Dark spots on favias. Should I be concerned?

[Dodgersfan]

I got a shipment of corals last weekend, everything seems to be doing really well. Good PE from everything and they’ve been gobbling up reef roids. I’ve got 2 favias that have small dark spots that are much more evident under the blues only than blues and whites. The first one came in with this dark spot, I really don’t know if it’s gotten bigger or smaller, I haven’t been taking daily photos to compare, but I may start. Here it is under whites:

And here it is under blues with some extreme filtering on the aquarium camera app, the rim is just dark in person, like there’s just no zooxanthellae in that half of the rim:

Here’s the other one, looks a little dull under whites:

And under blues there’s just no fluorescence

This frag got knocked over 2-3 times this week by a turbo snail that has since been kicked out of the tank. I don’t really know if this spot has been there since I got it or if it’s developed since I’ve had it. This one arrived very bleached and has taken a lot longer to color up than the rest (but it is colored up really well now, except for this spot)

The polyps appear to open and close fine when target feeding reef roids. Are these polyps in danger or is this typical shipping stress? Do I need to be worried about the rest of the colonies? Is there anything I can be doing proactively to help them recover?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[mcarroll]

Probably from the bump.

Don't overdo the feedings to the point of disturbing water quality and he should be fine, even if he loses that polyp.

(Are there fish in the system that you're feeding? If so I'd consider laying off the coral feed.)

 

[Dodgersfan]

No fish. I’ve fed them once so far and planning in target feeding 1x per week. Only the green colony was knocked over. The red colony hasn’t been, could that be shipping damage?

 

[mcarroll]

No fish. I’ve fed them once so far and planning in target feeding 1x per week.

You have the idea then...just keep it cool. How much of the food you're using actually gets eaten is always a big question.

Maybe consider a Black Molly or Azure Damsel for the tank? (Not sure what the long-term plans are so maybe that doesn't make sense.)

Only the green colony was knocked over. The red colony hasn’t been, could that be shipping damage?

Also a possibility, but unless there was signs of damage on the shipping box you enter into the realm of guessing here.

 

[Dodgersfan]

You have the idea then...just keep it cool. How much of the food you're using actually gets eaten is always a big question.

Yeah I was a little worried about that. I tested the water this morning. No spike in ammonia or nitrite but nitrates are up to somewhere between 5-10 ppm, they usually run between 3-5ppm.

Maybe consider a Black Molly or Azure Damsel for the tank? (Not sure what the long-term plans are so maybe that doesn't make sense.)

it’s a new tank and my plan was to start out with a fallow period since I don’t have a coral QT tank. All the coral is going in in two big batches (and being dipped prior to going in) and then 78 days fallow to make sure no fish diseases hitchhiked in.

Also a possibility, but unless there was signs of damage on the shipping box you enter into the realm of guessing here.

Yeah, figured there was no way to know for sure, My main concern was if it wasn’t shipping damage and it was some sort of disease that I would have to worry about spreading and taking the whole colony out...

 

[mcarroll]

Yeah I was a little worried about that. I tested the water this morning. No spike in ammonia or nitrite but nitrates are up to somewhere between 5-10 ppm, they usually run between 3-5ppm.

There's no reason to expect your ammonia or nitrites to rise anymore unless there's a serious disturbance to your live rock.

Nitrates doubling is what you would have been worried about.

Not the number – 10 ppm is fine – but the doubling. That's instability.

my plan was to start out with a fallow period

I don’t have a coral QT tank

and then 78 days fallow

You might be over-focused on fish pathogens.

Has something happened in the past to cause this or is this focus just from reading?

All the coral is going in in two big batches

I'm guessing that's because you're ordering in big batches? If that's your only choice, then do what you have to.

But, speaking more generally, bombing a new tank with large quantities of livestock all at once is a recipe for instability and can create a positive environment for pathogens to go nuts.

(Corals are plantimals – part plant, part animal....think I made that up! (ok, not ) – so they actually have a little different/lighter impact than e.g. a large number of fish added....lesser impact on nutrients,maybe even a balancing effect, and more impact on chemistry. I would still add them at a more measured pace if it's possible – intermixed over a long period of time with your other livestock additions.)

 

[Dodgersfan]

There's no reason to expect your ammonia or nitrites to rise anymore unless there's a serious disturbance to your live rock.

Nitrates doubling is what you would have been worried about.

Not the number – 10 ppm is fine – but the doubling. That's instability.

I’m not sure if they doubled exactly, I didn’t have a right before previous test, the closest one was several days ago. I use a Red Sea rest kit that goes in increments of 5, it generally runs slightly lighter than 5 but was slightly darker this time. But it is a pretty new tank

You might be over-focused on fish pathogens.

Has something happened in the past to cause this or is this focus just from reading?

I’ve lost fish in the past, never had a major outbreak, but I do click on a lot of tank emergency threads... velvet and ich seem to be everywhere now, especially from the online retailers, which is where I’ll be getting my fish.

I'm guessing that's because you're ordering in big batches? If that's your only choice, then do what you have to.

Yep, that’s what I’m doing, not my first choice but everything locally is super expensive. The “deals” at my LFS are 3 meh frags for $120, or 3 decent frags for $190 or 3 frags along the lines of what you see from the better vendors here for $250. Fish are roughly double what the online retailers charge..

But, speaking more generally, bombing a new tank with large quantities of livestock all at once is a recipe for instability and can create a positive environment for pathogens to go nuts.

(Corals are plantimals – part plant, part animal....think I made that up! (ok, not ) – so they actually have a little different/lighter impact than e.g. a large number of fish added....lesser impact on nutrients,maybe even a balancing effect, and more impact on chemistry. I would still add them at a more measured pace if it's possible – intermixed over a long period of time with your other livestock additions.)

Corals are going in in 2 batches of around a dozen each, fish are going in 2-4 at a time about every 6 weeks. The tank is a 90 and all the fish will go in around 2-3” and all will top out about 4-5”. I don’t have any big fish planned for the tank.

 

[mcarroll]

which is where I’ll be getting my fish

In Atlanta there aren't some worthy LFS's left??

Yep, that’s what I’m doing, not my first choice but everything locally is super expensive.

If their stock is good, then cost "should be" the least of your worries...particularly with the fish, but also with the corals.

I think the prices feel a lot higher than they are because you're trying to buy in quantity for some reason.

Corals are going in in 2 batches of around a dozen each, fish are going in 2-4 at a time about every 6 weeks. The tank is a 90 and all the fish will go in around 2-3” and all will top out about 4-5”. I don’t have any big fish planned for the tank.

Overall I'd call that a very high risk plan....very similar to what ends up biting a lot of people after the fact.

It's really a few high risk plans layered on top of each other.

Good luck if you go for it anyway and I hope it works out! But if it were me I'd heavily reconsider taking advantage of local availability. Price is SOOO not the biggest factor. Local, you get to see where the fish are coming from. You can see all the fish in the store help your assessment. You can observe them for days and days before buying if you want. You can pick exactly which animals you want. You can see exactly how they're treated while they're being caught and bagged. You can meet and talk to the people at the store. You can hardly put a dollar value on all those things! The cost is such a minor factor....in a month you won't even remember what you paid and if you play your cards right these fish will live 10+ years. Will you give one whip what you paid then?

If money really is a big concern then I double down on buying local and in smaller quantities over a longer period of time....spread those payments out just like in real life.

You gotta do what you gotta do, but try not to be totally hung up on cost – it's such a short-term concern in a real long-term game.