Lobophyllia Deflating

[reefinginBD]

Hey guys, I have a 150 gallon reef tank and I’ve had this lobophyllia for a while. It has been doing good so far but then I see that one of the polyps are deflating. I was told that it’s because it’s not receiving enough food. I fed it some carnivorous fish pellets and it improved a little bit. But will it be ok to give it raw freshwater shrimps? Will that help more? What I can do is take some freshwater shrimps, clean it up, rinse with freshwater, chop it up and feed it to the coral. Let me know whether this is safe or not, since frozen foods and brine shrimp is not available. It’s either these raw freshwater shrimps or ocean nutrition carnivores pellets for fish or reef roids which it doesn’t really seem to eat too much. Do let me know TIA.

 

[VintageReefer]

Small meaty food, mine did the same thing and I realized I hadn’t fed it in a while. I fed and next day it was partially inflated and after next feeding back to normal. The food you mention is fine just chop up small

 

[VintageReefer]

Meaty pellets would work also.
My lobo’s don’t really care for reef roids lr powder based food.

 

[reefinginBD]

Small meaty food, mine did the same thing and I realized I hadn’t fed it in a while. I fed and next day it was partially inflated and after next feeding back to normal. The food you mention is fine just chop up small

Yeah I was just worried that the shrimp being freshwater, it will harm the coral or something. Should I soak it in some tank water before feeding? Or the freshwater inside the shrimp is not an issue?

 

[reefinginBD]

Meaty pellets would work also.
My lobo’s don’t really care for reef roids lr powder based food.

Do suggest some good meaty pellets!

 

[VintageReefer]

Yeah I was just worried that the shrimp being freshwater, it will harm the coral or something. Should I soak it in some tank water before feeding? Or the freshwater inside the shrimp is not an issue?

Non issue.

 

[VintageReefer]

Do suggest some good meaty pellets!

Pe mysis pellets
https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/p...-1-mm-saltwater-fish-food-piscine-energetics/

 

[reefinginBD]

Hey man, I’ve found one pellet that is similar to this but not the same. I’m not sure if the ones available are pellets or flakes though. If they are pellets I’ll get it and try feeding it. But I’ve had no improvement so far. It’s kinda gotten worse. Please let me know if you have any tips to improve it.

Ca: 450
Mag: 1350
Alk: 8.5
Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 25-26 degrees Celsius

Should I change any of the levels or do anything? I was told by some one that putting it higher up with a little higher flow and lighter will help it a lot. I’ve tried that but still has no improvement. Should I continue feeding it? And should I reduce the feeding to every other day or continue to give it shrimp everyday? Do let me know.

 

[VintageReefer]

The parameters and food look good. I would feed every 2 days to allow time for digestion. They can get “backed up” and be grumpy looking

 

[reefinginBD]

Okay, I’ll try that then. Should I increase the levels of alk or mag? I’ve heard that the lobos prefer higher mag levels. Also heard that they like lower tank temp so reduced it to 25-26 C from 27-28. And moved it up to a place with higher light and flow as well.

 

[VintageReefer]

Your alk and mag are fine
Nearly identical to conditions I keep many lobo in.

 

[reefinginBD]

I see, then I’ll just continue to main this and feed the coral every 2 days. Any idea how long this might take to heal? And do you think when it’s completely healed it will be ok to not feed it at all or will it need to feed it at least once a week? Like will feeding it AB+ once a week be enough?

 

[VintageReefer]

I see, then I’ll just continue to main this and feed the coral every 2 days. Any idea how long this might take to heal? And do you think when it’s completely healed it will be ok to not feed it at all or will it need to feed it at least once a week? Like will feeding it AB+ once a week be enough?

They should be fed 2x a week and ab+ is more like a vitamin supplement not a food

 

[VintageReefer]

Lobo are slow growers and slow healers. Yours isn’t too bad. I would expect a week or two