katienoel216
New Member
Hi,
I'm pretty new to keeping marine aquariums. I've kept freshwater planted tanks before and I thought I'd take a shot at saltwater. I have a 20g Waterbox Cube that's been cycling for a few weeks. I received a shipment from WWC of my first coral frags ever and was pretty excited. I got a pulsing xenia to put on its own island, speckled leather, and a fireworks clove. However, I'm seeing some worrying things.
It was bitterly cold on Thursday when the package arrived, so I was worried about if they had succumbed to the cold; luckily, there was a heat pack inside the box and the water in their bags felt warm. I floated the bags for about 45 minutes with the lights off, and then drip acclimated for about an hour. The temp in my tank is currently set at 78 degrees and has not changed since I received the frags. However, I think it's important to note that I did not dip them; the instructions that came with the corals told me not to in order to prevent further stress, so I didn't. At this point, the frags were VERY stressed out and the xenia was producing a ton of mucus. I placed the frags at the bottom of the tank to adjust to the lighting. I'm running an aquaknight 30w that some other reefers recommended to me. I have a timer on the light so it will run for about 10 hours per day.
Here's a photo of the leather on Thursday a few hours after I put it in:
Things started getting a lot worse the next day; part of the xenia broke off, and the leather started to look like it was dissolving or something. Clove looks pretty much the same. I have no fish in the tank yet, so the water isn't super dirty or anything (which may actually be an issue); I tested my water multiple times and it seems to be running fine with a salinity of 1.024/.25 and PH of 7.8. No ammonia or nitrite. Here's what they looked like this evening:
I'm extremely concerned that none of them have "perked up" quite yet, and I'm very concerned about the leather's zombie-like appearance. The xenia also doesn't seem to be doing as well as I'd hoped (still not pulsing either).
All you reef doctors out there, what should I be concerned about and what should I watch out for? Are they already dead, or are they just under extreme stress? Is there anything I can do to try and make them look better? I feel awful for them and I wish I could do something. Should I go back and dip them? I'm a first time coral owner, so any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
I'm pretty new to keeping marine aquariums. I've kept freshwater planted tanks before and I thought I'd take a shot at saltwater. I have a 20g Waterbox Cube that's been cycling for a few weeks. I received a shipment from WWC of my first coral frags ever and was pretty excited. I got a pulsing xenia to put on its own island, speckled leather, and a fireworks clove. However, I'm seeing some worrying things.
It was bitterly cold on Thursday when the package arrived, so I was worried about if they had succumbed to the cold; luckily, there was a heat pack inside the box and the water in their bags felt warm. I floated the bags for about 45 minutes with the lights off, and then drip acclimated for about an hour. The temp in my tank is currently set at 78 degrees and has not changed since I received the frags. However, I think it's important to note that I did not dip them; the instructions that came with the corals told me not to in order to prevent further stress, so I didn't. At this point, the frags were VERY stressed out and the xenia was producing a ton of mucus. I placed the frags at the bottom of the tank to adjust to the lighting. I'm running an aquaknight 30w that some other reefers recommended to me. I have a timer on the light so it will run for about 10 hours per day.
Here's a photo of the leather on Thursday a few hours after I put it in:
Things started getting a lot worse the next day; part of the xenia broke off, and the leather started to look like it was dissolving or something. Clove looks pretty much the same. I have no fish in the tank yet, so the water isn't super dirty or anything (which may actually be an issue); I tested my water multiple times and it seems to be running fine with a salinity of 1.024/.25 and PH of 7.8. No ammonia or nitrite. Here's what they looked like this evening:
I'm extremely concerned that none of them have "perked up" quite yet, and I'm very concerned about the leather's zombie-like appearance. The xenia also doesn't seem to be doing as well as I'd hoped (still not pulsing either).
All you reef doctors out there, what should I be concerned about and what should I watch out for? Are they already dead, or are they just under extreme stress? Is there anything I can do to try and make them look better? I feel awful for them and I wish I could do something. Should I go back and dip them? I'm a first time coral owner, so any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
