Still beginning Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I think im losing my hammer coral,i can see the skeleton but it was doing fine less than an hour ago. Link to comment
pokerdobe Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Picture? My hammer tends to retract randomly on occasion and definitely at lights out. Link to comment
Still beginning Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Yes here is a picture,it looks a little better since last night. But not great. Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Is it in a high flow area? What is your alk, mag, and ca levels. Parameter swings or too low of the major 3 will cause issues with lps. Too high of flow can cause this as well Link to comment
Still beginning Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 8 hours ago, Clown79 said: Is it in a high flow area? What is your alk, mag, and ca levels. Parameter swings or too low of the major 3 will cause issues with lps. Too high of flow can cause this as well I have it in medium flow and light. Alk-13dkh mag-1260ppm cal-30 drops ph 7.9 Link to comment
pokerdobe Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 16 minutes ago, Still beginning said: I have it in medium flow and light. Alk-13dkh mag-1260ppm cal-30 drops ph 7.9 Your parameters seem a little unbalanced. At least to me. Link to comment
J-Ranko Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Two questions: when was this hammer first added to your tank and when was your tank established (completed cycling)? If it's been recently added it could well just be acclimating. As for your parameters, it would also help to know salinity, temperature and nitrates. I'd assume the tank has finished cycling, but nevertheless, you'll want to rule out ammonia and nitrite just in case. Your alkalinity seems a bit excessive, though. Link to comment
vegasgundog Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 As said previous it could be acclamation it's going through. Is it close to other corals? I had to move mine away from the Hollywood stunner chalice that was stinging it. Two heads were almost dead but came back when I moved it. Is there any sign of brown jelly? A couple of years ago it also went through brown jelly and once I dipped the colony in iodine it healed up. Link to comment
Still beginning Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 2 hours ago, J-Ranko said: Two questions: when was this hammer first added to your tank and when was your tank established (completed cycling)? If it's been recently added it could well just be acclimating. As for your parameters, it would also help to know salinity, temperature and nitrates. I'd assume the tank has finished cycling, but nevertheless, you'll want to rule out ammonia and nitrite just in case. Your alkalinity seems a bit excessive, though. 1 hour ago, vegasgundog said: As said previous it could be acclamation it's going through. Is it close to other corals? I had to move mine away from the Hollywood stunner chalice that was stinging it. Two heads were almost dead but came back when I moved it. Is there any sign of brown jelly? A couple of years ago it also went through brown jelly and once I dipped the colony in iodine it healed up. The hammer was added to my tank roughly 3 weeks ago. My tank completed cycling 5 months ago. I keep my salinity at exactly .25 and temp is kept at 75 i have no ammonia in my tank when i tested friday. He is not close to any other corals and not any signs of brown jelly ? Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Salinity should be either 1.025 or 1.026 for corals. Temp is low. Should be 78-80 Alk is high at 13 I'm not sure what 30 drops of ca means? Link to comment
Still beginning Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 2 hours ago, Clown79 said: Salinity should be either 1.025 or 1.026 for corals. Temp is low. Should be 78-80 Alk is high at 13 I'm not sure what 30 drops of ca means? Any ideas on how to lower my alk? I will raise the temp to 79 Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 It depends. If your salt is mixing high then it has to be lowered pior to adding to the tank or switching salt brands. There is an acid that lowers alk. I was using rscp and my alk was creeping to past 11 and my sps weren't happy so i switched salts. Things are happier now with my alk at 8.7 Link to comment
pokerdobe Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 6 minutes ago, Clown79 said: It depends. If your salt is mixing high then it has to be lowered pior to adding to the tank or switching salt brands. There is an acid that lowers alk. I was using rscp and my alk was creeping to past 11 and my sps weren't happy so i switched salts. Things are happier now with my alk at 8.7 High alk isn't necessarily a problem if your accompanying nutrients levels are correspondingly high. A sudden alk swing at this point could hurt things? We can come to a better conclusion if we know what his NO3 and Po4 levels are as well. Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Well of course a major drop would effect things greatly, thats a given. The alk would have to be slowly lowered. 13dkh is very high and most wouldn't recommend it be kept at that level even with high nutrients. The highest would be 11. From observations and fellow reefers 8-10 is optimal dkh. Link to comment
Still beginning Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 So shoul i try switching to a different salt gradually? Link to comment
Still beginning Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 So here he is today 1 hr after lights on. Link to comment
Canadianeh Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 6 hours ago, Clown79 said: Salinity should be either 1.025 or 1.026 for corals. Temp is low. Should be 78-80 Alk is high at 13 I'm not sure what 30 drops of ca means? what "30 drops" means? Another reefing lingo? Link to comment
holy carp Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 2 hours ago, Clown79 said: It depends. If your salt is mixing high then it has to be lowered pior to adding to the tank or switching salt brands. There is an acid that lowers alk. I was using rscp and my alk was creeping to past 11 and my sps weren't happy so i switched salts. Things are happier now with my alk at 8.7 What salt did you switch to? Link to comment
KyleAwesome Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 18 hours ago, Still beginning said: I have it in medium flow and light. Alk-13dkh mag-1260ppm cal-30 drops ph 7.9 7 hours ago, Clown79 said: Salinity should be either 1.025 or 1.026 for corals. Temp is low. Should be 78-80 Alk is high at 13 I'm not sure what 30 drops of ca means? 22 minutes ago, Canadianeh said: what "30 drops" means? Another reefing lingo? My guess is we're talking about the API calcium test kit, where you add drops of 1 solution into another until a certain color is achieved. I dont have the instructions in front of me but my tanks tends to be around the 22 drop range which if I recall is about 440ppm. If you're at 30 and using the API test kit and my math is correct your calcium is at close to 600ppm! Somethings off here, if your salinity is 1.025, your calcium is over 500ppm, your alk is at 13 and you're not dosing either you've discovered super magic reef salt or one of the above parems are incorrect (I'd hazard a guess the salinity is higher than 1.025, only because its more likely one metric is incorrect vs. the other 3 or 4 being wrong) Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Something is definitely off. Can you please confirm what your calcium is at? Do you use a hydrometer or refractometer for salinity? I switched to aquaforest reef salt. Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Parameters seem quite off to me as well, but your Hammer looks savable for sure. Test the parameters of your salt water mix-if it is more in range, then start doing 5-10% water changes daily. Figure out why your levels are all so high. Link to comment
Still beginning Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 I will have to buy the second test kit. I am currently having my lfs to test parameters. But i use a hydrometer to check salinity it says .025 when i check it and maybe i did buy a box of magic salt ??. Right now i am doing 20% water changes every tuesday. Which is what i was recommended with this being a 10 gal. I use instant ocean only because i dont want to change anything untill i figure out what i should be changing. I do appreciate all the tips Link to comment
KyleAwesome Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 15 minutes ago, Still beginning said: I will have to buy the second test kit. I am currently having my lfs to test parameters. But i use a hydrometer to check salinity it says .025 when i check it and maybe i did buy a box of magic salt ??. Right now i am doing 20% water changes every tuesday. Which is what i was recommended with this being a 10 gal. I use instant ocean only because i dont want to change anything untill i figure out what i should be changing. I do appreciate all the tips Theres your problem. A Refractometer. Buy one. How much did that hammer cost you? Not having one will cost you more in the long run. Link to comment
Still beginning Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 That hammer was 12.50. I will get me one Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Hydrometers aren't reliable. 1 tiny bubble, salt residue, or uneven can alter the number. A refractometer is far more reliable. I would also invest in your own test kits because at times you will need to test more often than 1 time a week and its far more reliable to do your own testing. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.