Is my coral dead or dying? (new to hobby)

[Reefin4L]

i got this coral like a few weeks ago everything was good until i did a slight water change and added new salt the next day i woke up it looked like it had white algae and some parts look fine. should i remove it from my tank or leave it there and see what happens? will the dead/dying coral affect the water quality?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It doesn't look dead, but what is all that white stuff? Judging from the buildup on the rocks and the flat water surface, looks like you need some flow, do you have any powerheads in the tank?

 

[Reefin4L]

yeah your probably right. i only have one wave pump (500 gph) facing one side. is that good? but i think i should get 2 so that way it can clean up the sand and all that right? because theres also few build up on the sand as well or should i buy a more powerful wave pump? this tank specifically is 10 gallons. also is there any other way to remove the brown algae quicker

 

[Aidan_823]

Welcome to the hobby!

Be prepared to read an essay lol



Hey, this tank is a ten gallon right?

Ten gallons could be a little more difficult, just because of the size of it. With the smaller size the stability of parameters move a lot easier and faster. Do you know what coral it is? Does the white stuff on the rocks blow off or is it stuck on? (If it does) do a water change, suck out as much as you can. It may just be sand that was blown up or unmixed salt. (If it doesn’t) honestly, I would leave it until the cycle is complete, see if it handles itself or if even more comes back. What filter do you have? A hang on back? Yes, if the coral dies it may spike ammonia, but if there is already ammonia present and/or nitrite present the coral might hate it and do poorly.



Bleaching:

To me, the coral looks like it is a goniopora/alveopora. Do you see how the top of the skeleton that is facing the light is very light in color compared to the sides? That more than likely means the coral is starting to bleach. Caused by either too much or too little light. It looks like it is getting too much, is it near the top of the tank? Goni/alveo. don’t need much light, just a lot of flow. You may need to move it around, don’t worry too much about the bleached part, it might end up dying but it will grow back eventually. Keep an eye on the sides just to make sure the other polyps aren’t dying too (polyps are the part that comes out, the head) if they do start bleaching as well, be sure to keep an eye on your parameters, light intensity and schedule.



Light:

What light do you have on the tank? Is it a name brand one or is it one off of Amazon? For a ten gallon I’d honestly try to get a Kessil A80 or an AI prime a little on the expensive side but still a very good light. Although, this depends on the coral you are planning to have. If you want softies, like mushrooms or zoanthids you don’t need an expensive light. If you want to move into LPS (large polyp stony) you might need to look into one. Also depends on the particular coral some absolutely suck, and some are so easy to grow it’s a problem. If I were you, I wouldn’t look at the SPS (small polyp stony) they get to be a problem right off the bat. They usually come in frags that look like sticks that are fuzzy.



Good luck and happy reefing!

 

[DED65]

i got this coral like a few weeks ago everything was good until i did a slight water change and added new salt

I caught this in your post. Did you do a water change and then add the salt, or did you mix the salt into the water before changing it?

 

[Reefin4L]

Welcome to the hobby!

Be prepared to read an essay lol



Hey, this tank is a ten gallon right?

Ten gallons could be a little more difficult, just because of the size of it. With the smaller size the stability of parameters move a lot easier and faster. Do you know what coral it is? Does the white stuff on the rocks blow off or is it stuck on? (If it does) do a water change, suck out as much as you can. It may just be sand that was blown up or unmixed salt. (If it doesn’t) honestly, I would leave it until the cycle is complete, see if it handles itself or if even more comes back. What filter do you have? A hang on back? Yes, if the coral dies it may spike ammonia, but if there is already ammonia present and/or nitrite present the coral might hate it and do poorly.



Bleaching:

To me, the coral looks like it is a goniopora/alveopora. Do you see how the top of the skeleton that is facing the light is very light in color compared to the sides? That more than likely means the coral is starting to bleach. Caused by either too much or too little light. It looks like it is getting too much, is it near the top of the tank? Goni/alveo. don’t need much light, just a lot of flow. You may need to move it around, don’t worry too much about the bleached part, it might end up dying but it will grow back eventually. Keep an eye on the sides just to make sure the other polyps aren’t dying too (polyps are the part that comes out, the head) if they do start bleaching as well, be sure to keep an eye on your parameters, light intensity and schedule.



Light:

What light do you have on the tank? Is it a name brand one or is it one off of Amazon? For a ten gallon I’d honestly try to get a Kessil A80 or an AI prime a little on the expensive side but still a very good light. Although, this depends on the coral you are planning to have. If you want softies, like mushrooms or zoanthids you don’t need an expensive light. If you want to move into LPS (large polyp stony) you might need to look into one. Also depends on the particular coral some absolutely suck, and some are so easy to grow it’s a problem. If I were you, I wouldn’t look at the SPS (small polyp stony) they get to be a problem right off the bat. They usually come in frags that look like sticks that are fuzzy.



