework clove died in the bag and I thought it'd bounce back in my tank because I was optimistic but the reality is that they damaged the coral frag before giving it to me and put it in the smallest possible bag so it never opened up at all even during acclimation which I took very slowly to make sure it wasnt harmed more. I watched it leeching stuff out from inside the small bag it was in and it didnt look good at all. He yanked off at least 10 attached clove heads that were sticking to other frags. My tank had 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia, and 0-5 nitrates when it was tested before I added the corals.

 

[attiland]

The bioload was drastically increased because I was basically sold a dead coral. The firework clove died in the bag and I thought it'd bounce back in my tank because I was optimistic but the reality is that they damaged the coral frag before giving it to me and put it in the smallest possible bag so it never opened up at all even during acclimation which I took very slowly to make sure it wasnt harmed more. I watched it leeching stuff out from inside the small bag it was in and it didnt look good at all. He yanked off at least 10 attached clove heads that were sticking to other frags. My tank had 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia, and 0-5 nitrates when it was tested before I added the corals.

I have seen on your other tread you have ordered lights which is good.
please take the advice and make sure you can test for the major 6 parameters at home. Many of us saying API is not a great choice. I had it hated it and binned it too not long after I have bought it. I use Red Sea and Hanna kits and salifert said to be good on the cheap side.

as per bioload corals are considered as consumers rather than load. Just keep it in mind.

your nitrate is fine as long as you can keep it steady there. If goes to 0 your corals won’t survive for long.


Lesson learned I guess you won’t make the same mistake again.

 

[AshenEmberose]

Current USA light coming in a few days, GSP doing great, it actually seems to have a new tiny head growing! Im seeing more polyps open each day and it looks so full and vibrant. I had to take the mushroom out last night because the store water salinity spike did a number on it and its now in a quarantine tank with only the store water thats now salinity balanced, a heater, hygger light (all i have rn), and a bubble filter to keep it oxygenated and adding flow. Im going to the LFS tomorrow to buy more good bacteria since i know these water changes have to be messing up my healthy bacteria supply as well as get more premixed saltwater since its free and i will probably return the mushroom for them to try to save because its getting a bit better in the QT but i can only do so much right now. Getting my water tested tomorrow there as well and going to buy some accurate testing equipment for at home so at least my GSP can keep growing and thriving. I called the LFS and they said their water is tested daily at 1.025 salinity or they wont sell it but thats BS. It tested at 1.036 here. Bad stuff. But with my small RODI system i was able to balance it out at home. Annoying though.

 

[AshenEmberose]

I think the gsp is still happy because more polyps are opening and growing bigger every day but just wanna make sure i keep updating and if anyone thinks they shouldn’t look like this let me know. They have a pretty gentle flow right now because I have to rinse the bubble filters soon so they aren’t agitating the water as much as they could but since i had the huge nitrate spike im not going to remove them for a bit since they still have really good beneficial bacteria on them. New light coming on 14th.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Keep it up man , things are looking better and I’m sure the light will make a huge difference!

 

[AshenEmberose]

Keep it up man , things are looking better and I’m sure the light will make a huge difference!

Thank you! I couldnt save the yuma unfortunately even in the quarantine tank but im determined with this GSP. I’m going to be researching better test kits to have at home that i can afford and im going to research corals more fit for my system in the future. Having a barebottom nano makes things a bit more complicated but I think im going to get a backup filter to add to help even more with the water quality just in case. My clownfish are loving the GSP! They dont touch it luckily but they like to swim around it and into the hide its placed on top of now. They didnt seem to like my waving hand coral at all so im happy i found something they do like

 

[maleks.reef]

Thank you! I couldnt save the yuma unfortunately even in the quarantine tank but im determined with this GSP. I’m going to be researching better test kits to have at home that i can afford and im going to research corals more fit for my system in the future. Having a barebottom nano makes things a bit more complicated but I think im going to get a backup filter to add to help even more with the water quality just in case. My clownfish are loving the GSP! They dont touch it luckily but they like to swim around it and into the hide its placed on top of now. They didnt seem to like my waving hand coral at all so im happy i found something they do like

Ditch the API kits and get some salifert kits. For salinity, i REALLY suggest you get a hannah salinity checker. The price might seem like alot but it is soooo easy and convenient to use, all you have to do is calibrate it every month and you're good to go.

 

[AshenEmberose]

Just got the Current Orbit Marine LED Light. Setting it up now but here is a pic of the GSP on my old Hygger light first. I put masking tape over the red lights to reduce red light exposure

 

[MaxTremors]

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.

