What has been your coral NEMESIS?!?

[TopShelfAquatics]

Xenias and gsp Ashamed that I can keep anything from acros, monti to hammers, micromussas but struggle with Xenia and GSP. They all just shrivel and melt.

Wow this one is surprising! Most people have those corals taking over their systems lol. Do you run pretty low nutrients?

 

[Tamberav]

Xenia...

 

[Alexopora]

Wow this one is surprising! Most people have those corals taking over their systems lol. Do you run pretty low nutrients?

Not quite cause I do feed my corals and I have to make sure my sexy shrimps are well fed or my corals are dinner. But I suspect it may have to do with flow. Since I tend to keep the xenias in higher flow area as low flow real estate’s taken up by lps which I believe would sting the heck out of the xenias. As for gsp i really have no idea why they dont really take off. And xenia/gsp do not come cheap where I’m from. They’ll cost easily 2-3 times a small frag of sps.

 

[ScubaFish802]

Ironically your TSA warp drive zoas have been my coral nemesis. I have gotten multiple polyps (not from TSA) and every time they have melted soon after. Yet other zoas seem to grow quickly or at least without issue Someday..

 

[GHOSTLY]

Homewreakers. Got 3 acro frags and 2 of them grew to mini colonies. Homewreakers however no matter how many times I try I can't keep it for more than 2 weeks

 

[TopShelfAquatics]

For me any kind of Tenus.....I have a mixed reef, mostly LPS....Torches, frogspawn, and hammers. SPS staghorn, monties, large Spongode colony...

Nitrates 5 to 10
Phosphates 0.03
Alk 9.5
Calcium 440
Temp 80

Your tank looks great! tenius can definitely be tricky. We always find they are more susceptible to any kind of swings. Most always prefer higher lighting and good random flow. What kind of Par are you hitting in the areas where you are placing the tenius?

 

[TopShelfAquatics]

How did you finally get it going good? What was the secret? I have a new frag of it

Honestly there is no secret. We are keeping it in the same system as our other acros and this one just seems to have settled in much better. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this one thrives so we can start offering plenty of frags to everyone!

 

[TopShelfAquatics]

My nemesis has been Zoas, but I am seeing a turnaround with nitrate dosing.

Zoas definitely like nitrates! Good luck! Hopefully you get some nice big colonies!

 

[TopShelfAquatics]

I can’t keep Goni‘s alive for more than a month. They start out strong then retract and slowly wither away. Nitrates are constant at 5.0 and Phosphates I try to keep at .10. I try them in medium and low light and medium flow. Nothing seems to work. My Duncan’s, elegance and torch are doing well.

I struggled with Gonis for a long time as well. I figured out if my nitrates were below 10 they never did great. Also target feeding them helped a lot. I have a few nice ones that are thriving now. Don't give up on them. They are truly amazing pieces!

I’d have to say aiptasia, I can just never keep those suckers alive. They never reproduce and are SO easy to kill.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

I have problems with corals that have polyps. I'm pretty sure at some point I've killed every type of coral, except NPS. I've never kept NPS, but if I did I would have probably killed it.

 

[SaltwaterandLime]

Duncans. Never been able to keep them. They do ok for a few months... even had them start to show new growth...then just go downhill fast. I've had the same result in multiple tanks over the years. Other corals are good, everything from softys, LPS, euphyllia, montis, acros, open brains, all doing really well.....duncans just hate me.

Oh, and trumpet corals.....they hate me too.

 

[TopShelfAquatics]

Elegance corals. Have only tried two and both appeared to get some sort of infection. Acropora, Stylophora, zoas, alveopora, and torches have all done fine in the tank.

Wow that is strange. What kind of symptoms do you typically see?

 

[TopShelfAquatics]

Ironically your TSA warp drive zoas have been my coral nemesis. I have gotten multiple polyps (not from TSA) and every time they have melted soon after. Yet other zoas seem to grow quickly or at least without issue Someday..

Oh man that is a bummer! Warp Drives are actually one of my favorite zoas. I have a nice little colony in my personal tank. I've found they are happiest under lower light and low to medium flow. Hopefully you can get another frag and they will thrive for you!