Is my lobo happy?

[3rdMoon]

When I first brought it home 2 weeks ago it lay basically flat on the sand bed with bright yellow coloring across the top (first pic) now 2 weeks later (second pic) it’s much more puffed up and the yellow has turned to a subdued orange. Having never kept lobos before and being a bit of a noob in general I’m not sure if it’s happy where it’s at or if it’s reaching for light. Any input would be appreciated.
Alk: 7.5
Cal: 420
Mag: 1200
No3: 10
Po4: .09
Sal: 1.025
Temp: 78
Ph: 8.2
Tank depth: 19 inches
Running 2 Hydra 26 HD’s 12 inches off the water
UV: 76%
Violet: 76%
Royal: 80%
Blue: 80%
Green: 6%
Red: 6%
Cool white: 30%
Tanks been up since 01/25/20

 

[najer]

Very nice, looks happy to me.

 

[living_tribunal]

This looks to be an indo lobo which are more difficult to keep than the Aussie ones you see on here.

The spiky texture is always the give away.

To answer your question, no, it doesn’t look to be in the worst shape and is ok. Was the texture completely smooth when you purchased it?

Indo lobos require a lot more time to acclimate and are pretty sensitive. They want very low flow and very low light as well. They are collected from deeper lagoons where nutrients are rich, flow is slow but currents are faster, and light is a bit darker. They are also a species that do require pretty consistent feeding. Don’t over do it but feeding your lobo will go a long way.

I had a similar indo lobo, was bright red when I purchased it. Shortly after would get mad and spiky all the time and the red became a darker maroon. You need to take it easy on flow, light, and feed at least once a week with pellets (not roids). They also prefer slightly lower temps (75-77). They’ll let you know when the temp is too hot and the faded color is always the give away.

Your params look great so if it remains somewhat spiky, reconsider placement. He’s in good shape though so I wouldn’t sweat it until it becomes an issue.

 

[3rdMoon]

Very nice, looks happy to me.

Thanks. Should I worry about the color change tho? I bought it specifically because of the bright yellow coloring and now it’s a dull orange.

 

[homer1475]

Looks quite happy to me.

Keep in mind corals can change color in our tanks. things like nutrient levels, lighting, and even flow can effect their coloring. What you see in the store often times changes when we bring them home to our tanks.

 

[3rdMoon]

This looks to be an indo lobo which are more difficult to keep than the Aussie ones you see on here.

The spiky texture is always the give away.

To answer your question, no, it doesn’t look to be in the worst shape and is ok. Was the texture completely smooth when you purchased it?

Indo lobos require a lot more time to acclimate and are pretty sensitive. They want very low flow and very low light as well. They are also a species that do require pretty consistent feeding. Don’t over do it but feeding your lobo will go a long way.

I had a similar indo lobo, was bright red when I purchased it. Shortly after would get mad and spiky all the time and the red became a darker maroon. You need to take it easy on flow, light, and feed at least once a week with pellets (not roids). They also prefer slightly lower temps (75-77). They’ll let you know when the temp is too hot and the faded color is always the give away.

Your params look great so if it remains somewhat spiky, reconsider placement. He’s in good shape though so I wouldn’t sweat it until it becomes an issue.

That’s good info. Thanks I’ve tried spot feeding it during the day (hoping it’ll react and eat the food) but the pellets just sit there and then get picked off by my cleaner shrimp. It only seems to open to feed at night between 11 and about 3am so I dose 20ml of Red Sea AB+ coral food once a week (at night). Should I try and spot feed pellets at night as well?

 

[living_tribunal]

That’s good info. Thanks I’ve tried spot feeding it during the day (hoping it’ll react and eat the food) but the pellets just sit there and then get picked off by my cleaner shrimp. It only seems to open to feed at night between 11 and about 3am so I dose 20ml of Red Sea AB+ coral food once a week (at night). Should I try and spot feed pellets at night as well?

If that’s the case, try feeding less. Give it maybe another week or two to acclimate. They should be eliciting a feeding response. They are heavy eaters and some demand it for best health. They are very prone to tissue recession if messed with by inverts or fish so be careful.

One thing to note, they are crazy slow eaters. I would give mine 30 minutes to eat.

Wait and see if it puffs up full (nearly smooth tissue, you’ll know what I’m talking about). When it does, start feeding. If not, try moving to a lower flow spot.

You’ll know it’s happy when the tissue is so puffed that it has a jiggle from the flow.

 

[najer]

Thanks. Should I worry about the color change tho? I bought it specifically because of the bright yellow coloring and now it’s a dull orange.

You can move it to a bit more light but they don't like being moved so do it and leave it for a week or two unless it reacts badly, mine loves light but as above flow also matters as well as nutrients (yours looked fine to me by the way).

 

[living_tribunal]

You can move it to a bit more light but they don't like being moved so do it and leave it for a week or two unless it reacts badly, mine loves light but as above flow also matters as well as nutrients (yours looked fine to me by the way).

Trying higher light with low flow seems like a good place to start. Just don’t put it on rocks or anything.

