Green tip hammer coral shrink

[FishyReef]

Okay, I see a couple of potential sources of the problem - but first need to know which tank the coral is in! If its in your 10g, than that sounds like a LOT of flow for a 10g tank. Those of us w/ 10g tanks (check out the 10g contest threads) have around 400 or so gph and have found that to even be a lot in the tanks. If its in your 75, then that isn't enough flow for a 75g, and the lights will not penetrate to the sand bed where your coral is placed. 1w fixtures are okay over shallow tanks but not a deeper tank. And even though those are 1w bulbs, they may not be putting out 1w of light each.

 

[assafelbaz]

Yes my 10gl tank. My 75 is not actually mine, it's my father in law's, i am just helping him... But, he has no corals over there, and his tank not compatible for reef yet.

 

[FishyReef]

Gotcha! I'm going to suggest (1) when you have a couple of hours at home, turn off the powerhead for a couple of hours (you can leave the return pump from your sump on for oxygenation), and see if your coral starts to open up again. If you don't see a difference after a few hours when you turn off the powerhead, then (2) move it from your sandbed to a higher spot in the tank (at least mid-way up). It may have been okay in the beginning but is now closing after 4 months of being under the lights, esp if that particular fixture is only putting off say .5w per bulb (the cheaper fixtures, while nice on the wallet, don't always operate so well and I'm strongly guessing that they aren't putting off 1w). When you move your coral, just don't place in a spot where it would get any sort of direct flow from your powerhead.

 

[assafelbaz]

Great, i will try the first option first, i am shutting it of for 6 hours...
Thank you so much for your time. I will post back for feedback.

 

[FishyReef]

Oh, and from the pics you posted, I think once you get it to open again it is going to be just fine - it doesn't even look fully closed in the pictures, and no tissue loss, so you are going to be able to save it once you figure out the reason it closed in the first place. At least this will help narrow down the list of possibilties and hopefully will solve the problem!

 

[assafelbaz]

This is a great news.. Thank you again.

 

[assafelbaz]

OK, i have some progress... thank you all, especially FishyReef.

The powerhead shut down didn't really help, the coral was close for all the time. But, when i have placed him next to the lights it turned out he started to open after about an hour... (open.jpg image)

I have also a small problem that i didn't really cared about is the algae that i have on the bottom and on the crabs shell. (algae.jpg, algae2.jpg)

What to do with it?

 

[FishyReef]

Yay, glad to hear he opened for you! I figured it had to either be the flow or lighting, and looks like you found the sweet spot for him higher up under the lights. How high up in the tank did you end up moving it?

As for the algae, the first pic looks like diatoms and cyano, second looks like hair algae. I know you posted decent parameters before as far as nitrates go, but I'm guessing you may have phosphates in your tank. I'd keep up on your water changes and siphon out what you can. You might also want to add a turbo snail if you don't have one already - they will eat at least the diatoms and hair algae. There are several things that contribute to cyano growth - nutrients, light, flow. First, what are you feeding your fish, how much, and how often? Second, I know you have a lot of flow in your tank, but is the algae occuring in a possible dead spot?

 

[FishyReef]

Oh, and are you using RO/DI water? If not, you definitely should switch to RO/DI; if so, then do you have a TDS monitor on the RO/DI unit? If its reading more than 10ppm its time to change the filters :)

 

[assafelbaz]

Ye... It is good... Thanks, I have placed it in the middle.

I have one turbo snail (i guess it's enough for 10 gallon - see image)... But I have never see him eating from the sand bed.

I tried to get read of phosphates (i had red slime before) with media inserted to the filter. The red slime gone, but this one came. How often, by the way, should i replace this media?

The flow is so strong that i don't think i can have a dead spots... But anyway, the powerhead circulate the water towards the front glass top center. (see image)

I am feeding 2 types of food, Emerald Entree & Marine Cuisine by San Francisco Bay. Once in 2 days i am feeding very small piece in water from the tank. I am putting it back when thawed.

The water I'm using is RO/DI filtered water. I don't have a way to test it if the media is still good, but i have it only 7-8 months with this 10 gallon changes...

 

[assafelbaz]

I have a new problem.

Since i put the coral up in the middle, Nemo started to go in circles around it, and it seems he wants to bite it... Aren't clownfish reef safe?

 

[Smitty]

Yes, they're reef safe. He may be thinking of hosting it.

 

[FishyReef]

Ah, the joys of clownfish :/ If the coral stays open and tolerates the clown's behavior, then they will probably form a hosting relationship and be just fine - clowns have been known to host frogspawns/hammers successfully before. But if the coral closes and won't open again and starts to recede, then you definitely have a problem. You can try putting a strawberry basket over the coral to deter the clown, or give the clown something more desirable to host, but there is *no* guarantee that it will work. Trust me! [I'm dealing with this exact issue right now w/ my clowns and a pearl bubble coral]

 

[Smitty]

Yeah, in my old tank, my clowns killed my duncan colony from trying to host it. It took me a long time to purchase another clownfish after that...but my current one hosts the hairy mushroomsm which I don't mind.

 

[assafelbaz]

I finished with returning the coral to a better spot on the bottom. far from the strong flow, under the light. Nemo stopped attacking it, maybe it was because i put it in front of him on the rock...

I have checked my lights and i got 16.14W for 15 LEDs, so this fixture is 1W per LED. The test was by myself, i am an electronic engineer. What was bad in this fixture is the lenses. They were focusing too much on spots and the light won't spread. So i took off the lenses plate and i replaced it with plexiglass plate (clear). The light now is stronger and brighter.

The coral from some reason staying close during the light is on, but expending a bit only when it's off.

I know that with better light you get also better algae problems, i don't know why there is no 100% good solution for all that. Or good light with algae, or bad light with a different algae and no corals.

Anyway i have another issue now... I hate my tank, and i am about to give up and sell it or just shut it off. I am tired of doing all right and get to run and spend more and more time and money... It's too much.

Thanks anyway.
It's a good forum, the best i know for fish keeping.