Can't seem to keep Frogspawn

[Scubabum]

Hello fellow reefers.My tank has been running for over 20 years and I have a variety of coral. I have Acan, Duncans, Brain, several Zoas, several mushrooms, a RTBA and they are all doing great. I really want a frogspawn. I have tried 3 different frags and they all seem to die. The latest frag i purchased was damaged during shipping and I noticed some brown jelly coming out of the damaged head. I dipped it in lugols Iodine solution and cut off the damaged head. Two days later the remaining two heads got the brown Jelly and unfortunately the coral didn’t make it. My question is should I wait before trying another Frogspawn? Does the Brown jelly stay in the tank?


I’m at a total loss here. I can’t figure out why I’m having such bad luck with frogspawn. My tank is a 58 gallon Oceanic reef ready tank. Flow is Two Mp10’s mounted on opposite sides of the tank. Lighting is a Kessil Ap700 at 32%. Par is 120 at Frogspawn location.

My parameters are steady and are:::


Temp 78

Ph 8.2

Salinity 1.026

Alk 8.4

Calc 480

mag 1440

Nitrate 5ppm

Phos .03


Could it be just bad luck? I went through the same thing when adding my first Duncan. Went through 3 frags all placed in the same position before one actually lived and is thriving. Any thoughts on this? I would really appreciate any feedback you can give me. I want a Frogspawn SO bad but trying to add one is hurting the wallet. Thank you for any help or your thoughts. I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend..

 

[Nihilus]

Have you purchased all of these Frogspawns from the same dealer? Where are you placing them in your tank when you do get one? What kind of lighting do you have? Your parameters look ok, but low to moderate lighting and flow seems to suit them best IME.

 

[Scubabum]

Have you purchased all of these Frogspawns from the same dealer?

No, The first two frags were from different LFS and the last one was from online vendor. I've been placing them on the bottom so they can acclimate to my lighting which is a single Kessil AP700 at 32%. Par is 120 at the Frogspawn location.

 

[Reefcowboy]

I have the same tank as you, running MH and two Kessils A160's.
I have one MP40QD on one of the sides(same as the frogspawn) since i notice it grows way smaller with larger flow. My frogspawn has gone from 4x4" to maybe 12" in length over a year or so. They are easy to maintain as long as you dont go too high on lighting or flow. They like gentle water movement. Seems to me you have gotten frags that were freshly cut. Sometimes when you frag a frogspawn, you can damage its tissue, and even though the piece looks full and healthy a few days afterwards, it could start to decline health and vsnish from that fragging. You must have had bad luck, these are the easiest to keep corals. Good luck!
Here is a pic, on the left bottom of the tank.

 

[Nihilus]

No, The first two frags were from different LFS and the last one was from online vendor. I've been placing them on the bottom so they can acclimate to my lighting which is a single Kessil AP700 at 32%. Par is 120 at the Frogspawn location.

Hmm. It might just be bad luck then. Is there any chance you could post a picture of your tank so we know what your dealing with? Have you thought about keeping a Hammer coral or perhaps a Torch coral instead? Just to see if Frogspawns are the problem or all Euphyllia corals in general.

 

[Scubabum]

I have the same tank as you, running MH and two Kessils A160's.
I have one MP40QD on one of the sides(same as the frogspawn) since i notice it grows way smaller with larger flow. My frogspawn has gone from 4x4" to maybe 12" in length over a year or so. They are easy to maintain as long as you dont go too high on lighting or flow. They like gentle water movement.
Here is a pic, on the left bottom of the tank.

That is beautiful. What do you use for return pump from the sump? What settings do you run your Mp40 On and at what percent. I can't tell you how bad I want a frogspawn. Its driving me crazy!

 

[Reefcowboy]

Hmm. It might just be bad luck then. Is there any chance you could post a picture of your tank so we know what your dealing with? Have you thought about keeping a Hammer coral or perhaps a Torch coral instead? Just to see if Frogspawns are the problem or all Euphyllia corals in general.

Great point. I doubt it could be a coral type issue, but ive seen tanks that cant keep euphilias types before. I couldn't keep hammers for the longest time, they all vanished within 2-3 months. I started noticing the LFS i go to would frag them(wall types) as they came in from the wholeseller.

I bought a branching type and it did well so i knew the wall type corals have this problem. My frogspawn has similar "wall" formations that grew flatter from round branches through time. I can see if i tried to frag it i could have declining frags and also kill the mother colony with infections typical of fragging practices.

 

[Scubabum]

Hmm. It might just be bad luck then. Is there any chance you could post a picture of your tank so we know what your dealing with? Have you thought about keeping a Hammer coral or perhaps a Torch coral instead? Just to see if Frogspawns are the problem or all Euphyllia corals in general.

Here is a Pic I just took. Sorry my phone takes crappy pictures and my light just turned on. I place them in the lower right in the empty space.

 

[Reefcowboy]

That is beautiful. What do you use for return pump from the sump? What settings do you run your Mp40 On and at what percent. I can't tell you how bad I want a frogspawn. Its driving me crazy!

