Help Please

[Reefer_Addickt]

Hi
I have just recentley bought a Hammer, and colt coral. I put them in my tank and about 2 days later my hammer is turning into milky trails and floating away. My colt coral is not doing great swaying and moving put doesnt have it little things extended. What am i doing wrong? The hammer is slowly distagrating the Colt is not as extended and inflated has a slick slime on it. There is a spot under the coral when i moved it(first time since being in tank for the last 3 days)some fluid starting coming out almost looked like blood but more brown

Levels

Red Sea

Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Dr Fishy and Hagen

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Alkalinity 9DKH
calcium 600 ppm
ph 8.4
Salinty 1.025
temp 85

please help.

Lighting 2 175w 55k Hamilton MH
1 96 watt smart light PC

Colt and Hammer in the middle placement wise height and width.

[Nek]

Ok.... Ammonia should be 0. Please double check that. Also, your temp seems a bit high. Aim for 80-82 degrees.

Were these corals shipped to you?? or did you go to your LFS??

How did you acclimate them??

Do you know what types of light these corals came from??

[Reefer_Addickt]

I acclimated by adding some of my water to the bag they came from then draining some then adding more from my tank, doing so for about an hour. I bought them from a LFS that had them under some halides. I did to tests on my ammonia one said that it was .25ppm the other said zero. I think i will retest today to see what the results are

[Nek]

Also watch your temp. If the LFS keeps theirs at 78, that is a 7 degree swing!!

[phistio]

sounds to me like a slight chemical war might be going on, but i don't think thats the main reason for the "milky" strands i think this is a "waxy" like protective layer of skin that corals coat themselves over with for protection...when the coral has a brief rush of air (from the LFS tank to bag, and out of bag to your tank after acclimation) the coral instinctivly shrinks a bit and covers itself...the "wax" sheds, sometimes 3 days later...i'd wiat a few days more before a different approach should be considered...

also, i noticed your calcium is quite high...any reason for that? 475 ppm is plenty high...you stated you're at 600 ppm...just an observation

[Reefer_Addickt]

Yeah well i think the Hammer coral has passed away, it is mostly just white exoskelton now :( The Colt coral is holding in though, it doesnt look as good as it did in the store but i hope it will pull out of it. My calcium is always high for some weird reason i dont dose anything, i think it might be the water i add i will have to check it out. will the dead hammer let out toxins as it dies that will kill the colt?

[HoopsGuru]

If its all the way down to the skeleton already....taking it out won't do anything because all the tissue is already gone....might as well just leave it in. If you are worried about water quality, do a 20-25% water change. I have heard of some stories of what seems like a dead skeleton actually get a polyp back and start to regrow.

It's hard to tell from your post what coral the brown is coming out of...if it is the hammer, it could be "brown jelly" a mysteriously affliction that will cause Euphyllia sp. to disintegrate rather quickly. Or it could easily have been simply damaged in transit....all Euphyllia sp. are sensitive to contact...not to mention they should not be exposed to air if possible.

For the "colt" coral, I would not worry at first if the polyps do not open right away. Going limp and retracting there polyps is how they react to being moved, touched, etc. Give it a few days...as mentioned before, it may slough (shed the waxy buildup) and be as good as ever. If this goes beyond three days or there is any necrosis of the tissue (turning "cheesy") or black spots....begin to worry.

I am glad Phistio mentions your calcium level. You need to get a new test kit.......I read a post on Wetwebmedia earlier today that had the exact same problem......to save you time I will cut and paste the reply by Anthony Calfo (extremely knowledgable):

Water Chemistry
I have a 125g tank with 185 pounds of live rock. I was just wondering about the levels in my tank. Temp is 82, PH 8.3, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5,Phosphate 0, Iron 0, GH >200, KH 190, Calcium 600, Salinity 1.020. Should I worry about any of these levels and how should they be adjusted if necessary? Thanks, Ian Roff
<Your Calcium reading is inaccurate... I just might be able to guess your test kit too. It is very difficult (and dangerous!) to saturate Ca above 450ppm. Almost impossible to go over 500ppm actually without wiping out the tank. Misreadings from hobbyist grade test kits are common. Try a different brand of kit... Hach for top shelf or Aquarium Systems for affordable.

[matrixnyc]

If you are going to be buying a new test kit, check this out: http://reeflounge.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=157

[Reefer_Addickt]

thanks for the help... the colt coral was the one that was leaking brown from the bottom of one of the stocks when i moved it. It is now forming brown spots on it. I did a 25% water change tonight we will see how that goes

[gizmo]

do a 20 percent water change. Adding some carbon doesn't hurt in situations like this.

--Tony