Is my Lobo healthy??

diveinheadfirst · Mar 21, 2023

This is my first coral, along with the two frags I picked up alongside it. I have read and re read everything I can find about Lobos but I simply don’t have the experience to go it alone.

parameters are currently

sal: 1.026
Ph: 8.0
Alk: 9.0
Cal: 440
Mag: 1450
No3: ~5
Po4: .11

At night the lobo will open and have its feeders out, and I target feed it ROE and copepods every morning before lights on.

my question is, does it look healthy and what things can I look for to indicate that one way or the other? Thank you for any help, it is greatly appreciated!

happy reefing

yanni · Mar 21, 2023

Lobos are pretty simple. May want to lower ur phosphate, that’s a bit high. And pH slightly up to 8.2-8.4.

When they’re happy, they’re super puffy and inflated, look just like a giant pillow. It’s good it’s feeders are out. It looks a little skinny under whites, but just give it time.

diveinheadfirst · Mar 21, 2023

yanni said:
Lobos are pretty simple. May want to lower ur phosphate, that’s a bit high. And pH slightly up to 8.2-8.4.

When they’re happy, they’re super puffy and inflated, look just like a giant pillow. It’s good it’s feeders are out. It looks a little skinny under whites, but just give it time.

Thank you! I just captured a Timelapse of its morning feeding. Seemed to have a good feeding response. Just don’t want to harm the animal, or lose my first coral!

homer1475 · Mar 21, 2023

Looks absolutely fine, and your parameters are pretty spot on. I have never tried to manipulate my PH other an an airline outside to my skimmer which brings me up to 8.0 which is perfectly fine. Everyone wants that magical 8.3 dragon, but it's not some magical number that makes corals grow. Yes higher PH can make corals grow better, and faster, but it's mostly not needed unless you want maximum growth so you can frag faster.

I prefer lower alkalinity(nominal ocean values are 6.4) around 7, but anywhere between 7 and 10 is fine.

yanni · Mar 21, 2023

homer1475 said:
Looks absolutely fine, and your parameters are pretty spot on. I have never tried to manipulate my PH other an an airline outside to my skimmer which brings me up to 8.0 which is perfectly fine. Everyone wants that magical 8.3 dragon, but it's not some magical number that makes corals grow. Yes higher PH can make corals grow better, and faster, but it's mostly not needed unless you want maximum growth so you can frag faster.

I prefer lower alkalinity(nominal ocean values are 6.4) around 7, but anywhere between 7 and 10 is fine.

This exactly. It’d be ideal, but not necessary. Mine sits around 8.2 and is fine