Help! Euphyllia Random Deaths

Morpheosz

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I have recently had some issues with my Euphyllia. I had 8 in total - 6 hammer / frogspawn type, and 2 torches. My tank is a year old and over the past 3 months things have really taken off, including these Euphyllia. Growth has been very pronounced with them all showing great extension and all showing growth, with some showing a lot of growth (one torch has more than doubled). The whole rest of the tank is similarly thriving.

However, about a month ago, I suddenly had 2 of my frogspawn / hammer variants start to show much less extension, and over the course of about two weeks day by day they showed less and less until they were literally disintegrating off their skeleton (pieces falling off). All the while the other 6 (which are all in close proximity) looked as robust as ever.

I chalked it up to bad luck and nearly a month has gone by without incident and the remaining 6 were looking look great. That is until about 3-4 days ago, when the same thing started with one of my 2 torches. I've had this for almost a year, and it was looking amazing just 1-2 weeks ago. Over the course of the last week, it has extended less and less and now it's starting to show some skeleton and I assume it's on the same trajectory.

I did examine my first two skeletons when I removed them from the tank and didn't notice anything funny and they didn't have any signs of brown jelly disease - either visually or by smell. Anything else I should be inspecting when I likely have to remove this one?

What else could be going on? I don't want to sit in fear of randomly losing one after another, especially as these have been growing so well. This torch is right next to my other torch that has nearly tripled in size and is looking great (see photos). They used to be similar size!

They are not touching any other corals.

Tank parameters have been really stable and consistent for months.

pH 8.1 - 8.3
Kh 8.0 +/- 0.2
Ca 450
Mg 1300
NO3 4-6ppm
PO4 0.03 - 0.07 ppm
Temp 78

Here is a bad picture of it a couple weeks ago, showing it's size and extension:

Screenshot 2022-12-29 at 9.37.44 AM.png


Here it is today:

IMG_2754.jpeg

IMG_2760.jpeg



Here is a pic of one of the 2 I lost a month ago:

IMG_2635.jpeg


Another pic from a month ago where you can see the 2 that died, as well as the current one looking good:

IMG_2637.jpeg
 
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Lavey29

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I've had similar where I randomly lose a head or two even though the coral is growing. I can find no exact reason for it other then perhaps a bacteria gets in there. Mine are a slow decline though and the remaining heads seem to be fine still. I have checked for pests unless they are microscopic. I sometimes wonder if leather coral turpenes play a roll.
 

CoralsAddiction

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I can’t tell you the cause but I’ve always cut/fragged healthy heads on struggling torches colonies. The frags usually survive and end up growing.
 
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Morpheosz

Morpheosz

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I've had similar where I randomly lose a head or two even though the coral is growing. I can find no exact reason for it other then perhaps a bacteria gets in there. Mine are a slow decline though and the remaining heads seem to be fine still. I have checked for pests unless they are microscopic. I sometimes wonder if leather coral turpenes play a roll.
This issue has affected all heads equally on mine - although that has only been 2 heads for each of the 3 corals in question.
 

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Gah, your tank looks beautiful. I'd hate to make any recommendations at my level lol. I wonder tho if there is a nutrient issue at certain points of the day and what bringing those up a little for more of buffer would do...that's all I can say comfortably :)
 
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Morpheosz

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Po4 and mag are low
I've followed the guidance that PO4 should be in the 0.03 to 0.1 range and Mg doesn't seem to be out of conventional guidance either. It is a bit lower right now than it has been as I've been seeing more uptake and dialing up dosing.

Either way, do you know of a connection between these values and rapid sudden onset of euphyllia death in a tank where many / all other corals are thriving? My hypothesis was that water parameters are an unlikely culprit given the state of the rest of the tank.
 

Dburr1014

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I've followed the guidance that PO4 should be in the 0.03 to 0.1 range and Mg doesn't seem to be out of conventional guidance either. It is a bit lower right now than it has been as I've been seeing more uptake and dialing up dosing.

Either way, do you know of a connection between these values and rapid sudden onset of euphyllia death in a tank where many / all other corals are thriving? My hypothesis was that water parameters are an unlikely culprit given the state of the rest of the tank.
Is it possible there's been some kind of aerosol spray in the area of the tank? Or some other kind of chemical that somehow gotten into the tank?
 

crAphroditie

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Dip them and ensure you do not have flatworms on them. When I notice tissue receding or they close up longer than a typical poop, I will dip them to ensure nothing on them ticking them off.
 
