Some Cyphastrea help

[ExpensiveSushi]

Howdy friends - searching for some experience debugging this one.

I ordered a coral pack and the supplier included a freebie meteor shower cyphastrea frag. Super cool! I didn't have any idea how to take care of it so went into research mode. Lower light requirements, not high flow, so i put it just below a small overhang in the bottom center of my tank.

It wasn't long before it started browning on the new growth. At first I thought it was getting algae growth, but didn't have much else growing that looked like that. I read some posts where others saw some similar behavior but didn't see a conclusive cause/remedy. I still saw strong fluorescence so left it be, thinking it might be settling in, or just not going to make it.

I'm seeing growth, but brown growth, and clearly new polyps emerging. Anyone have thoughts? Here's a few pics:

July	August	September

My setup is a biocube 32, stock lights (so not super strong), but a young 6mo old setup. I do a weekly water change so params stay fairly stable:
79deg,
1.025,
Nitrates 5-10,
Phosphates .01-2,
pH 7.9,
alk 7.7,
mg 1290,
ca 410

Thanks!

E/S

 

[Daddy-o]

They can handle light. I would move it out from under the overhang. With proper light, the flesh should be green with orange polyps. With too much light the flesh will change from green to a light cream color.
Cheers! Mark

 

[GoVols]

Try to bring your phosphates up just a tad higher (like .05ppm) and they do best with more mid to lower light.

 

[ExpensiveSushi]

Thanks for the advice! Should i see the color return as well?

 

[andrewkw]

Are you feeding it at all? Cyphastrea can be target fed. Also I agree it could take more light which may help colour it up.

 

[ScottR]

Thanks for the advice! Should i see the color return as well?

I’ve got a few types of cyphastrea. I give them very low light. They even can grow on the undersides of rocks. I have one that is higher up getting much more light and flow and the polyps don’t extend out as much and it encrusts much slower.

These are in very low light and low flow. Raised for the sake of the pic so less PE.

 

[ExpensiveSushi]

Are you feeding it at all? Cyphastrea can be target fed. Also I agree it could take more light which may help colour it up.

Thanks andrewkw - i'm not regimented on my coral feeding schedule, I'll broadcast reef-roids 1/wk and or hit it when i target feed the zoas. Will try increasing.

 

[ExpensiveSushi]

I’ve got a few types of cyphastrea. I give them very low light. They even can grow on the undersides of rocks. I have one that is higher up getting much more light and flow and the polyps don’t extend out as much and it encrusts much slower.

These are in very low light and low flow. Raised for the sake of the pic so less PE.

Thanks ScottR - so am i seeing that right, that your new growth is brown there as well?

 

[ScottR]

Thanks ScottR - so am i seeing that right, that your new growth is brown there as well?

That’s just the shadowing from the pic. That part has started to plate off and it even branches which is odd as it’s not the branching type.

This is the type that I put in higher direct light with stronger flow. PE is poor and it has grown very very slow. I took the advice from a Tidal Gardens YouTube video when I got them and so far so good. Worth a watch.