Euphyllia tissue receiding

[NielsC]

Hey guys

Im having major issues with my Euphyllia corals: they are not opening up completely anymore and I can notice that the tissue that "overgrows the skeleton outwards" is slowly receding to the extent that there is skeletal platelets visible, with the tentacles sticking out.

I didn't change any flow or light the last several months. They always received moderate flow at best.
The Euphyllias "seemed" to be happy under these conditions? (maybe they were suffering slowly without me noticing until they reached this tipping point?) All my other coral (including Scolys, Acans, Montis, Lobo, Trachys) are all looking happy as clams, looking puffed up and growing quickly. There are sponges and other filter-feeders growing in the tank, etc. So somehow I don't understand why one of the "hardiest" corals in my tank seems to be doing so bad.

My tank is a RSM Nano, light a ReefLed50, currently running at 18K, 65% intensity. I have the original return pump (240g/h) running, plus an extra 260 g/h from a Sicce Nano pump.
Parameters
T 25°C - 77°F
Sal 1.025
NO3 1-0.5
PO4 0.015
Ca 420
Mg 1230
Alk 9.6-9.9

I try to feed my LPS twice a week with either LPS pellets from Fauna Marin, Arctic Plankton from FM or Reef Roids. All LPS (but the Euphyllia) readily accept the food. (any tips on how to feed Euphyllia are also welcome).

Any insight is more than welcome!

Thank you guys very much for reading and have a great weekend

Niels

 

[CuzzA]

How are you feeding them? Broadcast or target? I use Reef Roids, but make a sludge and
squirt each head which results in a feeding response. I do this with flow off.

As for your parameters, alk is a little high for a low nutrient system. I'd feed more to get your po4 up around .05.

Regardless, I'd probably go ahead and pull them and give them a bath in Coral Rx. They could be suffering from some sort of infection and run some GAC too in case there's some sort of toxin that is bothering them.

 

[NielsC]

Hi!

Thanks for the quick reply.

I target feed them indeed (dropping pellets on them, ejecting the plankton over the colony or pipetting a thickish slurry of RR on them). They seem to catch the food with mucus but somehow never "pull it in", if that makes sense?

I'm not dosing anything so the Alk is probably due to the Coral Pro salt from Red Sea. You reckon I should switch brands/salts to lower my alk?

I only have 2 Occelaris in the tank right now that I feed quite heavily. That, combined with the feeding of the corals puzzles me that my nitrates and phosphates are so low. I will try to up the feeding regimen to increase the nutrient load in the tank.

I have a bottle of Coral Revive laying around. Could that be a good substitute as well for the Coral RX?

For months I have some GAC in my filtersock. I replace this on a weekly basis. I use the stuff from Red Sea, if that matters?

Once again, thanks for your input! Greatly appreciated.

Niels

 

[DMG Reef]

I think your problem is your nutrient levels. With them testing so low, you could be within the margin of error and actually be zero.

I set up a frag tank last year and moved my 3-year old euphyllias into it. Within weeks, they experienced polyp bailout on several heads. I had to move them back to the display to save them. With no fish in the frag tank, my nutrients were zero. In my display, I can move them into high light, low light, high flow or low flow. They do fine anywhere I place them as long as the water chemistry is good, including sufficient nitrates and PO4.

 

[CuzzA]

Hi!

Thanks for the quick reply.

I target feed them indeed (dropping pellets on them, ejecting the plankton over the colony or pipetting a thickish slurry of RR on them). They seem to catch the food with mucus but somehow never "pull it in", if that makes sense?

I'm not dosing anything so the Alk is probably due to the Coral Pro salt from Red Sea. You reckon I should switch brands/salts to lower my alk?

I only have 2 Occelaris in the tank right now that I feed quite heavily. That, combined with the feeding of the corals puzzles me that my nitrates and phosphates are so low. I will try to up the feeding regimen to increase the nutrient load in the tank.

I have a bottle of Coral Revive laying around. Could that be a good substitute as well for the Coral RX?

For months I have some GAC in my filtersock. I replace this on a weekly basis. I use the stuff from Red Sea, if that matters?

Once again, thanks for your input! Greatly appreciated.

Niels

I have come to learn my sweet spot for a mixed reef is maintaining a po4 above .05 and below .1. Reef Roids will most definitely increase po4. So I'd start feeding and testing daily. I'd add more fish if you can. I also feed Brightwell CoralAmino. My LFS feeds all of his displays Dr. G's LPS Max, it has a decent amount of phosphate and his corals look really great. I may add it to my feed as well.

Here's his LPS tank. Fed with Dr. G's. You can't see it, but in the middle is a volleyball size goni. Pretty impressive and all very healthy.

 

[NielsC]

Hi guys

Thanks for your help.

I will start increasing my nutrient levels by upping my feeding game. Futhermore, I will look into introducing some extra tank inhabitants.

Any tips on how to feed the Euphyllia? I sprayed them with a mixture of Polyp Booster and Reef Roids today. Some heads seemed to react to this, but the uptake was very very slow. Even after one hour they were still trying to pull in the food. Is that normal?