Need Help with Fox and Bubble Coral

[LeanneP]

I bought a bubble coral and a fox coral about 3 months ago at the same time and added them too my tank. Both looked very healthy when I got them but they are both on a slow decline and shrinking in size.
My tank is 2 years, 90 gallon with 10 gallon sump. I have 2 x 250 watt mh lights that are due for a change. I run the mh for 6 hours a day.
My parameters are:
Salinity 1.025
Alk 7.7
Ca 450
Mg 1350
Nitrate 0
Phos 0
I do a 15 gallon water change every 10 days. I had coralline algae growing like crazy a month ago and my alk and mg were a little low but it is stable again and the coralline has slowed down.
I find every few days a lot of my corals look like crap and then they will be fine the next day. I started running some carbon as I thought maybe I was getting a little chemical warfare but it hasn't made a difference.
I moved the bubble and fox last week but they did worse and I moved them back to their original spots. They are at the bottom of the tank in low flow and I wasn't sure the fox was getting enough light but now I am thinking that maybe my tank is too clean. I have been feeding the bubble about once a week and now I am wondering about feeding the fox coral too.
Should I be running my lights longer or is this a feeding issue? I am at a loss as to why they are both not doing well. If I feed the fox coral what is the best to feed it since it has such small mouths. I also notice that they will be open and when I turn the mh lights on they close up and the bubble looks almost swollen but then the next day it is fine. Is this normal?
Any advice much appreciated.
Leanne P

[Slyguy00]

My bubble coral has a mind of its own. Somedays its huge, other days its fairly small. I dont think its anything to really worry about unless it looks like its dying. When they get rid of there waste they shrink up and kinda look like they are dying to. And i dont really feed my bubble anything, it just sorta takes stuff outta the water that i feed my fish. It has probably doubled in size since i got it and i keep it in high light high flow. Good luck

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

it could possibly be due to too much light,only from my experience I have 3 mother colonies of fox corals and doing great on the bottom of the tank with LEDs same as a large colony of bubble coral,I don't directly feed the corals but do feed the entire tank with a mix of micron food.

[LeanneP]

I don't think it is too much light as both of them are partly shaded under rocks. I was actually thinking they may not have been getting enough light. I do realize that the corals close up periodically but the bubbles on the bubble coral don't seem to be as big and full as they were when I got it.

Leanne

[Slyguy00]

it took my bubble coral a month or so before it fully adapted to my tank. Id just give it time, it will probably come around.

[neoh]

fox corals do best shaded with very little flow. If the flow is too high for it, try moving it to a better location.

[hfp75]

Some lps like some nitrates.....

All my hammer/frogspawn/octo spawn/ torches are thriving and my no3 is 40-60

My Aussie gold torch isn't happy so I'm gonna try dropping my no3 and see if it gets happy

[saltyair]

+1 they need low light and turbulence water flow. Mine do best in those spots. Also fox coral take most of the nutrient from the water. Maybe your tank is not dirty enough? Try some reef fuel - it works wonders - just don't use a lot.


it could possibly be due to too much light,only from my experience I have 3 mother colonies of fox corals and doing great on the bottom of the tank with LEDs same as a large colony of bubble coral,I don't directly feed the corals but do feed the entire tank with a mix of micron food.

[saltyair]

Fox coral need higher flow - they are naturally found on reef cliffs with turbulent water

fox corals do best shaded with very little flow. If the flow is too high for it, try moving it to a better location.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

6 hours seems like a very short photoperiod. Most of us run our main lights 8-10 hours I think.

Both my fox and my bubbles like lower light, protection from full blast of flow.

[neoh]

Fox coral need higher flow - they are naturally found on reef cliffs with turbulent water

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+321+467&pcatid=467

http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-species/coral-inverts-profiles/fox-coral-2.aspx

Low flow. They come from silty calm waters of Malaysia.

[saltyair]

Interesting how different resources will conflict. In my experience my fox corals do best in turbulent water - I found that if the flow is to low they are susceptible to brown jelly. The quot I gave for the placement of fox corals is from the book "aquarium corals"


http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+321+467&pcatid=467

http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-species/coral-inverts-profiles/fox-coral-2.aspx

Low flow. They come from silty calm waters of Malaysia.

[saltyair]

12021

These are my two foxcorals - the big one is 3 years old - the small one is 6 months old

[neoh]

Those are gorgeous! My fox coral is one of my favorites.

[LeanneP]

12021

These are my two foxcorals - the big one is 3 years old - the small one is 6 months old

Just wonder what kind of lighting you have and how long do you leave your lights on. I just put new bulbs in my metal halides and I am now wondering if it was the lights. They were a year and a half old but I have read they don't loose as much intensity as people think. It will be interesting to see if the fox does better now. I am also wondering if my tank is to clean and it isn't getting enough food from the water. I fed my bubble coral a couple of times over the last week or so and it seems to have perked up

Leanne P

[saltyair]

I use LED lighting - fox corals in my experience do need "dirty" water -but not bad water lol. Low no3 and low po4. I noticed my fox coral thriving when I placed them on the sand and under a table acro (indirect lighting) and in a turbulent flow (not direct flow)
I do feed reef fuel and reef roids once a week (1/2 dose and 1/4 dose)

When they inflate they take in and absorb nutrients.

Good luck :-) and as an un-scientific observation when I first got my fox coral it would always tell me that my cal was down by not inflating fully for a few days.

don't be afraid to move it around to see were it likes it the most - just be careful the coral can puncture or tare easily.


Just wonder what kind of lighting you have and how long do you leave your lights on. I just put new bulbs in my metal halides and I am now wondering if it was the lights. They were a year and a half old but I have read they don't loose as much intensity as people think. It will be interesting to see if the fox does better now. I am also wondering if my tank is to clean and it isn't getting enough food from the water. I fed my bubble coral a couple of times over the last week or so and it seems to have perked up

Leanne P

[LeanneP]

I am happy to say that I have solved my issue with my fox and bubble coral. I have replaced my mh bulbs and both are looking much better so I guess I now realize the importance of changing my bulbs sooner. So glad that I never lost either of them when it was such a simple problem.

Leanne