Blastomussa dying

[lewisl03]

good afternoon,
I’ve always seemed to have issues with blastomussas and have no idea where I’m going wrong with them.

i do a 20% water change weekly also run activated carbon

One theory I have is chemical warfare from the leather toadstool however everything else seems to be thriving, are blastomussas more sensitive?

Parameters:
Mg: 1300ppm,
Ca: 415ppm
Kh: 8.6 dkh
Tank size: 120l


Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Rocks reef]

Leathers can cause serious damage to the more delicate LPS like blastos.

 

[lewisl03]

Leathers can cause serious damage to the more delicate LPS like blastos.

Is there any way to counter it, or will I always have this problem with leather toadstools in such a small tank,

I have a 365l DT, would the toadstool be better off in there, or would damage from toxins be inevitable?

 

[painter1982]

Try a shady spot. It may be getting too much light.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Is there any way to counter it, or will I always have this problem with leather toadstools in such a small tank,

I have a 365l DT, would the toadstool be better off in there, or would damage from toxins be inevitable?

Activated carbon absorbs leather toxins

 

[lewisl03]

Try a shady spot. It may be getting too much light.

I’ll give that a go,
I assumed light wasn’t the problem as the micromussas next to it are doing well,
But will try anything at this stage,
Thank you

 

[lewisl03]

Activated carbon absorbs leather toxins

Yeah I thought so, I’m using 25g reef spec carbon for 120L tank, should that be adequate?

 

[Shirak]

No clue on the carbon but if the other LPS fine then probably not toxins. I agree that the other LPS near it look fine so light shouldn't be a problem.

I am leaning towards nutrients. 20%/week water change is pretty large. What are your nutrients like? Fish load and feeding? My Blastos are always little piggies and love to catch food at night and always did best when I target fed them a couple times a week.

 

[lewisl03]

No clue on the carbon but if the other LPS fine then probably not toxins. I agree that the other LPS near it look fine so light shouldn't be a problem.

I am leaning towards nutrients. 20%/week water change is pretty large. What are your nutrients like? Fish load and feeding? My Blastos are always little piggies and love to catch food at night and always did best when I target fed them a couple times a week.

Thank you, I think you’ve probably cracked it,
I’ve just got a single 6 like wrasse in there with crabs, snails,
I have been target feeding weekly,
I’ve been trying to limit the amount of nutrients as an attempt to get rid of digitate hydroids so I can move the corals back to my DT.

Tbh I’ve only been doing 20% water changes because of the threat of chemical warfare,
I’ll reduce it to 10% aswell increase target feeding to twice a week and get the nutrients up a bit more.
Would ammonia dosing be recommended to raise the nitrate without polluting the tank too heavily?

Thanks for your response.

 

[Shirak]

Thank you, I think you’ve probably cracked it,
I’ve just got a single 6 like wrasse in there with crabs, snails,
I have been target feeding weekly,
I’ve been trying to limit the amount of nutrients as an attempt to get rid of digitate hydroids so I can move the corals back to my DT.

Tbh I’ve only been doing 20% water changes because of the threat of chemical warfare,
I’ll reduce it to 10% aswell increase target feeding to twice a week and get the nutrients up a bit more.
Would ammonia dosing be recommended to raise the nitrate without polluting the tank too heavily?

Thanks for your response.

I think you need to balance your feeding with water changes. Can stay with 20% but up the feeding? You could dose nitrate or ammonia if you are worried about particle food and the hydroids. You could use a larger LPS pellet for the LPS. Just a pellet or two per head a couple times a week. Then you won't have to worry about dissolved nutrients in the water as much.

Do you have current numbers on your nitrate and phosphate?

 

[Shirak]

I have heard mixed reviews on whether digitate hydroids are a problem or not. Do you see any adverse reaction if they touch any corals?