What is up w/ my Lobo & why do my SPS frags hate me?

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AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
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I bought this "red lobo" several weeks ago from my LFS. Got a good deal because it was broken and I bought the larger piece. Anyway, the coloring has remained about the same since getting it, but all the little pointy bits have turned brown and now it's got bubbles all over it. I've moved it around to see if it's "happier" high or low and less or more flow and it seems to like more light and I can't really tell much else, except it doesn't look as nice as others I see all the time and I can't figure out if it's something I'm doing wrong or what.

Tank details:
3x 250w 10k MH w/ 4x 80w T5 - 2 act, 2 65k
ammonia - 0
nitrites - 0
nitrates - 10-20 (coming down since the move to the larger tank)
dKH - 9 or 10
PH - 8.2
Calc - 460-480
Phos - 0
Temp - 76-80F

Attached refugium, whole tank appears to be thriving, loads of pods, ministars, etc. My zoos are growing like mad, so is my xenia, acan brain is looking awesome, frogspawn is great, duncan is growing fast, ricordias & shrooms are splitting and making babies.... I just don't understand why my SPS frags and this one lobo all look so pathetic!

Here are some pics of the lobo and sps frags along with the things that look good for comparison.

SPS frags in order of appearance are:
supposed to be orange digi & I don't know what type of monti cap
supposed to be pink pocillipora
supposed to be pink stylo
supposed to be blue tip mille

What am I doing wrong?!

(more pics in next post)

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AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
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see the bubbles all over everything? what is that all about?

Here is a pic of my supposedly pink w/ purple polyps birdsnest frag.

Then some things that look really good. So yeah, I know the things that look good are easier corals and all, but my tank parameters are good and they're all getting the same light, food, etc. Oh and the 10 k bulb these are all under is new. The T5s have "about a year" left in them, but came with the fixture when I bought it. I will switch them to all actinic soon.

Please help! Thanks!

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schigara

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Jan 2, 2005
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DUnno about the lobo. In my experience, the Pocillipora, Seriatapora and Stlyophora can be bit touchy when adjusting to light intensity. They look a bit "burned". Put them all down on the sand and offcenter of the halide's hot spots, not directly under one.

I have a seriatapora hystrix that has taken 3 months and is still not quite fully adjusted. I had to put it at the bottom and off to one side in a dimly lit area and slowly move it under the halides.

Is your alkalinity stable?

I would probably put that lobo down low as well and maybe point a powerhead directly at it until it starts to look better.
 

schigara

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WHich 10K halide bulbs are you using?

Everyone I know with awesome birdsnest colonies and halides has them at the bottom of the tank.

I think alk shifts and improper light acclimation are the two biggest factors that cause bleaching in these corals.
 

AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
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okay, I can see that with the stylo, blue tip mille, as they came from a tank that only had T5s and the stylo frag came from the bottom of that tank, so I guess I probably do need to move it down some. The pocillipora came from a very brightly lit frag tank at a LFS though. The birdsnest came from a tank with MH lighting as well, although I'm not sure of the position it was in as I got that one in a swap. It was a freshly broken piece too, so maybe that's the deal with it?

going to sound dim here, but anyway. Alk: isn't that the same thing as Kh/dKH? If so, yes, it's stable. I said 9-10 because I lost count because my kids kept interrupting me, but it's always been in that range. Calcium has always been high. Phosphates and nitrates were a little high right after the move but have done really well after some water changes and the addition of a ginormous macro covered rock to my fuge. Oh and I put in a better light in the fuge and BAM! everything in there is growing like crazy now!

Only things really left to do to the tank now is buy new light bulbs - I want to change ALL the bulbs out, I'm thinking 12k MHs and all actinic T5s. And I want to get an auto top off put in place sometime in the next few months.

Thanks Schigara! Your corals look amazing! I really appreciate the suggestions!
 

AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
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Okay, the deal with the bulbs:
Bought this light fixture used. Was told that the MHs (14k Hamiltons) had 3 months life left and the T5s (2 65k / 2 actinic Giessemans) had 1 year life left. Well, the 14 k bulbs seemed really dim to me and even my shrooms were spending all day stretching up to the light. So, funds being tight, I managed a swap for a new (guy ordered wrong bulb) 10K Phoenix bulb and bought some used 10k XMs from another guy. The used bulbs had been used for 1 year for 6 hours a day. So the 2 bulbs on the left of my tank are the used ones and I have my lower light demand corals in that area. On the right, I have the new Phoenix 10k and I put all my sps frags and rics and other things I thought needed it in that area. The tank depth there is probably about 20" after the DSB. The light sits about 4" above the water. Maybe a smidge more, haven't measured it. The top of the rockline in this area of the tank is about 6" under the water, so the highest corals are probably about 10-12" from the light.

anyway, like I said, I'm researching bulbs and will be replacing ALL of them next month. I'll put the ones that still work away in a closet in case of emergency.

Does this help? Thanks again!
 

schigara

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Thanks Annette,

Unless you know for certain a SPS coral has been kept for long term under lighting as strong or stronger that yours for a long time, acclimate it slowly starting at the bottom of the tank. Bleaching happens quickly and takes a long time to recover the zooxanthellae to color back up. Even just a quick shift in kelvin can cause one to bleach.

My last light change from Reeflux 12k to Phoenix 14k, 2 months ago which increased par x2 caused a Monti and a Green Slimer to bleach and stop growing totally. I even raised the lights from 8 to 15in off the water surface. The color is just now coming back and growth is still stalled.

A big decrease in light intensity won't adversely affect a SPS much whereas a minimal increase can have a big negative effect. Don't worry about trying to get a frag high and showered with light from the get go.
 
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kay-bee

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Sep 14, 2005
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see the bubbles all over everything? what is that all about?
Might be caused by some sort of oxygen-producing film organism (film algae, cyanobacteria, etc).

You may want to try gently squirting the bubbles off with a turkey baster or pipette or something, over time the film may have a smothering affect on the corals.
 

AnnetteG

getting back to basics
Sep 24, 2007
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Thanks Schig! I just spent an hour completely rescaping my tank! :silly: LOL Okay, not exactly Complete, but definitely a big rearrange. Anyway, moved the ugly sps frags down and moved everything else around. I originally got them "to try" just to see if I could grow them, and didn't pay much for any of them so I don't really mind waiting. Hopefully they'll come back. At least everything else is happy and I know I can handle lps and softies. :headbang2:

I wonder why it never seems to bother any of the zoos and mushrooms I bring home. They always seem happy no matter where I put them and take off growing right away. Must get more! :grinyes:
 

schigara

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Totally different animal.........the zoos and shrooms. They are almost as hardy as aiptasia, you just can't hurt 'em.

I think it has a lot to do with the soft stuff being "thick skinned", literally. I never realized how thin the tissue of an SPS was until I saw a Pink tabling Acro RTN (rappid tissue necrosis) before my eyes in a matter of 36hours. I lost 80% of the colony before I fragged it.

PS: yes, ALk I was referring to is alkalintiy or dkh, etc.

Halide lights are not all the same. Some are fairly weak and some can be very strong so just because an SPS came from under a halide doesn't mean it was accustomed to very strong light. Example: A XM15k fired from a blueline ballast is quite weak compared to a XM10k bulb fired from the same ballast. This would require a big adjustment and acclimation time.

Please don't let this experience scare you away from SPS. Watching an ugly brown SPS color up to something totally different or seeing an unusual growth pattern due to your tank's water flow and light is amazing.

This a blue tort when I first got it.


And this is the same coral about 2 months ago


This pic is a Blue Mille/Prostrata (no one is sure yet) from long ago


And this is a fairly recent shot
 
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