mucous coating on a flower pot coral

Question
QUESTION: I have a mini reef tank (29 gallon, Bio cube).  This is my first salt water tank.  I have had fresh water in the past, which seem to be much easier to deal with.  I set up my bio cube about 4 months ago and I currently have live rock, a zoanthid polyps, and two types of flower pots corals and another soft coral.  I also have a cleaner shrimp, 1 damsel, and 1 banded coral shrimp.  I change 20% of my water out every two weeks.  The problem I am currently having is my flowerpot coral that was very healthy a week ago is now covered in a tan mucous layer.  I have seen this before with one of my smaller flower pot corals, and half of it died off.  I have not changed any thing other than the water temp being a little higher due to summer.  It currently ranges from 80-82 degrees.  What might be my problem?  I am afraid I will lose this one.  I have lost other fish and I am becoming frustrated when I start losing the coral as well.  Please help.

ANSWER: Hey Mark

do you still have the stock lighting in the tank (72w?) That might be the cause, that gives you about 2.5wpg of lighting, most flowerpots are high light corals. I would upgrade the lighting, there are sites that will show you how to rig up a metal halide or 2x65w PC's

how are your water parameters?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I do have the same lighting,1-36w, 10k daylight straight pin and 1-36w blue straight pin. Is this a typical symptom of these corals not getting adequate lighting to form a mucous layer?  Is there anything I can do to save this coral, like moving it closer to the light?

ANSWER: Hey again


The melting is usually a sign of too little lighting, or poor water. If your water quality checks out good, i would move him up as high as possible to he gets more direct light

how long has the shedding/melting going on for? sometimes corals just digest food and leave some slimey shedding

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I am changing water tomorrow. The shedding just started today.  This coral has been doing great ever since I bought it 2 months ago.  What is its food preference?  I'm not sure I am feeding it properly or adequately.  There is so much to learn and it seems that I get different answers from the local aquarium stores.  It has been very frustrating having these issues of losing corals and fish that are not cheap.  Any advice or educating myself to become better at reef maintenance, upkeep and purchasing the right fish and coral?

Answer
To be honest, most aquarium stores dont have knowledgeable staff. some do though. Its best to ask people on sites like this or forums. Personally, im part of www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum  Everyone there is knowledgeable

You dont need to feed most corals unless they specifically need food, most are photosynthetic. However, you can give him a shot of phytoplankton with a turkey baster, i use the Kent phytoplankton on my corals (petsmart has it for $13 a bottle). Its not necessary, but studies show corals have better growth with direct feeding

basically, your maintenance is a 10%-20% weekly water change, and testing your water levels with a test kit. Water changes are a must though, the additives in your salt mix replace vital nutrients

if you want to dose some additives though, i use the micro-lift brand master doser, it has almost 100 natural seawater minerals and other stuff. I just dose it 3 times weekly, saves the work of a dozen different additives

take it slow, and do lots of research, its always good to take reefs slow. You will get the hang of it. Personally, my first reef was a bomb, and i accidentally killed my share of corals and fish. with practice, you will be a skilled reefer

If the flowerpot looks worse tomorrow, feel free to update me, alot of my corals do the same thing you are describing. They will shed a layer of mucous stuff

good luck!