Flesh coming off plate coral. What to do now?

[CayoHueso]

The flesh is coming off of the bottom of my plate coral. My wife says she's seen our diamond goby, which we recently added, picking at and underneath the coral. I can tell from the shifted sand that the goby has been removing sand from underneath and around the coral. Any advice? Will the flesh grow back? If so, what should I do to treat the coral to try and save it? And any advice on placing the coral so it's not bothered by the goby? TIA!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

What are your parameters?

 

[Uncle99]

This coral type does not usually fair well in captivity.

It can just go south, 4-6 months after purchase.

 

[CayoHueso]

What are your parameters?

Salinity: 1.026 SG
Ph: 8.1
Alk: 6.2 dkh
Nitrate: 13.8ppm
Phosphate: 0.24ppm
Calc: 442ppm
Magnesium: 1540ppm
(all checked using Hanna Checkers)

The Alk is low and I need to start dosing Alk. I've been researching what to dose, because my Calc and Mag are both fine. I'm leaning towards Reef Code B. I have a CoralVue Hydros controller that I'm currently setting up. It's a 20 Gallon system and I do weekly 3.5 Gallon water changes. I'm do for a water change tomorrow. My salt is rated to be mix to a higher Alk (AF Reef Salt), but even the day after a water change my Alk will read around 6.9 dkh.

My phosphates could also be considered high, but everything else seems to be thriving. And I've been slowly trying to bring them down thru water changes and lighter feeding.

 

[encrustingacro]

Salinity: 1.026 SG
Ph: 8.1
Alk: 6.2 dkh
Nitrate: 13.8ppm
Phosphate: 0.24ppm
Calc: 442ppm
Magnesium: 1540ppm
(all checked using Hanna Checkers)

The Alk is low and I need to start dosing Alk. I've been researching what to dose, because my Calc and Mag are both fine. I'm leaning towards Reef Code B. I have a CoralVue Hydros controller that I'm currently setting up. It's a 20 Gallon system and I do weekly 3.5 Gallon water changes. I'm do for a water change tomorrow. My salt is rated to be mix to a higher Alk (AF Reef Salt), but even the day after a water change my Alk will read around 6.9 dkh.

My phosphates could also be considered high, but everything else seems to be thriving. And I've been slowly trying to bring them down thru water changes and lighter feeding.

High phosphates are likely the problem.

 

[CayoHueso]

High phosphates are likely the problem.

I don't think they are that high to be an, or the, issue. It's very clear that the Diamond Goby is getting under and all around the bottom of the plate coral, I'm thinking that is more likely to be the cause than any of the water parameters. But I admit I may be wrong. Either way I am trying to get them down, I've got an automatic fleece roller on order to make up for the heavy feeding. I may add a nano skimmer as well. But like I said everything else is thriving and happy so I don't want to bottom out either.

 

[CayoHueso]

Anyone have thoughts on treating the coral? Is the flesh too far gone?

 

[JoJosReef]

I'd move it to a shroom box or something to protect it. Give it some food and let it recuperate. There's still enough flesh on it and a mouth there for it to make it.

 

[JoJosReef]

Anyone have thoughts on treating the coral? Is the flesh too far gone?

No, there is plenty of flesh, and there are tentacles. They are definite goners when the skeleton is seen above the flesh and the flesh recedes in the center where the mouth is. No bueno. I'd move it somewhere safe and give it some TLC.

 

[Mr. Acantho]

Get alkalinity to 10. The bare minimum in a tank is 8. 6 is bad.

Idk if it it will come back. Feed it directly, get alkalinity back on track.

 

[encrustingacro]

I don't think they are that high to be an, or the, issue. It's very clear that the Diamond Goby is getting under and all around the bottom of the plate coral, I'm thinking that is more likely to be the cause than any of the water parameters. But I admit I may be wrong. Either way I am trying to get them down, I've got an automatic fleece roller on order to make up for the heavy feeding. I may add a nano skimmer as well. But like I said everything else is thriving and happy so I don't want to bottom out either.

Phosphates are supposed to be .09 at the highest. Your tank has more than double that; it is very likely the problem. Just because everything else is doing fine doesn't mean your Cycloseris will be fine at high nitrates; every coral is different.

 

[CayoHueso]

Phosphates are supposed to be .09 at the highest. Your tank has more than double that; it is very likely the problem. Just because everything else is doing fine doesn't mean your Cycloseris will be fine at high nitrates; every coral is different.

I agree. It might be, I just think it's more likely to be from being picked at and underneath. It could be a combo as well. I'm going to shoot for keeping PO4 closer .1ppm, and under .2ppm and see how things go. If it wasn't being picked at and the skin was coming off, I'd be much more inclined to point solely at the PO4.

There are tanks with much higher PO4 that have plate corals. I couldn't find any evidence of flesh melting off of plate corals due to high PO4. Show me your polluted tanks, I think you'll see .09 isn't a hard stop for all tanks. Granted these tanks are older and more established, with much more growth. And newer less established tanks with higher nutrient levels aren't as successful as older more established tanks with higher nutrient levels. But just so others who come across this thread see. Tidal Gardens did have an anecdotal remark about having more success with plate corals if your phosphates are on the lower end of a scale between .05 - .2ppm.

I ordered a set of mushroom cages off of Etsy, and a scoly stand from printed reef, so I can try and protect it from the Goby and I'll see if lowering PO4 has any affect.

