Corals shrinking and fading off

[glocklt4]

What is the most common reason for corals to start shrinking and fading away? I have had issues with this in the past and can't figure out what the problem is. Specifically I am speaking about Mushrooms and Xenia. I have some of the green grassy coral (forget the name) and pollups that are doing great.

I will test water params tonight to be sure everything is ok there, but I have been running fine for about a year now.

I did a water change 2 weeks ago when I started noticing the fading corals but no change.

I do know that I need to replace lightbulbs... it has been almost a year. could that be why? I didn't think that Xenia and Mushrooms really needed that much light.

 

[glocklt4]

Thanks for the reply. By params I meant nitrate/nitrite/amonia/salinity. Good info on the salinity though. I have a refractometer and usually keep mine around 1.025-1.026. 1.030 does sound a bit high but I didn't know that 1.030 was :shock: . What salinity do you guys recommend for these kinds of corals?

 

[bimmerzs]

@glocklt4 wrote:

Hi,

You also want to verify Ca/Alk/Mg, especially Alk since corals such as zenia seem to thrive on this. NSW levels are what you want to keep corals at so 1.025-1.026 is good as long as your readings are accurate as mentioned. You did not mention if you are using a hydrometer or properly calibrated refractometer for checking SG levels. May be a good idea to have the SG and Alk verified.

Cheers,