Coral Questions !

[Jordan_Oreo]

Hey, I have some coral in my tank that i noticed dosent open all the time. Its allmost like it opens randomly. is there somthing to make it stay open ? and is there somthing i could add in my tank to make coral more healthy/grow better ?

Thanks
J

[jeweldamsel]

Can you tell us more about your tank setup and water condition?

[alfani]

what kind of light you are using?
what kind of coral?

[Jordan_Oreo]

I have 2 T5 lights its a 55G tanks and as for the coral that opens randomly its :Hammer coral , and i think there called yellow star pollups and the other iam not shure the name its like a grass its little purple buds then this greenish grass comes out when it opens. I can get pics if needed. But if anyone can help me that would be great

Thanks
J

[capture]

how are your water parameters?
that's always a good start.
pH? Alk? Ca? Phosphate? Ammonia?

[alfani]

2 T5 lights..how many watts..are you using HO 54w?

i think you do not have enough lights...for hammer, 4x54w t5 under 55 is miniunm.

it's called gps - green star polys

[dismayed]

Well I'm not exactly sure what you mean, maybe a picture would do some good. But many coral will 'open' more at certain times of the day when they are ready to feed. With many corals you will often see little tentacles go out and sway in the water, grabbing nutrients and then slowly the coral will close back up as it pulls the nutrients in. Maybe this is what you are seeing?

I would add Reef Complete (basically calcium), Reef Plus (vitamins and trace elements), and an iodine supplement to your tank twice a week. All will promote coral growth. Also many coral are just photosynthetic but others require feeding of stuff like cyclopese. You will want to read up on what your corals need or just ask your local fish store.

[Jordan_Oreo]

i belive i got 216w total, ill do a water test in the morning for you guys ,

[Jordan_Oreo]

if i add that stuff to the water Reef Complete (basically calcium), Reef Plus (vitamins and trace elements), and an iodine supplement could it harm the fish at all ? i heard that if u add to much it could kill everything

[black_majik]

Skip out on iodine its a parameter that is just too complicated to control at this point. First I want you to research your corals:

LPS ( Hammer Coral)

Polyps ( Yellow Polyps)

Encrusting Gorgarians ( Possibly your "green grass")

That and a water change wouldn;t hurt.

[Longchamp]

http://www.asira.org/caresheets

This will help a lot. Your hammer should be open all throughout the day. If it closes up then i believe something is wrong

[tmz]

Don't know enough about the situation to answer you. A few considerations, may be: too much flow, a nipper in your fish group., or just a sick coral( do you notice any little white bugs on the polyps?

[Jordan_Oreo]

i Have no white bugs and i just did a water change a few days ago, ill get pics and results from a water test in a hr or so iam school so when iam done ill do the test and pics. I will also pick up some Reef Complete (basically calcium), Reef Plus (vitamins and trace elements) on my way home

[tmz]

Do you know what's in it and what your levels are in your tank. If not I wouldn't personally add it without having a measurement. As noted by blad-majik a water change would likely add most of those things and would be a good thing to do in any case.

[Jordan_Oreo]

Here are the levels in my tank

Ph-8.0
Nitrite-0
Amonia-0
Nitrate-10
Calcium-320
Copper-0

I did go out and buy some Reef complete iam not shure how much to put in tho it says 1 cap ful per 80L twice a week my tank is 55G i added 3 caps yesterday is that right ?

[black_majik]

Dose til your at 400. If you want better directions than the bottle go on seachem.c0m to use their calculators.

[tmz]

You need to check your alkalinity. Corals use calcium and carbonate. The two have to be in balance for the corals to use them properly.

[dismayed]

If I remember the directions on the back of the bottle correctly, put three capfulls in per day until your calcium levels reach 400. Once they do, then back off to three caps on Saturday and three on Wednesday (e.g. twice a week).

Alkalinity (KH) is important too, but those readings show your Calcium is way low. If you get those up you'll probably start seeing improvements. Give it a few weeks.

[Jordan_Oreo]

my calcium is at 420 now i belive is that to high ? i read inbetween 400-500 is good

[Acan Lord8]

do u dose iodine?

[Jordan_Oreo]

no i just did Reef complete because i was told when using iodine you have to be really careful of you could kill everything, and i dont wana risk that lol , should i ?

[dismayed]

420 is a fine reading. Stop dosing daily and just switch to twice a week now. Keep monitoring your level and make sure they stay over 400 and see if your coral starts to improve.

[bobparker]

Originally posted by dismayed
Well I'm not exactly sure what you mean, maybe a picture would do some good. But many coral will 'open' more at certain times of the day when they are ready to feed. With many corals you will often see little tentacles go out and sway in the water, grabbing nutrients and then slowly the coral will close back up as it pulls the nutrients in. Maybe this is what you are seeing?

I would add Reef Complete (basically calcium), Reef Plus (vitamins and trace elements), and an iodine supplement to your tank twice a week. All will promote coral growth. Also many coral are just photosynthetic but others require feeding of stuff like cyclopese. You will want to read up on what your corals need or just ask your local fish store.

Be cautious of the Local fish store. They want your money. Use the power of the internet and do a lot of reading. RC is a good start. There's bookoo's of info in these forums.

[Jordan_Oreo]

I will post pics today of the coral, do you think adding reef complete is enough ? or should i add somthing elese ?

[DevilBoy]

here is a photo of my branching hammer in the middle of the day.