We are just starting with corals- tanks up and running for 6mos- 1year (2 tanks) We first started with hammer corals. Total light 3 watts per gallon. They were place fairly high in the aquarium. All water parameters good ( 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, salinity 1.023, pH 8.2, nitrates 20, temp 78) Water movement moderate. After about 2 months the corals began "shedding" their polyps, ie the polyps peeled off the hard stem. Eventually we lost them both. After more research we felt the problem was low calcium. We have corrected that problem and have added a green frogspawn. The light in that aquarium is 3.5 watts per gallon. Placement is fairly high in the tank. If low calcium is not the problem, then what else do we need to correct? I lumped the 2 problems because I presume that frogspawn and hammer corals have fairly similar requirements. Thanks for any help.
Problem with frog spawn/hammer
- Thread starter g.mcclean
- Start date
I haven't kept much in the way of LPS corals, so I'm no expert, but I do have a couple of questions:
I wan't sure from your post- the problems are continuing similarly with the new coral?
Nitrates are 20 ppm? I believe that is pretty high for a reef.
When you say 3 watts per gallon, what size tank are you referring to? And what sort of light do you have?
Do you have any soft corals, or any other invertebrate livestock that is doing well?
I wan't sure from your post- the problems are continuing similarly with the new coral?
Nitrates are 20 ppm? I believe that is pretty high for a reef.
When you say 3 watts per gallon, what size tank are you referring to? And what sort of light do you have?
Do you have any soft corals, or any other invertebrate livestock that is doing well?
Besides the nitrates maybe being a little on the high side, one thing that caught my eye was the temp. If that was 70 then it seems a bit on the low side to me. Could try slowly raising it to around 75ish. Other than that I noticed my frowspawn receding once when my salinity creeped up a bit high. So making sure your hydrometer is calibrated correctly could be something else to look into.
Hi,
I have frogspawn, hammer, and another kind of euphylia that I rescued and nursed back to health, but I can't identify.
You're right about them all having similar requirements.
Calcium is very important to them and they will start bleaching and die with low calcium levels.
the 20ppm nitrate should not be bad for frogspawn or hammer...believe it or not, these great looking LPS actually use up nitrate and are pretty ok with nitrate levels up to 30-40ppm. I had a nitrate spike six months ago that reached 50ppm and none of my LPS even blinked.
From personal experience only, I doubt high salinity would affect them. My tank got up to almost 1.030 SG due to a faulty hydrometer and none of my LPS were affected.
The two things that stand out to me are the temp, which should be five degrees higher, and carbonate hardness (KH). Get a KH test and some Reef Builder. Get your KH to 10-12 and your calcium to around 400-440ppm. If you want to keep stony corals alive and well, you should have a calc and KH test and get your levels to balance out.
Good Luck
I have frogspawn, hammer, and another kind of euphylia that I rescued and nursed back to health, but I can't identify.
You're right about them all having similar requirements.
Calcium is very important to them and they will start bleaching and die with low calcium levels.
the 20ppm nitrate should not be bad for frogspawn or hammer...believe it or not, these great looking LPS actually use up nitrate and are pretty ok with nitrate levels up to 30-40ppm. I had a nitrate spike six months ago that reached 50ppm and none of my LPS even blinked.
From personal experience only, I doubt high salinity would affect them. My tank got up to almost 1.030 SG due to a faulty hydrometer and none of my LPS were affected.
The two things that stand out to me are the temp, which should be five degrees higher, and carbonate hardness (KH). Get a KH test and some Reef Builder. Get your KH to 10-12 and your calcium to around 400-440ppm. If you want to keep stony corals alive and well, you should have a calc and KH test and get your levels to balance out.
Good Luck
manny":1b3zebvk said:
How low before you've seen a problem?
As I said in another thread - I have not noticed this effect from low Ca with my LPS corals, but I don't know how low we're talking. I've had occasions in the past where my Ca has dropped to around 340-350 for extended periods before I noticed (a month or more). My LPS corals seemed unaffected by this except for slightly slowed growth (and they had not slowed as noticeably as the SPS). The slowed growth is what prompted the water testing...
Also, I know a few other people who rarely have Ca above 350 that don't seem to be having any problem keeping LPS. I'm not saying I'd recommend it - I still think NSW levels are the ideal (400-450) but I just haven't personally seen low Ca cause any acute problems with LPS.
JME, FWIW
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