need quick answer

[TimH07]

hammer coral is looking over inflated, frogspawn kind of the same but hard to tell because half is retracted due to the irritation from the clown fish.

some of the sps look rather extended as well.

i took paramaters.

sg 34ppm
alk 3.1 meq/l ... 8.68 dkh
calc. 415
ph. 8.2
temp 80 (down from the norm 82 i have my tank)
mag 1400

didnt test nitrate as i think my test kit is dated.. and also API.

i have kept 50/50 cheato and calurpa in my fuge and in the last week the cheato collapsed and died off a bit, i removed it quickly, but the calurpa is growing even faster now.

the cheato i suspect died because i did not have it rolling and it collected detritus and i didnt intervene.

would nitrates cause a hammer coral to over inflate?

it visually looks like the hammer shape isn't there and they are round ends.

[charlie]

The euphyllia species in general are great water parameter gauges. I wouldn't think that you have a nitrate problem Tim, because of the refugium. I would keep a close eye on it for the next couple of days tho.

Would anything have caused a spike somewhere?

A pic would help. have you checked the skeleton at all for brown jelly?

[TimH07]

ok, pics to compare and quite odd paramaters are ok, will post them...


each is before/after















ok so why the LPS inflation? sps are fine, mushrooms are fine, GSP are fine.

specs. all tested today


sp/g 34ppm

alk 3.1 meq/l

calc 415ppm

nitrate 0ppm

po4 0ppm

ph 8.2

temp 80 degrees

mag 1400


any ideas at all, even speculations? do they look in dire need? hungry? i feed filter feeder food (Dr. Mac's home blend proprietary)

[TimH07]

also my ball of cheato collapsed and died quickly, i assume i did not have it "rolling" and detritus built up, i removed it quickly and the calurpa is doing even better now that it has no competition

[zhenya]

Tim,

From what I've seen there is nothing to worry about. If anything, the corals in question look different because main lighting had turned off. You cannot possibly compare corals during photosynthesis and during respiration mode, they should be different visually.

[TimH07]

hi gene, indeed the newer pics were taken at actinic only time, and my cam is set to a new white ballance.

problem is they look like that all day long, it was coincidence i took those pics on actinics, they only look normal at night while deflated.

still concerned but and keeping my eye on them.

edit, those pics aren't in the same day, thats weeks between the before and after, there is no difference at all for actinics or full day.

[zhenya]

Hi Tim,

ok so why the LPS inflation? sps are fine, mushrooms are fine, GSP are fine.

specs. all tested today


sp/g 34ppm

alk 3.1 meq/l

calc 415ppm

nitrate 0ppm

po4 0ppm

ph 8.2

temp 80 degrees

mag 1400

OK, lets look at your parameters. First, I'm not trying to be picky here, your salinity is 34ppt not ppm(parts per million). And it is OK. All other parameters seem to be fine with perhaps Magnesium being slightly on the high side. I would stop dosing if you do it currently.

Other than that I can't imagine what is going wrong but something is definitely going on. LPS corals are perfect barometers for the water chemistry.

i feed filter feeder food (Dr. Mac's home blend proprietary)

Tim, I'm not familiar with that particular food, but I would think that corals such as your Caulastrea and Euphyllias can take some nice chunks of meaty foods. When I feed my Acanthastreas I usually drop the same food I offer to my fish ( larger mysys, some pellets presoaked and some chopped up silversides, and some cyclop-eeze).
Anyway, I only mentioned about food because you mentioned filter food variety that you use.

When was the last time water changed? Was it the same salt or new bucket?

[TimH07]

that ppm was a typo i always make heh, it is actually due for a change, 10g monthly (thats about 10% and going to kick it up as the tank matures) and it may be that some trace elements arent there. i made the ro/di water last night for the water change but was too exhausted, i did 51 driveways last week and on par this week to do that!!

i've not target fed them meaty fare, i made the mistake of plugging my powerheads into a semi unreachable place so its just a pain to shut them down but im going to cut off the bottom of a 2 liter bottle and use that for antiflow feedings.

thanks for the reply.

[TimH07]

whatever this affliction is, they are still hyperinflated. and its also costing me my macro algae, the cheato suddenly died a week or so ago and now this morning my calurpa is semi transparent and dying.

i'll run my tests again tonight but they will probably be the same as just the other day

[charlie]

Get the caulerpa outta there!!!!

[gregr]

How old are your bulbs?

[TimH07]

4 months and they were fine till a like 2 weeks ago.

[TimH07]

Get the caulerpa outta there!!!!

why?

[charlie]

If the caulerpa goes white, that means it is possibly releasing toxins into your system. going sexual, I believe is the term. How long has it been transparent?

[charlie]

Here is an article by own of our own!!!

A Warning Sign of Impending Caulerpa Sporulation by Gene Schwartz - Reefkeeping.com

[TimH07]

to it didn't really go white, it literally went clear and then died, not go clear and stay clear, i mentioned this because my huge ball of cheato died a weekish ago, completly collapsed and i had to remove it and i had some small red digit like algae growing suddenly clear out and die and im trying to figure out if the hyperinflated euphillyia is linked to the failing macro algae.

the corals dont seem to be suffering other than hyperinflation.

edit, it only went clear this morning so im assuming it wasnt the cause of the coral inflation.

i've got a sharp eye on the situation but i cant even find a single article on over inflated euphillyia on google.

[charlie]

There is still something going on that isn't good. No chance of any sprayed pesticides or anything like that, is there???

[TimH07]

also to set your mind at ease (and i will be removing the calurpa tommorow) this happened in my nano when i had it, and it never spawned.

my best guess on the algae it self is that the water change i just did sunday made it fail, i was in a hurry and the fuge is where i remove and replace the water and i didnt heat the water up in time so i added 70 degree water, 10g of it, to that chamber before i restarted the pumps...

shame on me..

[TimH07]

best guess charlie, and worst case, i had residual GOJO on my arms after work or even sealcoat, but i normally shower and scrub my arms before i work in the tank. hard to say, i once sprayed febreeze in the house but i normally consciencely spray that away from the tank.

[TimH07]

could stray voltage cause these symptoms?