[cofstl411]

I have had a colt coral for about two weeks. It never really seemed to like being in my tank. Right from the start it looked like the ends of some of the branches got dark. Now it looks like it does not extend that much and it has what looks like burnt and mold looking stuff on the ends. I run 3 x 250 watt mh and 2 vho actinics about 9 hrs a day on a 125 gal tank.

[Reefland]

Where is it at in your tank and what kind of lighting was it under prior to you getting it? Also how long was it at the store?

[cofstl411]

It looked like it was under one mh, i have it about six inches off of the bottom, don't know how long at the store but it looked pretty healthy. I give it pretty good circulation as well. I read that it likes medium to high light and flow.

[Reefland]

Humm, that kills my thought about lighting shock. Perhaps there is a significant difference in yours and their water chemistry?

[cofstl411]

My skimmer has been acting up and I just found an aquabee to replace the one I had. The OceanRunner 1700 was supposed to be a replacement but they were retrofitted 2500's. The only problem is that the colt was having problems right from the start but I figured it was shock as well and would just come out of it. This is only my second coral and it is not going well. My star polyps started as a 2x2 square but is now down to just about 3 polyps.

[Reefland]

Seems like you might have a fundamental problem, maybe anyway. What do all of your water parameters look like?

[cofstl411]

They were pretty good up until about a week ago but I have not checked since then because I have been trying to get my skimmer back up to speed. I will check in a couple of minutes.

[cofstl411]

Ph - 8.0
Nitrate < 10
10 is the lowest score on the color chart for fast test
could be higher but I am getting some red slime algae that may be using it

[Reefland]

What about your temp and salinity? Do you add any additives to the tank? Have you purchased all of the equipment new or any of it second hand?

[cofstl411]

My mh's raise the temp to about 85 deg by the time they go off. Equipment is second hand but I have replaced a couple of powerheads that were not giving much flow. Sg about 1.025-1.026. I have added a small amount of seachem calcium, calcium buffer, and reef plus. I only added small amounts of each because I don't have test kits to measure. I added below the recommended amount.