Yikes! Sorry to hear you were dealing with that!! Glad you found and caught the culprit though!
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Exallias brevis
https://www.freshmarine.com/leopard-blenny.html
"A 50 gallon or larger reef aquarium with small-polyped stony corals as a food source is ideal." "Doesn't eat prepared foods well in captivity, but will eat corals."
Sounds like someone sold you the wrong sailfin blenny.
People are so hyped on dosing phosphate and nitrate and thinking that is such an issue on this forum. Basic reefing hasn't change much in ten years and we NEVER used to have to dose nitrate or phosphate. Sunny-X, one of the popular reefers who helped popularize Vodka dosing and bacteria driven low nutrient systems never dosed nitrate of phosphate. Even in Zeo-vit, a truly low nutrient system, corals lighten in color but do not die or bleach out completely. Zeo Vit does not include nitrate or phosphate dosing. But it does include feeding your fish and corals. Phosphate is bad for corals and that is a proven fact. It inhibits calcification and leads to algae growth. Your corals in a tank with high phosphate will have very porous and brittle skeletons compared to a wild coral. It's not good. Don't believe me? Read it from R2R own expert:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/o...-reef-aquarium-by-randy-holmes-farley.173563/
In freshwater planted aquariums it is an established fact that phosphate and nitrate fuel algae growth and there is a fine balance between co2, light and nutrients. Get a slight imbalance, and you've got green water and a mess of a tank. However, plants absorb nitrate and phosphate for their actual growth. They need it and it is a limiting factor in plant growth. Nitrate and Phosphate are not limiting factors for coral growth and elevated levels are not needed for healthy corals. Corals don't need it to grow. It is true however, that if Nitrate or Phosphate dip below natural NSW levels that this can stress the coral leading to bleaching. However, this does not kill the coral outright and can easily be prevented, slowed, or reversed with good feeding habits.
So, what happens if nitrate and phosphate drop so low that you suspect it is stressing out the zoaxanthelle in the coral? Feed your fish more and feed your coral appropriate coral foods. If you are totally against feeding your fish more, then dose Amino Acids and feed the coral at the very least. This will go a long way further in helping you have a healthy tank with happy and healthy fish and coral including improved coral growth. Much better than dumping planted aquarium fertilizers in your tank.
I would not agree. The nutrients not being in balance isn't going to kill coral. It will open the door to nuisance bacteria. Those can eventually outcompete coral and kill them. As long as the nutrients are there the coral will be ok, even if not optimum color/growth.By the way I’ve heard people say recently that if you’re phosphate is too low (.01-.03) and nitrate is too high (30-40) then them being “out of equilibrium” can kill coral. Would you agree??
I would not agree. The nutrients not being in balance isn't going to kill coral. It will open the door to nuisance bacteria. Those can eventually outcompete coral and kill them. As long as the nutrients are there the coral will be ok, even if not optimum color/growth.
What is a balanced ratio?Thanks for that, a lot of people attributed my issues to “imbalance” of phosphate and nitrate but I think you’re correct about the nutrients not being killers.
The most common ratio is 16(or 17):1 of N to P. And yes, I didn't use the N: P because if you don't leave the space between the colon and P it give you thisWhat is a balanced ratio?
What kind of rock is this ?Wow, really nice job on the rockwork.
My new calcium reactor from Aquarium Engineering that I purchased thru Aquarium City. The reactor is rated up to 1,500 gallon sps tank. It’s about 3’ tall and I love how heavy duty it is. I was dozing BRS calcium and kh but I think this will be better!