Something wrong and can't figure out what.

Ok I recently added a few new corals. One of which was a relly, really nice bright Fiji leather. The first few days it was fine. I did a water change 2 days after I put him in and since there was some cyno bacteria near where I placed him I syphoned that out with my water change. He was pretty ticked and closed up of course. The next day he had not fully opened. Then yesterday he was opened but did not extend all the small polyps. Today is the same thing. When the lights are out he is all shrunken and closed up but when the lights come on he opens up some but doesn't extend all of his polyps like before. My water is still great and I am very anal about keeping all parameters right where they should be. He has been in there like 5 days now I think. All other corals including the SPS frags I added at the same time are doing great. Could it be the lighting? In the LFS he was halfway up a 100ish gal tank with MHs and I put him at the bottom to photo acclimate him. Should I move him up more? Since it isn't opening I'm afraid to really mess him him much and make him close up even more. Also, his color under just the actinic lighting isn't quite as bright as it first was. Any ideas? I must be missing something.

 

If you lighting system is less than the lfs, then you need to move um up a bit. just as important is good water movement. those corals like to shed/dewax if you will, they will shrivel up a bit and then expand and shed a thin outer mucus to cleanse themselves. so good water movement. not direct but just past the coral and chaotic as possible. hope this helps.

 

Thanks, I just moved him up to mid tank and rotated one of my power heads. Took me a few trials but I found a place he would look nice at. He is really really ticked now though. Hope it makes a differance. I was thinking I may have poisoned him with that cyno bacteria I syphoned out right next to him.

 

just wait and watch the coral closely. it will usually take the coral 10 to 21 days to adjust and sometimes longer.

 

Yeah the little polyps are opening again. I moved him up 4-5" in the tank and redirected a powerhead to stir up the water around him a little more. I came home from work today and he is opening up more and the little polyps on him are extending. Yesterday I was worried if it was dying or not. Thanks for the advice it worked great!

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaRRRGGG :frustrat: This stupid Fiji leather is frustrating me. It does great then it looks bad. Looks ok again and now today it's all closed up again. I mean what gives. Everything else really likes my tank. Why doesn't this one coral? Is this something common with fiji leathers? I haven't seen anything that says they are weird. All my corals start to open up when the atinics come on and stay fully open all day until the lights go out. Have I messed something up here I am not thinking about checking?

I got it and it did great for a few days. Then it looked sickly so on advice I moved it up a bit for more light and changed a powerhead so it would get more flow. Bam next day it was doing ok again. The next day even better. Now today its all shriveled up? Did I possibly move it up too high? Still not enough flow maybe? The powerhead points next to it and hits the glass about 6" in front of it to stir things up. The coral is 18" from the 150w MH bulb as well. Is this just something I need to expect from this type of coral?

Ugh I may just need to go out more and stop nitpicking over my tank so much.

 

Patients is now needed. do not fuss so much. if the animals look good then just give um a chance to adjust. watch the leather and see if it dewaxes/sheds and if so it should then open up. it can take up to several months for a coral to adjust fully. is the coral down stream from other soft corals. zoas, or shrooms etc. if so might be a chemical thing. just some thoughts. and then again might just be the coral. give it a couple weeks to see if it improves.

 

Thanks. It's only downstream of one SPS frag I added at the same time. It does do the waxing and shedding thing. It sends out some long very thin fibrous looking strands and also puts out some blobs of white goop. Not a lot but enough I can see it. I am a bit over protective of this guy as it is probably the nicest looking and most expensive coral I have added so far. This guy and the sps frags are kind of my big test as to whether or not I can really take care of more difficult corals.

 

When I got my Thin finger it would open up a couple of days,close up for a week,shed and then open up again.This went on for the first month and a half now its been open for 2 weeks and hasn't close up and shed yet.Like Jh said give it time, leathers are funny like that.

 

Softies tend to shrivel up when they are disturbed or moved. I have a capinella that looked great in the store but took two weeks to adjust to being moved into my tank. It takes great patience to let it relax and adjust on its own time. If you have aggressive cleaners, they may bother the coral as well, but nothing to really worry about. Patience is the best bet. Don't touch it and let it take care of itself. It is difficult when you have spent so much money on a coral to watch it do something else that what you expected. Don't fuss too much. The more you touch it and move it around, the more it will retract. You will find a cycle with softies where they will retract for a few days as they grow. Nothing to worry about. Good Luck.

-Dr Marco :sfish:

 

I'd recommend not stressing over it for a few days at time - as it's probably stressing the coral out!

 

It was actually mostly all opened up today. Most of my stressing over it is just me looking in the tank and asking it why it isn't as big and nice as it was in the store. If it every answers me I will know I have lost and go straight to the nearest institution I promise. I did move it once to give it more light and flow but other than vacuuming next to it I have stayed as far from touching it as I can.