trouble with lps

chrispycritter · Oct 25, 2025

i have had my tank running for a year and having good luck with montipora coral but im on the struggle bus with any type of lps they start out great and then shrink away. parameters all good sometimes nutrients bottom out. been testing weekly and dosing nitrate and phosphate as needed. what other possible things should i be looking into sorry open ended question.

X-37B · Oct 25, 2025

Pic of your system will help.

BryanM · Oct 25, 2025

chrispycritter said:
i have had my tank running for a year and having good luck with montipora coral but im on the struggle bus with any type of lps they start out great and then shrink away. parameters all good sometimes nutrients bottom out. been testing weekly and dosing nitrate and phosphate as needed. what other possible things should i be looking into sorry open ended question.

Full tank shot, lighting, flow, and actual tank parameters please.

Bottomed out nutrients basically equals starvation. Your LPS need nitrates and phosphates to thrive.

LPS Bum · Oct 25, 2025

As mentioned above, most LPS corals prefer to be fed. Especially the fleshy ones (Acanthos, Scolys, Cynarina, etc). I like to feed mine the zooplankton type foods more than mysis or brine shrimp. If yours are struggling I’d look there first. Par levels below 125 and moderate flow (just enough so the corals jiggle a bit) are preferred. Make sure you don’t have any fish that are nibbling on them.