Good luck and happy reefing!

thank you so much for the feedback!, do you mind if i reach out to you from time to time if i have any concerns? but yes its a hang on the back by the brand aqaumaxx and the lights i am running is the AI blade 12 inch coral grow light and the fluval nano light. are they good lights or should i buy a kessil? the coral name is a blue eye lepta ( leptastrea) which is doing somewhat better. the sides look perfect just the majority of the top is like full of algae or salt mix not sure or bleached. i have a 500 gph powerhead, is that good or would i need around 700-800 gph? the also brown algae on my tank has cleared and looks good now, i will test the water right now. these are my light settings: (is the light setting good or do i need a kessil light instead.)

 

[Reefin4L]

i have zoas, soft hammer coral, blue eye lepta, a lobophyllia coral, green mushroom coral and a neon gsp coral. they were fine a few days ago but i added salt and your definitely right the parameters move around fast and quickly . then the next day they were all closed. do i need better flow? or do some need less light? before i added the salt change it was at 1.020 S.G. after i added it climbed to 1.023 S.G. (current level)

ALSO i have these microsized insect or i think it’s plankton i don’t know but is it good for the tank or bad? Sorry for so many questions but thank you everyone for the help

 

[FUNGI]

How quick was the change in salinity? Give it a couple days for them to acclimate again.....should be ok...
and no offense meant, but spend $20 or so and get a refractometer instead of your current one....those are "ok", but will not always give accurate readings

 

[Reefin4L]

How quick was the change in salinity? Give it a couple days for them to acclimate again.....should be ok

i did 1/2 of a cup of saltwater every 3 min for a total of 1 and 1/4 cup and it changed salinity in around 13 mins, and alr thank you

 

[FUNGI]

thats pretty rapid....its a 10G tank yeah?....anyway, it should recover in a couple of days.....

 

[Reefin4L]

thats pretty rapid....its a 10G tank yeah?....anyway, it should recover in a couple of days.....

yeah and i thought so too, should i be doing less?

 

[FUNGI]

less what? WC's?

 

[Reefin4L]

less what? WC's?

yeah i do a water change like every 1 week and a half should i stop and do it like every 2 or 3 weeks or don’t do it at all or is it good

 

[FUNGI]

Depends what your goals are.
But whatever you do, do its slowly.......
IMO, for 10G, I would do 5% every other week....
More important is to keep that salinity level consistent....I would look at getting a gravity ATO.....or if you have extra $$$ get a powered one....

 

[Reefin4L]

oh alright thanks will do that

 

[Matt Bravo]

Hello, everyone is talking about lighting and flow. Now that is very important too but nobody has mentioned
1) parms (specific # “ok” is not ok)
2) tank age
3) how did salinity get so low? Do you make your own water or purchase pre made?

I’m pretty confused as to how salinity dropped instead of rising but I’ll help in any way I can

 

[Reefin4L]

Hello, everyone is talking about lighting and flow. Now that is very important too but nobody has mentioned
1) parms (specific # “ok” is not ok)
2) tank age
3) how did salinity get so low? Do you make your own water or purchase pre made?

I’m pretty confused as to how salinity dropped instead of rising but I’ll help in any way I can

it lowered because when i was vacuuming the water it was taking out water as well so i threw out 6 % the water and dumped fresh water in then later on added salt water again to bring it back to regular level , the tank is 2 almost three months old. i made my own saltwater

 

[DED65]

the sides look perfect just the majority of the top is like full of algae or salt mix not sure or bleached.

Parameters do not matter if the salt is being added to the tank undiluted. Salt mix must be completely dissolved in water before being added to the tank. Salt mix, undiluted, added to the tank is very toxic to anything living. “The top is like full of algae or salt mix not sure or bleached” says to me that the undiluted salt mix is being dumped into the tank and that will be toxic.

 

[Reefin4L]

Parameters do not matter if the salt is being added to the tank undiluted. Salt mix must be completely dissolved in water before being added to the tank. Salt mix, undiluted, added to the tank is very toxic to anything living. “The top is like full of algae or salt mix not sure or bleached” says to me that the undiluted salt mix is being dumped into the tank and that will be toxic

i made sure the salt was dissolved first then poured it in and right now everything is fine just that the top completely bleached i believe
meanwhile the sides look perfect and normal