Recessed trumpet - what should I do?

[DonF]

Temp 80-82F
Salinity 1.025
Alk 9.4
Ca 420
Mg 1400
Nitrate 3ppm (Hanna tester)
Phosphate 0.13 (Hanna tester)
Ammonia 0.2

Tank is 3 years old. Trumpet was added a few months ago. It was doing well, then we had to do a 3 day blackout followed by 5 days of peroxide to get rid of dinos. It seemed fine afterwards, but fast forward two weeks from end of that process and it’s receding.

Haven’t seen its tentacles in ages. Turn off pumps and lights in evening to prompt it, but nothing. Tried feeding misis and finally reef roids. No dice.

Phosphate was much lower last week, but spiked after the reef roids. Anyway, I think phosphate should be beneficial in this case, no?

It’s sitting near bottom of tank, so not too much light.

AI Prime light running “Pirates of the Caribbean” program (lots of blue).

 

[Reefing102]

Hmm not entirely sure. Have you noticed any pests or fish picking at it?

 

[DonF]

Hmm not entirely sure. Have you noticed any pests or fish picking at it?

Nope.

 

[DonF]

It's looking worse by the day. Now skeleton is poking out in spots. :-( I wish I had some idea what went wrong. I've been fanatically testing my water and it's fine.

I wonder if I should move it to refugium to guarantee nothing picks at it. Would full spectrum refugium light (tunze) be OK for a coral?

 

[Shirak]

What other stony corals do you have and how do they look?

80-82 F is a little on the warm side but not sure it would be the main cause.

3ppm NO3 is low. You said your PO4 spiked because of the reef roids. What was it before? My guess is the low nutrients and it's slowly been starving and shrinking.

 

[Losirk]

Do you have any Peppermint Shrimp? Mine were feasting on my trumpet when the lights were out. For an invert that is invisible during the day, they sure are confident during the night.

 

[CanuckReefer]

It's looking worse by the day. Now skeleton is poking out in spots. :-( I wish I had some idea what went wrong. I've been fanatically testing my water and it's fine.

I wonder if I should move it to refugium to guarantee nothing picks at it. Would full spectrum refugium light (tunze) be OK for a coral?

Trumpets don't need a ton of light in my experience, I would bump it over and see...

What other stony corals do you have and how do they look?

80-82 F is a little on the warm side but not sure it would be the main cause.

3ppm NO3 is low. You said your PO4 spiked because of the reef roids. What was it before? My guess is the low nutrients and it's slowly been starving and shrinking.

Temp I run mine at 81-82 for years, makes them more resilient IMO, It's a close watch to not go any higher but we manage lol. Agreed the low NO3 is maybe a concern, I'm also wondering if a fish or crustacean has a taste for Trumpet....

 

[DonF]

What other stony corals do you have and how do they look?

80-82 F is a little on the warm side but not sure it would be the main cause.

3ppm NO3 is low. You said your PO4 spiked because of the reef roids. What was it before? My guess is the low nutrients and it's slowly been starving and shrinking.

No other stony corals - just softies. Temp is deliberate. Like everything in this hobby there’s debate, but I’ve had good luck running on the warmer side.

NO3 is still holding around 3. I think I will dose some today.

Before the roids phosphate was 0.05.

Do you have any Peppermint Shrimp? Mine were feasting on my trumpet when the lights were out. For an invert that is invisible during the day, they sure are confident during the night.

Not currently. I had some to eradicate aptasia, which they did very well. When they eventually aged out I didn’t get more.

Trumpets don't need a ton of light in my experience, I would bump it over and see...

Temp I run mine at 81-82 for years, makes them more resilient IMO, It's a close watch to not go any higher but we manage lol. Agreed the low NO3 is maybe a concern, I'm also wondering if a fish or crustacean has a taste for Trumpet....

I have a big blue knuckle hermit. Had him for years, now. I’ve never seen him mess with corals, though. Rest of my crustaceans are just tiny buggers.

I think you guys are right about nutrients. I’m going to try slowly raising NO3. I’ve only ever tried dosing the brightwell stuff once in the past, and recall that I need WAY less than the bottle says. I’ll start with 2ml and see where that brings me.

 

[DonF]

Phosphate is coming down near where it was

I know there is great debate… I’ve read pages and pages about nutrient numbers vs ratios, etc. All I can glean from my own experience (only into third year) is that 0ppm leads to dinos, which are a major PITA to get rid of. Also, clearly really bad for LPS.

How much would you guys try to raise these numbers?

 

[Shirak]

I usually like to shoot for around 10ppm nitrate. My systems are very low fish population so I have to feed the corals directly a lot. During the day for some and at night for others. The Candy Cane like to eat at night. I think the Mysis is a good plan but it looks pretty far gone and may not be able to catch much. The reef roids are ok but seem to work best if you make a thick paste and can put a little on the coral with a pipette. If you can get to it easily you could try soaking in some tank water with a little amino or brightwell Restor. 30min bath a few times a week.

 

[DonF]

I usually like to shoot for around 10ppm nitrate.

How about phosphate? I also have a small fish population.

I've not heard of amino baths... will look into it. This coral may be too far gone, which I'll chalk up to a learning experience and try, again. LPS is much harder than softies. My zoas and green star polyps would survive in my toilet, I'm pretty sure.

 

[Shirak]

How about phosphate? I also have a small fish population.

I've not heard of amino baths... will look into it. This coral may be too far gone, which I'll chalk up to a learning experience and try, again. LPS is much harder than softies. My zoas and green star polyps would survive in my toilet, I'm pretty sure.

LOL yes they might!

Phosphate .05 -.1 ppm or so.. Mine sometimes goes up to .15

Do you run any carbon? Depending on what you have and how much, the softies could be putting chemicals into the water which the candy cane is not liking. Some Dino's release toxins too which could have contributed.

 

[DonF]

LOL yes they might!

Phosphate .05 -.1 ppm or so.. Mine sometimes goes up to .15

Do you run any carbon? Depending on what you have and how much, the softies could be putting chemicals into the water which the candy cane is not liking. Some Dino's release toxins too which could have contributed.

Yeah, I started running carbon at the same time as the blackout... I forgot how many weeks it's even been, now, but no sign of dinos! (jinx)

I'm now thinking that bottoming out on nutrients (was literally 0 - chaeto addition worked too well), long blackout, then peroxide treatment was just too much. I remember the day I took the blanket off that it looked fine and ad lots of tentacles were extended, and I should have started dosing brightwell right then and there. Instead I opted to try raising by overfeeding the fish, but that was too little too late I think. I also should have tried feeding with a pipette, but didn't have one. (Got one with the reef roids.)

Ah, well. I dosed some nitrate this morning and will test again tomorrow. When I find the magic balance I'll buy another LPS to try... this time I will feed with pipette, too. I have frozen misis and the roids on hand.

This is not an easy hobby, but I am addicted.