Lobo has some holes

[Maebh]

Calcium is low but its had theses holes since I got it, and I feel theyre getting bigger. Alk was low but I upped it. Any ideas on whats causing them?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

The usual suspects for coral issues are lighting, flow, parameters, and other creatures.

With your parameters, your Nitrate is low and your Phosphate is high; Alk of 11 is high enough that I know it could cause problems for SPS when paired with off nutrient levels (high Alk is frequently used to encourage fast growth in sticks, but it's not typically recommended for less-experienced reefers from what I've seen), but I'm not sure for LPS; 1600 Mag is quite high even accounting for the inaccuracies of Magnesium test kits, but I'm not sure it would be causing the issue.

I don't know what your lighting and flow are like for the coral, but they'd likely be worth sharing for the collective here to sort through.

Any chance you either have critters living in the holes and growing them that way or critters from elsewhere in the tank bothering the coral?

Coral disease is also a possibility, but I'm not very knowledgeable on those yet (I have a bunch of articles I need to read to get started, but it'll probably be a while), so I'm not very helpful there at the moment.

 

[VintageReefer]

Is it holes? Or is it skeletal spines poking through the flesh?

 

[Spare time]

You need nitrate of at least a few more ppm. Your phosphate is very high at 0.2ppm assuming you didn't mean 0.02ppm but that should be causing this issue.

 

[TeamAquaSD Verified Sponsor]

Calcium is low but its had theses holes since I got it, and I feel theyre getting bigger. Alk was low but I upped it. Any ideas on whats causing them?

Was this photo taken with an orange filter or are your lights normally that white?

I would definetly lower mag but my personal tank usually sits areound 1550 which I prefer for my specific tank.

Nitrate should be low but measurable and not 0'd out.
Phos is fairly high and should be lowered.
Does not look like holes and might be skeleton from bleaching due to too high of light.

 

[Solo McReefer]

0.02ppm

Maybe the hundreds of glass anemones are using up all the phosphate

Could be

Anyway
Reminds me of VR's Raja with worm holes

 

[VintageReefer]

I see skeletal ridges poking through flesh which is common for corals like lobo and Cynarina from stress, especially if shipped. The coral isn’t inflating enough, to explain it better, it’s vertically retracted. Low flow, and better, stable, conditions can make it recover. It takes a week to see improvement. Decrease alk, increase nitrates, feed it if you see feeding tentacles. Ensure low flow and low light during recovery period

 

[Maebh]

Was this photo taken with an orange filter or are your lights normally that white?

I would definetly lower mag but my personal tank usually sits areound 1550 which I prefer for my specific tank.

Nitrate should be low but measurable and not 0'd out.
Phos is fairly high and should be lowered.
Does not look like holes and might be skeleton from bleaching due to too high of light.

Mag is too high, its usually lower but user error with a supplement meant it went far over what i like. My light are normally that white, mabye a little bluer, I have a lot of macroalgae which looks better in white. Thanks for your help!

 

[Maebh]

The usual suspects for coral issues are lighting, flow, parameters, and other creatures.

With your parameters, your Nitrate is low and your Phosphate is high; Alk of 11 is high enough that I know it could cause problems for SPS when paired with off nutrient levels (high Alk is frequently used to encourage fast growth in sticks, but it's not typically recommended for less-experienced reefers from what I've seen), but I'm not sure for LPS; 1600 Mag is quite high even accounting for the inaccuracies of Magnesium test kits, but I'm not sure it would be causing the issue.

I don't know what your lighting and flow are like for the coral, but they'd likely be worth sharing for the collective here to sort through.

Any chance you either have critters living in the holes and growing them that way or critters from elsewhere in the tank bothering the coral?

Coral disease is also a possibility, but I'm not very knowledgeable on those yet (I have a bunch of articles I need to read to get started, but it'll probably be a while), so I'm not very helpful there at the moment.

Thanks! Its in the corner away from light, and for now I've shaded it even more so it can heal. Its not in a high flow area. I havent seen any creatures burrowing, but ill keep an eye on it. I'm starting all for reef so hopefully that will level them out.

 

[Maebh]

I see skeletal ridges poking through flesh which is common for corals like lobo and Cynarina from stress, especially if shipped. The coral isn’t inflating enough, to explain it better, it’s vertically retracted. Low flow, and better, stable, conditions can make it recover. It takes a week to see improvement. Decrease alk, increase nitrates, feed it if you see feeding tentacles. Ensure low flow and low light during recovery period

okay, thank you!

 

[Maebh]

For some reason my phosphate test (red sea) only measures in 0.1-0.2 not 0.01-0.02. Anyone know why that is?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

For some reason my phosphate test (red sea) only measures in 0.1-0.2 not 0.01-0.02. Anyone know why that is?

That seems odd - the Red Sea Phosphate Pro test I've seen goes from 0-5 with a reported +/- 0.02 ppm accuracy.

What kit are you using?

 

[Maebh]

That seems odd - the Red Sea Phosphate Pro test I've seen goes from 0-5 with a reported +/- 0.02 ppm accuracy.

What kit are you using?

Im using Marine test kit Phosphate. This is the card mine comes with Its not great if ive been mwasuring in 0.1 over 0.01

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Im using Marine test kit Phosphate. This is the card mine comes with Its not great if ive been mwasuring in 0.1 over 0.01

Haha, yeah, I'd probably swap that out for a more precise test kit.

 

[Maebh]

Haha, yeah, I'd probably swap that out for a more precise test kit.

Okay, I might get the salifert, just hope it's not measuring in 1.0

 

[Uncle99]

Okay, I might get the salifert, just hope it's not measuring in 1.0

I’d pass on any kit other than the Hanna for phosphate. Worth every penny that one IMM.

 

[Maebh]

Hey all, so the lobo has slowly gotten worse and recently took a dip. The first two pics are from last week the next two from today. Eveything else in the tank is doing well. These are the parameters from last week:
alkalinity 3.93,
pH. 8.2,
ammonia 0
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
salinity 1.026
magnesium 1410
phosphate 0 to 0.1
calcium 350
I know phosphate and nitrates need to be upped, and I've been feeding more since last wk, but doesn't seem to be making a difference.