Coral Help Needed

[riogal_11]

I just got my first two pieces of coral last night. I was told they were both polyps or maybe one was a soft coral. I'm not sure, I can't remember for the life of me. Anyways the one that I know for sure is a polyp is doing great, but when I woke up this morning the purple one was all slumped over. They both looked wonderful last night. I don't know what to do. There is medium flow going over it, not too much at all. I placed them high as to get more light and water tested last night was fine. It is moving, and it's not just from the water flow. Please help! When I bought these I was told that they were easy to keep and for beginners.....

 

[crazyelece]

What are your water parameters and how did you aclimate them?

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

The purple one is in fact a soft coral, probably xenia. [and the other are zoanthids] They are supposed to be easy to keep, in the morning my xenia is a little slumped over as well, but perks back up soon. How long did you acclimate them for?

 

[riogal_11]

temp-80 nitrite-0 nitrate between 0 and .25 ph 8.2 salinity 1.022
The guy said that it was easy to keep, but when I got it home last night it didn't look like the same piece of coral that I had picked out. So now I'm starting to wonder. It is still moving so maybe it will perk back up. As for acclimating I did as the lfs instructed and floated it for temperature for around 30-45 minutes. It looked great for several hours last night when I first put it in, and then about 8 hours later when I woke up is when it started looking bad. Thanks for any help. I called the store and they said to bring it back tomorrow with a water sample and I could get a store credit, but it is over an hour away so if it is possible that it may snap out of it I don't want to waste my trip.

 

[crazyelece]

It is possible. IMO I think it may be your aclimation. salinty consistancy is very important to corals and just floating them isn't enough if the salinity is different than the LFS. Usually a reef has 1.025 so you are probably about .003 off. Next time you will want to drip acclimate the coral and probably slowly raise your salinity to 1.025

 

[riogal_11]

Ok thanks for your help. I specifically asked the guy if I needed to do a drip and he said no just float them. Everything will test out ok then when I take it back tomorrow so hopefully i'll get my store credit. I will start trying to get my salinity up too. Thanks for the info. Is there any known reason that the one is doing great while the other didn't? Is the Xenia just more sensitive?

 

[Mr Miagi]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=86433 <<<< Thats a good Pinned article on acclimation Navarre put up. Have a read!

The Zoanthids are tougher corals, not to say xenia isnt, but I believe its more delicate. It might cme away again. They do take over tanks if kept under goodconditions.

 

[superman]

Xenia is very sensitive to PH changes. During the day the xenia may perk up, but any quick jumps or drops in PH will tick it off and it will end up slumped over or not opening its polyps. Xenia loves flow, so don't be afraid to give it enough flow to get those arms moving. Xenia can be hard to keep for those that have inconsistant PH, so don't be too upset if it doesn't make it in your tank, newer tanks are natorious for not having stable PH.

 

[riogal_11]

Thanks for all the help. I returned the coral. They tested my water and everything was fine, so I got a refund. I replaced it with another Zoanthid, since I've had goodluck with the other so far, and I think they are quite pretty. Again thanks for the quick help, as I was a newbie freaking out.