 

[StlSalt]

My red lobo is in a similar situation, this is all great information. It does open up and feed when I broadcast live phyto and even when I feed frozen two times a day, but it is a little spikey and the colors have dulled a little. It seems good but it could do better.

 

[living_tribunal]

My red lobo is in a similar situation, this is all great information. It does open up and feed when I broadcast live phyto and even when I feed frozen two times a day, but it is a little spikey and the colors have dulled a little. It seems good but it could do better.

Indo lobos are a royal pain. I get contentious about the subject because you have all these peeps saying “I can put my lobo anywhere and it’ll be happy” and you’re just sitting there like s***.

No different than indo vs Aussie gonis.

My take is a bit different. While the geography definitely has an impact, I believe it’s more so geographical collection methods. It’s very difficult to culture lobos so they have to be collected. Indo lobos are collected much deeper than aussies are so they are prone to more stress when placed in an aquarium environment. Indo everything has worse collection methods and the corals are quickly sold a week or two after collection. By the time you purchased it, they have changed their location 3-4 times in a short time span. They always end up being finicky in my tank.

The Aussies just take more care to acclimate before selling imo.

 

[StlSalt]

Indo lobos are a royal pain. I get contentious about the subject because you have all these peeps saying “I can put my lobo anywhere and it’ll be happy” and you’re just sitting there like s***.

No different than indo vs Aussie gonis.

My take is a bit different. While the geography definitely has an impact, I believe it’s more so geographical collection methods. It’s very difficult to culture lobos so they have to be collected. Indo lobos are collected much deeper than aussies are so they are prone to more stress when placed in an aquarium environment. Indo everything has worse collection methods and the corals are quickly sold a week or two after collection. By the time you purchased it, they have changed their location 3-4 times in a short time span. They always end up being finicky in my tank.

The Aussies just take more care to acclimate before selling imo.

The best thing to do is keep educating people, I love all this information you're throwing out. My lights are a little strong so I might move it to a different location with less PAR. It's been in that spot for probably 6 weeks and has been fully opening to feed everyday if not twice a day, so I thought it was doing good, but like I said it could probably do a little better. I may move it or I might just leave it there, I have been slowly backing my lights down since I got a PAR meter and realized there were some hot spots where PAR was 350 at the sand level.

 

[living_tribunal]

The best thing to do is keep educating people, I love all this information you're throwing out. My lights are a little strong so I might move it to a different location with less PAR. It's been in that spot for probably 6 weeks and has been fully opening to feed everyday if not twice a day, so I thought it was doing good, but like I said it could probably do a little better. I may move it or I might just leave it there, I have been slowly backing my lights down since I got a PAR meter and realized there were some hot spots where PAR was 350 at the sand level.

Is it mad (spiky) in the morning and then happy later in the day?

 

[living_tribunal]

And 350! At the sand level!?!?!?!

 

[StlSalt]

Is it mad (spiky) in the morning and then happy later in the day?

I'm definitely going to watch it now throughout my light cycle. Those pictures I posted are from about 30 minutes ago right as the white light starts to ramp up. Does it look overly spiky to you?

 

[StlSalt]

And 350! At the sand level!?!?!?!

A few hot spots. They're down to 250 now and lower with all the pumps on. Who knew how powerful those AI52's were. ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[living_tribunal]

A few hot spots. They're down to 250 now and lower with all the pumps on. Who knew how powerful those AI52's were. ;Shamefullyembarrased

I would turn those down! I can’t imagine what you’re getting at the top. I care for an lps dominant tank (only have a few free sps). I keep my uv at Max 20% and blues at Max 85% during peak hours. No corals need 500+ Par. You probably keep a lot of sps but that’s still so high.

 

[StlSalt]

I would turn those down! I can’t imagine what you’re getting at the top. I care for an lps dominant tank (only have a few free sps). I keep my uv at Max 20% and blues at Max 85% during peak hours. No corals need 500+ Par. You probably keep a lot of sps but that’s still so high.

Sunset monti and montipori setosa love it. Like I said I know it's too high and I'm slowly decreasing. I'll tell you one thing I'm getting better polyp extension now.

 

[living_tribunal]

Sunset monti and montipori setosa love it. Like I said I know it's too high and I'm slowly decreasing. I'll tell you one thing I'm getting better polyp extension now.

Mixed reefs are certainly tough. I only have monti caps and digis so they don’t mind the lower par. I hate stix in general

 

[StlSalt]

Mixed reefs are certainly tough. I only have monti caps and digis so they don’t mind the lower par. I hate stix in general

Same here, I'm not a fuzzy stick guy, farthest I venture into the SPS waters is montis. Probably about the beginning of 2020 I started slowly ramping the lights up and everything seemed to be doing okay, then I finally got a Seneye to test PAR with on Black Friday this year, dealt with their support for almost a month to replace the broken Seneye and finally tested my PAR. I was just as shocked as you were. I had the lights 8" off the water line, so I moved them up to 9" in two increments to try and eliminate hot spots, and now I'm slowly bringing the Blues down from 100%. The whites don't get over 17% now they were close to 30%, Blues are at 90%.