Cyphastrea

[Kraig]

Can anyone lend an opinion on what is on my Cyphastea? It looks a like cyano that I dealt with for a while but I’m pretty much past that now. I tried blowing it off with a baster but it didn’t budge. You can tell from the video it’s getting decent flow and the strings are blowing around quite a bit.
Thank!

 

[Kraig]

Well crap, don’t think the video is playing.

 

[Lavey29]

Can you post some white light pics? I just added cyphastrea to my tank also.

 

[Kraig]

Maybe this will work

 

[Lavey29]

Maybe this will work

I don't see anything? Feeder tentacles?

 

[Kraig]

Here are a couple of pics. I’ve had this for many months. It’s doing okay I think. It is encrusting on the rock. I’m still learning so I’m not sure what I’m seeing here

 

[Kraig]

I don't see anything? Feeder tentacles?

Yeah, thats what I don’t know. Are their feeding tentacles red? I’ve seen feeders on a few of my other corals (not Cyphastrea’s) and the tentacles are clearish.

 

[Lavey29]

Yeah, thats what I don’t know. Are their feeding tentacles red? I’ve seen feeders on a few of my other corals (not Cyphastrea’s) and the tentacles are clearish.

Not sure but it looks healthy with wide open polyps. Your rocks have a good amount of film algae and looks like coraline starting so they seem like a good for the cyphastrea there. Mine aren't opening big like that yet.

 

[Kraig]

Not sure but it looks healthy with wide open polyps. Your rocks have a good amount of film algae and looks like coraline starting so they seem like a good for the cyphastrea there. Mine aren't opening big like that yet.

Yeah, it seems happy so not worried, just trying to learn! Still dealing with a bit of algae here and there and I’ve got quite a bit of coralline at this point. I’m 8 months in on this tank. Thanks for looking and replying!

 

[Lavey29]

Yeah, it seems happy so not worried, just trying to learn! Still dealing with a bit of algae here and there and I’ve got quite a bit of coralline at this point. I’m 8 months in on this tank. Thanks for lookand replying!

I added 3 cyphastrea frags. One in moderate light, one partial shade and one full shade. I'm kind of experimenting with them now. But none of them had big full polyps in the shop just small colored polyps. I'm curious if there are different types. I know the branching ones are considered SPS but the flat ones are LPS.

 

[Lavey29]

Yeah, it seems happy so not worried, just trying to learn! Still dealing with a bit of algae here and there and I’ve got quite a bit of coralline at this point. I’m 8 months in on this tank. Thanks for looking and replying!

That's about where I was at 8 months to. When I hit one year everything changed for the better. Tank became much more balanced and predictable.

 

[Kraig]

I added 3 cyphastrea frags. One in moderate light, one partial shade and one full shade. I'm kind of experimenting with them now. But none of them had big full polyps in the shop just small colored polyps. I'm curious if there are different types. I know the branching ones are considered SPS but the flat ones are LPS.

Yeah, I was doing a little research trying to figure out what was going on with mine and came across a discussion on whether these are “lps” or “sps”. I bought this as an “sps” so didn’t even realize there was a debate or difference between some of them. Always something to learn in this hobby.

 

[Lavey29]

Yeah, I was doing a little research trying to figure out what was going on with mine and came across a discussion on whether these are “lps” or “sps”. I bought this as an “sps” so didn’t even realize there was a debate or difference between some of them. Always something to learn in this hobby.

Only the branching ones are considered SPS I believe.

 

[exnisstech]

I added 3 cyphastrea frags. One in moderate light, one partial shade and one full shade. I'm kind of experimenting with them now. But none of them had big full polyps in the shop just small colored polyps. I'm curious if there are different types. I know the branching ones are considered SPS but the flat ones are LPS.

This is mine that has grown from a frag in almost 3 years. It has never had big open polyps like the one Kraig posted tho. :thinking-face:

 

[Kraig]

This is mine that has grown from a frag in almost 3 years. It has never had big open polyps like the one Kraig posted tho. :thinking-face:

That is interesting. Seems like it has to be somewhat happy to keep growing. It seems strange that the polyps never open. These organisms are fascinating in many ways.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here are a couple of pics. I’ve had this for many months. It’s doing okay I think. It is encrusting on the rock. I’m still learning so I’m not sure what I’m seeing here

In video, I see cyano. Theres a good chance your no3 and po4 are elevated. Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations and phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

 

[Lavey29]

This is mine that has grown from a frag in almost 3 years. It has never had big open polyps like the one Kraig posted tho. :thinking-face:

That's meteor shower huh? It's awesome

 

[Kraig]

