I dont know what I did to it but it doesn’t look like it did when I brought it home. I noticed the leaves (for the lack of a better term) has fallen and was in the sand before I moved it. I then crazy glued it in place on the a new rock (not the GSP but the rock it came from PA.
Here are some pictures of the new setup in a different thread.
I have had it for about 1.5 weeks. Is it because I need a new lamp (saving for a T5 lamp). I have two reef sun 50/50 in there right now. I was told before I met anyone on here that would be good. I know now eventually I need to change.
you have 2 nitrate’s posted which one is nitrite? i have had my tank up for over a year and i just now have been able to keep gsp. sometimes its the tank paramiters sometimes its the coral as sometimes when we are new in the hobby we buy a piece of coral that has already started to decline in health before you even purchase it. so with that being said make sure you inspect your new coral before you buy it and make sure your system can sustain it. hope that helps
I had a problem growing GSP when my tank was new but now the are fully expanded. Move some of the peices that fell off to another part of the tank. It may be the spot you picked does not meet the needs of the GSP. 1.024 is a little low. Most use 1.025 to 1.026. Mine sg moves around as water evaporates.
So I have a gsp I just got but is already growing so when its ready to frag ill give you some. I have some easy corals that we could try and put some in your tank and see how they do. Give me a call sometime and we can set something up to frag you a few. For free of coarse.
I personally would not panic about GSP. When I first brought min home I had nothing more then normal flourecent bulb, it was my first piece of coral and I didn’t know anything about keeping a reef. It took it about 2 weeks before it ever opened.
Even now it wil close up for a week at a time for no apparent reason. Could be something picking at it, light, flow, temp. Let it sit for another week and see if it starts to open up for ou.
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:9, topic:589”]
I personally would not panic about GSP. When I first brought min home I had nothing more then normal flourecent bulb, it was my first piece of coral and I didn’t know anything about keeping a reef. It took it about 2 weeks before it ever opened.
Even now it wil close up for a week at a time for no apparent reason. Could be something picking at it, light, flow, temp. Let it sit for another week and see if it starts to open up for ou.[/quote]
Ditto, I microwaved mine once and it still opened after two weeks. j/k
Nitrites are not horrible horrible, but the fact that you have them is a bad sign. Most established tanks will read 0 with Nitrites just about all of the time even if something happens in the tank.
I tried to warn you in the store that they may close up and you would just see the purple for a while. You can try a lot of things, but I wouldn’t. More you do or change the worse. If you have other animals alive in the tank and doing well chances are the conditions are not that bad. Moving it around just means putting it through stress of the move as well as the stress of readjusting to a different environment.
Many types of corals go into shock when you first get them in your system and can take a very long time to actually melt away. Even if they do melt away there is still a chance part of it will survive.
Remind me again about your light. You say you have "two reef sun 50/50 " is that PC(Power compact) or NO(normal output fluoresces)?
One of the things unfortunately many of us learn the hard away is that people will often give you advice if it will steer you in the direction of spending money at their store. Many LFS try to downplay the investment a salt tank really takes to get you hooked, but will be quick to help you upgrade everything you just bought when things don’t work out. People who are new at the hobby are also really quick to give advice as they tend to spend more time on the forums and get all excited about helping someone who is knew like them. Often times they are just relaying the same bad info the LFS gave them and they don’t even know the difference between an animal that is going down hill and one that is growing. Double check your sources and look more then one place.
As mentioned before slowly adjust your salinity a little higher(are you using a hydrometer or refractometer?), get Nitrites down to 0, and give it a chance to grow.
[quote=“rawdawg05, post:1, topic:589”]
I noticed the leaves (for the lack of a better term) has fallen and was in the sand before I moved it. I then crazy glued it in place on the a new rock (not the GSP but the rock it came from PA.
I have had it for about 1.5 weeks. Is it because I need a new lamp (saving for a T5 lamp). I have two reef sun 50/50 in there right now. I was told before I met anyone on here that would be good. I know now eventually I need to change.[/quote]
I would still move the “leaves”. Since they fell off the main piece there is no harm with having GSP in multiple locations. I would leave the main coral in its existing location. I have had corals go into shock and then took 1 year to open. Provided the nitrate levels are accurate they are not bad at all. Most SPS coral keepers strive for <= 5 and 10 is pretty good. Mine usually falls between 10ppm and 20ppm (when I am late with a water change), and GSP grows well. I don’t think most soft corals mind some nitrates. The optimal amount of nitrate in any type of saltwater system is an immeasurable one, but an acceptable range for fish-only tanks is from 10 to 40 ppm. While in a perfect system nitrates would be 0 I think most aquariest accept nitrates at 10ppm for softies.
It apears he is using a swing arm in-tank Hygrometer. These are not the most accurate.
Although a little pricey, a refractometer is better.
[quote=“rawdawg05, post:1, topic:589”]
I noticed the leaves (for the lack of a better term) has fallen and was in the sand before I moved it. I then crazy glued it in place on the a new rock (not the GSP but the rock it came from PA.
