frogspawn closed?

sfoister

Member
I recently bought a nice sized piece of frogspawn and up until 2 days ago it was opened up all the way when the lights were on. Now, it's staying closed and only opening up about 25% when the lights are on. Is this normal?
 
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cmaxwell39

Guest
It may be adjusting to your tank. It also might not like something about where it is placed. What kind of lighting do you have, how much flow is it getting, what are your water parameters? These are all things to consider when trying to figure out a corals behaviour. And it may just be adjusting to the tank.
One more thing, it may be getting picked on by a fish or invert. I had a candy cane that was opening some, but not the best and didn't really know why until I tried to put a zoo rock in and saw my eibli angel picking at them real bad. Finally made the decision to pull the eibli out, and with a week all of my corals were opening better including my candy cane which I had not seen be picked on by the angel. Many different possibilities.
 

sfoister

Member
The only parameter that has been a concern for me is calcium. It was 320 this morning and I just dosed it. I'm going to go ahead and say that everything else is within range of normal and risk everyone saying "Oh but what is normal post your parameters!"
Everything is 0 except for trates which is at 20 and has never been anything different.
Maybe my low calc levels caused this?
I have the stock lighting on a 24g aquapod which is 32 watt dual 10k's and 32 watts of dual 420/460nm actinics.
 
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cmaxwell39

Guest
The calcium level is a low, but I do not know if that will cause coral to stay closed up, or just make it so they do not grow. I am no expert so you might want to get some other opinions on that. I would try to get your calcium up over 400 either way.
 

rbaldino

Active Member
Originally Posted by sfoister
The only parameter that has been a concern for me is calcium. It was 320 this morning and I just dosed it. I'm going to go ahead and say that everything else is within range of normal and risk everyone saying "Oh but what is normal post your parameters!"
Everything is 0 except for trates which is at 20 and has never been anything different.
Maybe my low calc levels caused this?
I have the stock lighting on a 24g aquapod which is 32 watt dual 10k's and 32 watts of dual 420/460nm actinics.
I don't know if 64 watts total over 24 gallons is enough for frogspawn. That's not even 3 watts per gallon. You might want to look into the MH fixture they have for that tank.
 

sfoister

Member
Originally Posted by rbaldino
I don't know if 64 watts total over 24 gallons is enough for frogspawn. That's not even 3 watts per gallon. You might want to look into the MH fixture they have for that tank.
There's no way I'm investing the amount of money needed for MH to support a frogspawn, I've seen people keeping them in tanks with less light than mine.
What I don't know is if they periodically close up like this one is. I'm going to wait it out and see what happens in a couple of days.
 

azfishgal

Active Member
I havn't had my frogspawn for very long, but I was getting concerned because two of the branches were becoming less open each day and yesterday they were almost all the way closed. I know my lighting is not the best but I just ordered some MHs so that will change soon. Concerned my frogspawn might not make it I decided to take some extra care with this coral and last night I spot fed it with some mysis shrimp. I used a "feeder" to place the shrimp right on the two branches that were nearly closed. I had to fight the cleaner shrimp away and it took about 15 minutes of guarding the frogspawn, replacing the shrimp if it started to float a way until I thought he ate enough. Today those two branches are fully open. So, try spot feeding it and see if that makes a difference. If you don't want to stand there guarding it use a 2 liter bottle, cut the bottom off and then put it over your frogspawn, adding the shrimp through the bottle opening.
 

rbaldino

Active Member
Originally Posted by sfoister
There's no way I'm investing the amount of money needed for MH to support a frogspawn, I've seen people keeping them in tanks with less light than mine.
It's not just a matter of the frogspawn; I don't think you can keep many corals at all with that little light. And as for what you've seen other people do, how long were they able to do it? Personally, I don't think you have enough light, and I think the frogspawn is already starting to suffer because of it. My frogspawn/hammer corals are always open, and as far as I know they don't periodically close up for no apparent reason.
 