LOL I find it funny because these are easy coral with nothing special as far as care. I understand your struggle and hope you can figure out whats going on.
My return is an Eheim Compact 3000, and the MP40 is have close to the surface(as high as possible) set at 30%. I keep the mp40 high so the sps' get the upper flow stream and the flow strength decreases and by the time it comes towards the larger lps, it is weaker and more gentle.

I saw a LFS that had a lime green frogspawn mixed with a bright yellow one and it was simply stunning!

 

[ahiggins]

I cant help with figuring out whats up BUUUUUT I have the same issue with torch corals.
My hammer/acan/zoa/palys/mushrooms all do amazing and are growing like weeds...but torchs-cant get them to open or grown lol I stopped trying after a while

 

[Scubabum]

I cant help with figuring out whats up BUUUUUT I have the same issue with torch corals.
My hammer/acan/zoa/palys/mushrooms all do amazing and are growing like weeds...but torchs-cant get them to open or grown lol I stopped trying after a while

Yeah I've lost my third frogspawn. I tried a torch and hammer a while back and they died as well. My tank use to be over run with Xenia now I have 1 tiny frag left. Everything else is doing well. My parameters are always ok. Scared to try the 4th frogspawn. UUUUGGGG!!!!

 

[ahiggins]

aww man, thats rough. Have you tried to grow softies? SPS? any luck with those?

 

[Scubabum]

aww man, thats rough. Have you tried to grow softies? SPS? any luck with those?

Yeah I got tons of shrooms, leather, duncans, acan, zoa's,brain, RTBA, all doing well. I don't have any SPS. I'm thinking of sending some water out for a Triton test. I've tried everything. Went from ATI 6 bulb T5 to Kessil ap700, changed water flow same result. Only other thing I can think of is my tank has quite a few colonial hydroids. They are nowhere near the corals so I'm guessing they aren't hurting anything. I've even considered tearing everything down and starting fresh. Really hard for me to do this as my tank is over 20 years old.

 

[ahiggins]

Temp 78

Ph 8.2

Salinity 1.026

Alk 8.4

Calc 480

mag 1440

Nitrate 5ppm

Phos .03

Im not sure if this is anything but my readings are:
pH: 8.4
Salinity: 1.024-1.026
Alk: 9.5
Calc-never check
Mag: 1300 (before I was dosing for bryopsis)
Nitrate:0
Phos: 0

What salt do you use to make up?
RODI also?
What are your WC routines?
Any bad algae? (hair, cyano, etc)
I know that my hammer/torch wont open if theyre in semi direct flow...I have to keep them in a VERY low flow area

 

[domination2580]

Im not sure if this is anything but my readings are:
pH: 8.4
Salinity: 1.024-1.026
Alk: 9.5
Calc-never check
Mag: 1300 (before I was dosing for bryopsis)
Nitrate:0
Phos: 0

What salt do you use to make up?
RODI also?
What are your WC routines?
Any bad algae? (hair, cyano, etc)
I know that my hammer/torch wont open if theyre in semi direct flow...I have to keep them in a VERY low flow area

Calcium is one of the most important things to check. Is what corals use to create their exoskeleton and your calcium could be way low without your magnesium giving you a hint.

 

[ahiggins]

Yeah I got tons of shrooms, leather, duncans, acan, zoa's,brain, RTBA, all doing well. I don't have any SPS. I'm thinking of sending some water out for a Triton test. I've tried everything. Went from ATI 6 bulb T5 to Kessil ap700, changed water flow same result. Only other thing I can think of is my tank has quite a few colonial hydroids. They are nowhere near the corals so I'm guessing they aren't hurting anything. I've even considered tearing everything down and starting fresh. Really hard for me to do this as my tank is over 20 years old.

I had my first frag come in with a hydroid on it. Superglued that *****!

 

[domination2580]

Also i two hammers and a frogspawn they are all in pretty good flow. If i were to guess is say placement is key here. Try them in different spots. See where they like the best

 

[ahiggins]

I agree, I just never do it myself lol

 

[Scubabum]

Im not sure if this is anything but my readings are:
pH: 8.4
Salinity: 1.024-1.026
Alk: 9.5
Calc-never check
Mag: 1300 (before I was dosing for bryopsis)
Nitrate:0
Phos: 0

What salt do you use to make up?
RODI also?
What are your WC routines?
Any bad algae? (hair, cyano, etc)
I know that my hammer/torch wont open if theyre in semi direct flow...I have to keep them in a VERY low flow area

I have a BRS 75 gallon RO/DI unit and it always tests at 000 tds. I change 10% of water every two weeks, using a 50/50 mix of Instant Ocean and Reef Crystals. Seems the RC alone give me really high alk. I never miss or skip a water change. Strange thing about water change is coral seems to be a little unhappy after the water change. Usually takes two days for them to be happy again. No algae to speak of. Once in a while I get a very light dust of Cyano on my sandbed but doesn't seem to be a problem. Still playing around with flow. I have two MP10's and have them set so the polyps are gently swaying. Definitely not getting blasted or anything like that.

 

[Scubabum]

Also i two hammers and a frogspawn they are all in pretty good flow. If i were to guess is say placement is key here. Try them in different spots. See where they like the best

I have tried the Euphyllia in a few spots. Same result. I recently added a Duncan coral, My first two died and my Third Duncan went from two heads to ten heads in about 2 months. Exact same location. So frustrating.