I have had it for about 1.5 weeks. Is it because I need a new lamp (saving for a T5 lamp). I have two reef sun 50/50 in there right now. I was told before I met anyone on here that would be good. I know now eventually I need to change.[/quote]
I would still move the “leaves”. Since they fell off the main piece there is no harm with having GSP in multiple locations. I would leave the main coral in its existing location. I have had corals go into shock and then took 1 year to open. Provided the nitrate levels are accurate they are not bad at all. Most SPS coral keepers strive for <= 5 and 10 is pretty good. Mine usually falls between 10ppm and 20ppm (when I am late with a water change), and GSP grows well. I don’t think most soft corals mind some nitrates. The optimal amount of nitrate in any type of saltwater system is an immeasurable one, but an acceptable range for fish-only tanks is from 10 to 40 ppm. While in a perfect system nitrates would be 0 I think most aquariest accept nitrates at 10ppm for softies.
It apears he is using a swing arm in-tank Hygrometer. These are not the most accurate.
Although a little pricey, a refractometer is better.[/quote] hey rawdawg i have a refractometer if you bring some of your water over i can test it with mine and help you calibrate your swing arm in tank hydrometer so until you can afford one because they are as al said expensive you can be alot sure about how high or low your salinity is. i bought my refractometer from premium aquatics for $75. but its one of the most important tool you should purchase.
On the contrary refractometers do not have to be expensive. You can pick them up on EBay relatively cheaply (compared to the rest of this hobby anyway). I found mine by looking for scientific equipment instead of aquarium equipment. It seems people know aquariasts will spend more money then other people, and I think the scientific stuff is aimed more at students without as much expendable cash.
Whoa is that thing floating in the water? It would get built up with calcium and algae and get micro bubbles on it and little life forms. That could never be accurate. You can get it checked with someone’s refactometer, but it could be off the next time you use it. Like tat said, look into getting a refractometer as one of your next investments. We have pretty cheap ones in the store. If you did buy one off the web make sure to calibrate it right away. It is pretty easy to keep them clean and looking new and when you buy something off Ebay you never know and it could be off.
Al I have to disagree with the Nitrates in this specific situation. With a new tank that at this point does not seem to be heavily stocked(didn’t see any animals in the pics) if he is having problems with not only Nitrates, but Nitrites it is a sign that something is not going right and needs to be corrected. It is true many people with mature tanks can not get their Nitrates to 0, but these people also often over feed and over stock their aquariums. Also Nitrates are detrimental to the living organisms and toxic at any level. There may be a point at which someone gets experienced with this and can decide they will tolerate a certain level of Nitrates, but to start with the goal should always be 0 and that is absolutely obtainable with the system he has set up and the bio load he has.
Analogy, eating Mc. Donalds three-four times a week won’t kill a little a toddler and he will still grow and many “experienced” “successful” parents have grown their kids out this way(they lived and got the he|| out of the house), but it doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t harm the kid is some way. I like to “spoil” my little animals compared to many people and give them conditions as similar to reef conditions as I can or better. Nitrates slow growth.
May seem like I spend too much time explaining myself, but I met rawdawg and he is trying to do the right things for his animals and really taking the time to try to learn this stuff. I don’t mind sharing my opinion if it isn’t going in one ear and out the other.
Im not sure if anyone asked, but what test kits are you using? Depending on the brand and type your levels may not be accurate.
Jon, were going to have to start calling you the nitrate nazi ;D
Im not sure if you made a typo, but nitrates at reasonable levels(i,e >80ppm) are pretty much harmless to fish. Ammonia and nitrites on the other hand are extremely toxic at very low levels.
If you have ANY detectable levels of nitrite or ammonia in your tank there could be a problem, possibly a dead fish or a spot in your tank thats collecting large amounts of detritus.
As far as hydrometers go, i love them. I use my refractometer for testing and my hydrometer for calibration. It is very accurate as long as you keep it clean and clear all bubbles(even the tiniest)
when taking a reading. The smallest microbubble can give you a normal reading when in reality your SG is very low.
I would double check your salinty and do a water change to get the nitites down to undetectable. You shouldnt ever have nitrites in you water.
Also, a couple of people mentioned just leaving it alone. Best advice ever. The hardest thing to learn to do is to keep our hands out of our tanks and to make only small adjustments to keep our tanks
on course.
LOL. Jon I don’t use that one. I need to take it out of the tank. I use it more to see the temp in my tank. I have another hydrometer I use that I keep out of the tank for use. I didn’t know about the refractometer. I don’t know how I missed it. I have read and read. I feel like Lamont from Sanford and Son. “U big dummy”. Your help is always appreciated and I thank you.
Tal I will definitely stop by with some water to get it read.
You live and learn. I hope it wakes up. Like Jon said I want this to be done the right way and for it to grow. I love it and am a little obsessed. I would have bought the refractometer today but damn kids and their bdays!!!
Lights are two regular lights with 50/50 bulbs if that is the correct ans.
Oh A1 maybe we can get a beginners section this way i wouldn’t bother a main section on my petty stuff.
Hey has some clown fish in the pics. I don’t think the nitrates at 10 is the problem; I think that in tank hygrometer is the bigger issue. As you said McDonalds will sustain you but may not be the healthiest. I have to say McDonalds is more like 50 ppm not 10. 10 Would be more like Boston Market.
[quote=“rawdawg05, post:17, topic:589”]
Oh A1 maybe we can get a beginners section this way i wouldn’t bother a main section on my petty stuff.[/quote]
You will get more attention this way without breaking the topics out. Besides there is no way I am going to make that decision :-)### >B
These are not the most accurate.