soft corals

[marcopolo]

For about a month my leathers have not been opening up I know theyre suppose to look like a cactus when open.I dose strontium,iodine,calcium,and trace vitamins,but they just wont open up.Is it alkalinity?,because I dose kent liquid calcium and Bionic has two parts to dosing.I viewed many outstanding leathers and mine are just sad looking.I have 2 power compact lights that are 55watts a piece 50/50 ,1 30 watt antinic,and 1 40watt powerglo 10k is this enough lighting. any replies will be greatly appreciated!! THX

 

[plum70rt]

what size tank you have?

 

[marcopolo]

I have a 55gal

 

[marcopolo]

strontium 1 cap per 4 days,trace vit 1 cap per 4 days ,iodine 1cap per 4 days,calcium 1 cap per4 days but not for about 2 weeks becaus it was around 500 says lfs I was using kalkwasser but the dosings was to much .all the supplies are kent marine

 

[marcopolo]

oh yeah ammonia 0,nitrates 0,nitrite 0,ph 8.3

 

[jedininja]

IMO, you are dosing too much. I usually only dose about 1/4 of what you do if even that. Most of the elements your corals need to survive such as iodine are present in salt water mixes. Adding too much can overdose and be more harmful than good.
Your lighting is a bit on the low side, but can work for many softies. Just make sure they are mid to upper level of your tank.

 

[ags]

IMO you have plenty of light to run leathers. When I switched to a reef setup I had 110 watts of PC (6500K) and 80 watts of NO (atinic 03), very comparable to what you have. My leathers were flourishing under these lights WITHOUT dosing anything other than calcium, buffer (when needed) iodine (once a week less than recommended dose 2 ml a week) and relgious water changes (10% a week initially, 20% a month a year later). I also fed my tank DTs every other day. Just as Jedininja pointed out all the trace elements your tank needs is found in salt mix and replaced when you do your water change. Dosing these supplements in the wrong amounts can be toxic to your corals and fish.

 

[saltyrich]

I agree. I think that you are way overdosing the stronium and particularly iodine. This seems to be the root of your problem.

 

[hairtrigger]

I have been having the same problem. And it seems like it is from overdosing also. I have been adding the same things you have, it sounds like too much of it like you too.
I learned from people on here that less is better when talking chemicals. Now that I have been reducing my chemicals, things are looking better.

 

[goldrush]

Wow, a capful of iodine every four days? I use one drop a week!!

 

[fishfreek]

I agree with Ags and others. I beleive you are grossly overdosing your system. Besides feedings and regular water changes, i only dose calcium and buffer (and occasional phytoplankton) when needed. I do dose kalk every night, but if i were you, just add your two part calcium & buffer as directed on the bottles and thats it for now till you get things under control.
You should do a few 10%-15% water changes once every 5-7 days for a while to dilute the additives you OD'd on. Then buy an alk and calcium test kit, worth every penny.
I think alot of us have been in your boat at one time or another and dosed everything under the sun because we were told our corals NEEDED the additional products to thrive. Some additives are good sometimes, but only in moderation.
If you have any other questions , fire away and we'll try to help.

 

[kennynj]

YES I AGREE YOUR WAY OVERDOSING
WITH THE SUPPLEMENTS. DO SOME
WATER CHANGES AND MAYBE PUT
POLYPAD IN FOR SEVERAL DAYS
TO ABSORB THE EXCESS SUPPLEMENTS.
THEN SEE HOW YOUR SOFT CORALS
ARE DOING.

 

[marcopolo]

Thank you for all your knowledgable info!!!
Getting time from my lfs for questions and answers is like pulling teeth (from an elephant)! So I should not dose for a while but how long? Do you think I need more current as well?

 

[ags]

I would also look to see what your two part calcium and buffer contents are. I use Tropic Marin calcium supplement and in addition to calcium and buffer it also contains all 70 trace elements which (if yours does too) would further add to the overdose. Going back and reading your original post I also see that you use Kent's liquid calcium and B-ionic's two part additive. WHY? The Bionic should do the trick by itself. Be wary of any LFS that tells you to does a million things.

 

[lordofthereef]

the problem probly isn't supplements at all. IME, i've noticed that when a soft coral dosen't have enough current, it won't open up fully. and if it does, it won't stay open very long.
how much current do you have in your tank?

 

[treyc.]

Although I think your adding a bit to much I dont think that is your root problem with the leather..... Did you move it or any current source a month ago? How long have you had it, and has it ever looked normal..?

 

[ags]

I have several different leathers throughout my tank and pretty much stick to the softies and to be honest the guidelines for coral placement were just that guidelines. I have a finger leather that loves strong current (no surprise) whereas my toadstool is only happy in one spot of my tank which happens to be underneath and behind my powerhead. I would classify that as low to medium-low current. With the levels of dosing marcopolo was using his concentrations had to be off the charts. I think 1 cap of iodine is more than 5ml which at appx. 2 caps per week comes out to like 10 ml a week. Twice the reccommended dosage for a 55 gallon tank. As for using both calcium and kalk, marcopolo was dosing two brands of calcium every 4 days and kalk. I don't use kalk but from what I have read I thought you use calcium supplements to get wanted levels and slowly drip kalk to maintian those levels. Not to mention kalk's ph. Over dosing kalk will put marcopolo's ph off the charts that is one reason why people slow drip it. This on top of a buffer component used in products like Bionic. Maybe his concentrations are not lethal or toxic but sure seems like the right place to start.

 

[treyc.]

Well ags as you have taken the time to point out he is using(overusing) stuff that most will not(myself included) but with out seeing his tank ( if the additves were the root problem the tank as a whole would have problems not just the leathers)(and it might)he only mentioned the leathers .Leathers are current specific therefore I added my 2 cents!! The overdosing was overdone in this post just a different view

 

[ags]

Actually I just thought of something else characteristic of leathers. As TreyC pointed out leathers like certain current levels but when are you observing your "sad looking leathers"? Assuming it is not the dosing nor the current most leathers will act droopy and sad at certain times of the day. My leathers look very droopy and sad in the mornings prior to the lights coming on and just prior to the lights going off. Once the daylight bulbs kick on the leathers are standing at full attention being all they can be. If you are only observing your leathers early in the morning and late at night (before and after work) you could be catching them at those times. Just another thought.
TreyC - easy there I was only adding my two cents also.

 

[marcopolo]

Great info ,thank you I stopped dosing all together at least for a little bit.I was only dosing with the liquid calcium and kalk .What I was wondering was should I be using a product like bionic because it is a two part product or does the liquid calcium have both calcium and alk in it? Thx for all the great info I will put it to great use!!!!