Bubble Coral browning a little

[PTXReef]

Hello reef squad,

Any advice on avoiding browning on my bubble coral? Noticed my neon green bubble’s mouth is getting a little brown. I have had it for almost a month. It’s placed on the bottom of the tank (18” from the surface ~180 PAR according to Red Sea) with low flow). Is this due to insufficient lighting?

I have noticed that my water has been a bit yellow (I stopped running carbon because of possible irritation to my tangs - HLLE), which may lower my PAR? May toss some chemipure blue in.

Running Red Sea ReefLED 50s for 10 hours (1 hour ramp up, 8 hours 100% blue 30% whites, 1 hour ramp down).

Parameters:
1.026, 34.0 ppt, 78.7F
Alk: 7.8 dKH
Ca: 430 ppm
Mg: 1560 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm
Phosphates: 2 ppb
Nitrite/Ammonia: 0
pH: 8.2

Thanks!!

 

[fishguy242]

hi ,looks really happy to me,possible just stretching so far diluting color? but i will call #reefsquad for you

 

[PTXReef]

Most of the time the corals are happy. I am just the worrybug over here trying to make sure they are happy! There is definitely some browning at the mouth, and a tiny bit starting on the bubble. Would hate to see such a beauty turn brown!

 

[rkpetersen]

The browning typically means that there are increasing concentrations of zooxanthellae algae within the coral's tissues. Good for the coral, allows it to live and grow with less need to ingest meaty foods. Many healthy bubbles do develop a more brownish tinge if they're happy.

You might also, slowly, adjust your parameters a bit. Since it's a stony coral, a bubble will appreciate a higher alk level of at least 8. Also I'm not sure if you have that phosphate number correct, as 2 ppb of phosphate (as opposed to phosphorus) would be very low, maybe too low. Also your magnesium is pretty high (although not dangerous as far as I know.)

 

[PTXReef]

The browning typically means that there are increasing concentrations of zooxanthellae algae within the coral's tissues. Good for the coral, allows it to live and grow with less need to ingest meaty foods. Many healthy bubbles do develop a more brownish tinge if they're happy.

You might also, slowly, adjust your parameters a bit. Since it's a stony coral, a bubble will appreciate a higher alk level of at least 8. Also I'm not sure if you have that phosphate number correct, as 2 ppb of phosphate (as opposed to phosphorus) would be very low, maybe too low. Also your magnesium is pretty high (although not dangerous as far as I know.)

My alkalinity stays within 7.8-8.0 dKH. I’m using the ULR Phosphorus hanna checker. New to phosphorus testing as well so I may be confusing them! Before feeding and dosing some phyto, it reads 2 ppb, after feeding it rises to 63 ppb. I will do a couple readings later today as well. Thanks for all the advice everyone. I just don’t want those beautiful green bubbles to turn brown!

 

[rkpetersen]

My alkalinity stays within 7.8-8.0 dKH. I’m using the ULR Phosphorus hanna checker. New to phosphorus testing as well so I may be confusing them! Before feeding and dosing some phyto, it reads 2 ppb, after feeding it rises to 63 ppb.

That's the checker I use as well. A phosphorus reading of 2 ppb corresponds to a phosphate level of 0.006 ppm. That's quite low, but probably ok as long as you're not using a phosphate binder like PhosGuard or GFO. If your phosphorus level actually rises to over 60 after feeding, you may be feeding too much, or testing too soon after feeding (when there's still algae floating around in the water.) For reference, the target phosphorus level I shoot for in my systems is 10 ppb (0.03 ppm phosphate.)

 

[PTXReef]

I do not use any phosphate binders. And as for the higher reading, I tested literally right after forgetting that I just fed . Definitely tested way too soon. How long should I wait after feeding/adding phyto to test? And thanks for the recommendations!

 

[rkpetersen]

I do not use any phosphate binders. And as for the higher reading, I tested literally right after forgetting that I just fed . Definitely tested way too soon. How long should I wait after feeding/adding phyto to test? And thanks for the recommendations!

I draw all my test samples first thing in the morning, before any feeding, to ensure consistent measurements that I can check for trends. For a mature stable tank, I manually test all parameters twice a week. More often if there are issues or it's a newish setup. Sometimes it's useful to check alkalinity more often, once a day or more, but this is best done with automation.

 

[PTXReef]

I draw all my test samples first thing in the morning, before any feeding, to ensure consistent measurements that I can check for trends. For a mature stable tank, I manually test all parameters twice a week. More often if there are issues or it's a newish setup. Sometimes it's useful to check alkalinity more often, once a day or more, but this is best done with automation.

Got it thanks! I actually didn’t even start testing alk, ca, mg, or phos until a year in. I have just been very consistent with the 10% weekly WC. Haven’t noticed any unhappy corals for the first year but Started testing after I switched salts ~3 months ago.

 

[PTXReef]

9/16 6:00 PM ULR Phosphorus: 18 ppb

 

[PTXReef]

I will need to test more often/consistently to know what the tank’s phosphates stabilize at. I have 2 tangs, 2 clowns, a royal gramma, and 2 mandarins in a system with ~80g total water volume. I feed them once in the morning with 3”x3” sheet of nori soaked in 0.75 mL selcon and maybe 0.25 mL reef plus. When I am off work I either feed a cube of spirulina brine or a cube of PE Mysis all soaked in 0.25 mL selcon on alternating days. Once a week I target feed my coral/clam with ~half a cap of reef phytoplankton and ~10 drops of microvert (kent). Is this too much?

 

[PTXReef]

Oh wow ULR Phosphorus is still consistent with 9/16 at 6:00 PM

Tested today 9/18 at 7:00 PM: 18 ppb

 

[PTXReef]

Got him a friend

 

[vetteguy53081]

Very normal - heck, looks better than mine !! Yes on zooanthele. They consume a lot of different elements

 

[SaltISlife]

Look fine to me. Mine opens up like that too sometimes and its mouth has a brown ring. If it were sick itd be shrunken and closed. Mines about as big as a basketball. And my little knes in front are about softballsized.

 

[PTXReef]

Look fine to me. Mine opens up like that too sometimes and its mouth has a brown ring. If it were sick itd be shrunken and closed. Mines about as big as a basketball. And my little knes in front are about softballsized.

Beautiful! What’s the growth rate on these?

 

[SaltISlife]

Beautiful! What’s the growth rate on these?

The smaller ones i got about the size of your pointing and middle finger together. They were small. To get to a softball size they are now. Took about 1 year. Same for the peark bubble coral. That one was half the size in my picture and 1 year later its doubled.

The green bubble coral i bought big. Its called a toxic splatter green bubble. Mine has the green in splotchs and splatters not full bubble green. Ive had it for about 9 months now and id say its grown about a good 4 inchs in outer diameter when it extends.

It was about 7 inchs long when i got it. Now its about 10-11 inchs in length when extended. I had to move my rocks further apart as it was touching them lol. Yhe pic i posted thats about half its full size. It gets much bigger.. But it usually only gets that size in the evening for a few hours.

Here is another pic of it under blues. Note its scrunched up in this pic it tends to close up alot when i turn the main lights off. But this pic shows the toxic splatter coloration perfectly.

The 2nd pic is of my other bubbles when i first got them. One was nearly dead. The other two were really small.

Bubble corals are sone of ny favorites. Id have a whole tank of them if i could

 

[SaltISlife]

Here found a pic when i got the bubbles. Forst pic is when i got them about 1 year ago. Note the size diff between the green bubble then. The 2nd pic i took maybe 2 months ago. Its nearly doubled in size in 1 year