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Morpheosz

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Is it possible there's been some kind of aerosol spray in the area of the tank? Or some other kind of chemical that somehow gotten into the tank?
No, not likely, and I wouldn't expect something like that to have such a targeted effect. I also run some carbon as well as a safeguard against that.
 
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Morpheosz

Morpheosz

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One more stab at this,
Can you list all your inhabitants?
Fish, crabs, and shrimps especially.
Ooh, that's a pretty long list. I can say that I have observed none of them touching any of these affected corals over the past year and no one has been added recently. I also sit about a foot away from this tank for 10-12 hours a day and these torches are the mesmerizing centerpiece that I love to watch. I don't think I would have missed any harassment. I do very much appreciate the creative problem solving though!!
 
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I took the torch out and dipped in in Revive for 15 min with a gentle flow and put it back in the tank. I inspected it as best I could and don't see anything obvious but sharing some pics I took in case others see things I don't know to notice.


IMG_2764.jpeg

IMG_2762.jpeg
IMG_2763.jpeg
IMG_2764.jpeg
 

TokenReefer

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Not that it's abnormal to have it but perhaps the algae is irritating them? Maybe give em a quick gentle scrub with a toothbrush? Sorry, nothing else jumps out here to me
 

Renaissance corals

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I have recently had some issues with my Euphyllia. I had 8 in total - 6 hammer / frogspawn type, and 2 torches. My tank is a year old and over the past 3 months things have really taken off, including these Euphyllia. Growth has been very pronounced with them all showing great extension and all showing growth, with some showing a lot of growth (one torch has more than doubled). The whole rest of the tank is similarly thriving.

However, about a month ago, I suddenly had 2 of my frogspawn / hammer variants start to show much less extension, and over the course of about two weeks day by day they showed less and less until they were literally disintegrating off their skeleton (pieces falling off). All the while the other 6 (which are all in close proximity) looked as robust as ever.

I chalked it up to bad luck and nearly a month has gone by without incident and the remaining 6 were looking look great. That is until about 3-4 days ago, when the same thing started with one of my 2 torches. I've had this for almost a year, and it was looking amazing just 1-2 weeks ago. Over the course of the last week, it has extended less and less and now it's starting to show some skeleton and I assume it's on the same trajectory.

I did examine my first two skeletons when I removed them from the tank and didn't notice anything funny and they didn't have any signs of brown jelly disease - either visually or by smell. Anything else I should be inspecting when I likely have to remove this one?

What else could be going on? I don't want to sit in fear of randomly losing one after another, especially as these have been growing so well. This torch is right next to my other torch that has nearly tripled in size and is looking great (see photos). They used to be similar size!

They are not touching any other corals.

Tank parameters have been really stable and consistent for months.

pH 8.1 - 8.3
Kh 8.0 +/- 0.2
Ca 450
Mg 1300
NO3 4-6ppm
PO4 0.03 - 0.07 ppm
Temp 78

Here is a bad picture of it a couple weeks ago, showing it's size and extension:

Screenshot 2022-12-29 at 9.37.44 AM.png


Here it is today:

IMG_2754.jpeg

IMG_2760.jpeg



Here is a pic of one of the 2 I lost a month ago:

IMG_2635.jpeg


Another pic from a month ago where you can see the 2 that died, as well as the current one looking good:

IMG_2637.jpeg
I don't know about in your particular case. But I almost lost a three-head framer and was able to bring it back from almost completely dead by running my tank at 11.5 alk and high phosphate and nitrate. At po4 - 3+ppm and 40-50 ppm nitrate. After the coral recovered, i slowly lowered PO4 to 1.5-2.0 ppm and nitrate to 30-40 ppm. Don't know if that will help you but it worked for me
 

Shirak

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I don't know about in your particular case. But I almost lost a three-head framer and was able to bring it back from almost completely dead by running my tank at 11.5 alk and high phosphate and nitrate. At po4 - 3+ppm and 40-50 ppm nitrate. After the coral recovered, i slowly lowered PO4 to 1.5-2.0 ppm and nitrate to 30-40 ppm. Don't know if that will help you but it worked for me
I would agree it could partly be a nutrition issue. Test kits have a margin of error and .03-.07ppm PO4 is bordering on low side. When it's down near .03 it could really be close to 0. Same thing with NO3 at 4-6ppm.

Do you target feed them? My LPS like to get fed 2-3 times a week with various lps pellets, frozen mysis chopped up etc. They do much better for me long term if they get fed regularly. I would add my NO3 and PO4 are higher on average too than the OP and they still do better when they get feed several times a week.

I also try to keep my Mg 1400+ preferably around 1450ppm
 

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