Sharkey18 March 1, 2009 Share March 1, 2009 Hi all, So these "easy" "beginner" corals are killing me. My mushroom exist but don't thrive and my zoas more often than not shrivel up and disappear. I can easily start with a nice colony on 50 polyps and reduce it to 20 pathetic ones in a few months. Any suggestions? Thanks! Laura Tank specs: 54 gal. corner bowfront 10 gallon sump 4 to 5 inch sand bed. About 50 lbs live rock (some in the sump) T-5 Fluorescents 1 use a two part Mix of softies, LPL and a few sps 79 F 1.025 8.21 pH 10 dKH 360 Ca 0 ammonia 0 nitrate .25 phosphate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE March 1, 2009 Share March 1, 2009 how long has the tank been up? a lot of the time, the "beginner corals" need a little bit of nitrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Reefs March 1, 2009 Share March 1, 2009 do you dose your tank with anything? iodine, strontium, ect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 March 1, 2009 Author Share March 1, 2009 Tank is exactly a year old. I dose strontium and molybdenum according to the bottle. I stopped dosing iodine since I don't test for it. (Of course I don't test the stront. or Molyb. either. ) Laura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE March 1, 2009 Share March 1, 2009 my guess would be nitrates then... unless you have some sort of hitch hiker that's eating them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spankythepyro March 1, 2009 Share March 1, 2009 don't dose what you don't test for could be a zoa eating nudi, could be zoapox/fungus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind March 1, 2009 Share March 1, 2009 How many T-5 bulbs do you have? Under strong lighting the mushrooms do not inflate as much becuase thet do not need to. As a result they may look shriveled or not healthy but actually they are. As for the zoas, the same thing sometimes applies. Some like bright light and some don't, it depends on where they came from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 March 1, 2009 Author Share March 1, 2009 Thank everyone. I think coralhind might be on to it as well. I recently upgraded from CF to T5. I have moved some things around and get various results. My corallimorph mushrooms were definitely getting too much light and are happier now that they are lower. But I have one hairy mushroom that is shriveled up no matter where it is. i am more concerned about my zoas though. My AoG and Pinks are doing well, but eagle eyes are not happy nor are blues. I am going to keep playing around with location but every time i guess wrong i lose another polyp.... ;( Some polyps even detach from the rock and I find them rolling around the gravel. I moved stuff before I left town on Saturday so I'll see how it looks tomorrow when i get home... assuming no out of town disasters.... ned to get home before the snow! Thanks for the help. Laura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyTim March 2, 2009 Share March 2, 2009 That's my guess too... my guess would be nitrates then... unless you have some sort of hitch hiker that's eating them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 March 2, 2009 Author Share March 2, 2009 Wow, the culprit is too MUCH light. Accidentally left the white lights off while out of town last few days and the un-happy zoas are a little better. Cool. Thanks for all the feedback. Corner tanks are such a pain to light properly. Looks like I am moving corals again and heading to the DIY lighting forum... Laura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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