Clove polyps can take weeks or even months to get fully comfortable enough to fully extend. I added some to my tank several months ago and they took around a month to look fully comfortable (and my tank is full thriving corals). GSP are kind of the same, they can take a while after moving to feel comfortable enough to fully open. Taking it back to the LFS after only giving it a couple days is way too premature.

I have to agree that your setup seems a little inadequate for corals, a couple bubblers in a ten gallon likely isn’t creating the kind of flow you need (and there are plenty of wave makers perfectly suited for 10g tanks). You don’t really need filters if you have good flow and quality live rock, though it doesn’t hurt to have some mechanical filtration to polish the water. From what I’ve seen and read about Hygger LED lights is that they are inadequate for all but the lowest light soft corals (like the anthelia you mentioned). Your Yuma and to a lesser extent the GSP and cloves will need more intense lighting and lighting that’s in the proper spectrum. The lighting isn’t what’s causing them to not open, but without proper lighting the corals will either grow very slowly or even recede and slowly starve.

I would also recommend getting your own test kits (avoid API brand), being able to test your own water on the fly.

 

[AshenEmberose]

Current Orbit Marine LED Light on GSP. Havent messed around with the settings yet. The blue is lighter in person

 

[maleks.reef]

Current Orbit Marine LED Light on GSP. Havent messed around with the settings yet. The blue is lighter in person

congrats. Now your tank looks like a proper reef tank.

 

[AshenEmberose]

Have another GSP update. I think its doing good

 

[AshenEmberose]

LFS keeps selling me water with high salinity. Last time it was 1.036 and now its looking like 1.028 on here. Tried to get a pic. I already calibrated it. They keep denying their water is testing that high and its frustrating

 

[AshenEmberose]

Also my nitrates, phosphates, and alkalinity are still high so i just did a 50% water change and dosed the tank with micro bacter 7 because thats what they recommended me to get since I know all of these water changes are going to be taking out my good bacteria. The GSP is still happy as ever. Im taking that as my win for now.

 

[Karen00]

LFS keeps selling me water with high salinity. Last time it was 1.036 and now its looking like 1.028 on here. Tried to get a pic. I already calibrated it. They keep denying their water is testing that high and its frustrating

Out of curiosity are you testing their water at the same temperature as they test their tanks in their shop? Temp affects salinity so if the water is a different temp at your place you will get a different reading than they do at their shop. Or it's possible their salinity checker (or yours) has slipped out of calibration. 1.030 just seems way too high. 1.028 isn't that far off if you factor in possible differences in temp, etc. Just a thought.

 

[MaxTremors]

I think the gsp is still happy because more polyps are opening and growing bigger every day but just wanna make sure i keep updating and if anyone thinks they shouldn’t look like this let me know. They have a pretty gentle flow right now because I have to rinse the bubble filters soon so they aren’t agitating the water as much as they could but since i had the huge nitrate spike im not going to remove them for a bit since they still have really good beneficial bacteria on them. New light coming on 14th.

A couple things. The filters in your ‘bubble filter’ are not going to denitrify, not cleaning them out will only increase your nitrates. When using mechanical filtration in a reef tank, it’s recommended you change or clean it out every 2-3 days. I change the filter floss in my tank every third day. If you don’t clean it out, you’re just allowing all of the detritus it’s filtered out to break down into ammonia, then nitrite, and then nitrate.

I wouldn’t worry about the bacteria in the filter, this isn’t like a fresh water filter, all of your biological filtration is happening in your rocks and to a lesser extent your sand. I would recommend getting a small power head and a small HOB power filter, bubble filters just aren’t very efficient and don’t create even close to enough flow for corals (GSP likes quite a bit of flow, it should be in constant motion), if it was a 2-3 gallon tank a bubble filter might be appropriate


It sounds like you’re on the right track, but I would really recommend ditching the bubble filters.

 

[maleks.reef]

Also my nitrates, phosphates, and alkalinity are still high so i just did a 50% water change and dosed the tank with micro bacter 7 because thats what they recommended me to get since I know all of these water changes are going to be taking out my good bacteria. The GSP is still happy as ever. Im taking that as my win for now.

You barely lose any bacteria when taking water out, most of it is on/in rocks and sand and other surfaces. This LFS sounds like they are just trying to sell you stuff. Always do your research on every single thing you want to buy and never impulse buy because it will bite you in the butt.