LPS not good Skeleton showing?

[a123h]

Tanks been running for nearly 6 months only had a soft coral so decided to try 2 LPS small candy cane and acan. Acclimated and dipped couple hours later to a day later looking like this skeleton showing etc. These are the conditions
Nitrate low around 2
Phosphate used salifert test kit absolutely 0
Alkalinity 6.8-7 Calcium 440 Mag 1500

 

[DSC reef]

Low alkalinity and zero phosphate can cause tissue recession in LPS. In my mixed reef I kept alkalinity at around 9 and always had some nutrients in the tank from bioload. There's no magic number when it comes to chemistry but if you plan on keeping LPS I'd get those numbers up and stay consistent. Those corals can bounce back as well.

 

[a123h]

Low alkalinity and zero phosphate can cause tissue recession in LPS. In my mixed reef I kept alkalinity at around 9 and always had some nutrients in the tank from bioload. There's no magic number when it comes to chemistry but if you plan on keeping LPS I'd get those numbers up and stay consistent.

Should i dose Phosphate and alk? ive been feeding more to up nitrate and Phosphate but hasnt helped, my bio load is pretty small just added my 5th fish in a 4 foot tank all pretty small fish.

 

[miami_reefer]

Agree with the above - low alk is most likely to blame here.

Try getting it up and spot feeding some ReefRoids to help get those phosphates up a bit.

 

[miami_reefer]

Should i dose Phosphate and alk? ive been feeding more to up nitrate and Phosphate but hasnt helped, my bio load is pretty small just added my 5th fish in a 4 foot tank all pretty small fish.

Yes, dose Alk but raise it slowly. Stability is key.

 

[a123h]

Should i dose Phosphate and alk? ive been feeding more to up nitrate and Phosphate but hasnt helped, my bio load is pretty small just added my 5th fish in a 4 foot tank all pretty small fish.

Yes, dose Alk but raise it slowly. Stability is key.

Will do thanks, would u say the coral here are dead or on the way out ?

 

[miami_reefer]

The candy cane looks toast. The acan may have a shot at recovery! Fingers crossed and good luck!

 

[Justfebreezeit]

They can bounce back. Keep it consistent

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How about showing a full tank picture? lps are fairly easy, and the 2 you chose are 2 of the easiest of all. I'd be surprised if the low alk caused that much recession in just one day to these 2 very hardy corals.. A full tank picture will let us see whats really going on.

 

[sjfishguy]

What is your salinity and what are you testing it with? I agree, low alk won’t kill a coral like that in a day

 

[DSC reef]

Should i dose Phosphate and alk? ive been feeding more to up nitrate and Phosphate but hasnt helped, my bio load is pretty small just added my 5th fish in a 4 foot tank all pretty small fish.

Be very careful in dosing, remember small and consistent. Large changes can be even more detrimental. For me, fish, feeding and weekly water changes were my routine. Your coral is not dead, just upset. This can definitely happen pretty quickly especially not knowing what the parameters were like in their previos tank.

 

[a123h]

How about showing a full tank picture? lps are fairly easy, and the 2 you chose are 2 of the easiest of all. I'd be surprised if the low alk caused that much recession in just one day to these 2 very hardy corals.. A full tank picture will let us see whats really going on.

 

[a123h]

What is your salinity and what are you testing it with? I agree, low alk won’t kill a coral like that in a day

Last i checked it was around 33ppt, i think the shock from the lfs tank water to mine would be the issue mixed with my no phosphates low nitrates and low alk

 

[sjfishguy]

What are you testing the salinity with?

 

[a123h]

What are you testing the salinity with?

ATC Refractometer calibrated by ro di water

 

[reefverse]

Alk is too low and your nutrients are basically bottomed out. Alk: 8-9 nutrients: 0.05-0.1 Phosphate and 10-20 Nitrates

 

[a123h]

Alk is too low and your nutrients are basically bottomed out. Alk: 8-9 nutrients: 0.05-0.1 Phosphate and 10-20 Nitrates

Ive raised alk will keep it at 8, im feeding twice a day and frozen for one to up nitrates and phosphates and got reef roids to use twice a week but i think ill need to start dosing phosphate because its not budging. Any other tips ?

 

[reefverse]

Okay sounds good. Do you have a skimmer on the tank?

 

[a123h]

Okay sounds good. Do you have a skimmer on the tank?

Yeah i have a skimmer i turned it down a notch to so it doesnt produce as wet foam

 

[reefverse]

That’s a good start. Running the skimmer a little drier should help reduce nutrient export. I’d also make sure you’re not running GFO or any other phosphate-removing media. If you’re not, I’d give the increased feeding about a week and test again before jumping into phosphate dosing like Brightwell’s NeoPhos. Sometimes the bacteria and corals will soak up the extra nutrients before your test kit starts showing an increase. If phosphate is still unreadable after a week of heavier feeding, then I’d consider dosing a phosphate supplement slowly like NeoPhos. The key is to bring nutrients up gradually while keeping your alkalinity stable around 8 dKH.