Orange Leptastrea Not Looking Good.

[Bolen2]

Hello everyone, today I got an order in from LiveAquaria that included an Orange Eye Leptastrea. I haven’t had very many LPS in my time and with very little success. I’ve gone all out on my most recent setup in a way I was never able to before so I felt comfortable trying it again. Well it gets here and it’s shriveled up in a way that I have never seen LPS before. It sort of looks like brain coral now. It appears that some polyps May have died during shipping because I can see spots of exposed skeleton with no fleshy bits on it. My parameters are good and I keep a very close eye on it especially when I have new arrivals coming. Temp is 78F and specific gravity is 1.025. Water flow is medium indirect and lighting is moderate. Thanks for any input.

Note: the lighting is not near as blue as it shows in this photo. The camera just makes it seem that way. I’ll post a better quality picture when I get a chance.

 

[blaxsun]

It's not dead - just not particularly happy. What are your water parameters like?

 

[Bolen2]

It's not dead - just not particularly happy. What are your water parameters like?

PH- 8.0
PO4- 0
NO3- 0
NO2- 0.5
dKH- 6.72
Ca- 480
Temperature- 78F

 

[Bolen2]

It still hasn’t really opened up. I decided to move it and see if it helps but it’s still closed. Looks like some of it may be starting to bleach. I know I’m not blasting it with light or flow either so I don’t know what could be the issue, however it is eating well when I spot feed it.

 

[blaxsun]

It still hasn’t really opened up. I decided to move it and see if it helps but it’s still closed. Looks like some of it may be starting to bleach. I know I’m not blasting it with light or flow either so I don’t know what could be the issue, however it is eating well when I spot feed it.

You need some nutrients my friend. Corals don't like zero phosphates and nitrates.

 

[Bolen2]

You need some nutrients my friend. Corals don't like zero phosphates and nitrates.

Thanks. Any suggestions as to increasing them?

 

[blaxsun]

Thanks. Any suggestions as to increasing them?

In the short term, you could look at dosing them. But we'd probably need a few details on your setup to offer any other suggestions, ie: tank size, filtration, cleanup crew, etc.

 

[Dburr1014]

Here's a link from tidal gardens.

Orange & Green Leptastrea

This Leptastrea has a green base and bright golden orange polyps edged in purple. When the polyps expand the base is not visible except on areas of new growth. This WYSIWYG frag is roughly 1"+.

www.tidalgardens.com

Strong flow and 150+ par. It could take a few day to get settled in also. Definatly need nutrients.