GSP issue shedding? with pic

[joshgabel]

I bought a GSP rock from a member here and it looked super healthy all was open and it did fine for the first 24 hours in my tank.

then it closed i have had stable water perams as listed below for over 2 months.

amonia 0.0

nitrate 0.1

phos 0.25

nitrate 0.0

dkh 11 - kh196

calc 520

alk 2.6

ph 8.3

kh 190

it has been closed for about 2 weeks and yesterday i noticed some spots that look like deterioration or something has been eating them.

any ideas? i have:

2 pep shrimp

2 blue leg herms.

2 snails

1 damsel

and the most interaction i have seen between them and the GSP is the shrimp picking fallen food off the top of it.

i also have a small GSP approx 1" square that is on the other side of the tank and doing fine.

tank has excellent flow

good distance from other zoas and mushrooms.

what gives?

[Robb in Austin]

I'd almost say count your blessings.

New lights or different lighting conditions from the previous tank?

[+Lamont]

Your ALK seems to low. You also have two nitrate readings posted.

[joshgabel]

ROBB: lighting of seller tank i believe was 2 36w cf (biocube 29)

mine is 18W 50/50 biocube 6

Why is this a blessing? are they THAT undesirable? haha i just want some color in there and dont want to spend any more cash on this tank till i get my new one complete.

IRSSIX: sorry first "nitrate" reading should have been nitrite at 0.1. it has always tested with this reading since the cycle has completed. i suspect the kit might be off since nitrate and ammonia are both undetectable.

[Robb in Austin]

I wouldn't call them undesirable. Not until they are on every rock and overgrow everything else.

I say that because I have two large rocks full of it and few others that have some on them already. It's pretty but too prolific.

[Timfish]

Like Robb I would first suspect lighting. Is the first Nitrate reading actually nitrate or was it supposed to be nitrite? If so I would wonder why there's nitrite when ammonia and nitrate are zero. Anyway, if you want to use a shotgun approach you could get some "Boyd's Chemiclean Elite". I suspect though if all the other corals including a 2nd colony of GSP are doing well this colony in question just isn't acclimating. It's frustrating and I would always look for a cause any time a coral isn't doing well but it happens. Check out this thread about a problem I had last fall & winter:

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/18681-inexplicable-fungia-sp-death/

[innate1]

I love my gsp I just keep it away from anything I don't want it to grow on to. When I first got mine it did the same thing. It took awhile to acclimate to my tank but it's all good now. Good luck

[Juiceman]

if your ALK is really 2.6, I would get that up. but that may not be what's causing it.

[+lewk]

I'd almost say count your blessings.

Ha. Agreed.

[joshgabel]

update-

I took some water to RCA to get tested.

while my my home hydrometer was reading .0025 after testing at RCA i was at .0032!!!

Also my ALK test kit was bunk. my readings per RCA are spot on on everything else.

i am surprised that the GSP was the only thing that wasn't happy.

i adjusted the salt and bought a new ALK kit.

since then the shrooms that weren't thriving are going crazy as are my zoa's! they are spreading like crazy.

however the DSP didn't make it.

lesson learned: out of all the money you spend on this hobby spend 45 on a refractometer and don't waste your cash on a petsmart "reef master" test kit unless you know how old it is.. support your LFS.

cheers.