Purple Stylo dying- HELP PLEASE!

SBlisters · Mar 6, 2017

I got this stylophora from a LFS 22 days ago. When I got it, it looked like this:

After a week in my tank, it started to purple up more and seemed to settle in.

Recently things have changed. It closed up and basically wont open back up.

Today is the worst. After almost a week of being closed up, the polyps are now sloughing off, and skeleton is showing.

I have a 30 gal tank with an aquaray light. Flow is set to vary. I've been feeding phytofeast. Parameters below:

Tank has been running with live rock and live sand and most everything in it since early November. tankmates: 1 clownfish, 1 Halloween hermit crab, 1 blue legged hermit crab, 1 margarita snail, 1 ninja star snail, 1 bubble tip brittle star. Other coral are too far away to reach. Some hitchhikers. Never have seen anything touch this coral, day or night.

Is there any hope of saving this Stylo? Any help very appreciated.

dave57 · Mar 6, 2017

I noticed you you've included some of your parameters, I'm concerned about your alkalinity and or any swings in parameters? How about nutrient levels in the tank?

taintstick · Mar 6, 2017

I would consider fragging off what you can and dipping in Coral Rx and hopefully you'll be able to save the pieces.
Good luck bud!

Salty1962 · Mar 6, 2017

Too much light and/or Alk swings would be my best guess.

reefwiser · Mar 6, 2017

You are using http://www.aquarayusa.com/ lights have you checked them with a par meter. Looks like the piece is half way up in the tank. Have you tried moving in lower in the tank. Mine is under a 175 watt 20 k MH with a lot of flow and its polyps are always out and it always adding new branches.
An it is a grape popsicle color. I would move it and see how it reacts.

SBlisters · Mar 6, 2017

Thanks guys. I switched to just the blue lights for today.
I'll move it down and give it a couple more days to see if that helps. If it doesn't, I'll chop it up, and see if I can save it as frags (lower in the tank). I really appreciate the quick replies!

sk8elenex92 · Mar 6, 2017

I don't think its going to be due to lighting. Looks like you have hammers up high. You did not post your ALK parameter, I think that is one of the most important parameters to keep track of.

SBlisters · Mar 6, 2017

I lent out my alkalinity test kit, so I don't have recent parameters for it. Last was 9.

SBlisters · Mar 6, 2017

I rearranged the tank to drop down the stylo, but still keep it in fluctuating flow.
This is hardly ideal, and I kicked up sand. Everybody is ticked off, except the hermit my clean up crew, which finds it great fun.

I'm only running blue lights for the next 2 days to see if the distance away from the light and only having the blue make a difference.

I'll get my KH kit back this weekend, and will be able to recheck it.

SBlisters · Mar 6, 2017

reefwiser said:
You are using http://www.aquarayusa.com/ lights have you checked them with a par meter. Looks like the piece is half way up in the tank. Have you tried moving in lower in the tank. Mine is under a 175 watt 20 k MH with a lot of flow and its polyps are always out and it always adding new branches.
An it is a grape popsicle color. I would move it and see how it reacts.

I haven't checked the light output. They were with the tank when I got it, and I liked the look, so I just bought them as is. I'm a real newbie to salt, which is probably pretty obvious [emoji53]

sk8elenex92 · Mar 7, 2017

What lights do you run?

SBlisters · Mar 7, 2017

sk8elenex92 said:
What lights do you run?

http://www.aquarayusa.com/aquabeam-1000hd-ultra.html

reefwiser · Mar 7, 2017

Never loan out a Alk test kit. Tell people to get their own. I test alk every day. If your alk is at 9 dkh I would see if you can get it down to between 7 and 8 dkh. When my corals do the worse is when they are at 9. I will get polyp contraction and sliming at the tips. But I am always watching what the corals are doing and reading parameters. So I gauge this a little more closely than the average person.

SBlisters · Mar 7, 2017

reefwiser said:
Never loan out a Alk test kit. Tell people to get their own. I test alk every day. If your alk is at 9 dkh I would see if you can get it down to between 7 and 8 dkh. When my corals do the worse is when they are at 9. I will get polyp contraction and sliming at the tips. But I am always watching what the corals are doing and reading parameters. So I gauge this a little more closely than the average person.

She started a nearly self-sustaining fresh water tank akin to my own fresh water tank, something that needs a few tests at the beginning and may never need it again. My own tank parameters (salt and fresh) had been very stable. That's why I loaned it out. It seemed silly for her to buy for just that. I'll have it back this weekend and can resume testing.
What I'd been advised to really watch was my salinity and pH. I've been pretty religious about those. I assume you mean Kh when you say alkalinity? I'd thought when I saw talk here and there about alkalinity, it was just as its related to pH (e.g. higher pH = higher alkalinity).
When I've seen ideal parameters listed for marine life, it is typically listed with just temp, salt and pH too, so I thought I was regularly checking what was most important/less stable, and intermittently checking the rest (e.g. kH, gH, calcium).

I will start doing regular checking of it.

SBlisters · Mar 8, 2017

The polyps have started coming back out niw. They are small and brown, but at least visible. Most of it is dead. There are 2 viable trochus snail shells in the coral - something that the coral grew over and wasn't identifiable until now.

A critter is now on it too, that I haven't identified yet.

reefwiser · Mar 9, 2017

Purple Stylo is a super Hardy coral believe me I know.

They can handle a lot of abuse for sure. They are very sensitive to lighting thou on of the corals that made me switch back to MH as I love the super purple they get under 20K MH lighting.

SBlisters · Mar 9, 2017

I had my water tested today, and my nitrates are a little high, despite a recent water change. I bought some more test kits.
I think the dead bits look more dead today, but the alive bits look a little better.

taintstick · Mar 10, 2017

Sorry man, but looks like it's still receding. IMO, not to be negative, it's a few days away from kickin rocks...
still hoping it will make a 180 and come back for ya!

reefwiser · Mar 10, 2017

I would frag the best looking pieces and go from there.

SBlisters · Mar 10, 2017

taintstick said:
Sorry man, but looks like it's still receding. IMO, not to be negative, it's a few days away from kickin rocks...
still hoping it will make a 180 and come back for ya!

What is still there is actually coming out, which is what I found encouraging. I've got 0 experience with this though, so I believe you. Installed a protein skimmer last night. Checked nitrates again today and they are still high (160).