Colt Coral Not Opening Up?

The first picture was yesterday and the second two are from today, i might be jumping the gun a little however i have had this coral for almost two months and it hasn’t ever not opened

I switched salt brands (to H2 Ocean from Kent) approx 5 water changes ago (which are 5% every week on a 29 gal bio cube)

White light is 5 months old actinic probably older maybe 7?

Temp 79 - 80 maybe 81, apartment was hot this afternoon

water:

nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0
Ammonia - 0
PH 8.1 - 8.2
Alk - 7
Mag - 1245
Calcium - 455
Salinity - 1.025

I realize the Mag and Alk are a little on the low side however i am hoping they will correct themselves?? i really dont want to dose anything and am hoping to run a system based only on diligent water changes which seems to have been working as the tank is 7 months with i think relative success for a first timer.

I don’t run carbon in my tank and i have a protein skimmer in the back of the bio cube

All other corals (mushrooms/polyps and a feather duster) and fish clown and 6 line wrasse appear healthy

The second pictures are after 6.5 hours under the lights

Also the coral has been in that spot with moderate flow of the glass for basically the whole two months so i think the positioning is adequate


Any thing i am missing??

Why is the colt not opening? - Any comments are welcome

Thanks,

Brian

 

I Dont mean to be a jerk, but your tank isnt goin to fix itself. you have low alk, which you might be having big ph swings and you have gha on your rock. I dont like to dose tanks either (who does) but w/o some simple additives that corals do need you might just want to take the coral back if your not goin to care enough to give them what they need. If you know what your doin wrong than why do you ask for help. Sometimes its better to give in and do whats right.

 

Use additives and watch for coral degradation... if you start seeing ANY degradation post this in ASAP forums, i wouldnt want such a beutiful piece wither away.......

 

Thanks for the input - its not that i dont care at all - obviously i am sure your aware there is an abundance of opinions in this hobby and i have read extensively both ways - people that supplement almost excessively and others that seem not too and let the trace elements in the salt mix work on their own - given my current inhabitants. Having said that i am open to suggestions. The current situation of the Alk and mag has only been recent i would say in the last two weeks or so, prior to that they were well within acceptable levels. The point of the post was to draw any other issues i might have beside the low levels ie. specific supplements for this type of coral.

Therefore once i get the Alk and Mag back to decent levels - what would you suggest this coral would thrive off of?

 

Here is full shot of the tank to capture the inhabitants

 

Just the stock bio cube lighting i belive they are 28 watt PC's

 

A side shot

 

I hope you feed him some sort of filtering food. Thay are also known to shed a skin and they close for that I guess. Mine has never done this and I have had him for a few years. I have had to frag it cause fish kept rubbing him and making him close and he started to get rot at his base. Do you have a clown trying to host it, like mine? It has been said to that when switching salts you should do it over quit a distance by mixing them a little at a time.

 

I havent seen the clown try and host, however i will watch out for it. Does selcon count as a filter food? i soak my frozen in it before putting it in the tank.

In your case what specific supplement are you using?