What is the actual secret to long-term success with Euphyllia?? Please share!!

[ryukendoK]

I really love Euphyllias, especially hammers and torches, but have lost every single one that I've got typically over the course of several months, and the one I have now is starting to show slow but steady tissue recession of the flesh band on one of the polyps. The Euphyllias I've gotten seem to do fine for several months to half a year, but all begin showing tissue recession of the flesh band a few months in, while the polyps are fully inflated. Eventually the polyps begin to retract during the day, a little bit at first and then more and more. Finally the heads begin dying off, with flesh slowing peeling off the skeleton over the course of a week, starting with one polyp and progressing to the rest. At the advanced stage of this I often take the coral out to dispose of it, and the skeleton smells sufurous, even though there is no BJD.

I'm not the only one with this problem--it seems R2R is absolutely inundated with threads on Euphyllia flesh bands receding, or Euphyllia heads retracted and eventually peeling off the skeleton (not even more severe problems like polyp bailout or BJD, just decline in flesh band followed by coral death). For example, just today I saw two threads at the same time on this phenomenon on the front page:

Euphyllia Coral Dying

I’m continuing to lose my hammers and torches. Tank is 14 months old RS350. At first the torches and hammers were puffy and great polyp extension. Growing like crazy. A couple of them still seem fine. But I’ve now starting losing them faster than they grow. I’ve lost 3 torches, 2 hammers and...

www.reef2reef.com

Torch flesh Receding but still fully extending.

I could use some help with my torches. I’ve had my tank setup for over 2 years now. Never have had issues growing coral but just recently my torches have slowly had there flesh receding from the bottom up the will still completely extend during the day but are slowly losing there big flesh bands...

www.reef2reef.com

I know my husbandry is not perfect--my alk has fluctuated from 6-8 over the course of weeks, and I have persistently low nutrient levels even though I dose about .3ppm ammonia and .03ppm phosphate per day. But some of the tanks with this phenomenon have perfect parameters (e.g. the second link I posted), and others have tried treating the tank with cipro to no avail.

What is the actual secret to keeping Euphyllia happy over the long term (years), so you can grow basketball-sized Euphyllia? Even tanks with perfect parameters get tissue recession, or even BJD! How do long-term successful keepers of tanks full of giant Euphyllia do it??!?!?! Please share your experience, I'm sure it will help so many reefkeepers here.

 

[ryukendoK]

Just to show what I mean, here is yet another very recent thread on declining and slowly dying euphyllia with not one, but two posters talking about this: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/euphyllia-on-the-struggle-bus-help.1085971/

Another example from the same couple of days: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hammer-coral-tissue-slowly-receding.1085715/

There seem to be countless threads like this--long-term Euphyllia keepers, please help!

 

[ryukendoK]

Yet another euphyllia decline and death on the front page: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lubeck’s-265gal-sps-peninsula-build.1084260/post-13228013

 

[rylan629]

following

 

[Red_Beard]

persistently low nutrients are a problem for most LPS. I started 6 years ago with 2 heads of hammer, and now they are 3 large colonies, ~20 heads each. Have sold off probably another 30. In my observations, i have noticed that they do not do well in low nutrient conditions. try to keep 5 ppm min NO3, or at least be dosing ammonium and keep them detectable. P04 is also important for them. anything below .1 i start seeing them loose puffiness. I have also anecdotally seen issues with low iodine, where dosing some noticeably perked them back up. I would start with those 2 issues. Nutrients and iodine, and go from there.

 

[VintageReefer]

I’ve kept my tank phosphate 0-.05 for over a year and my torches grew great. From one head to 8

Hammer from 2 head to 20

I now keep my phosphate .3-.5, and am experiencing the same growth rates

So I don’t believe it’s phosphate levels at all.

Nitrates have been 2-20 and I’ve not had corals impacted.

I don’t really have a secret…I feed them 1-3x a week. I keep them mid flow, and 150-250 par

I’ve moved them from mid level to sandbed and find they adapt fine

You may have a bacterial issue. I had bjd one one came in a bad shipment and that spread in my tank until I treated the entire tank with cipro for 7 or 8 days

 

[ryukendoK]

I’ve kept my tank phosphate 0-.05 for over a year and my torches grew great. From one head to 8

Hammer from 2 head to 20

I now keep my phosphate .3-.5, and am experiencing the same growth rates

So I don’t believe it’s phosphate levels at all.

Nitrates have been 2-20 and I’ve not had corals impacted.

I don’t really have a secret…I feed them 1-3x a week. I keep them mid flow, and 150-250 par

I’ve moved them from mid level to sandbed and find they adapt fine

You may have a bacterial issue. I had bjd one one came in a bad shipment and that spread in my tank until I treated the entire tank with cipro for 7 or 8 days

Did the problem recur? If so, what did you do next?
I’ve treated my tank with cipro twice and the problem has recurred.

What do you feed your euphyllia and how do you know they are eating?

In you experience, are euphyllia sensitive to alk swings? Or a lot of organic matter in the tank/carbon dosing? What has ticked them off and what makes them especially happy?

 

[ryukendoK]

persistently low nutrients are a problem for most LPS. I started 6 years ago with 2 heads of hammer, and now they are 3 large colonies, ~20 heads each. Have sold off probably another 30. In my observations, i have noticed that they do not do well in low nutrient conditions. try to keep 5 ppm min NO3, or at least be dosing ammonium and keep them detectable. P04 is also important for them. anything below .1 i start seeing them loose puffiness. I have also anecdotally seen issues with low iodine, where dosing some noticeably perked them back up. I would start with those 2 issues. Nutrients and iodine, and go from there.

Your Euphyllia seem like they’re growing incredibly fast! How are their flesh bands? In your experience, did low nutrients result in tissue recession? What were the observations that made you say they don’t like low nutrient conditions?

Did you ever have disease issues and how did you go about fixing them?

In your experience are Euphyllia sensitive to alk swings? What makes them unhappy?

Did you ever run your tank skimmerless in pursuit of dirtier water? How did they fare?

I actually already dose iodine because I have a healthy amount of macroalgae in my tank.

 

[VintageReefer]

Did the problem recur? If so, what did you do next?
I’ve treated my tank with cipro twice and the problem has recurred.

What do you feed your euphyllia and how do you know they are eating?

In you experience, are euphyllia sensitive to alk swings? Or a lot of organic matter in the tank/carbon dosing? What has ticked them off and what makes them especially happy?

I find all my corals are sensitive to alk swings - mainly drops below 7. I’m normally 8-8.5. I’ve had a few times I’ve dropped into the 6’s and every time it’s coupled with coral stress. I now have my alk automated.

I do not do water changes and I don’t run a skimmer. I have carbon dosing in my system, naturally, as side effect from an algae scrubber.

March 2023

Nov 2023

March 2024

 

[VintageReefer]

Here is my phosphate for two timespans where I ran very low and very high

 

[VintageReefer]

Feb 2023

Feb 2024

Present

 

[VintageReefer]

The cotton candy torch above the hammer went from 2 head to 5 head in those photos timeframe

The hammer went from 2 to 20 in a year

I feed mysis to the torches with flow off for 20 min, you can see them grab food with tentacles and pull it in towards the mouth. I don’t feed hammers

The hammer colony growth was crazy I had to put a shelf above it to shade it and slow it down

I really feel the main things for euphyllia is flow, lighting, and torches should be fed at least weekly. Broadcast is almost never sufficient in my experience. Everyone has different methods and experiences though