Kenya tree coral

[nanoman95]

Hey guys

I got gifted some Kenya tree coral by my local store who said that it is very weed like so shouldn’t have any issues growing it. I expressed my concern over my lighting as I only have white light and no blue and the assistant said it would be fine because I can grow macro algae etc well so should be no issues.

I have had the frag for about 5 weeks now. For the first 3 weeks the frag was open and swaying around (I was concerned there was not a lot of flow but seemed to thrive) then it shrunk and stayed shrunken for a week. Now for the past week it’s going through these stages where it almost half opens then retracts down again? I asked the store who checked my water parameters and he said it was all ‘spot on’ with my main concern being phos but he said there were none present. They advised me to target feed live phyto plankton which has perked it up but still so shrivelled.

Any advice? I have a Firefish and a couple of hermit crabs and sexy shrimp. I did think the sexy shrimp may be annoying it but they are never on it. Not even when it was fully open!

Now I’m being told to buy all sorts of additives like iodine and I’m just conscious of the cost of all these supplements for one little coral! I don’t want it to die but would rather return it if it’s going to be a case of needing iodine etc.

Also it’s not as white as the light makes it appear. It’s a purple colour on the stems and then brown my coloured on the polyps.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What kind of white light, like, just a normal white lightbulb? What kind of light is it? You need a coral grow light with the full colour spectrum to grow coral.

 

[nanoman95]

What kind of white light, like, just a normal white lightbulb? What kind of light is it? You need a coral grow light with the full colour spectrum to grow coral.

I believe it’s a white led T5? I did express my concerns over the light and he didn’t seem too worried but to me, it’s a light issue!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

T5 is a good light. How many watts is it and how many gallons is your tank?

 

[nanoman95]

T5 is a good light. How many watts is it and how many gallons is your tank?

It’s 7.2 watts I believe and the tank is 20 gallon

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think the light is fine.
They do like nitrate and phosphate in the water. Since you have zero phosphate, this might be an issue. Do you know the nitrate level?

How old is your tank? If its a new tank, a new tank will be very clean, so the low nutrients might be the issue.

I also see algae and detritus buildup on the rocks which indicates low flow to me.

I get the impression you don't have any test kits, I would suggest to prioritize test kits over additive, the test kits will help you much more than additives. Get good testers like hanna. But there's no hurry, only when you want to really start adding corals to your tank.

You're on the right track, I think you just need a few small tweeks to get the tank going.

 

[nanoman95]

I think the light is fine.
They do like nitrate and phosphate in the water. Since you have zero phosphate, this might be an issue. Do you know the nitrate level?

How old is your tank? If its a new tank, a new tank will be very clean, so the low nutrients might be the issue.

I also see algae and detritus buildup on the rocks which indicates low flow to me.

I get the impression you don't have any test kits, I would suggest to prioritize test kits over additive, the test kits will help you much more than additives. Get good testers like hanna. But there's no hurry, only when you want to really start adding corals to your tank.

You're on the right track, I think you just need a few small tweeks to get the tank going.

Yeah the guy said my water may be too clean! I have 0 phos and my nitrate is at 0.10 they suggested I feed a little heavier so I’ve been doing that for the past few days but any suggestions you have to help raise it would be appreciated.

I do have test kits, I have the liquid one as opposed to the test strips but I like to double check at the store when things like this happen just to double check on things.

The tank is 11 months old I think I could benefit adding another fish but struggling on tank mates because of the sexy shrimp! Do you think I could get away with a clown?

Yeah struggling with flow if I’m being honest! Debated swapping the powerhead to the back panel as opposed to the sides to offset the flow more?

Thankyou for your help!

 

[gassdoc]

It is hard to kill that stuff, it does grow like a weed. You can get that stuff for free all the time, don't sweat it

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

in a 20 gallon you can have 3, maybe 4 fish.

Keep in mind that feeding heavier means feeding smaller amounts more often. Fish poop feeds corals but uneaten food feeds algae.

For flow I would suggest add another small powerhead on the opposite side, 2 powerheads directed at each other will create randomised flow which is what corals like. My 15 gallon has 2 powerheads.

 

[nanoman95]

in a 20 gallon you can have 3, maybe 4 fish.

Keep in mind that feeding heavier means feeding smaller amounts more often. Fish poop feeds corals but uneaten food feeds algae.

For flow I would suggest add another small powerhead on the opposite side, 2 powerheads directed at each other will create randomised flow which is what corals like. My 15 gallon has 2 powerheads.

Thankyou this is all extremely helpful! I’ll add another powerhead to my purchase list n keep going with the Kenya tree unless it decides to breakdown or whatever! Thankyou again for your time

 

[gassdoc]

Not sure you need 2 powerheads in a 20 gallon tank, depends on how much flow. Soft corals dont need high flow

 

[FUNGI]

water is too clean......
Don't need massive flow over the Kenya....indirect is better....
Lower your water change to maybe once a month and you'll get your NO and Phos levels up....trust me, the pest...sorry Kenya.. will be OK.

 

[FUNGI]

I'll give you as many as you want for free.....this is after I culled 80% of them......

 

[ajremington68]

I have a 20g long and I just had a hang on back and now canister. I find that a lot of corals like lower than higher flow you just have to keep them clean of detritus so for it not opening because of flow this is very unlikely. Also could be the low phos, but I can't comment on this however I have higher phos but lower nitrates, but I have 2 frags that are massive and have been good since the start. A good idea on people commenting on low nutrients could be getting a small bag of reef roids off amazon as its cheap and they shoot your phosphate up as it is a DENSE source of nutrition so you don't feed much.

 

[ajremington68]

Oh, the list of things you need to buy is ever-growing, but I have found that almost nothing needs to get bought tomorrow in this hobby and lots of stuff needs time to work and time to see if it is positively affecting your tank. But you could benefit from the 2 API test kits from Petco, they go on sale quite often and you can test Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, PH, Phosphate, Calcium, and alkalinity from the 2. Now its not extremely accurate especially the phosphate test, but once you get that for a baseline you could look on marketplace for a cheap hanna phos, and nitrate checkers in the future. Just my advice.