Euphyllia Help

[Luis's Nano]

I need some input as to what I may have done wrong. I have a 32 biocube. Been running for going on 4 years. Parameters are always stable. The last 2 water changes I've done has seemed to affect my Euphyllia and Duncan corals where they are borderline dying. I do a 2 gallon water change every 2 weeks with Red Sea Coral pro. I mix it to 35.0 sg on the dot using a hannah checker that gets calibrated monthly with tank temp calibration solution.

SG- 35.0
Nitrate- 7.5
Phosphate- 0.04
Alk- 8.6-8.8
Cal-420-440
Mag-1330- 1380
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite-0
PH-7.8-8.1

Major elements managed by Trident controller dosing.

Any info as to what I've done wrong would be really helpful. I am about to dip these corals into Lugols to see if it's maybe a bacteria infection. I just don't see why it would only happen on both occasions the day after I do a water change.

The last pic attached was the day before the water change. I wanted to see if there was going to be a drastic change in coral health.

 

[Luis's Nano]

Also, I use Rodi water when mixing water. Tds meter always reads 0

 

[PeterC99]

Any recent changes to lighting or flow? Any new placement of corals that could restrict lighting or flow?

 

[Luis's Nano]

No changes at all to flow or lighting. Using a g5 blue on 50%

 

[PeterC99]

Have found Euphyllia to be very tricky and know many a reefer that have had this issue and will no longer put Euphyllia in their aquariums anymore.

What works for me - when I find one head on a Euphyllia starting to bail, I cut that head off and usually cut the remaining Euphyllia into two or more frags. Then replace the frags in different locations in the aquarium. Sounds extreme but has worked well for me and saves the Euphyllia.

 

[Luis's Nano]

Would it be wise to try the lugols dip? I'd have a hard time just cutting one of the heads off when it's literally all of them showing stress.

 

[PeterC99]

Would it be wise to try the lugols dip? I'd have a hard time just cutting one of the heads off when it's literally all of them showing stress.

Don't know if the dip will help.

 

[Luis's Nano]

Don't know if the dip will help.

Thanks for the input. Maybe just play the waiting game and see what happens. ‍

 

[Uncle99]

4 year old stable system with parameters on point.
I’d check that salt since the problem occurs with last two WC.
I would not add any more stress on them.

 

[Uncle99]

Thanks for the input. Maybe just play the waiting game and see what happens. ‍

Exactly, many times, things that get us worried are simply part of a process.

 

[BanjoBandito]

Temperature change when doing the WC? Your PH is a tad low....they generally like 8.1-8.3 in my experience. Anything under 8 seems to make my hammer mad. Could be some sort of spike (temp, PH, etc.) from the water change???? Is the mouth gaping on it? Are the mouths spitting anything out?

Honestly your WC doesn't seem like enough, and if that's your schedule you could be looking at "old tank syndrome" and your euphyllia are the first to show signs of it because they are sensitive. You could try a large WC (like 40-50%) maybe a couple times to see if that straightens it out? Smaller tanks tend to get into a eutrophic state quicker....I'm sure somebody will jump on and say "I HAVEN'T CHANGED WATER IN MY 180 FOR 6 YEARS"...that's great. It'll still happen, it just takes longer. lol.

Good luck!!!!!!

 

[BanjoBandito]

How often or how are you stirring your substrate?

 

[Luis's Nano]

Temperature change when doing the WC? Your PH is a tad low....they generally like 8.1-8.3 in my experience. Anything under 8 seems to make my hammer mad. Could be some sort of spike (temp, PH, etc.) from the water change???? Is the mouth gaping on it? Are the mouths spitting anything out?

Honestly your WC doesn't seem like enough, and if that's your schedule you could be looking at "old tank syndrome" and your euphyllia are the first to show signs of it because they are sensitive. You could try a large WC (like 40-50%) maybe a couple times to see if that straightens it out? Smaller tanks tend to get into a eutrophic state quicker....I'm sure somebody will jump on and say "I HAVEN'T CHANGED WATER IN MY 180 FOR 6 YEARS"...that's great. It'll still happen, it just takes longer. lol.

Good luck!!!!!!

I can try the larger water changes out and see if that works. I'll do one today. Mouths aren't open nor spitting anything out. Thanks for the info.

 

[Luis's Nano]

How often or how are you stirring your substrate?

I stir up substrate once a week

 

[Uncle99]

I stir up substrate once a week

Careful what you stir and how much.
Your sand bed contains contains a large micro fauna population which is a large contributor to your filtration.
If you must stir, only 1/3 at a time.

 

[Luis's Nano]

Careful what you stir and how much.
Your sand bed contains contains a large micro fauna population which is a large contributor to your filtration.
If you must stir, only 1/3 at a time.

Yeah I've heard it can be dangerous to stir up too much. I stir up the 2 or 3 dead spots I have just to clean it up a bit. The rest lightly comb.

 

[BanjoBandito]

I can try the larger water changes out and see if that works. I'll do one today. Mouths aren't open nor spitting anything out. Thanks for the info.

Good luck! If it really stresses them out, I'd try going no WCs for awhile and just top off with RODI to see. Unfortunately, most of this hobby is experimentation. We have access to a good range of tests but there's stuff in our water we have NO IDEA about or what it does and the coral just keeps suckin' it up 24/7.

 

[Luis's Nano]

Good luck! If it really stresses them out, I'd try going no WCs for awhile and just top off with RODI to see. Unfortunately, most of this hobby is experimentation. We have access to a good range of tests but there's stuff in our water we have NO IDEA about or what it does and the coral just keeps suckin' it up 24/7.

Thanks for all your help. I appreciate it. I will follow up in a few days to see how this issue works out.