 

[exnisstech]

Phosphates are supposed to be .09 at the highest

I respectfully disagree. Maybe take a look this recent thread. In particular sunnyx tank which is tank of the month with PO4 0.9

Show me your polluted tanks: High Po4 High No3

I hear and see on many threads that you can't have high nutrients to run a colorful and successful reef. I see every day on threads about "help my coral" or "Is this coral dead" there is information that keeps getting regurgitated about having to high of phosphates or nitrates. This thread is...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[JoJosReef]

Do you have a full tank shot? I'm curious what else is growing in the tank. If you've got a full tank with lots of growth, I'm less concerned about nutrient levels because of how much is being consumed, but if you've just got a few frags, I worry a bit more because of swings and the corals not keeping up with nuisance algae--which have a bad habit of attaching to exposed skeleton and worsening the situation for suffering corals.

 

[VintageReefer]

Plates don’t need to be in the sand and they don’t need super low phosphates. I have been growing a plate on a frag rack from 1/2” to 2+ and my phosphate is .38

Move it out of the sand for now if the goby is irritating it. The scoly stand should help and until arrival you can elevate with a piece of pvc tubing

Here’s my plate on a shelf, mid tank height, .38 phosphate

 

[CayoHueso]

Do you have a full tank shot? I'm curious what else is growing in the tank. If you've got a full tank with lots of growth, I'm less concerned about nutrient levels because of how much is being consumed, but if you've just got a few frags, I worry a bit more because of swings and the corals not keeping up with nuisance algae--which have a bad habit of attaching to exposed skeleton and worsening the situation for suffering corals.

I have 8 frags, 3 RFA and the plate coral in the 20G. SO definitely not a lot of full growth. As I've added more corals and more fish my feeding has increased and my levels have crept up. I need to bring them back down.

I just wanted to add the bit about higher PO4 levels, because as a beginner (I've been in the hobby for a year, so I very much still think of myself as a beginner) I will come across some posts that present some information as hard fact ("dead stop") statements. And I'll react to those posts by trying to bring my tank inline with the statement, only to later find there's an alternative, another way to do it, or that my setup was actually fine. That's all. So yes, I plan on bringing my numbers down anyway.

I was dealing with diatoms on the sand bed, which is why I added the goby. He's since cleaned it all up. Today is maintenance day, so I need to clean the glass and I'll snap a shot of the whole tank. But this is what I have handy.

 

[JoJosReef]

I have 8 frags, 3 RFA and the plate coral in the 20G. SO definitely not a lot of full growth. As I've added more corals and more fish my feeding has increased and my levels have crept up. I need to bring them back down.

I just wanted to add the bit about higher PO4 levels, because as a beginner (I've been in the hobby for a year, so I very much still think of myself as a beginner) I will come across some posts that present some information as hard fact ("dead stop") statements. And I'll react to those posts by trying to bring my tank inline with the statement, only to later find there's an alternative, another way to do it, or that my setup was actually fine. That's all. So yes, I plan on bringing my numbers down anyway.

I was dealing with diatoms on the sand bed, which is why I added the goby. He's since cleaned it all up. Today is maintenance day, so I need to clean the glass and I'll snap a shot of the whole tank. But this is what I have handy.

Yes, I totally feel you. There's a lot of information out there and guidance, some great, some good and a bit not so good. We have to remember that our tank biome is extraordinarily diverse, so "keeping things in line" may be more complicated than it seems--major intervention to bring one thing up or down can throw something else out of whack.

I have a bit off the beaten track approach. If there are more nutrients, that means I can have more coral (if there's space--my current problem). More coral + more growth = more nutrient consumption. Nutrients low? I add another fish (I know I already want one anyway) as long as there is space (my current problem again) or feed heavier. The fish won't complain. On occasion I've resorted to other interventions like PhosGuard, but that's usually been when I've noticed levels going way over their usual levels. I very rarely do this. Still not sure if this is in the great, good or not so good advice category.

If you're filling up your tank though, just remember that your corals and nems get bigger, so unless you definitely want to be upgrading every year or two, give them space! Or you get this (beautiful) disaster:

 

[CayoHueso]

I have a bit off the beaten track approach. If there are more nutrients, that means I can have more coral (if there's space--my current problem). More coral + more growth = more nutrient consumption.

I like that philosophy! I think I can definitely add more corals and not need to drastically increase the amount of food I'm feeding. Currently I'm doing one scoop of Reef Chili (the minimum per the instructions) and mixing it with 2ml of Red Sea AB+ and tank water, I broadcast feed that on Mondays. On Thursdays, I'm using the same scoop which is 1/32 of teaspoon, of Goniopower and mixing it with 2ml of AB+ and tank water and spot feeding all the corals. I was thinking of cutting out the second weekly feeding, and seeing where levels ended up. Every day I broadcast feed a cube of PE frozen mysis to fish, and spot feed the RFAs, the plate coral and Duncan.

Currently I've got a Clownfish, RG Basslet, the Diamond Goby, 3x RFAs, the plate coral, a Duncan, a mushroom, a candy cane, a microgoni, 2x Gonis, 2x Hammers, a chalice and 2x pipe organs. So I misspoke earlier, I have 11 frags and the plate coral. I also have a large assortment of snails, and a tiger conch.

I lost one Goni to a battle with a Nexus Joker BTA. The tentacles from the BTA were always hitting the Goni. I had to remove the BTA, because I just couldn't find a place for it where it wouldn't sting my corals. I moved it to a Nem Box and it shredded itself thru the tiniest of holes. So it wasn't happy in the box.