Green Star Polyp coral...have a question...

[dr. mike]

I am new to reef aquariums and recently converted my 125gallon fish only tank to a reef version. After a few weeks I placed in a medium sized green star polyp coral and that did very well the first week.

However, yesterday I noticed that the green filiments were becoming brown...losing the green fairly quickly.

It is located about half way down the tank (which has a 300W Sunpod lighting system). just curious about what you think the possible problems are...

Other soft polyps and mushrooms in the tank are doing well, just this one seems to have a bit of a problem...

Appreciate your help,

Mike

 

[roblou]

Hi Mike: how about flow? I believe GSP like mod to high flow. Also, any other corals near or upstream of the GSP? Outside of that, how about your water parameters?

hth, or at least gives you things to check

rob

 

[ronj]

what kind of lighting were they under before you bought them??? it could be a reaction to the lighting change...what are your water parameters???? also, on a side note, these polyps are extremely noxious to other corals..keep all your other corals away from them.they will spread extremely fast and take over other corals ...it would help to run carbon frequently to remove some of the toxins as well..

 

[dr. mike]

As far as their previous lighting, I believe it was MH, but I'm not 100% positive, I'll have to check that out.

Water parameters are another story...since I recently converted my FO tank, there has been a spike in Nitrates, but everything else WNL. I just did a 20%water change (RO/DI water) two days ago.

I"ll check all levels again and post the results...maybe pH is off???

Thanks for your input.

Mike

 

[jezzeaepi]

GSP is usually one of the hardiest coral you can get. What are your water paramters?
Ca/Alk/PH/Nitrates/amonia/phosphates

Saying they are "fine" is meaningless =P

 

[ronj]

i agree...i keep mine in a seperate tank to propagate them....they are very hardy, and not easy to kill, even when you are trying!!!

 

[Anthony Calfo]

as per Robs post... water flow is crucial even with this hardy "beginner" coral. Without it they stifle very quickly. Do you have at least 30X (tank turnover) water flow? Closer to 60X (like with sps corals) is better for GSP

Also... did you move this coral at all after it was brought into the tank? That can be very stressful to move it around the tank after its mmoved from the dealer (or any tank... minimize moves soon after transfer)

 

[Jan]

I have a similar question about my green star polyp. It is placed high in my tank (40 gallons). It is not near othe corals. I have 2 powerheads but no skimmer yet.

It looked good the first couple of weeks but now the tips are starting to curl like little candy canes. Color has not changed.

Water parameters:

ammonia - 0
ph - 8.3
alkalinity - ~7.4
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 0
calcium - ??

Lighting is 190 total watts compact florescent; daylight set at 8 hours per day and arctinic provides additional 3 hrs per day.

any ideas what the problem is? It has not been moved since coming into the tank.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

As a wild guess, it desires better lighting. Stronger lamps or more sunlight

 

[dr. mike]

Just an update...the green star polyp is doing fine now, I did relocate it to a better flow area and that made all the difference.

Right now, though, I've got a significant problem with nitrates...all other levels are good: ph8.2/nitrites0-.1/ammonia-0.

But get this, the nitrAte level is over 100!!! yikes!

I've been doing 20%water changes every 3 days, but am going to step it up to every two days. Man, I guess I should just have started this tank from scratch rather than go from a fish only to a reef...BIG mistake I think.

Live and learn...anyway, the zoo's, star polyps, yellow polyps, and ricordia don't seem to be affected by it yet, but it can't be good, so water changes are on the primary to-do list. Oh, I have a candycane lps frag too, it seems to be healthy but I haven't noticed any filiments coming out of it at night - i was told that they secreted these to catch particles...I'll keep watching...

Mike
ps: oh, I also have been spot feeding the corals live phytoplanktin every three days or so...I think that's been helping as well

 

[jsmkmavity]

check your nitrates in the new saltwater before adding it to the tank to make sure its not the source of the nitrates. also test anything you are adding now like supplements or additives. you would be suprised how many "REEF" product have undesirable or harmful ingredients.

 

[scytale]

I have a similar question about my green star polyp. It is placed high in my tank (40 gallons). It is not near othe corals. I have 2 powerheads but no skimmer yet.

It looked good the first couple of weeks but now the tips are starting to curl like little candy canes. Color has not changed.

Water parameters:

alkalinity - ~7.4

alkanlinity seems pretty low-- is your tank experiencing any PH changes between early AM and early PM?

I know my GSP like to closeup if my pH gets low....

 

[Jan]

alkanlinity seems pretty low-- is your tank experiencing any PH changes between early AM and early PM?

I know my GSP like to closeup if my pH gets low....

I've never measured PH twice in one day so I can't answer your question. I will do that, though. What would account for a PH change from morning to evening?

When you say that your GSP likes to close up if the ph gets low, does it do that like I described, where the tips start to curl over? Or are you describing a different phenomenon?

Is there an ideal alkalinity for soft corals like these? I'm assuming that if my PH is stable at 8.3 throughout the day, this is not the issue. I thought, strange as it may sound, that the light might be too bright--not too low. The reason I thought this is because when I take a peek at the GPS in the morning before the lights have come back on, I don't see the curling up. I only see it in the afternoons/evenings. And it seems to be getting worse...

And last, do you agree with the other poster that my 190 total watts compact florescent is not adequate? I spoke to the seller of this light fixture, telling them my concern that the light was not strong enough for a reef, and they said that it was "strong enough to grow ANYTHING, and that I should not go by 'the outmoded watts-per-gallon' construct but by the new lumes-per-something-per-gallon construct." And by this newer standard, my compact florescent light was more than adequate for growing soft corals and many SPS (but not all). Was he bulls$#!*-ing me?

Thanks!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

PH drops when the lights are off due to a drop in photosynthetic activity and plants now emitting CO2 in lieu of absorbing it. Dissolved CO2 equals carbolic acid equals lower PH.

Compact fluorescents are not as good as other fluorescents, he BSed you a bit.
SPS and clams would not do well in your tank. The GSPs should eventually do well enough under existing lighting.

 

[Jan]

PH drops when the lights are off due to a drop in photosynthetic activity and plants now emitting CO2 in lieu of absorbing it. Dissolved CO2 equals carbolic acid equals lower PH.

Compact fluorescents are not as good as other fluorescents, he BSed you a bit.
SPS and clams would not do well in your tank. The GSPs should eventually do well enough under existing lighting.

This is very interesting and it makes me wonder if my ph during the day is actually too high. It's just one of those color-match tests you know...maybe I should try to find a more accurate test.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

It is extremely rare to have PH too high unless you are adding chems. Those test strips have no value. Get a PH test kit, Salifort is reliable as are many others.

 

[dr. mike]

Yes, I'd have to agree about the test strips...they might be handy for a quick look see, but the colors are soooo close that its difficult at best.

I just wish someone would come out with an electronic tester that measured all water components (pH/nitrites/amonia/nitrates/alk...in digital numbers. Oh, and while I'm at it, I'd like it to cost under $100

 

[ronj]

and they said that it was "strong enough to grow ANYTHING,

i would not buy anything from that company in the future..that is a JOKE!!!!!!

 

[tike]

Dr. mike......what brand test kit are you using??

 

[Jan]

I tested my ph at about 6:00 pm and it was 8.3. But my alkalinity was definitely too low(yellow green on the color scale). I added some buffer and will retest tomorrow.

Later this evening my "daylight" lights went out leaving just the arctinic ones on, and I swear my GSP started to uncurl almost immediately! What IS that about?!