Can water be too clean for LPS?

[R6REEFER]

Hey guys,

I have a few chalices and various other pieces of LPS that have been doing great up until the point that my tank really started to turn around and become solid (it's 6 months old now). I've always had 30+ ppm No3 and no less than 0.04 ppm Po4. All my LPS seemed happy but I kept fighting algae and my SPS weren't happy. Now that I finally got my parameters in check and in auto pilot my LPS (mainly chalices) seem to be suffering. I know chalices like relatively nutrient-rich waters, but to the point of STN/RTN? My bubble gum monster used to be so vibrant and beautiful but now it looks like ****! It was growing mouths left and right, now it just stopped. I'm also noticing various other encrusting LPS declining in health. My SPS are doing fantastic. I guess if this is the case then I really need to choose between the two. I think it's safe to say I have near nutrient free water. My parameters are as follows:

Ph - 8.0
Temp - 79.5
Sal - 1.026
Po4 - 0.00 ppm
No3 - .75 ppm
Alk - 10.6
Cal - 430 ppm
Mag - 1380 ppm

I also dose Omega amino acids weekly. I've included some before and afters. Any knowledge or personal experience shared is greatly appreciated!

 

[Salty1962]

LPS and softies do like more organics in the water. That's why it's hardtop keep them together, one likes it and the other doesn't. My LPS corals barely grow now because I have SPS levels in my tank. Try to find a mid point for both.

 

[R6REEFER]

LPS and softies do like more organics in the water. That's why it's hardtop keep them together, one likes it and the other doesn't. My LPS corals barely grow now because I have SPS levels in my tank. Try to find a mid point for both.

To me it kind of regressive to shoot for dirtier water! I spent thousands of dollars and acquired a eutopia of knowledge in order to keep the bad stuff aeay, now I'm being told to put it back in?! It makes sense completely but I've just been denying it. My last tank I couldn't get No3 under 15ppm. I wanted to make this a chalice tank but I'm starting to realize that I may just need to do SPS dominant. Otherwise what's the point in spending all the cash on lighting and flow?

 

[R6REEFER]

It's kind of regressive*
Away*
Auto correct is messing me up.

 

[R6REEFER]

I also have this going on which doesn't make any sense. Only thing I can think of is silicates but I've already had diatoms. It disappears once the lights ramp down then shows up in the morning. The opposite of a mushroom.

 

[R6REEFER]

Could a quick dip in this rx shot help?

 

[arman]

What do you mean from being dirtier?

 

[R6REEFER]

By dirtier I mean higher nitrates and phosphates.

 

[R6REEFER]

Ha!
I just finished dipping the bubblegum chalice and in the remaining water I found one little bug that is litterally too small to take a picture of. It sort of resembles a flea in shape but with antennas as long as it's body. It is a translucent/white color a tad bigger than a grain of sand. Way smaller than a flea. Any ideas?

 

[R6REEFER]

 

[pokerdobe]

That is food for mandarins. Harmless isopod.

http://melevsreef.com/critters/good-isopod

 

[Salt Creep]

Do you have a pic of the bug? From what you described it could just be a pod. I have chalice and LPS (Duncan, hammer, and a few acans in my sps tank that has very low phosphate and nitrate. Nitrate doesn't even change color on the test and I don't test for phosphate, but have no algae on my rock and what little I have grows on my return nozzle that I pull off about a ping pong ball size once a week.

 

[R6REEFER]

Do you have a pic of the bug? From what you described it could just be a pod. I have chalice and LPS (Duncan, hammer, and a few acans in my sps tank that has very low phosphate and nitrate. Nitrate doesn't even change color on the test and I don't test for phosphate, but have no algae on my rock and what little I have grows on my return nozzle that I pull off about a ping pong ball size once a week.

Yes, alot of my LPS such as favia and favites are doing fine, it seems to be primarily my chalices and cyphastrea.

 

[go29]

I don't know if this will help at all but when my lps really started to struggle with clean water (phosphate and nitrate are both undetectable) I took up feeding them every 3rd day with a mix of coral foods. Basically I use the reef chili, coral frenzy, and then fauna marine lps pellets and mix them all together in a cup, then turn off all circulation and spot feed each and every lps in my tank. Started doing this roughly 3 months ago and ALL my Lps have responded extremely well. I had a wellso brain that had started to recede, and he is already growing new tissue over the skeleton that was exposed around his base.

