coral help

Pics? Did you acclimate them properly? What are your parameters? The mouth of a hammer coral is always visible on mine. Its usually not open unless its being fed.

Sorry I didn't add pics earlier, I submitted my first post from my phone. I acclimated them for 1 1/2 hours, adding water every 20 minutes. I just changed the water today, so everything but my ph is fine. (ph is at 7.8) The hammerhead is placed on the sand bed, opposite of my powerhead. The xenia is on a rock in the middle of the tank and fairly close to the powerhead.

My xenia seem to be fine with flow but they do look like that when I frag them or move them. 

I think bubble algae and that is not good.

I have the hammer placed the furthest from the powerhead and the xenia is probably the closest, but I have the powerhead pointed away from the coral. How can I get rid of the algae without harming the coral? I didn't even notice it until I added it to my tank, because the coral covers it all when fully extended.

phys wrote: bubble algae isn't horrible and it won't kill your coral, its just a nuisance.

Edited by sabeypets - June 23 2013 at 6:36pm

I found this video from Mr. Saltwater tank helpful in getting rid of bubble algae.
http://www.mrsaltwatertank.com/4-ways-to-remove-bubble-algae-from-your-tank/

Also, what kind of lights do you have and what kind did the corals come from? I've seen lighting changes stress out corals.

lovecraftinbrooklyn wrote: I acclimated them for 1 1/2 hours, adding water every 20 minutes. I just changed the water today, so everything but my ph is fine. (ph is at 7.8) The hammerhead is placed on the sand bed, opposite of my powerhead.

The Xenia looks very normal and it is somewhat normal for Euphyllia to shrink up and expose skeleton like that for a few hours, but I would like to make some observations regarding the following:

1) Shaun/Sabeypets said it. A pH reading of 7.8 during the day tells us that either the Alk is below 8 or there is not enough gas exchange in this tank. Neither of those conditions is good. Please check and tell us the Alk and Ca levels and raise the hood an inch or two so the tank can get some air(gas exchange). Also, place the powerhead down near the sand, pointing up to the water surface. This will help pH stay above 8.0.

2) The acclimation was too long. For coral coming from another hobbyists tank where the water is good, 5-10 minutes with a gradual change of half the water is more than enough, with one caveat. If the new coral got really hot in transport, leave it in an open container for 15-20 minutes to cool down before the acclimation.
Also, with LPS, if it has hydrated/expanded during transport, before removing from the water, hold it upside down, shake it and touch it lightly to get it to shrink/deflate before pulling it, still upside down from the water. The reason for this is that the skeleton is very sharp and can cut/damage the coral flesh when it is expanded and full of water. A good procedure, if you can do it, is to place the acclimation container in the tank to move the coral out so that it never has to be removed from the water and risk cutting damage.)

3) The skeleton of Euphyllia (hammer, frogspawn, torch, candy cane, etc.) down to about 1-2" below each head should be left exposed because when it expands, a thin covering of coral flesh wants to stretch down over that stalk.

4) As Hogie said, if the lighting in your tank is different from where it came from, particularly if the light is more intense in the new tank or coral is to be placed closer to the light source in the new tank(sometimes hard to tell, I know), a light acclimation procedure should be followed. There are three simple ways to do this. First, which you did , place the coral low in the new tank and then:
- Raise the lights by 6-12" for 3 days, then lower halfway for another 3 days; or
- Reduce the photoperiod by 1/3-1/2 for 3 days, then increase it halfway to original for 3 more days.

5) I would not change water shortly after introducing a new coral. Some hobbyists may think I am being hard on lovecraftinbrooklyn. Perhaps, but I ask, should I let a hobbyist continue doing things that increase the risk of failure? As evidenced by posting here, there is a clear interest in doing things as good as possible? I feel it is important to share my success as something that may be found useful to make a better reef aquarium.  First there was the disturbance of being moved from one tank to another, then there was a second disturbance of a 20% water change.
Yes, large water changes can be a shock to the system. There are many reasons why 10% monthly water changes are ideal.
If a tank is having emergency high pollution issues, a large water change might be the best temporary solution. Adding a good amount of Macroalgae and lighting it 24 hours a day can be an even better temporary solution. Most importantly the root cause of the pollution must be determined and resolved.

Sorry, I had so many critical things to say, but I sense that lovecraftinbrooklyn is interested in and may appreciate the comments.

Mahalo,
Mark
808-345-1049 call/text anytime

Thanks Mark, the Alk and Cal levels are actually in my previous post. I do not have a lid on my tank and the powerhead is already placed as low as I can get it. I was thinking that the problem might be with my test strips rather than the ph itself. It seems that it usually reads at 7.8. It could also be that I am colorblind, but my boyfriend has also checked the test strips and says that they read 7.8.

lovecraftinbrooklyn wrote: Bflesser, we just moved into a new place and haven't set up the internet yet, I have a full tank picture, but my phone won't let me load it to the forum. I'll add one as soon as I can. The epoxy was put there by the original owner. I was concerned about the amount, but I've never heard of problems coming from the puddy, so I figured that it was probably something else.

How long has the tank been set up and if it was running before you moved how long since the move? I just want to rule out issues that could be related to a new tank or one that has recently been moved.