What is my torch trying to complain about?

Koty · Oct 30, 2021

My torch has been with short tantacles sonce my tank enterd fallow. Parmeters changed slowly to 1-2ppm nitrare (from 12-24) and my phosphate is 0.01 (was 0.03). Alkalinity is stable around kh=9 using CaOH2. Export is refuge, bioplstic and GFO reactors:

Most other corals are looking good:

blaxsun · Oct 30, 2021

Are you supplementing with anything, ie: Reef Roids, phyto or zooplankton, etc.

Koty · Oct 30, 2021

About every other day or two I add 20 ml TLF Acropower and reef snow or 4 drops of each of Aquaforest ABVE bottles. About once a week i feed some mussle pieces to the elegance and a few others.

blaxsun · Oct 30, 2021

My corals do seem to benefit overall from a small 2x/week application of Reef Roids (I also supplement with Nyos Absolute Aminos, Coral Nectar, Instant Plankton and LPS Power).

Koty · Oct 30, 2021

I have reef roids, though never used it yet. I also have the AF LPS granules and two others, AF phytomix, Hikari coral food. I used them ocationally and now less as i found them to be great for cyano growth. My guess is that the torch became a nitrate junkey and is in some kind of a rehab state

takitaj · Oct 30, 2021

What caused NO3 & PO4 to drop so much? Are you carbon dosing or running a refugium or algae outbreak or...? I would guess it didn't like the big drop. Could also be some kind of bacterial thing. Tough to nail down on those guys unless you're seeing the flesh receding or melting away. They can be moody.

I'd try to get those numbers up just a hair regardless. Remember if you're using Hanna checkers (or any hobby test kit) there is an accuracy range. 0.01 PO4 could actually be zero or could be 0.05. I'd try to keep it a little higher than that. Reef Roids should help boost it and if not you can gently dose something like Brightwell's NeoPhos & NeoNitrate.

*Edit: If you are carbon dosing or running a refugium just cut back on dose or reduce fuge light period.

KrisReef · Oct 30, 2021

Fallow = no fish, aka the fish wastes are gone and your torch is missing them (the poop not the fish themselves).

What I'm trying to figure out now is; is this a first world problem or something else?

Good luck with the fallow and remote feeding of the corals w/o their fishy ecosystem partners.