Receding chalices !!!

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#1
Lately my mummy eye, and a nice 2 inch expensive, pink caddilac, watermelon Chalice are slowly receding. Water parameters are good. Mag 1400, call 420 nitrates super low, phos ate .03 to.05, other chalices are fine. Does coral epoxy, affect chalices? I have 2 radions at 40 % and a 2 bulb t5 running. The par is about 120 to 150 on the chalices, mummy is low.mid and watermelon is near bottom. Water melon is hanging on edge of rock, it was on sandbed of tank I bought it from, same with mummy eye. Just don't want to lose any more meat, any Ideas ?

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#2
How low is "Super low nitrates"?

Like I'm sure you know -- Nitrates and Phosphates are coral food. I lost my chalice the same way, slowly just shrank away.. Eventually everything slowed / stopped growing and began getting pale (SPS, Zoa's, LPS) then I started dosing Nitrates. INSTANT improvement.

I don't think it's necessarily wise to keep nitrates too far under 5. I keep mine closer to 10, and others here who have amazing success with their corals keep their nitrates between 30-50.

So my first guess? Because you said "nitrates super low" and not "nitrates are at 2" or w/e, Nitrates are possibly too low, and you may be starving your corals. Dose nitrates or get more feesh.
 

let.it.go

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#3
Target feed them at night with pumps turn off for 15 mins. Try that and they have a good chance to come back. They don't light a lot of light or flow.....
 

djrice69

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#4
What's your alk at?
 
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#5
If it is loosing flesh the outside edge, wound will get an infection and sometimes the bad bacteria can out compete the good. If you superglue the flesh to the skeleton and close up the open wound it can help. Also in my experience dosing good strands of bacteria can help get the good stuff back on top.

Keep out a close eye, tangs will nip at the algae and can irritate the coral and peppermint will make declining coral die much faster as they scavenge the death.

Last thing is too make sure a more aggressive coral has grown too close. I had a huge space invader and Duncan colonies very close together, they both got bigger than a softball and one day woke up too the space invader destroyed by the Duncan. Up until that point they had never had a problem, the Duncan put off thin threads that killed the Space Invader. Lucky I had a small frag going in another tank.

I keep my chalice coral between 60 and 100 par, but I do not think the lighting is your issue, unless you have made a drastic change in your lighting.

Corals sometimes just go, no explanation, I loose them too so frag and share so you can get it back if you loose it.

Do you carbon dose or run biopellets? If yes maybe discontinue for a bit. They can feed bad bacteria as well as good and Vibrio infection in a open wound can spread much faster with carbon source.

On my phone at the River, sorry for spelling and punctuation. My Mom was a English teacher, me not so much:)

Good luck.



Good luck!
 
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#6
Thanks for all your input, My nitrates have been lower than 5 for quite some time, I think I. Will dose nitrates, and turn Skimmer off 1 day a week, I have 11 fish, 3 wrasses, 2 tangs, 2 clowns, red hawk, starry blenny, purple psuedochromis, & dwarf lion.

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djrice69

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#8
Definitely need more nitrate since your alk is about 9 feed them and try low flow
 

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