Realize this may not help you at all (if your already feeding etc) but just an idea, as at least in my case the feeding has completely rebounded all the LPS that were struggling with the low nutrient levels in my water. I may be making this up ,but to me it makes sense as if your water is "too clean" then the food they get several times a week gives them a way to get the nutrients that are normally present in your water (before it was too clean). I have knocked out basically all algae in my tank, and simply have to scrub the glass every 3 days to remove some minor film algae is about all, so i def think feeding is a benefit to LPS for those of use running really low nutrient tanks. Let us know what you decide to do, and how the lps respond though. Good luck !

 

[go29]

should note I wasn't struggling much with algae, just occasional diatoms on the sand bed (tank has always been pretty low nutrient), but def saw a decline in lps once I did drop water nutrient levels until i took up feeding. Just wanted to clarify that the tank wasn't super high nutrient before the changes.

 

[R6REEFER]

I don't know if this will help at all but when my lps really started to struggle with clean water (phosphate and nitrate are both undetectable) I took up feeding them every 3rd day with a mix of coral foods. Basically I use the reef chili, coral frenzy, and then fauna marine lps pellets and mix them all together in a cup, then turn off all circulation and spot feed each and every lps in my tank. Started doing this roughly 3 months ago and ALL my Lps have responded extremely well. I had a wellso brain that had started to recede, and he is already growing new tissue over the skeleton that was exposed around his base.

Realize this may not help you at all (if your already feeding etc) but just an idea, as at least in my case the feeding has completely rebounded all the LPS that were struggling with the low nutrient levels in my water. I may be making this up ,but to me it makes sense as if your water is "too clean" then the food they get several times a week gives them a way to get the nutrients that are normally present in your water (before it was too clean). I have knocked out basically all algae in my tank, and simply have to scrub the glass every 3 days to remove some minor film algae is about all, so i def think feeding is a benefit to LPS for those of use running really low nutrient tanks. Let us know what you decide to do, and how the lps respond though. Good luck !

Thanks for the tip! I feed reef roids maybe once every 2 weeks with Julian thing. I will step it up to twice a week and see what happens. That makes alot of sense to me though.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

The bug in the picture is a specifically a munnid isopod.

 

[go29]

Thanks for the tip! I feed reef roids maybe once every 2 weeks with Julian thing. I will step it up to twice a week and see what happens. That makes alot of sense to me though.

No worries .... I basically do the same thing like i mentioned (also use julians thing) but also used the pellets, so that as i feed the corals then sense the pellets and physically close up around them, hopefully getting both pellets as well as the small particles form the reef chili and coral frenzy etc. Basically use tank eater and then soak pellets in it after mixing it full of all the small particle freeze dried coral foods, that way as you squirt pellets onto coral you are also putting a high density of micro sized food particles on them as well. Either way update us with your results.

 

[arman]

I don't know if this will help at all but when my lps really started to struggle with clean water (phosphate and nitrate are both undetectable) I took up feeding them every 3rd day with a mix of coral foods. Basically I use the reef chili, coral frenzy, and then fauna marine lps pellets and mix them all together in a cup, then turn off all circulation and spot feed each and every lps in my tank. Started doing this roughly 3 months ago and ALL my Lps have responded extremely well. I had a wellso brain that had started to recede, and he is already growing new tissue over the skeleton that was exposed around his base.

Realize this may not help you at all (if your already feeding etc) but just an idea, as at least in my case the feeding has completely rebounded all the LPS that were struggling with the low nutrient levels in my water. I may be making this up ,but to me it makes sense as if your water is "too clean" then the food they get several times a week gives them a way to get the nutrients that are normally present in your water (before it was too clean). I have knocked out basically all algae in my tank, and simply have to scrub the glass every 3 days to remove some minor film algae is about all, so i def think feeding is a benefit to LPS for those of use running really low nutrient tanks. Let us know what you decide to do, and how the lps respond though. Good luck !

So you are saying that low nutrient can just harm the lps?
My tank has stopped raising algae and i tested the parameteres and they were almost zero.I have fed them some times with shrimps,but i think they dont like it very much.Any suggestions?

 

[arman]

I also have this going on which doesn't make any sense. Only thing I can think of is silicates but I've already had diatoms. It disappears once the lights ramp down then shows up in the morning. The opposite of a mushroom.

It semms to be cyano.