Help with torch coral

[dejaknu]

I've been dealing with a few tank problems lately and I suspect they largely contributed to my torch's recession. That said, I could be missing something.

Pics:

I'm just getting over a huge bacteria or phytoplankton bloom with help from an UV sterilizer. My tank was a "pea soup" color and pretty much opaque. I tried blackouts, renewed my carbon, and added phosguard, which is probably why my phosphate is at 0 now. This was going on for about a week and a half. Even before this, the tissue was looking like it was pulling off the stalk, I thought it was because my flow was all coming from that side. I switched the flow and it looked like it was improving. Then I got the outbreak and could finally see it clearly again today.

I use Reef Crystals so my params are always high. I don't dose anything. I don't have any fish that would be picking at it but my snails and hermits brush up against it sometimes. This is my only coral.

Tank params:
8.2 ph
0.0 phosphate
450 cal
1440 mg (tested higher than my freshly mixed sw but I tried measuring twice, I don't dose anything)
11 dkh
5-10 nitrates
1.024 salinity
80 F

Any ideas?

 

[BighohoReef]

Your torch health closing/pulling off is more likely due to water quality issues even before algae bloom. Poor water quality and 0 Ph could be contributing factors, too much flow is sometimes an issue (which you addressed) what is your lighting like? is it getting too much?

Though looking at your pictures I'm not sure I understand your issue with the torch, it looks pretty healthy and the skin is still on the skeleton. Are all these pictures taken in the same time frame?

 

[fishguy242]

hi ,have you dipped for unseen flatworms? lets start there

 

[dejaknu]

Your torch health closing/pulling off is more likely due to water quality issues even before algae bloom. Poor water quality and 0 Ph could be contributing factors, too much flow is sometimes an issue (which you addressed) what is your lighting like? is it getting too much?

Though looking at your pictures I'm not sure I understand your issue with the torch, it looks pretty healthy and the skin is still on the skeleton. Are all these pictures taken in the same time frame?

Thanks for taking a look. They were all taken today. I see some white where it's pulling off in the 1st and 3rd photos. In both pics it's more to the left. I use fluval evo 13.5 stock lights and usually have them on 12 hours a day. Lately it wouldnt be getting as much light with the foggy water.

hi ,have you dipped for unseen flatworms? lets start there

Hey, nope I havent. It's attached to a big rock though. Do I take the whole rock out and treat the whole thing? I dipped it in revive cleaner when I first got it

 

[BighohoReef]

Somethings you can try... I agree with @fishguy242 on dipping it'll help you to see if you have any pests and possible removal, hard to tell from the pics. You can also try iodine to help in treating torches, I've had 50/50 results when trying to treat distressed euphyllia. You could try amino spot dosing, I've also had mixed results with corals recover with this method, but it's also something I use in feeding corals on the regular.

 

[fishguy242]

agree your phosphate is to low ,how long have you had it,think ruled out flatties

 

[dejaknu]

Somethings you can try... I agree with @fishguy242 on dipping it'll help you to see if you have any pests and possible removal, hard to tell from the pics. You can also try iodine to help in treating torches, I've had 50/50 results when trying to treat distressed euphyllia. You could try amino spot dosing, I've also had mixed results with corals recover with this method, but it's also something I use in feeding corals on the regular.

Thanks, should I try dipping it with the revive again or something else? Or just go for iodine, like this: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-dip-with-iodine.59085/ ? How long would you recommend leaving it in there? I do feed the coral mysis from time to time. Is amino spot dosing just to get it some nutrition?

agree your phosphate is to low ,how long have you had it,think ruled out flatties

Thanks, I just pulled out the phosguard pack that was left in there (according to instructions). I've had it almost exactly 3 months. This tank did have flatworms around that time but they were never on the coral. I manually removed them whenever I saw them over several weeks and haven't seen one for at least a month.

 

[fishguy242]

dippin time,do you have a wrasse that eats them?

 

[dejaknu]

dippin time,do you have a wrasse that eats them?

Nope, no worm predators unfortunately. What do you recommend for a dip?

 

[fishguy242]

i myself use bayer,lets ask @BighohoReef ,i think the iodine may be more suited for this situation

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Iodine or Seachem Reef dip work pretty well. Im not sure about your lighting quality, you should look into an upgrade soon there.

Euphyllia tends to like dirtier water as well. I was keeping my nitrates around 3ppm and phosphates <1 and didn't get any growth. I run about 20ppm n03 and 1.4 p04 now with my fuge and everything is happy, (No sps, though). I'm not telling you to run that high, but definitely more than the 0 you're at currently