Euphyllia unhappy.

[cab395]

Hey everyone,

I've been having a problem in one of my tanks. My 5 gallon nano has a mix of corals and has been pretty stable, however I'm still having an issue with Euphyllia retracting. Other corals in the tank are happy (zoos, acans/micromussa lords, Duncans, Favia, shrooms/ricordea, however my Euphyllia just aren't stretching to their full potential.

Initially I thought it was lighting so I went up on that so that they are at about 125-150 PAR. Then I thought it could be too much flow so I went down on the flow on them.

Parameters are as follows:
Salnity: 35 ppt
Alkalinity: 9 dkh (Hanna checker)
Ca: 420 pm (Red Sea)
Magnesium: 1300 ppm (Red Sea)
Nitrates: 5-12 ppm (Nyos)
Phos: 0.06 (Hanna checker)

I have also attached a video of the tank showing the happy extended Acans and Duncan and sad retracted Euphyllia to showcase the flow, I think it should be the right amount so I don't think it's that. I started running a small, small amount of carbon in case of potential coral warfare.



Any thoughts?

 

[cab395]

Should also mention since it's a small tank. Parameters now stay very stable. I keep my temp at 77-77.5F using a controller, and my salinity stays stable with an ATO.

 

[MarkSzy]

just a thought, it looks like the coral isn’t in the same part of the tank as the rest. Is it getting enough light?

 

[chadfish]

How long have you waited?

 

[cab395]

just a thought, it looks like the coral isn’t in the same part of the tank as the rest. Is it getting enough light?

Thanks for the suggestion! There is a frogspawn and two hammer corals, all suffering from the same lack of extension. The Frogspawn is off on its own, and the two hammers are next to each other near the Duncan that's fully extended. I have a PAR meter, and at the location of the frogspawn and two hammers, the PAR is about 120 at the sand bed, so slightly more where the polyps are.

How long have you waited?

That's also a good thought. The hammers have been in the tank for about a month. The frogspawn has been in there for about 20 days.

 

[chadfish]

Thanks for the suggestion! There is a frogspawn and two hammer corals, all suffering from the same lack of extension. The Frogspawn is off on its own, and the two hammers are next to each other near the Duncan that's fully extended. I have a PAR meter, and at the location of the frogspawn and two hammers, the PAR is about 120 at the sand bed, so slightly more where the polyps are.


That's also a good thought. The hammers have been in the tank for about a month. The frogspawn has been in there for about 20 days.

Seems like a while, I’m a noob, but mine settled in within a week or two. Your parameters seem good, lighting seems reasonable. Maybe they’re just a bunch of jerks?

 

[tkyee98]

What are your tank inhabitants? If you don’t mind what are you using to test your salinity?
hammers and frogspawn and torches tend to retract every now and then, as long as no flesh recession from the skeleton is noticeable then you should be fine.

Also a 5 gallon can be tough to keep stable, this wouldn’t be the first/only reef tank you have would it? Consider moving it to a different one your tanks for a bit and see how they do there maybe?

 

[cab395]

What are your tank inhabitants? If you don’t mind what are you using to test your salinity?
hammers and frogspawn and torches tend to retract every now and then, as long as no flesh recession from the skeleton is noticeable then you should be fine.

Also a 5 gallon can be tough to keep stable, this wouldn’t be the first/only reef tank you have would it? Consider moving it to a different one your tanks for a bit and see how they do there maybe?

Just a single small goby for some biomass to get some nutrients into the water and a CUC consisting of some astrea, nassarius snails, and hermits.

I'm using a refractometer calibrated with 35 ppm solution. I double checked my refractometer a couple days ago with my LFS's water and their Milwaukee digital refractometer and it was spot on 35 ppm calibration wise.

This isn't my first tank, but I agree stability with such low water volume is tricky. My ATO and temp controller have helped things greatly. I check Alk daily with a Hanna checker which has also helped keep things rock-steady. I'd prefer not to move the Euphyllia because I'm worried too much movement might cause them to do worse and die, and really don't have a great spot elsewhere. Trying to grow them out in this smaller tank.

 

[Jmalin]

I’d be curious to see a video of how they look messed up, and not saying you have these, but if everything is perfect with parameters as you say maybe a pest like polyclads, only come out when the tank is dark. Possibly a hermit if you got some weird kind lol.

 

[cablez]

Have you tried feeding them??? Nitrate is a bit low......For phos a bit higher....you would want 20-30ppm nitrates. According to BRS new video about this. Generally I like to keep my nitrates 20-25 ppm, and phosphate 0.03 on hannah. Like if the coral is getting alot of par...it usually has to make up for that with catching live prey from water. Phytos, bacterias, and w/e else they eat in our tanks. In a newedr system you do not have the micro fauna...so in my OPINION we newer tanks with dry rock and stuff should supplement the feeding. Till we start getting alot of various pods, rottifiers, and other micro crap that corals fir in their mouth freely floating in the water column. Again alot of this is my own speculation, and watching what other reefers have tested. And especially of the larger experiments Bulk Reef just did on Youtube.

 

[nickeg79]

Maybe it’s bacterial. Try dipping the coral in iodine that’s receding.
I bought a Duncan from someone it was fully extended I got it home it never opened right for a week. I dipped it in iodine the next day it was like 85-90 percent open.
I just mix the iodine in the container and make the water is barely see through. I leave the corals in the dip for like a half hour. I buy iodine at the pharmacy not lugols because it’s way cheaper. This works for zoanthids too.

 

[cab395]

I've made zero changes since yesterday and today it's much better expanded. Lighting looks different just because different phone filters. The two hammers however don't look any better. Not really sure what is going on.