Stalled coral growth

[DonW]

Over the last month my coral growth has completely stalled. It seems odd because my tank has never looked better. The green digitata frags I put in 6 weeks ago have yet to encrust. The ones from 8 weeks ago encrusted at the full base within two weeks. The only coral that doesnt seem to happy is a little acro colony, it always has a little slime. I have not needed to clean my glass for about a month and skimmer ouptput is normal. 6 weeks ago I removed the Rowa reactor but that is the only change. 10g water change every two weeks, kalk nightly and 45ml diy DHK daily. Could my tank be to clean (startving corals)???? I feed the fish 2x daily a seafood only mush. Starving did not make sense because one of the clams grows 1/4 per month consistantly.

CA 450
DKH 10.5
Temp 80 never varies by more than 1 degree either way
SG 1.025
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
Phos 0
PH 8.4 day 8.1 night
Lighting is 2x 250w MH Ushio (3month old) 10 hrs daily and t-5's two hours before and after the MH.


Thanks
Don

 

[NaH2O]

Don, are there any corals close to this one, and if so, what kind are they?

 

[DonW]

Don, are there any corals close to this one, and if so, what kind are they?

The one that slimes is all by itself up high. I thought about raising my lights. Now they are at 6" off the water and I have some coraline bleaching. I cant figure out why they all stopped growing.

Don

 

[reedman]

Hey Don,

Are there any soft corals that might be giving off a scent? Probably not the right term, but something akin to marking their territory. I have heard that some softies will do this from time to time.

 

[DonW]

Hey Don,

Are there any soft corals that might be giving off a scent? Probably not the right term, but something akin to marking their territory. I have heard that some softies will do this from time to time.

I do have a cup that slimes up every night when the halides shut down. I guess I could put in some more carbon and see what happens. Ive had this cup for a long time It was my first coral. I do have the addition of actic vho's in the works, but dont want to make any changes until I get a good Idea of what is going on.
At first I thought it was heat but all three thermometers read the same. The tank looks great other than bleaching coraline. Thats why I was thinking about moving the lights up two or three inches.

Thanks
Don

 

[reedman]

Is all of the coralline bleaching or just at the top of the tank? Mine is bleached near the waters surface, but the rest is fine and my lights are a good 10 inches off the surface.

That cup coral might be scaring the rest with the slime. I'd either increase flow near that coral or run carbon like you said and monitor the changes.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[DonW]

Is all of the coralline bleaching or just at the top of the tank? Mine is bleached near the waters surface, but the rest is fine and my lights are a good 10 inches off the surface.

The top 2/3 of the coraline is bleaching. Looks great around the bottom 1/3.

Don

 

[reedman]

Ouch! Yeah, might want to move those lights a bit.

 

[DonW]

Ouch! Yeah, might want to move those lights a bit.

I guess I'll give it a shot. Maybe my water clarity has just gotten better over time and made the lights penetrate more. I'm really not all that concerned for the coraline, I just think it may be a indicator of why my corals stopped growing.

Thanks
Don