euphyllia problems

[downtime89]

Hey guys, i have been having a few issues with my tank all my parms are in order, nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 8.0 ammonia 0 calcium is normal same as always. I Had my firsst outbreak of red slime algae in my two years of this hobby two weeks ago. i beat it in three days along with the red slime i had some brown slime that was in my sand bed hear and there, glass, and getting tangled in some corals.... I took care of that as well still there a little but not much if your not lookin for it you wont see it. Now during that time frame of problems some of my corals were not opening fully here is a list of ones that did this, hammers, frogspawn,few random zoas, and few random mushrooms, the rest of my corals, galaxia, xenia,leathers,birdsnest,gsp,monti,and candy cane all looked fine. I have been doing two water 10% water changes weekly. One of the hammers decided to open a bit more its now a little pale looking it was origanly a brown hammer, the green hammers have yet to open more fully. The zoas and mushrooms are doing fine now.

 

[jennm]

I've read the post twice... I'm not sure which other than the Euphyllia are giving you problems.

Have you checked your alkalinity and temperature?

How did you "deal with" the cyanobacter and algae?

Jenn

 

[downtime89]

At the moment no others are giving probs. Before some zoas and some mushrooms were giving issues. My temp is at 78-80. I do not currently have a alkalinity test i loaned it to a friend. With cyano i just did bigger water changes and siphoned out as much as i could same with the algae. could another factor of the problem be my change from power compacts to t5 in december?

 

[jennm]

Probably not the lights after all this time.

What are the Euphyllia doing or not doing? I wasn't clear on that.

Jenn

 

[downtime89]

well they have been staying closed up about a quarter of the way, The algae was getting on them before i got rid of it, Now they are lookin a bit better but they still are only about a quarter of the way open all day every so often they close all the way. One of the browner color ones decied to open a bit more yesterday and today but still not fully and a bit pale the others are still at a quarter way open. Also wat made me think light is when the lights come on in morning the close up completly for about a hour, they open more at night than day.

 

[jennm]

Have you tried moving them? Perhaps a bit lower placement. If their color has bleached a bit, they may have lost some of their zooxanthellae and may not be able to tolerate stronger light until they recover.

Also, are they close to anything that might be trying to sting or do "chemical warfare" with them? Euphyllia usually tolerate one another (they don't try to harm each other, even in close proximity to other similar).

Are you running any carbon? Sometimes corals will produce extra toxins if they are stressed, carbon will help remove some of that, if they are irritating one another.

Jenn

 

[downtime89]

Yes i did add carbon again once the problem started with the corals and algae, I did move them this morning actually, so far they dont seem to be getting any worse if anything better. But the only thing they are close to is each other and a sun coral but not reachable. I had them mid/high level now they are on bottom. doing another water change tonight. The torch i got at the febuary meet is on oppisite side of tank mid level doing great.

 

[jennm]

Well I'd sit tight with that and see how they do. Give them a couple of days to settle down. If they are just staying closed, not deteriorating, they will likely bounce back.

Keep us posted.

Jenn

 

[downtime89]

alright thanks i will keep a sharp eye on em, next water change as soon as i get home from work tonight.

 

[tchristman]

Euphyllia is usually a great indicator of water quality. If there is something irregular in your water quality it will often not open up. I am not saying that this is the case but this family is noted for this. Is it getting too much direct flow? That can also sometimes cause problems.