sick leather and unhappy xenia?

[kyliegirl]

I have recently added some new corals to my month old tank.

The xenia seemed very happy and was pulsing within minutes in the tank, recently it has extended its arms fairly far from its body, but they fray around in a slack manner and have barely pulsed.

the leather has not opened any polyps since being added to the tank, and no matter how many times i stand it up straight, in an hour it has its body flattened along the rock its on..

is there something I am doing wrong?

I did a 20% water change today. Will this help?

[kyliegirl]

i just noticed my sun seems to be spitting out its food. It took it willingly before. is this normal?

[tinyreef]

i don't believe the waterchange will hurt but your issues might be more complex than simply lowering water pollution levels.

but starting from that point, can you provide the typical water readings tested? (i.e. ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, salinity, temperature) there's a couple of more but probably not as critical for the corals involved at this point.

can you also provide a picture of your tank setup? this allows us to see at a glance what would likely take you two pages of words to describe. if you could describe some key points of the setup besides the pictures it would also be helpful: water dynamics, filters, lighting, inhabitants, timeline of setup, and anything else you think might help.

btw leathers shouldn't need your help to prop itself up. it might prefer a different location or position but they typically orientate themselves to the optimal stance/position.

the corals could be upset at a number of reasons. a month-old tank is usually a bit young to be having coral ime. especially, it seems you started with the sun coral and direct feeding even before the two softies. my initial suggestion would be to return the corals for store credit or have the lfs hold them (if possible) until you determine what the issues bothering the tank/corals are. good luck!

[kyliegirl]

ph 7.8
ammonia- 0
nitrite- 0
nitrate- 0

temp- 27 degrees celcius
sg- 1.026

I havent got the test kits for calcium or alkalinity.
I have had trouble rising my ph lately.

The xenia seems happier this morning since turning off the skimmer, as does the leather, the leather seems to be standing up more and has opened its polyps.

I am still botheres about the tank.

Nothing else shows any signs of stress

[jiggy]

ph seems low.. 8.1-8.3 is ideal

[Sk8r]

Low alkalinity, possibly low calcium.

[kyliegirl]

I had suspicions about low alk/calc. But i also beleive it might be not enough gas excahnge also.

the tank is in a room which is often closed up, opened the windows today to lower the co levels to see if itll help.

would turtle weed (maidens hair) help with co2 levels in the water?

I heard algae helps it lower but i dont know if all do it or some do it.

[Fat Surgeon]

Kylie, I think you did the right thing by turning the skimmer off for awhile. Strange as it may seem, some corals like a little "dirtier" water, Xenia and Leather falling into this category. If this worked for you, maybe skim twice a week, as we also dont know what else you have in your tank that may require heavier skimming.

As far as Low pH, try to take your readings once in the morning, later in the afternoon and then in the evening before you turn your lights out. This way you can really estimate a bit better what your pH param's are. If you have a short photo period(less than 8 hours) increase in hour increments up to 12 hours over the course of a few days to help with the pH balance. Depending on your lighting system, longer photo periods may be required to have a more balanced pH for your tank. Not a sure fire solution, but could help. :cool:

[skylsdale]

Are you running any carbon?