In video, I see cyano. Theres a good chance your no3 and po4 are elevated. Cyano blooms typically start when water nutrient concentrations and phosphate, nitrate and other organic compounds are too high.
Some of the most common causes include:
- Protein skimmer which fills water with tiny air bubbles. As bubbles form from the reaction chamber, dissolved organic compound molecules stick to them. Foam forms at the surface of the water and is then transferred to a collection cup, where it rests as skimmate. When the protein skimmer does not output the best efficiency or you do not have the suitable protein skimmer to cover the tank, the air bubbles created by the skimmer might be insufficient. And this insufficiency of air bubbles can trigger the cyano to thrive.
- Overstocking / overfeeding, your aquarium with nutrients is often the culprit of a cyano bloom
- Adding live rock that isn’t completely cured which acts like a breeding ground for red slime algae
- If you don’t change your water with enough frequency, you’ll soon have a brightly colored red slime algae bloom. Regular water changes dilute nutrients that feed cyanobacteria and keeps your tank beautifully clear
- Using a water source with nitrates or phosphates is like rolling out the welcome mat for cyano. Tap water is an example
- Inadequate water flow, or movement, is a leading cause of cyano blooms. Slow moving water combined with excess dissolved nutrients is a recipe for pervasive red slime algae development

I recommend to reduce white light intensity or even turn them off for 5-7 days. Add liquid bacteria daily for a week during the day at 1.5ml per 10 gallons. Add Hydrogen peroxide at night at 1ml per 10 gallons. Add a pouch of chemipure Elite which will balance phos and nitrate and keep them in check.

After the week, add a few snails such as cerith, margarita, astrea and nassarius plus 6-8 blue leg hermits to take control.

Thanks for the reply.
So a little info and a few questions.
I battled red slime (cyano bacteria?) a few months ago, about 6 months into the life of the tank. At the time, my no2 and po3 where testing at 0, which I assume is because they were being consumed by the bacteria/algae blooms. I stayed very consistent with 10% water changes and siphoning algae/bacteria every week. I finally got to the point that the red slime and what I think were diatoms (lots of air bubbles) stopped coming back every week. I started to have po4 go up but still no no3. I dosed some calcium nitrate to start getting an no3 reading. That did help lower po4 some, along with using phosgaurd to try to keep that in check. I’m at the point now where my no3 is testing at anywhere between 5-10 ppm but my po4 is still quite elevated, between 0.4-0.7. I am trying to learn how to control my nutrients.
I am running an octopus 110 classic in my 40g breader with a 20g sump. I’m running it at night, about 12 hours a day. I am also still learning how to get that running efficiently. At times I’ve collected quite a bit in the collection cup, and at times not a whole lot.
I have quite a few snails, trochus, astreas, nirites and others along with a few scarlet leg hermits and a blue leg hermit, and a tuxedo urchin. I feel like my cuc for a 40g is on par with what I’ve read I should have in that size tank.
Honestly, for what my tank looked like a few months ago, I’m fairly happy with how it looks 8 months in, but realize I’m still learning and the tank is still maturing.
I’ve thought about going the bottled bac route to see how that goes but not sure I should or want to. White light is pretty low on my reefbreaders. 3% is the max right now. Running the lights about 10 hours a day. Dosing hydrogen peroxide at night is interesting to me. I’ve read a bit about that but seems like I come across inconsistent information so I’ve been reluctant. I think I will do some more reading to try to get a better understanding and go from there with that. I have not heard of chemipure elite so I will look into that as well.
Okay, I got a little long winded there, I will stop typing now :).

 

[Lavey29]

Thanks for the reply.
So a little info and a few questions.
I battled red slime (cyano bacteria?) a few months ago, about 6 months into the life of the tank. At the time, my no2 and po3 where testing at 0, which I assume is because they were being consumed by the bacteria/algae blooms. I stayed very consistent with 10% water changes and siphoning algae/bacteria every week. I finally got to the point that the red slime and what I think were diatoms (lots of air bubbles) stopped coming back every week. I started to have po4 go up but still no no3. I dosed some calcium nitrate to start getting an no3 reading. That did help lower po4 some, along with using phosgaurd to try to keep that in check. I’m at the point now where my no3 is testing at anywhere between 5-10 ppm but my po4 is still quite elevated, between 0.4-0.7. I am trying to learn how to control my nutrients.
I am running an octopus 110 classic in my 40g breader with a 20g sump. I’m running it at night, about 12 hours a day. I am also still learning how to get that running efficiently. At times I’ve collected quite a bit in the collection cup, and at times not a whole lot.
I have quite a few snails, trochus, astreas, nirites and others along with a few scarlet leg hermits and a blue leg hermit, and a tuxedo urchin. I feel like my cuc for a 40g is on par with what I’ve read I should have in that size tank.
Honestly, for what my tank looked like a few months ago, I’m fairly happy with how it looks 8 months in, but realize I’m still learning and the tank is still maturing.
I’ve thought about going the bottled bac route to see how that goes but not sure I should or want to. White light is pretty low on my reefbreaders. 3% is the max right now. Running the lights about 10 hours a day. Dosing hydrogen peroxide at night is interesting to me. I’ve read a bit about that but seems like I come across inconsistent information so I’ve been reluctant. I think I will do some more reading to try to get a better understanding and go from there with that. I have not heard of chemipure elite so I will look into that as well.
Okay, I got a little long winded there, I will stop typing now :).

What really helped my tank was PNS probio a natural bacteria supplement that gets rid of organic waste in your tank. Really cleaned up my tank. Easy to dose no fridge needed.

 

[Kraig]

What really helped my tank was PNS probio a natural bacteria supplement that gets rid of organic waste in your tank. Really cleaned up my tank. Easy to dose no fridge needed.

Thanks, I will check that out.