sfoister

Member
Originally Posted by rbaldino
It's not just a matter of the frogspawn; I don't think you can keep many corals at all with that little light. And as for what you've seen other people do, how long were they able to do it? Personally, I don't think you have enough light, and I think the frogspawn is already starting to suffer because of it. My frogspawn/hammer corals are always open, and as far as I know they don't periodically close up for no apparent reason.
You are grossly misinformed if you think the lighting that comes stock on these aquapods is not sufficient. I have been keeping LPS with this lighting with absolutely no issues.
Frogspawn comes from very deep waters, they do not get the type of lighting that we provide for them in the wild.
The watts per gallon theory is not accurate. If I ever want to keep SPS then I'll step up to halides, otherwise it's overkill.
 

rbaldino

Active Member
Originally Posted by sfoister
You are grossly misinformed if you think the lighting that comes stock on these aquapods is not sufficient. I have been keeping LPS with this lighting with absolutely no issues.
Frogspawn comes from very deep waters, they do not get the type of lighting that we provide for them in the wild.
The watts per gallon theory is not accurate. If I ever want to keep SPS then I'll step up to halides, otherwise it's overkill.
Sorry you don't find my opinion helpful. All I know is that you've got less than 3 watts per gallon of PC lighting, which isn't terribly powerful to begin with, on a squarish tank. As for keeping LPS corals without any issues, well, I guess you've got an issue now. Obviously, something's wrong with your frogspawn and you don't seem have any better ideas. Your calcium is low, but I don't think that would have an immediate effect on the coral. Maybe someone else will come along and give you an answer you find more acceptable.
 

autofreak44

Active Member
Originally Posted by sfoister
You are grossly misinformed if you think the lighting that comes stock on these aquapods is not sufficient. I have been keeping LPS with this lighting with absolutely no issues.
Frogspawn comes from very deep waters, they do not get the type of lighting that we provide for them in the wild.
The watts per gallon theory is not accurate. If I ever want to keep SPS then I'll step up to halides, otherwise it's overkill.
agreed
 

autofreak44

Active Member
Originally Posted by sfoister
I recently bought a nice sized piece of frogspawn and up until 2 days ago it was opened up all the way when the lights were on. Now, it's staying closed and only opening up about 25% when the lights are on. Is this normal?
is there a clown fish or a shrimp or something like that that is rubbing up against it becasue that could irritate it enough to not come out. also, i found mine doesnt like a lot of flow, mine is in a very low flow area and it opens every day. i would say just keep it close to the lights and keep the flow down and it should be ok... if it isnt then i dono how to help
 
Mine doubles in size about 1/2 hour after I add calc AB. I dose calc daily and my calc still stays at about 400. As far as I can tell frogspawn uses alot of calc, it is the only big thing I got in my tank. As others have said, that might be it "you calc is low". Good luck. Let us know.
 

sfoister

Member
I do have a clown in the tank, a maroon clown. But he doesn't bother it. Shrimp, yes... I have a cleaner shrimp that may be walking all over it. The flow is moderate.. I'll try moving it out of the center of the tank and more to the side and see what happens.
 

sfoister

Member
Originally Posted by rbaldino
Sorry you don't find my opinion helpful. All I know is that you've got less than 3 watts per gallon of PC lighting, which isn't terribly powerful to begin with, on a squarish tank. As for keeping LPS corals without any issues, well, I guess you've got an issue now. Obviously, something's wrong with your frogspawn and you don't seem have any better ideas. Your calcium is low, but I don't think that would have an immediate effect on the coral. Maybe someone else will come along and give you an answer you find more acceptable.
compact fluorescent
 

reefkprz

Active Member
I doubt lighting is the issue as frogspawn comes from turbid waters with high nutrients, low light, and low flow. it could be your flow is too high and the frog spawn was injured when it fully extended, try moving it to lower flow.
 

sfoister

Member
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
I doubt lighting is the issue as frogspawn comes from turbid waters with high nutrients, low light, and low flow. it could be your flow is too high and the frog spawn was injured when it fully extended, try moving it to lower flow.
I'll try that tonight. Thanks.
 
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