New Coral Not Opening Up / AI Hydra Advice

[raschafer]

Looking to get some advice. I have a new 125 Gallon Reef tank with 3 AI Hydra lights 8 1'2 inches above the water. I currently have 2 clowns, yellow tang, atlantic blue tang, indian ocean sail fin tang, 3 cardinals, fox face, cleaner wrasse, yellow wrasse, yellow tailed dottie back, and a mandarin. All the fish are doing great. I currently have 2 frags, 1 star polip & candy cain coral that are doing great. I purchased hammer coral and another type that I currently have forgotten the name on Thursday. They are opened slightly but for the most part are pretty much closed. I have tested my water and everything comes out great. I'm starting to get a little worried that something may be wrong. When I put them in to my tank I put my white lights at 0 and have yet to put them back up . All of my other colors are at 40 - 50 percent. If anybody has any advice for me on what I can do to get them to open I would appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[IPisces]

I would go ahead and turn you whites on. Coral closes up when the lights go dim and/or out.
If you are concered about acclimating them to the lights, just place the coral low in the tank and slowly move them up.
What kind of flow do you have in the tank?

 

[raschafer]

I have good flow. I have 2 MP10's on each side that alternate every 5 min, along with good steady flow from my returns. I had my whites at 30 percent prior to putting turning them down. Should I turn them all the way up?

 

[IPisces]

sweet, 2 on each side huh!
Yeah, I would turn your white lights back on. What kind of lighting were they under from where you got them?
Most people are using LEDs anymore. If they were under LEDs just place them the same depth under your lights as they were under the ones from where you got them.

 

[raschafer]

yeah. I just got them so they are working out really well. The light that they were under were LED Radions. I'm not too familiar with those but I can find out what setting he has them out. They are a little higher from the top of his tank too as they are from mine. I'm using the AI Hydras. Since I'm new I am still trying to get accustom to them so I am a little concerned that I don't have them setup correctly. I called AI and they told me what to put the setting at thought so I hope they are right.

 

[IPisces]

I'm not sure is anyone else here is using aquaillumination lighting but they are supposed to be pretty good. I am sure they gave you good info. Nice thing is you can play with them and get different light color and intesities that you or the coral like.

 

[raschafer]

I went ahead and put my whites at 30% on my ramp this morning. I went and check them at 11:00 and they were completely closed. This is driving me crazy

 

[IPisces]

Are they in direct flow of those MP10"s could be too much flow.

also, you say you tested and everything was great.
tell us what the readings were or are
temp
salinity
pH
ammonia
nitrates
nitrites
calcium
alkalinity
magnesium

And has the tank or rock ever been exposed to copper?
Oh, never mind, if you have some coral doing okay, its most likely not an issue with copper!

 

[raschafer]

They are in the middle of the tank and the mp10's are are at about 70%. I've tried increasing & decreasing the flow and it didn't seem to make a difference. I'll go ahead and bring a sample into the store again and get all of the readings and then post it later today.

 

[mfinn]

You should also figure out what the coral is that you are worried about.

You also say it's a new tank. How long has it been setup?

Post a picture of the coral.

 

[raschafer]

The name of the coral I am currently trying to open up is Hammer Coral, and Alveopra.

I just had my water tested. Here are the results which I think are all fine:

Salinity - 1.026
PH - 8.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrates - 30 per million
alkalinity - 300 per mil

 

[mfinn]

How long has the tank been setup?

 

[raschafer]

over 3 months

 

[mfinn]

Alveopora's are not terrible difficult, but not one for a new tank, IMO

It's there so, trying to find a spot for it to maximize it's chances for survival.
I'd put it down near the bottom and leave it alone for a while.
I'm not familiar with your lights, so I'd say run them at about 35% both whites and blues. Any other color leds in the fixture?

I might lower the flow a little too.

 

[mfinn]

After thinking about it some more, 30 ppm nitrate is really too much.
Maybe a series of water changes might be in order to try and get the nitrates down.
And instead of lowering the flow, just move it so it gets indirect flow.

 

[raschafer]

I guess it's a little high however my next scheduled water change is on Sunday so its been 15 days since I last did a water change.

 

[IPisces]

agreed. 30 nitrates is way too high. 5ppm or less is more acceptable. I am thinking 8.6 pH is a little high too. Definitely need some water changes.

Alvapora, like mfinn said, likes low gentle flow and lower light. also needs to be target fed periodially. oyster eggs is a good staple for it. set it low, like mfinn said and leave it be. let it acclimate. the more you move it, the longer its going to take for it to acclimate.

 

[raschafer]

OK I'm going to do a water change tomorrow.
I have it set low right now so i'll just leave it.

 

[mfinn]

I'm doing this all wrong tonight.
I'm going back and re-reading everything and only picking up on a single point at a time. lol
You have a butt load of fish in your tank for only being 3 months old.
Pretty heavy bio-load. IMO.

IMO too many tangs ( for this stage of your tank) and that mandarin, might have trouble finding food.
My suggestion would be to take back a couple tangs and the foxface and the mandarin.
I know that's not what you want to do, but that's my advice.

 

[raschafer]

Mandarin is fine. If I maintain my water levels, I don't see how my fish count makes a difference. My tangs are still small so It's not like they are causing a big problem right now.
Even Mr. Salt Water Tank says that you can add a fish a week.