Now it's the polyps

col

col

Active Member
First my Shrooms turn white, now my Polyps are in trouble.
They are Orange Button Polyps, this is a Frag from main Polyp. The ones that are open seem to be turning black and one has a sort of lump on it.
Ammo - 0
Trites - 0
Trates < 5
Calcium- 420
Alk - 11.5
Po4 - 0.25
Ph 8
Could it be pH related? I've been adding Kent liquid buffer to try and raise pH (slowly).
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
you might want to ask the reef guys this. They have more experience with corals than me. I think ph is fine and you may start chasing parameters by attempting to changes.
Possibly the phosphates are high. Again check with the reef guys. As always I recommend controlling nitrAtes and phosphates with plant life.
Maybe they can help you with feeding also. My orange sun polyps after i fed them.
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
Corals often change color with varied lighting conditions. I think the darkening of a coral means more zooxanthellae production. Could mean its lacking light and going to an easier symbiotic algae color to maintain. Who knows :) water is fine though. NOt sure whats high for phosphates but zoo's tend to like phosphates, ie slightly dirty water, and will thrive in it from what i've heard. Don't go penny antiying the numbers with extra doseings unless they get really out of whack... :)
As far as the lump could be ingested food or abnormal growth or the polyp just didn't open properly that day....
 
col

col

Active Member
My lighting is only !00W NO. 2x 10000k and 2 x actinic.
The fact that mushrooms are turning white and the polyps that are open are turning black leads me to think something is amiss.
I raised them higher in the tank a week or two ago but neither seem much happier.
 
doodle1800

doodle1800

Active Member
Reefnut - I have some striped schrooms. The LFS where I bought them said to put them high in the tank. I have 260W on a 55 - 10k (130) and actinic (130) - flourescent... They seem ok but wondering if I should lower them to the sand?
any opinions?
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
Doodle: I'd say your shrooms are fine but if you want to move them down.... Have you noticed them moving to the sides of the rock they are on to escape the light? Find a spot for them and keep them there. If they don't like it then they will move on their own. The more you move them the less they will open up for quite a while till they adjust to their new setting. I've abused my purples repeatedly and they never seem to get to their full potential. I'm doing it on purpose though to an extent. If there is something im going to move it will be them.
Col: you didn't say your shrooms were turning white. Thats a bad sign something is either wrong with your water or they aren't getting enough light but i find that really hard to believe unless you have a super deep tank. I have corals growing under 30 watts of flourescents. Things that require much more light than polyps or shrooms. Remind me again what NO is? Have you ever put any chems in the tank to treat disease, any thing coppery? Do you have other corals? Can you keep inverts?
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member

Originally posted by doodle1800
Reefnut - I have some striped schrooms. The LFS where I bought them said to put them high in the tank. I have 260W on a 55 - 10k (130) and actinic (130) - flourescent... They seem ok but wondering if I should lower them to the sand?
any opinions?
If they are ok and you like where they are I wouldn't move them.
 
col

col

Active Member
bdhough
My first line of post:
First my Shrooms turn white, now my Polyps are in trouble
I did an earlier post about my Shrooms but it wasn't met with much response.
I bought the Mushrooms and Polyps as a test to see if my lighting was suitable for such corals, I thought they would be ok.
The only additives are Kent liquid Calcium and Kent buffer (liquid).
Ammonia and Nitrites 0, Nitrates less than 5, Po4 about 0.25 - 0.5.
Without adding buffer my ph is only 7.8 or so.
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
Sorry. Missed that. Move the corals up to the light. If the shrooms turned white its becuse they are dead or very close to it. They will disintegrate soon from shrooms i've seen like that in the past. How big was your tank? NO is standard flourescents right?
 
col

col

Active Member
42gallons. NO is Normal Output standard flourescent.
Also in tank (besides fish) are Turbos, hermits and cleaner shrimp.
If the light was not good enough for the mushrooms would they not "reach up" towards the light?
I have raised both shrooms and polyps.
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
You've got enough light for both definitely. Its possilbe the tank is too tall for the light to reach down there properly. See how they do up top and then you can work them down slowly to where you want them and they can grow. Keep in mind when you move something it may not be the same for a couple of days while it gets used to its new surroundings.
 
col

col

Active Member
Tank has been running for about 15 months.
Mushrooms and polyps have been in for a couple of months and were fine at first.
 
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