Dendrophyllia troubles

[berger9953]

I've had a single head of dendro for about 2 months now and it has been doing very well, eating and growing big. But all of the sudden it is staying closed most of the day, but when I does come out it only opens half way Nothing pics at it and there are not corals near by. Could anyone help me out? Thanks!

Actually, I did find out that my hydrometer was actually showing that my salinity is .004 above the actual reading and I recently raised the salinity from 1.024 to .028 so the actually reading is 1.024. I simply raised it by letting evaporation taking its course. It took about a week. Do you think it might have shocked it?

Tank specs:

20g
2X24w t5ho 1 10k and 1 actinic
sg: 1.024
parameters: nitrates, amm, nitrites=0, pH=8.1
Use RO water

[alovely]

It could be the salinity but exactly where do you have it placed at don't shock it though and drop the salinity down .004 to where it was though do it in a course of days.

[berger9953]

Its lower in the tank. Its not blasted with light or anything. Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming!!

[ingtar_shinowa]

id check you other parameters, but that aside, how ofter do you do water changes to restore trace elements?

[berger9953]

I do a water change about every 2 weeks, I also add a few drops of strontium and mudb. and iodine when I do wcs. Also alk is fine.

[mscarpena]

How about calcium, alk, mag, flow. Mine like a good amount of indirect flow. Mine will stay closed if I do not have a powerhead blasting a the glass near by.

[silentcivilian]

Before you get yourself into a state of panic. How long has it been this way?? Ive seen these guys do this for up to a week, then open up just fine as if nothing ever happened. I presume its cleaning itself out or somthing, but if you havent changed anything to severe, and more so there is no negative growth, such as flesh problems or discoloration.. I wouldnt worry yet and just monitor closely.

[alovely]

hm.. what fish do you have in the tank some fish could probably be disturbing the coral.

[suta4242]

IME they can react like this if Ca, alk & Mg are out of balance; or if you have nutrient issues (especially phosphate). Some species are much more tolerant than others, but thats the first area I'd look at.

As an aside, I'd crosscheck the accuracy of your hydrometer. Just that you want to be reasonably sure of a value before you make a significant alteration to your sg.

good luck!

[berger9953]

Thanks for all of the feedback!!

The dendro has been this way for maybe 5 or 6 days. The coloration is the same and no negative growth. It just looks kinda deflated and closed most of the time. Should I keep target feeding it? Or should I wait?

I don't test for mag, my calcium is 500+ and my alk is about 2.2. I turned a powerhead to a different direction a bit, I'll see if that helps... I tested my hydrometer with a refractometer, and its precisely 4 off. And in central oregon, they have extremely pure water, but I still use ro, so I doubt phosphates are the problem. And no fish is disturbing the coral. I have a royal gramma, 2 percs and a cherub angel.

Thank you all so much!

[berger9953]

Bump

[silentcivilian]

What have you been using to target feed? Have you tried baiting it out with a myofeast or rotifeast?? Im using Kent Marine Zooplex that works very well.

[Reef Bass]

An alk of 2.2 is way low, especially with calcium >500. My guess is that your magnesium is also too low (shoot for 1300).

[stunreefer]

Originally Posted by berger9953

my alk is about 2.2

I'm assuming this is in meq/l? That's a tad low but shouldn't be a huge issue. How do your other corals look?

What do you feed it, and how often?

Read this: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1719839

... you'll find more useful information in the non-photosynthetic forum as well.

[berger9953]

Thank you all so much for the feedback

I use marine Cousine and Emerald Entree to feed it, which i also use to feed my fish. Unfortunately, I superglued down the head to a rock, so I can't take it out to do the tupperware method. And I use a red sea testing kit and 2.2 is well in the normal zone according to it. And all of my other corals are doing great, good coral and reproducing quickly. I'm stumped!

[Reef Bass]

I just went through this with someone in the lps forum whom I believe also had the red sea test kit. I strongly suggest you check out this post:

alk too low

You'll see that 2.2 meq/l is way too low, outside of any "acceptable" levels.

[berger9953]

Thanks for the link, I'll do the baking soda method. About how long do you recommend baking the baking soda for on the tray, the article didn't specify as far as I could read. It said it doesn't matter really, but it could be 10 min or 10hrs....

[Reef Bass]

I give it an hour at 300.

[berger9953]

And just put what, a tablespoon, wait ten minutes and test the alk? Thanks!

P.S. By water has turned very cloudy just yesterday, could this be linked?

[Reef Bass]

Ah, you wish to add enough to gradually bring your alk up to 3 meq/l. I'd start by adding a teaspoon (5mls) every twelve hours. That may not be enough but you want to bring your alkalinity up slooooowly, like over a week. Test daily after the 1st 24 hours to confirm you're heading in the right direction. If the reading doesn't change much for a couple days, increase your dosing by say 50% until it starts to climb. Be patient. Don't rush it. Rapid alk spikes can cause problems.

Cloudy (milky?) water with calcium over 500 makes me think your calcium is precipitating out possibly. There could be other reasons though. Hard to tell from here.

[berger9953]

Ya, its like someone poured a cup of milk in there. I was thinking maybe a bacterial bloom, but what could have caused it? i'll post a pick. Of the tank and the dendro.

[berger9953]

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/al...pictureid=4318

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/al...pictureid=4319

I hope you can see these! They're really blurry, but i hope you can get the point.

[berger9953]

And I just got the baking soda in the oven at 300*F. set the timer for 60min.

[berger9953]

I put my first batch of baking soda water in last night, nothing seems to have changed, but I'll put in another tspn in alittle bit and then test it. I did a 50% wc yesterday and it doesn't seem to have helped the coudiness.