Trouble with Torches

[MThomson314]

Hey all,

I am new to reefing and decided to jump in feet first and go right for torches (regrettable) because of the movement it brings to the tank. I then proceeded to add a bunch of LPS and Zoas as well to mix things up. Im finding that im having trouble keeping certain torches happy. one of which completely died after 1 week in the tank (indo). Ive been doing a lot of reading and have heard that torches and most LPS prefer "dirty" water. Due to the SEVERE GHA outbreak i battled for 2 months i have been running GFO in a Phosban 150. This has brought my phosphate down to near 0. Should i be shutting down the media reactor for 12 hours a day? or should i stop the GFO completely as i have the algae under control (i hope). ANY insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

Tank Parameters as of 2/10/21:
Salinity: 1.027
PH: 8.1
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: 0 - .10
Calcium: 470 ppm
Alkalinity: 10DKH
Magnesium: 1600 ppm

Coral Livestock thats not doing well:
Toxic Green hammer (hammers deflated, looks more like a torch)
Grim Reaper torch (2 heads showed skeletal system when it entered the tank and has since began growing back)
Black Tip Torch (doing alright but not exploding with growth)
Frogspawn - some days are better than others

Coral Livestock thats doing well:

Green Goni
Hairy mushrooms
Many Ricordea
GSP
Duncans
Misc Zoas
Galaxea
Candy Canes
Hollywood Stunner Chalice
Green Trachy

Tank Equipment:

28G JBJ NANOCUBE
Ai Prime Light
2 Koralia Powerheads
AutoAqua Smart ATO lite
Innovative Marine BioSkim DC AIO Nano Protein Skimmer
Jebao Doser 3.4 WiFi 4-Channel Auto Dosing Pump
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt
Inkbird Digital Temperature Controller Aquarium Thermostat
AQUATICLIFE RO Buddie Plus DI Four Stage Reverse Osmosis Deionization Unit 50 GPD

 

[OuteastREEFS]

Hey just from experience with euphyllia, they tend to close up tightly like that after an alkalinity spike. I know 10dkh is in the acceptable range but it might be a little high for their liking. Did you have any alk swings recently?

 

[MThomson314]

my alk has actually been coming down over the past month from 12. I had some issues last month with water quality and chemistry and seem to have them stabilized but even prior to that I was having trouble getting the euphyllia to look happy.

 

[OuteastREEFS]

I think if you keep it stable at 10dkh. Maybe bring the salinity down slightly, they should open up over time.

 

[MThomson314]

Awesome thank you for the input. Any thoughts on the phosphate debate?

 

[OuteastREEFS]

Awesome thank you for the input. Any thoughts on the phosphate debate?

Like you said debatable, lol. I've seen euphyllia thrive in high and low nutrients. I think They mostly bring out different coloration depending on how high or low the nutrients are. I do believe there's some truth to them thriving in "dirty" water but that's probably on a tank to tank basis. Every tank is different, your phosphates should be fine.

 

[tnewell]

They look ok for now, as long as everything is recovering. I think the best thing you can do is keep your tank stable and everything on routine. Learned that euphyllia are touchy when you play with them or mess with params

 

[stacksoner]

It may be difficult to keep these corals alive over the next couple of months while your ecosystem develops and matures.

Have you had diatoms/algae/dinos/cyano yet?