Lobo advice

[ytsejam02]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice. I bought this lobo at the fragfest. It appears to be receding and I don't know why. It's so slow that I'm questioning myself, buy I think it's going downhill.

Params:
Nitrate: 2 ppm
All: 7dkh
Calcium: 450
Phosphate: ~0
Salinity: 1.0255

He's sitting about 28" below Kessil a360we running no more than 40% which ramps up to that around midday and stays there for a few hours before ramping down.

It's a 55g tank, and I have about 1400gph of flow, 550 from the top left, 725 from top right. He's sitting on the bottom right.

His feeders barely ever came out, but they do a little after lights out. I believe he has eaten, but it's so slow it's hard to tell without staring for hours!

Here's a before:

After:

I'd hate to lose him. :-(

Advice?

Thx in advance!
Jay

 

[ahiggins]

Have you tried turning off flow and feeding reef roids?
Ive never had lobos but thats how I got my acans to stop the tissue recession and bulk back up to their fluffy selves.
Good luck hes really pretty

 

[ytsejam02]

Have you tried turning off flow and feeding reef roids?
Ive never had lobos but thats how I got my acans to stop the tissue recession and bulk back up to their fluffy selves.
Good luck hes really pretty

Thx for the response! Just to be clear, you're saying turn off the flow just to get the roids, then turn back on right?

I have not tried roids.

I only convinced myself there was a problem this morning. :-(. I should've looked at that before pic sooner.

Ill check it out, thx again!

 

[ytsejam02]

I've been feeding a combo of reef chili and LPs grow+color 2x a week.

 

[stevo01]

Read this article for care guidelines of Lobo.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-love-your-lobo-tips-for-success-with-lobophyllia.133198/

 

[oneofmany]

Give it some shade for a week or so and see how it responds. Move it towards the light and up if need be. It's a marathon not a sprint.

Here's another link that might help. Different, but the same.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/11/inverts

 

[stevo01]

First, make sure its a healthy specimen, and not carrying an infection.

Your alk is just a little low. Lobo is picky about ALK and like 8-10dkh. Water temp is also big with Lobo. They like it on the cooler side around 75. Lastly, water flow is important with Lobo too. They dont like to be blasted with flow.

Looking at the picture, hes telling you hes not happy. Good luck.

 

[oneofmany]

I wonder if those spikes are a result of fiddling with it? From the pictures I'm assuming the parameters are within reason. It's something else IMO.

 

[ahiggins]

Thx for the response! Just to be clear, you're saying turn off the flow just to get the roids, then turn back on right?

I have not tried roids.

I only convinced myself there was a problem this morning. :-(. I should've looked at that before pic sooner.

Ill check it out, thx again!

Had to get the responses flowing
Yes, turn off all the flow-feed the roids (theres no set concentration, just mix a pinch in with a mil or 2 of tank water. only make what you will use). Put them right where his feelers/mouth are. Wait for him to have a reaction. If he eats, wait for him to finish (~10 min ) then blow off excess and turn pumps back on.
If he doesnt eat...then wait ~25-30 min, blow off excess and turn pumps back on.
Ive never kept a lobo but this is how I saved 3 rainbow acans from complete tissue loss.

 

[Vincent100]

Iv a couple of lobos , I get the best feeding response from these lps pellets , seems like they like them better than frozen foods
Just my 2 cents worth

 

[ytsejam02]

I wonder if those spikes are a result of fiddling with it? From the pictures I'm assuming the parameters are within reason. It's something else IMO.

I haven't really done anything with it. So unless the tank inhabitants are doing something when I'm not looking, I don't know what could be the issue there. I lost one coral early in my reef hobby from fiddling with it, so i learned my lesson the hard way with that. Now I typically leave them alone once I decide permanent placement. This guy, being on the gravel, has been right where he is since the beginning.

 

[ytsejam02]

First, make sure its a healthy specimen, and not carrying an infection.

Your alk is just a little low. Lobo is picky about ALK and like 8-10dkh. Water temp is also big with Lobo. They like it on the cooler side around 75. Lastly, water flow is important with Lobo too. They dont like to be blasted with flow.

Looking at the picture, hes telling you hes not happy. Good luck.

I bought from Pacific east aquaculture and it did look healthy.

I recently started dosing, and having some issues keeping parameters stable. Calcium was going up too much, and alk was good, so it's been fluctuating, maybe that's why?

Anyway, I'm dosing alk again to bring it back up. Not sure if that swing is going to cause issues. It shouldn't go up by more than .5 dkh per day right now. I'll take another reading.

On water temp, I keep between 78-79. So obviously there's a big difference. I can work at bringing that down, but not sure what affect that'll have on the rest if my inhabitants who are doing fine?

 

[ytsejam02]

First, make sure its a healthy specimen, and not carrying an infection.

Your alk is just a little low. Lobo is picky about ALK and like 8-10dkh. Water temp is also big with Lobo. They like it on the cooler side around 75. Lastly, water flow is important with Lobo too. They dont like to be blasted with flow.

Looking at the picture, hes telling you hes not happy. Good luck.

Oh, and I don't think the flow is too bad at the bottom, but I can try removing ine of the power heads. That'll take it down 425 gph.

 

[oneofmany]

Light and a stable environment is really all they need IME. FWIW here's a picture of mine when it was a $10 frag. It's a MONSTER now. (I'll post a picture tomorrow)

EDIT: lol I think I may have fed it some NLS pellets in that picture.



This thing is a MONSTER now.

 

[ahiggins]

Iv a couple of lobos , I get the best feeding response from these lps pellets , seems like they like them better than frozen foods
Just my 2 cents worth

Have you fed any acans with this? Ive never tried that one

 

[Vincent100]

Have you fed any acans with this? Ive never tried that one

Yes ahiggins thats what I mostly feed them
All my lps love them ..and I rate them a lot

 

[ahiggins]

I think I will try that-thanks for the idea

 

[ytsejam02]

I have a hard time gauging flow, especially when they don't have moving parts.

I took out my 425gph powrhead that was on the top right. Was mostly using it because my water was a but stagnate on the surface on that side. I have a tunze 6045 on the left, set to maybe 550gph... Hard to tell sinc e it's manual.

I also turned my heater down 1 degree and programmed my apex to turn off at 78. I'll bring it down 1 degree per day for the next couple of days. I don't want to bring it down too much, so I'll start with 2 degrees and see how everyone reacts.

I moved him a bit closer to the rocks in hopes of a little less flow.

I gauge the flow by food flowing past it. It does not speed past it by any means. I would describe it as a gentle floating past it, on an obvious current.

 

[ytsejam02]

Of course, now I am fiddling with it, buy after 6 weeks, I think it's clear he's unhappy. :-(

 

[oneofmany]

FWIW sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all... A simple "routine" might be all that is required.