Why is my frogspawn not happy

[E048]

So I have several pieces of frogspawn in my tank one sits pretty close to the top while the other sits on the sand both have been having polyp bail outs the past few days....

Only changes in my tank have been that I added a stronger powerhead to keep my flow up since I was fighting some cyano.

Water:
pH: 8.2
Temp: 80 F
Salinity 1.026
Mg: 1250
Ca: 1480
Nitrates:0
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
Phosphates .02 (lowest my test kit goes)

 

[E048]

Here they are the first two pics are the one that's higher up are the first two and the one on the sand is the third pic

 

[Broadfield]

Only changes in my tank have been that I added a stronger powerhead to keep my flow up.

Sounds like you may have answered your own question! Is it getting thrashed around at all? If not, maybe bugs. I would dip it and see what falls off of it. I just had a perfectly good Hammer have a polyp bailout for no apparent reason. I dipped it and about ten creatures fell off of it.

 

[E048]

Sounds like you may have answered your own question! Is it getting thrashed around at all? If not, maybe bugs. I would dip it and see what falls off of it. I just had a perfectly good Hammer have a polyp bailout for no apparent reason. I dipped it and about ten creatures fell off of it.

It's not moving around anymore than the the others in the tank and I have some other normal looking frogspawns I did have my lights out for a few days then it started to bail is that to blame?

 

[E048]

What do you use to dip

 

[LBehr]

I use revive for regular dipping and Bayer pesticide if I know I'm fighting a nasty bug or if I'm receiving coral from a questionable source.

 

[E048]

I'm thinking it might be the flow or my alk

 

[LBehr]

I always keep enough water ready to do a 20-30% change in case there is something happening I can't explain and that often is enough to fix problem.

 

[E048]

What was happening was that I had cyano so I left the lights off for 3 days then did a 30% wc... The cyano came back so I added more flow and did another 30% wc 3 days later....

The frogspawn started to bail after the lights out period now it just doesn't look happy

The areas aren't very flow heavy the polyps sway but they don't blow around.... The remaining heads extend out but not as far as the other healthier frogspawns in the tank I don't think it's pests because all my other coral look great

 

[WetWhistle]

To me your nutrients being so low are a factor as most LPS do tolerate a wide range of parameters for PH and alk but they don't like water to be to clean like yours. LPS in general like a little extra nutrients because they gain a large portion of their daily energy needs through uptake of dissolved organics and need sources of food for fuel. If you don't see clear signs of disease like brown jelly rot I would look at ways of supplementing your LPS with extra food. Polyp ball out is a form of defense mechanism and is a last ditch attempt for the coral to survive. They ball out pieces of tissue so the tissue can get caught up in the current and be taken to a location with better environmental needs for the coral. As LPS tolerate a wide range of flow I would not waste all your time on that theory. Unless of course you are blasting to much flow on the coral that is causing a shearing of tissue.

 

[E048]

My tank isn't that clean lol... It's on the heavy stocked side and I was fighting nitrates and algae lol

Could it be my t5 bulbs? They hit the year mark a month ago I got new bulbs coming in this week

 

[WetWhistle]

I was basing it on the zero reading nitrates etc you posted originally. It could be the lights if they are that old, you should see a big difference once you change them. It is possible the lower branches are not receiving enough light because of the old bulbs. If it is the bulbs you should see a big change once you replace the bulbs.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I'm in the same spot as you. I will have polyp bailout for what seems to be no reason.

 

[WetWhistle]

That situation always sucks. At least if you know the cause you can fix it.

For the both of you do you have soft corals or run carbon? Some of the soft corals are pretty brutal in leaching hormones and chemicals for anti-competition and some hard corals are sensitive to some species of soft coral. If they are down stream from the soft coral they can irritate the Stony coral causing polyp bail out. Carbon and regular water changes go a long way in these situations. Also take a look at your fish for any picking on them. I have a clown fish if you get near her egg laying spot she will gulp tissue from my frog spawn and spit it whatever is bugging her. If the damage is enough I can see a situation like that causing bail out as well.

 

[E048]

I don't run carbon in any of my tanks I used to and had issues with hlle

Only softies in the tank are mushrooms and Xenia but the colonies that are bailing are nowhere near the shrooms or Xenia

The colonies that are doing well are almost touching the Xenia lol

 

[WetWhistle]

Then it is not the soft corals more then likely as what you have are not that bad. It is more the leathers that cause issue. Any signs of a brown jelly on any of the heads? Have you checked your salinity? To high or low could cause that to. But really if it was out of range you should be seeing issues in other things in the tank.

 

[tankstudy]

Was having some polyps on the same head of hammer coral shrink or look smaller. I turned down the flow and after a week the heads returned to normal.

To test this out, I turned on my MP10 back to its original settings, the same head had smaller polyps on that same part of the head again after a week or so. Turned off the MP10 and the heads returned to normal. The flow wasn't that strong either.

Maybe this may work for you as well.

 

[joshkirkland83]

Whats up with that calcium???

 

[WetWhistle]

Was having some polyps on the same head of hammer coral shrink or look smaller. I turned down the flow and after a week the heads returned to normal.

To test this out, I turned on my MP10 back to its original settings, the same head had smaller polyps on that same part of the head again after a week or so. Turned off the MP10 and the heads returned to normal. The flow wasn't that strong either.

Maybe this may work for you as well.

It is worth a try really but depending on what else is in the tank. Most LPS are not that sensitive for flow as long as it is in the proper range (Not to high or to low) but that doesn't mean you will not find individuals that don't stick to this norm. It is just weird as it looks like just the lower branches are having issues so it is not as likely it is flow, but that doesn't mean it is not. You just have to make sure you are not lowering the current at the detriment of all other life in the tank. Fixing a problem for one coral but creating a problem for others kind of defeats things. The OP will have to decide the risk.

 

[tankstudy]

Most LPS are not that sensitive for flow as long as it is in the proper range (Not to high or to low) but that doesn't mean you will not find individuals that don't stick to this norm.

That is what I use to think too until I came across this particular green purple tip hammer.