Coral question

[Taralynn23]

Hey all just wondering if anyone else has had this experience with cynarina coral and trachey coral. The mouth on the cyn coral has had this brown stuff coming from it for about a week now. The trachey has not been smooth or relaxed for a couple days. *recovering currently from a diatom outbreak because we added refugium mud* never using that stuff again

params:

salinity: 1.027
Ph: 8.2
Alk: 8.7 dkh
Mag: 1340ppm
Phos: 0
Nitrate: 12.3ppm
Ammonia: 0
CA: 423ppm

 

[crazyfishmom]

That poor trachy has all sorts of skeleton showing around the mouth area. I’m not sure how week they recover from this state.

The cynarina could be just releasing waste but a whole week is a long time for that.

How long have you had them? Do you know what sort of PAR you’re keeping them under?

 

[Lavey29]

0 phosphate is not good for the tank. If light is above 150 par it can cause those types of corals to discharge zooxanthellae to.

Or it just be going number 2

 

[VintageReefer]

The Cynarina appears to be excreting waste. Do you feed it? If so it might be overfull. Or maybe it’s opportunistic and got lucky and grabbed a large meal

You can use a baster to help suck that out and dispose of it outside the tank

They should be fed solid food 1-2x a week to allow digestive processs to complete before taking in the next meal

 

[Taralynn23]

0 phosphate is not good for the tank. If light is above 150 par it can cause those types of corals to discharge zooxanthellae to.

Or it just be going

That poor trachy has all sorts of skeleton showing around the mouth area. I’m not sure how week they recover from this state.

The cynarina could be just releasing waste but a whole week is a long time for that.

How long have you had them? Do you know what sort of PAR you’re keeping them under?

We have had the trachy for 4 weeks, cynarina we've had for two. Par levels were not measured but they trachy was open for a solid 2 weeks. At the bottom of the tank on sand bed

 

[Taralynn23]

0 phosphate is not good for the tank. If light is above 150 par it can cause those types of corals to discharge zooxanthellae to.

Or it just be going number 2

Running aluminum oxide to remove silicate caused from refugium mud, also dosing phosphate hourly at .01ppm as to not exhaust system of phosphates. Also have been having to contend with pineapple sponges I believe we're introduced to b the system from the refugeum mud. (Testing phosphates daily frequently) it's been a battle to keep phosphates in the tank because of these factors. On day one of running aluminum oxide.

 

[VintageReefer]

Both those corals are low flow and low par

I keep a lot of Cynarina and donut/meat coral. It looks healthy to me and in a good location. The trachy might be irritated by sand, leading to stress and becoming recessed.

My striped trachy did not like sand at all and I had to put it on a frag stand (left side, last pic)

 

[saltytanked]

Hey all just wondering if anyone else has had this experience with cynarina coral and trachey coral. The mouth on the cyn coral has had this brown stuff coming from it for about a week now. The trachey has not been smooth or relaxed for a couple days. *recovering currently from a diatom outbreak because we added refugium mud* never using that stuff again

params:

salinity: 1.027
Ph: 8.2
Alk: 8.7 dkh
Mag: 1340ppm
Phos: 0
Nitrate: 12.3ppm
Ammonia: 0
CA: 423ppm

The mud didn’t cause diatoms…

 

[Taralynn23]

Both those corals are low flow and low par

I keep a lot of Cynarina and donut/meat coral. It looks healthy to me and in a good location. The trachy might be irritated by sand, leading to stress and becoming recessed.

My striped trachy did not like sand at all and I had to put it on a frag stand (left side, last pic)

Will try placing it off sand bed. Your corals are beautiful.

 

[VintageReefer]

Thank you. Through <accidental> experimentation I have found what will and what will not tolerate being on the sand. I posted some pics so you can see what ended up working for me

Trachy and moseleya had to be raised off the sand for me. Cynarina don’t seem to mind at all

 

[Taralynn23]

The mud didn’t cause diatoms…

Would you have a suggestion what introduced the silicate to the system ? Running ro/di filtration system in house that with recently changed filters including di resin filter.

 

[Taralynn23]

The mud didn’t cause diatoms…

Would you have a suggestion what introduced the silicate to the system ? Running ro/di filtration system in house that with recently changed filters including di resin

Both those corals are low flow and low par

I keep a lot of Cynarina and donut/meat coral. It looks healthy to me and in a good location. The trachy might be irritated by sand, leading to stress and becoming recessed.

