Let's talk about PE, Bay-bee!

[jackson6745]

What nitrate and phosphate levels are your running? My first thought is bottomed out po4 giving that thin skin unhealthy look to some of your pieces. Running levels around .1 always gave me better PE

 

[d2mini]

What nitrate and phosphate levels are your running? My first thought is bottomed out po4 giving that thin skin unhealthy look to some of your pieces. Running levels around .1 always gave me better PE

It's in my OP.
8 and .05 when i posted.

 

[jackson6745]

It's in my OP.
8 and .05 when i posted.

Gotcha, missed that . Are your po4 test results first thing in morning before any feedings?

 

[d2mini]

Gotcha, missed that . Are your po4 test results first thing in morning before any feedings?

I test at various times, not sure when i tested that time. Tested it yesterday morning and it was .08
I've been adding NeoPhos by hand to keep it elevated since it had gotten too low at one point. So it will vary a little. Just bought a new bottle yesterday and going to put it into the last spot on my doser next to the Nitrate for better consistency.

 

[jackson6745]

I test at various times, not sure when i tested that time. Tested it yesterday morning and it was .08
I've been adding NeoPhos by hand to keep it elevated since it had gotten too low at one point. So it will vary a little. Just bought a new bottle yesterday and going to put it into the last spot on my doser next to the Nitrate for better consistency.

Reason why I ask is because my po4 will swing .05 in a day. It’s always lowest in the morning before feedings so I consider that the base. If you find yourself needing po4 addition, try reef roids over liquid po4.. It makes sps very shaggy IME.

 

[d2mini]

Reason why I ask is because my po4 will swing .05 in a day. It’s always lowest in the morning before feedings so I consider that the base. If you find yourself needing po4 addition, try reef roids over liquid po4.. It makes sps very shaggy IME.

Thanks, I'll grab some.

 

[Big E]

Like Rich said use Reefroids and heavily feed the fish. Liquid P04 and N03 should only be short term fixes.

I didn't see your fish load but if you can add more fish do it. Fish poop is the best P04 and the corals need ammonium and urea from the fish (gills).

Another way you can do this is to control your export system. I doubt you need an algae filter if you have one on the tank................it is just going to compete with the corals. You can also play with reducing the hours you run a skimmer.

 

[d2mini]

Like Rich said use Reefroids and heavily feed the fish. Liquid P04 and N03 should only be short term fixes.

I didn't see your fish load but if you can add more fish do it. Fish poop is the best P04 and the corals need ammonium and urea from the fish (gills).

Another way you can do this is to control your export system. I doubt you need an algae filter if you have one on the tank................it is just going to compete with the corals. You can also play with reducing the hours you run a skimmer.

I've been struggling with low nutrients but hair algae issues.
I've had low nutrients for awhile. Then later, while still having low nutrients, the HA starting showing up.

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

God questions but I haven't seen any pests and it's not like this is a new thing so if I had something like red bugs they'd have been in there for the past year. lol
And no bite marks or other tissue damage.

Same answer pretty much with the only fish that I would say would be prone to nipping which is my coral beauty, one of the first fish in the tank.

Yeah, it's not a bad theory, but in a year I've never actually seen that fish (or any fish) bothering any of my corals.

And FWIW, all my LPS torches, hammers, octos, dendro, all look fantastic.

Jumping on the Coral Beauty wagon here too. Many years ago in an older display I had the same issue. But I did actually observe the fish nipping so there was do question what was going on. CB's are notorious nippers as im Sure you are aware.

Believe it or not, my Beauty liked the old ORA Red Planet so much, that I was able to trap him using a hunk of the Planet as bait. Took about 10 minutes lol.

I'd say it's probable that the Coral beauty is part of or all of the problem but I could be wrong. If there's any way to get them out that would be a certainly an easy way to scratch him off the list at least.

 

[Big E]

Algae-- If you can scrub down the algae by hand. Clean up crews including tangs aren't going to touch if it's tall. They like it when it's soft and short.

Make a effort to baste the rocks and get any detritus out of them. The algae can grab that and feed off it. I usually baste about 15 minutes before lights out. Do it daily and keep doing until there isn't any detritus blowing out.

 

[Max93]

White bugs? From your pics.

Couple of your images show these.

White bugs imo won’t kill your acros or reduce colors, but they will irritate PE - I noticed that acros in higher flow have no white bugs on them, but the ones more center to the tank sure do. My solution - mandarin/dragonet. I barely see them now. Also had some pipefish for a bit.

 

[d2mini]

@Max93 @SamMule @Troylee @ArachnoJoozt

Well, i found them! Definitely bugaboos. Could see them crawling around.
Just ordered a few tabs of Interceptor 51-100 lb. Should be plenty for my 60g!

 

[ArachnoJoozt]

@Max93 @SamMule @Troylee @ArachnoJoozt

Well, i found them! Definitely bugaboos. Could see them crawling around.
Just ordered a few tabs of Interceptor 51-100 lb. Should be plenty for my 60g!

Sucks that you have bugs, but at least you know what you are fighting . Good luck with the treatment!!

 

[d2mini]

Sucks that you have bugs, but at least you know what you are fighting . Good luck with the treatment!!

Thanks! Hopefully shipping from CanadaPetCare doesn't take too long so I can get to treating soon.

 

[d2mini]

So I dosed the second tab of Interceptor yesterday.

Here's a screenshot of the same coral above... before on the left with the bugaboos, and today on the right.
Bugs are gone. Looks like there are some other differences in overall texture of the coral.

 

[shakacuz]

So I dosed the second tab of Interceptor yesterday.

Here's a screenshot of the same coral above... before on the left with the bugaboos, and today on the right.
Bugs are gone. Looks like there are some other differences in overall texture of the coral.

success!!

 

[Max93]

Nice!! Please keep updating

 

[Ghostbuster]

So I dosed the second tab of Interceptor yesterday.

Here's a screenshot of the same coral above... before on the left with the bugaboos, and today on the right.
Bugs are gone. Looks like there are some other differences in overall texture of the coral.

Extremely detailed photos! Looks great!

 

[Max93]

How’d it go?

 

[d2mini]

How’d it go?

Just did the 3rd and final dose this afternoon!
Nothing else has changed at the moment.