Trouble with mushroom coral

[catfish]

This mushroom rock with four green mushrooms on it, is my first attempt at keeping coral.
Here is my set up:
55 gallon tank, Bare bottom
2 H.O.Bs, rated for up to 90 gal and 75 gal
1 canister filter, rated for up to 100 gal
1 phosphate reactor, rated for up to 150 gal
1 protein skimmer, rated up to 100 gal
1 wave machine controlling 2 of 3 pumps, rated at 425 gph each
1 48" four bulb T5 light
1 air pump
1 20 gal hospital tank, with only basic led lights.
The 55 gal tank is 9 months old. Weekly, I do 25% water changes and clean the canister filter. The reason I went with such heavy filtration is, my tank is not reef ready.
Nitrates : less than 2
Phosphates : less than 1
Calcium : 400
SG : 1.024
ph : 8.2
temp : steady 76-78
Stock : four 3" fish
Now to my problem, the mushroom coral will not fully open, anymore. It has been in the tank for 4 months, I'm assuming its a Actinodiscus, it is certainly not a Ricordea. It looked great, until a month ago. First the edges of the mushroom, specifically the ones that were not in direct light, started to loose color. They did NOT bleach though, they just turned very dull green almost brown. Shortly after, the coral would not open all the way during the day, in addition it stopped closing at night. Most recently, I think I may be able to see a hint of bleaching.
After researching how to rescue coral and what can cause their decline, I do have a theory. So, because I work long hours sometimes, the lights can stay on for 16 hours a day, or longer if I do not come home. I had never considered how this would affect the coral, but it seems that coral NEED a dark period. From what I understand , it is because photosynthesis has a second stage that occurs only at night. What I would like to know is, A. If my theory could be correct, and if not, what might be the source of the problem. and B. How should I fix it?. I heard a recommendation to place the coral in a spot where "it is not in direct light, but has sufficient light for photosynthesis". However, I do not know how much light it needs for photosynthesizing, so I actually have no idea what to do. ANY ADVICE about my set up or coral situation is welcomed and very appreciated :sfish:

 

[reefnoob]

I'm not too sure, but 16 hours could be a little too long. Sometimes when I accidentally leave my lights on for even just 2 or 3 hours longer, come of my corals (such as acans and euphyllia) will shrink. It would be much easier to place a timer on your lights so that you don't have to worry about not making it home in time to turn off the lights.

 

[RockStacker]

You can use a cheap light timer to control the lights so you do not have to manually turn them on and off.
This will also give the corals the benefit of a consistent day/night transition.

The T5 bulbs that you have, what kind are they? (color temperature, etc).
While mushrooms are not that demanding in terms of light intensity, they will still need lights with the proper spectrum.

You have a coral beauty in a 55 gallon tank. It is possible that it is nibbling on the mushrooms too.

Phosphates : less than 1

With corals, you will want a phosphate test kit that has a resolution of 0.01. (0.03 being the accepted target value). And even then, most test kits only measure inorganic phosphate and making the assumption that there is an equivalent level of organic phosphates.
A lot of people do not bother to test for phosphates. If you are having nuisance algae in the tank, then you have phosphates and nitrates above desired levels.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

Welcome aboard!

I would remove the canister filter all together. You have a protein skimmer 2 hob's and a canister? Wow.
Canisters are not good in s/w because of the trates they hold on to. The skimmer a w/c's is all you need

 

[catfish]

Thanks for the tips! I will be getting a timer asap. I think my phosphate kit is just hard to read. I haven't had any algae growth problems since I went to bare bottom. I have 2 white t5s and two blue t5s. Anytime, I have been lucky enough to observe the coral beauty begin to think about nibbling at the mushrooms he always turns away so, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. For the moment I'm leaving the canister on because, I don't have nitrate problems and I'm willing and have time to put in the work to kept it clean. Although, in a different post I want to explore the possibility of re-purposing it into something that is considered useful in a sw setup, like maybe a liquidized bed filter. Also, does anyone know what coral dips do, if they work and/or if they would be useful in this situation at all? I will update this post with the progress of the coral, good or bad. Thanks again for the advice!

 

[kbuser92]

Coral dips do tend to work pretty good, but make sure to read the directions. I would bet your issue is a combination of too much light and the coral beauty. Try lights off for a couple daysand grab a timer. The cheap ones work just as good as any. Try setting it to 6 hours or so for a week and then up it to 8-9. Good luck!