My striped trachy did not like sand at all and I had to put it on a frag stand (left side, last pic)

How do you keep your phosphates up? Also, how old is your tank? This is my dream eventually. I am missing something my parameters are great, I just cannot beat this 0 phosphate. We have a good feeding plan also. Side note: what do you feed your corals

 

[VintageReefer]

I run low phosphates

My tank is 10+ Years old but it went through a 3 yr neglect period where I barely even viewed it. Just fed my one cardinal I had left.

Thai was it approx 2 years ago on the day I started redoing it

I don’t do water changes (less than 5 small ones over 10 years), I don’t run filter socks or fleece rollers, I don’t run a skimmer. I feed heavy. I have an algae scrubber for filtration

 

[VintageReefer]

I have 7 fish and feed 3-4 cubes of frozen food each day. I target feed my lps corals 2-3x a week. I can get you a product list of foods I use later if you like

 

[Lavey29]

Running aluminum oxide to remove silicate caused from refugium mud, also dosing phosphate hourly at .01ppm as to not exhaust system of phosphates. Also have been having to contend with pineapple sponges I believe we're introduced to b the system from the refugeum mud. (Testing phosphates daily frequently) it's been a battle to keep phosphates in the tank because of these factors. On day one of running aluminum oxide.

Pineapple sponges self regulate and are noy a concern. How do you know your silicates are up? Did you do an ICP test on your RODI and tank water?

Do you have pics of the diatoms in the tank? Have you par checked your tank?

 

[Taralynn23]

Pineapple sponges self regulate and are noy a concern. How do you know your silicates are up? Did you do an ICP test on your RODI and tank water?

Do you have pics of the diatoms in the tank? Have you par checked your

Fully understand that hard data like an icp test is the most conclusive and clear I don't think I need to send out an icp to deduce silicate was introduced into the system. I mistakenly added refugium mud focusing on the benefits. We did not expect it to produce the sponges, which appeared after we placed mud. And then shortly after the sponge population skyrocketed diatoms appeared.

I doubt rodi water is the cause. Will confirm rodi is the problem if another large bloom appears within the next few weeks of top off


Good news on day two of running aluminum oxide and with 24 hour dosing of 50ml phosphate is holding constant .03 ppm with 1/3 cup of aluminum oxide diatoms have visually began to receed as well as sponges.

As far as par we have not checked par would love to get my hands on a meter. The tank went 5 months without a bloom after initial bloom receded at first set up have not changed intensity or positioning of light.

 

[VintageReefer]

Would you have a suggestion what introduced the silicate to the system ? Running ro/di filtration system in house that with recently changed filters including di resin

How do you keep your phosphates up? Also, how old is your tank? This is my dream eventually. I am missing something my parameters are great, I just cannot beat this 0 phosphate. We have a good feeding plan also. Side note: what do you feed your corals

I take a cup about half full with tank water. I add 3-4 cubes from these frozen products. I add a few pinches of powder food - benereef is my favorite for this mix. Stir and thaw. And I pour in front of a power head 3x a day for the fish. I make it in the morning, pour some out, then put the cup in the fridge. Afternoon and evening I just grab the cup and stir and pour more in the tank. The fish go crazy and many corals get to grab leftovers

A few times a week I target feed my corals directly at night. I make sure every coral gets fed. Some are not as opportunistic as others and will never catch free floating food. I turn off all the pumps and the return while I target feed corals. Give them 10-15 min to eat before turning pumps back on. If I start on one side and make my way to the other, by the time I’m done, most corals have had 10 min to eat by that point. So I would say 10 min to feed all the corals left to right and then i wait about 5 min and turn the pumps all back on

I take a cup of tank water and use one of the Dr G refrigerated products. Never heard of them until another reefer mentioned it. The corals love it. I’ll mix this in some water with one or two of the powders added. The lps max is particularly good. Hard to find. I have to order online. Shipping is almost as much as the product because it needs to be shipped with ice packs. I think 20$ a bottle and 15 sh? You only need a cap full at a time and it lasts a while

If any coral needs a little boost I’ll add the restor product in - it’s aminos and proteins to help with bleaching and injuries

You don’t need alllll of this I find they all work well and I like to vary things to make diets as diverse as possible

 

[VintageReefer]

The two Dr G products are very good. I find fish and corals both love the copepods and the lps max

Lps max is a blend of a few things including copepods and mysis. I noticed the copepods are eaten by gonipora, acans, and almost everything, including every fish I have. Then I saw I could buy the copepods by themself and just got a whole bottle of them.