war coral losing color

Discussion in 'LPS Corals' started by sweedish15, Dec 7, 2010.

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  1. sweedish15

    sweedish15 Astrea Snail

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    I bought a frag of war coral, it was very bright red with green mouths. Its been in the tank for about 6 weeks. About a week ago i noticed it was beginning to lose color. Mostly around the edges, the red has begun to fade and seems to be getting worse. It is placed about halfway up the tank (24" tall tank) under 4 t5s 48 watts each. The bulbs are only about 2-3 months old. Until recently, the tentacles were very visible at night, but now i can't see them. I've fed it about 3 times, with thawed frozen brine. It ate like crazy. All tank parameters seem to be in check
    amonia 0
    nitrite 0
    nitrate 15
    phosphate0
    calc 450
    alk 9
    ph 8.3
    salt was a little low last week 1.021, and i have been slowly adjusting it up and now its between 1.023-1.024.

    Please help this is one of my favorite frags
     
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  3. Mainstream Aqua

    Mainstream Aqua 3reef Sponsor

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  4. sweedish15

    sweedish15 Astrea Snail

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    I have a phosban reactor in the sump, but I usually run straight carbon in it. Just changed it out 2 days ago. No gfo
     
  5. sweedish15

    sweedish15 Astrea Snail

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    either way I thought gfo was for silicates and phosphate issues, my phosphate level shows as 0
     
  6. Mainstream Aqua

    Mainstream Aqua 3reef Sponsor

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    you want some phosphates in your system b/c it is your main food source for corals, especially lps corals. If LPS ever start looking clear, it is a good indication that it is not eating. This is either from a lack of nutrients in the water or really low lighting. More than likely, it is nutrient level.
     
  7. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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    You probably need to lower the coral in the tank. Faviids generally need medium light but you are closer to high if not there already.
     
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  9. sweedish15

    sweedish15 Astrea Snail

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    I've always had a low phosphate level around 1-3, but recently got it to 0 on my test and 0.02 on the LFS test, so i thought I was doing good there. Fogot to mention i removed the frag from the middle of the tank and put it on the bottom of tank under partial shade, just an hour ago.
     
  10. Mainstream Aqua

    Mainstream Aqua 3reef Sponsor

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    I would think that the store readings are more accurate. In order to get a reading of 0, you usually have to strip it out. When did you go from a phosphate reading of 1-3 to a reading of .02 or 0? How did you lower the nutrients?

    Yep, move it to the lower part of the tank. I've found that most lps, except chalice, really like to hang out on the sand bed but not directly on the sand. This allows them to easily eat off of the nutrients that settle at the bottom of the tank.
     
  11. sweedish15

    sweedish15 Astrea Snail

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    The phosphate readings that seem to be off are my hom API kit showing 1-3ish and the stores salifert kit showing .02

    Its been a couple days and it seems like the color is slowing moving back in and at the very least has stopped regressing. it seems to be happier lower in the tank as teh feeder tentacles and mouth's are open again at night.

    Oh and my salt has now been brought back up to 1.25-26

    I did a little rescaping, would this coral grog up the side of a rock if i mounted it some what on the side since it appears to not like so much light?
     
  12. barbianj

    barbianj Hammer Head Shark

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    That would work.

    I burned out my first War coral, one of the first corals that I owned. Now I have one on the bottom of the tank and it's growing like crazy.