Help - LPS Corals Struggling

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tanked4u

tanked4u

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As an update, I received my Hanna Phosphate checker. PO4 = 0.04 ppm

My LPS corals continue to waste away. It is hard to watch.

The coralline algae bloom continues in earnest. I think my water parameters are okay. I strongly suspect it is bacterial or possibly some pest that I just can't see attacking the LPS corals.

The Allivet site requires a referral from a veterinarian for prescription orders. I contacted a local vet to ask if he would be willing to write a script. The receptionist at the vet office laughed when I told her it was for sick corals in my aquarium. I think she thought it was a prank call, but to his credit, the vet did call me back. However, he did not seem overly enthused about my request. I suspect in part because there is really no billing opportunity for him. I sent him some photos of the corals/tank, but I have not heard back.

I started dosing MicroBacter7 in hope that the "good" bacteria can out compete the "bad" bacteria. Who knows....

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 

Lavey29

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As an update, I received my Hanna Phosphate checker. PO4 = 0.04 ppm

My LPS corals continue to waste away. It is hard to watch.

The coralline algae bloom continues in earnest. I think my water parameters are okay. I strongly suspect it is bacterial or possibly some pest that I just can't see attacking the LPS corals.

The Allivet site requires a referral from a veterinarian for prescription orders. I contacted a local vet to ask if he would be willing to write a script. The receptionist at the vet office laughed when I told her it was for sick corals in my aquarium. I think she thought it was a prank call, but to his credit, the vet did call me back. However, he did not seem overly enthused about my request. I suspect in part because there is really no billing opportunity for him. I sent him some photos of the corals/tank, but I have not heard back.

I started dosing MicroBacter7 in hope that the "good" bacteria can out compete the "bad" bacteria. Who knows....

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
They mailed it to me without a prescription couple months back.
 

MaxTremors

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I would thoroughly inspect all of your pumps and any magnet in your tank. I recently experienced something very similar (just now starting to recover). At first I thought it was some large alk swings while I was out of town off and on for a month, but then I found a magnet that the housing had broken open and was all corroded and rusty and black. Either way, I would run some Polyfilter just to be safe. But it’s absolutely something you should double check.
 

Lavey29

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An issue I seem to have with Cipro is that while it stops the spread of. BJD to other heads, the initial head always winds up dying. And in many cases while the other heads initially survive, they also end up dying. I’ve tried going days in between without Cipro, raising the dose, lowering the dose but no luck. They just see seem to constantly ooze a brownish slime and slowly waste away to nothing. Any advice?
Keep in mind that BJD is brought on by coral stress due to parameters imbalance. Nutrients, light or flow. Something is stressing them and that lowers their immune system which allows the BJD to invade. The first time it happened to me I treated it with chemiclean and followed up with large bag of carbon in my sump. Correct parameters are critical though and yes a head here or there may need to be fragged off
 

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal

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Chewy carries it in the fish wellness section but looks to be out of stock. I have purchased from Aquanestbiotic and had excellent service. https://aquanestbiotic.com/
Thank you! I was just looking for a seller this weekend and could not find anyone that had Cipro in stock :)
 
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tanked4u

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Chewy carries it in the fish wellness section but looks to be out of stock. I have purchased from Aquanestbiotic and had excellent service. https://aquanestbiotic.com/
Thank you for the link. The vet got back to me today and wrote a script for a few tablets of cipro, so I am all set now. I will give it a whirl and report back.
 
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tanked4u

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I would thoroughly inspect all of your pumps and any magnet in your tank. I recently experienced something very similar (just now starting to recover). At first I thought it was some large alk swings while I was out of town off and on for a month, but then I found a magnet that the housing had broken open and was all corroded and rusty and black. Either way, I would run some Polyfilter just to be safe. But it’s absolutely something you should double check.
I will definitely check this out. My sump area is due for a thorough cleaning/inspection.
 
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tanked4u

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Keep in mind that BJD is brought on by coral stress due to parameters imbalance. Nutrients, light or flow. Something is stressing them and that lowers their immune system which allows the BJD to invade. The first time it happened to me I treated it with chemiclean and followed up with large bag of carbon in my sump. Correct parameters are critical though and yes a head here or there may need to be fragged off
My Alk drifted really high about 6 months back or so. I was getting bad results from my Hannah Alk checker due to using the same cuvette for too long. The cuvette had become slightly discolored, and I was slow to detect what was happening.

I wonder if it started then...
 

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