damaged goods

[808Rob]

moving some rock around a couple of days ago and i may have smashed my torch a little. It hasn't looked the same since and when i got home today, i found this... Is it dying? please tell me they shed their tentacles sometimes...

[RokleM]

Neither head looks too happy, no. The one on the top is receded drastically and might have been physically damaged. The one on the bottom i don't really see physical damage, but the tissue is receding on the base pretty quickly based on the color. Looks like there is cyano and possibly other issues at the same time.

Any other corals having issues? What are the parameters of the tank?

[Sk8r]

Check your water conditions and bring it into perfect balance, high on the calcium, for as long as it takes. Also, do a 30% water change to be sure the water contains the trace elements he may need to repair himself. Certain of these trace elements, like strontium, have been suggested to be linked to polyp stability, but a) it's not proven and b) you should rely SOLELY on your water changes to supply these traces: the difference between sufficiency and overdose is very, very, very tiny, and attempting to DIY it, you can do harm. Use a very good coral-growth salt: the brand matters---some are better adapted for fish-only tanks, and are short of things corals need. I use Oceanic, keep my calcium high, and have very good luck with it.

[808Rob]

Tested about 4 days ago and cal at 400, alk is a liitle above 7 dkh(little low), ph 8,5, nitrates are just below 20(hopefully would explain the cyano), and sal1.025.
I havealot of other corals in the tank but they all show nothing out of the ordinary. Even a couple of sps.
Not sure what happened.

[im4292]

get those nitrates down!

[808Rob]

working on the nitrate issue. usually do a 30% water change every 2 weeks and the last 2 weeks, i did it twice. Just got my SWC 160 about 3 weeks ago so I hope it will keep working to bring it down. looking into making an algae scrubber to help with the problem..
any suggestions?