HELP! Torch coral melting!!!

[Cassian]

ive had this torch for about a year now. it has about 4-5 heads and has been very healthy. A couple of weeks ago it started to stay in its Skelton a bit more than usual and my clown was pecking on it. I then transferred to a new tank because I was upgrading. The torch remained half extended for about a week, but yesterday it just started melting. My clown has been picking on it occasionally, so I moved it to my refugium. All but one head looks completely gone now. should I frag off the head that is left? what can cause this to happen?

Params:
these have all been constant and nothing has changed except an increased level in Cal and Mag when I moved to the new tank.

salinity: 1.025
temp: 79 F
ph: 8
Nitrate, nitrite ammonia: 0ppm
cal: 500
Mag: 1600
Alk: 9

only fish in the tank are two cinnamon clowns, three firefish, and an eel

 

[Cassian]

I can get pics later if that would help

 

[sixty_reefer]

No3 at 0 is already a bad sign, what’s your po4 reading? Also as above pics would probably help to identify the problem.

 

[Cassian]

bump. could this maybe be bacteria related? thee was also some bubble algae on the skeleton, but I scraped it off

 

[Cassian]

No3 at 0 is already a bad sign, what’s your po4 reading? Also as above pics would probably help to identify the problem.

po4 is 0 as well. why is 0 nitates a bad sign? I know some people like it around 10ppm, but I prefer no nitrates and heavy feeding.

 

[sixty_reefer]

po4 is 0 as well. why is 0 nitates a bad sign? I know some people like it around 10ppm, but I prefer no nitrates and heavy feeding.

Corals need nitrates and po4 to survive, if both levels are 0 then you just slowly starving the coral. Just remember that people running ultra low nutrient system, still have both N and P detectable, as the word says “ultra low”, not a “zero” nutrient system. Also at those levels dinoflagellates is eminent if they not already present. Hope it helps.

 

[Cassian]

Corals need nitrates and po4 to survive, if both levels are 0 then you just slowly starving the coral. Just remember that people running ultra low nutrient system, still have both N and P detectable, as the word says “ultra low”, not a “zero” nutrient system. Also at those levels dinoflagellates is eminent if they not already present. Hope it helps.

thanks for the info! been running my tanks for years at 0. I will have to research more about this