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View Full Version : I can never grow chalice .... why?


miserkris
11/07/2013, 10:52 PM
My reef is four y.o. I have a mix of lps, sps, zoa, softie. ....I have hammers , I have caps and meteor shower , alveopora etc. I dose Randy recipe one via doser and Kent mg weekly. Numbers are perfect.

However I can't keep any chalice. .. they all slowly show skeleton and die.

I can't keep any torches. They slowly shrink and die.

Everything else grows awesome!

What's the reason and how can I keep chalice?

Thx much.
KRis.

triggreef
11/08/2013, 12:02 AM
What are your perfect numbers? Where are you starting them I'm the tank? I have mine under leds, all pretty low in the tank. Moderate flow at best. Before reading this I would have said chalice can't be killed. Maybe just a bad source to begin with?

Reef Frog
11/08/2013, 03:11 AM
Many varieties thrive in much lower light levels than we might expect. So too much light is the #1 issue IMO. In fact I'm going to mount one or two of mine on the vertical plane low in the tank, under 6 T5 bulbs....ver low light. There may be more light loving varieties but I haven't found them yet.

I think many frags are too small and are too delicate for some reason. Try to buy ones that show evidence of growth on the frag plug - avoid fresh cuts. Try specimens of the 3 species groups to see what ones work best for you.

Maybe try the Julian Sprung Hollywood Stunner Chalice variety .... Very attractive IMO, widely available in large colonies, very affordable and most importantly very hardy IME. Allow no contact with algaes, zoas, clove polyps etc and keep away from other corals. Keep them stable during the intro period and mount them as soon as you are confident they're doing well. Domt procrastinate. They don't seem to like falling into the sand as I believe this irritates them or let's some pathogen possibly take hold.

So there is your list to consider. Just my 2 cents. I too struggled with a few fresh cut mini 1" pizza slices in the beginning but I now have 4 "winner" colonies and another is coming along. I'm not yet confident enough to try my hand at the really expensive & crazy rare specimens just yet, but am approaching that day.

It looks like your skills and your mineral parameters are solid so just keep at it - you'll get it.

miserkris
11/08/2013, 09:29 AM
I didn't know there are some hardy than others.

My ann is zero. Alk 9. Ca between 400 to 460.sg 1.025. Temp 78f.

I will try a hardy one. Thanks.

Is there any red or non green chalice that's hardy?

benjc
11/08/2013, 01:43 PM
Let me know if you ever sort it out since I'm in the same boat. My euphylia thrive, acans, blastos, and duncans as well, but low or high light/flow, I can never seem to keep chalices (other than a hollywood stunner that is doing well).

kungfuujew
11/08/2013, 11:55 PM
in my experience those are affect by levels changing to often. normally mine wont do well if temp alk or calcium change to much in a short time.. thats just what happens in my tank....

miserkris
11/19/2013, 11:18 AM
Reef frog,
Thanks for the info.
I just got a red chalice it was cheap at a swap. $10.!

Do chalice need target feeding? This one's mouth/Eyes are too small.

Reef Frog
11/19/2013, 03:47 PM
Sure thing. IMO feeding the smaller polyp varieties isn't really necessary if there's other food in the tank or fish. But it doesn't hurt to do it. It may help with growth rates.

miserkris
11/21/2013, 07:48 PM
Reef frog,
Thanks for the info.
I just got a red chalice it was cheap at a swap. $10.!

Do chalice need target feeding? This one's mouth/Eyes are too small.

Here's that chalice the one in middle. Can someone id this red chalice? Thx
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/22/vyzury7u.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/22/ysazahet.jpg

Lamnguyen1313
12/04/2013, 04:59 PM
I've been growing chalices for years. I never had a problem with them. I keep mine on the sand bed, with low lights and low flow. They grow very quickly!

charliet21
12/04/2013, 06:31 PM
Ive read then like high mag. Im in same boat try to figure them out, everything else does good but them. So i raised mag to about 1460 cal. 460 alk. 10-11. Ill post finding soon. ive been running these for about week now. And receding looks like it has stopped. But to early to tell

fishcraze_1
12/05/2013, 12:56 AM
They love bluer tanks.