Lobo Receding and Open Mouths

[ReneeF]

Hello,

I'm hoping someone can help me with this. My tank has been up and running since mid January. I've had the lobo for a month, and in the last week it has started to look terrible. It's bleached and the mouths are wide open. Not good. I'm thinking of taking it back to the LFS cause it does not seem to be happy in my tank.

I have a duncan, candy cane, and frogspawn that are doing excellent so I'm not sure what the issue is. When I first brought it home I had it about middle depth and it was doing great. Fluffing up and eating mysis.

After several weeks I moved it towards the top of the tank as the LFS told me it was the coral that need the most light. It began showing signs of bleaching so I moved it almost to the bottom. The mouths opened up two days ago and have not closed. The bleaching is getting worse and it isn't showing feeder tentacles in the evening anymore. I'm not sure what to do. I really hate seeing it deteriote and don't want it to die.

Tank Stats:

• SG: 1.024
• PH: 8.0
• NH3: 0
• NO2: 0
• NO3: 0
• MG: 1600 (seems high)
• CA: 450
• PO4: 0.64
• Temp is steady 79.4

I have the jbj nanocube intermediate, run chemipure, purigen, a small fuge, recently added in phosphate removing pads instead of filter floss, about 35 pounds lr, 20 of ls, 25 watts of daytime LEDs, 2 watts of moonlight LEDs, and 9 hour photoperiod.

It's currently in a medium flow area, when I moved it up to higher lighting it had high flow and I think this may be one of the things that stressed it.

I plan on bringing some water in for testing tomorrow as I don't have the MG test and my PO4 test from API is worthless. Any advice or should I bring it back to the store to see if they can save it?

Here's some photos of it two weeks ago. My lights are off for the terrible looking shots...

<a href="http://s1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag292/Renee_Fender/?action=view&current=image_zps3bceb30f.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag292/Renee_Fender/image_zps3bceb30f.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>


And the still happy corals, the photos are a few weeks old, but the corals look the same:

<a href="http://s1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag292/Renee_Fender/?action=view&current=image_zps7ce4dd27.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag292/Renee_Fender/image_zps7ce4dd27.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

<a href="http://s1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag292/Renee_Fender/?action=view&current=image_zpsb2012d0d.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag292/Renee_Fender/image_zpsb2012d0d.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

 

[ReneeF]

Well, the good news is it fluffed up and ate last night for the first time in a week. It still is very bleached compared it what it used to be. Hopefully it is just stressed from me moving it and will recoup (fingers crossed).

<a href="http://s1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag292/Renee_Fender/?action=view&current=cbb3a598b3a38b1fcc5da1337018a956_zps6133068b.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag292/Renee_Fender/cbb3a598b3a38b1fcc5da1337018a956_zps6133068b.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

 

[Reef Bass]

A couple observations. Let's start with nice corals.

You don't list your alkalinity, which is an important water quality parameter. A reading 7-8 would be good. Your tank has only been going for a bit over two months, so it's very new, and you've had the lobo for a month. Your currently listed parameters seem generally ok though phosphate is a bit high.

The lack of ammonia and nitrite suggest the tank has cycled, but was that the case 4 weeks ago when the lobo was added? 4 weeks of cycle time is not much, particularly when adding stony corals.

Moving it down away from where it was bleaching sounds appropriate.

That the lobo inflated and ate last night is a good sign. Maybe it is settling in. If it continues to gape and be grumpy, look out for tissue recession, typically from the base up or outside edges inwards.

 

[ReneeF]

Thanks for the reply. Spaced out listing the alkalinity, its at 9. Is this on the high side? When I added the lobo, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate were zero as well. I'm still having algae blooms though so the tank is far from mature.

I'm bumping my sg to 1.025. I have the fuge running (pretty small one), and phosphate removing pads, but the phosphate is still high. I think I'm going to have to get a reactor to get it down.

The lobo has been inflated all day today as well so hopefully it'll eat tonight. I guess it's just a waiting game at this point. I really appreciate your reply.

 

[Reef Bass]

You're welcome.

IMHO, an alk of 9 is a bit high but not alarmingly. You might let it drift down some.

I run my tank at 1.025 sg as well.

A reactor could help to reduce existing phosphates. It's also worth considering where they may be coming from. A likely source is food. One needs to balance amount with water quality, especially in a smaller environment such as your cube. It may be that cutting back some could lower phosphates without necessitating a reactor.

It sounds encouraging that the lobo is inflating more. I'd go slow with any changes at this point.