Newbie could use some pointers
Well i'm totally new to reef chemistry, as I like to think of my tank as a fowlr (which happens to have a few assorted soft corals that came with my LR purchased in the range of 2-1 year ago.
Basically, the coralline algae has started to bleach (i skimmed through the thread about the topic on the same page) but also the majority of my corals have been shrivelled compared to before (which was pretty stable for a good year to 6 months).
Now being soft corals I was hoping they'd be more hardy
1. brown button zoa polyps have retracted (but probably because my pakistani butterfly has nipped them)
2.Mushroom (fuzzy, blue, red) are "open" but are much smaller than before (my fuzzy mushroom is about 1/8 the size it used to be
3.Toad stool - the only coral that seems to be unaffected
4.Colt coral has shrivelled to pretty much stubs.
I have one of those beginner corallife t5 setups (2 bulbs) but i've had the lights for quite a while, and my coral problems have only emerged since the past month.
Now i'd like to know, what exactly I should test for (I haven't tested my parameters while the tank was doing fine), and being a fowlr, I originally wanted to just accept the loss, as the corals were freebies, but I'd imagine they would be worth saving if
1) its not over the top impossible
2) solving a hidden problem that was detrimental to the overall health of the aquarium/fish (fish obviously are unaffected).
--- But before i rush out to buy a test kit (or kits) would doing larger consistent water changes be the best initial treatment ? Since I dont' plan on getting any "less hardy" corals, the reef quality test kits may be unnessecary ? I'd like some opinions, so thanks in advance.
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