I Just Can't Get My Euphyillia To Be Happy

Fenwickwick · Jul 11, 2023

Photos of said Euphyillia attached. There is very little to any polyp extension.

I've gone through probably 3 of these and they always do ok for a couple of months before slowly starting to wither away. System is a 65G JBJ AIO that's about 2.5 years old. I do 5G water changes weekly. I run an Apex and Trident paired with a dosing pump. My big 3 numbers are; Alk: 9.5, CA 430, Mag 1400ish. I can honestly say these numbers are rock solid and never drop or spike. I'm super comfortable with my overall stability. EVERYTHING else in the take is THRIVING. My Acros/Torches/Zoas/Montis are exploding in growth. My rock nems also seem to reproduce like rabbits.

....But these dang run of the mill green/blue Euphyllias...

I understand my salinity is a bit high but its always been around 36/37ppm with no issues.

I dose Seachem fusion 1 and 2 for CA/ALK, and Red Sea Foundation for Mag. I also dose AB+ maybe twice a week.

Nutrients are good. Phosphate undetectable. I keep nitrates around 10-15 usually.

Lighting is a single Kessil AP700 that ramps up to around 60% at 1pm. Par readings at the top are 250, bottom 90ish.

Anyways, check out the pics; full tank pic so you can look at everything else in the tank and compare.

JGT · Jul 11, 2023

Doesn’t look bad. Are you sure it can extend further. ? I see some of the mouths which indicate it’s pretty extended.

Uncle99 · Jul 11, 2023

What does undetectable mean?
Mine are .15ppm….easily detected.
Zero would be a bad number.
Very, very, very nice tank you have!

Fenwickwick · Jul 11, 2023

Uncle99 said:
What does undetectable mean?
Mine are .15ppm….easily detected.
Zero would be a bad number.
Very, very, very nice tank you have!

Good point. < .20 is normal.

nothing_fancy · Jul 11, 2023

I have a similarly sized all in one. I am of the mind that AIO aquariums need a little supplemental help. You might try an HOB fuge, get a little cheato in there and let it get dirty, get your phos up a bit try for .05. I have found IME that an AIO needs an area like that. That being said, my euphylias particularly a frog spawn that Ive had since 2012 has never done better since I started daily dosing phytoplankton. If you aren't doing it, this is the one thing that I would definitely try and if you are doing it, review your dosage. I have a 40g cube, I dose 60 mil daily !!! Outside of that I would say do an ATI test if you haven't and look into what's going on with your trace elements. 5g WC weekly in a 65 would not be enough IMO to replenish trace although many will argue not to do water changes at all however I believe a lot of those folks are dosing in some way to make up for it.

*edit
just to add, your coral looks fine! but if they aren't lasting more than a few months then there is some problem there obviously

Fenwickwick · Jul 11, 2023

JGT said:
Doesn’t look bad. Are you sure it can extend further. ? I see some of the mouths which indicate it’s pretty extended.

Yes, I know it can extend further because I was there for its glory days

Extension should be 3 or 4 times this.

Fenwickwick · Jul 11, 2023

nothing_fancy said:
I have a similarly sized all in one. I am of the mind that AIO aquariums need a little supplemental help. You might try an HOB fuge, get a little cheato in there and let it get dirty, get your phos up a bit try for .05. I have found IME that an AIO needs an area like that. That being said, my euphylias particularly a frog spawn that Ive had since 2012 has never done better since I started daily dosing phytoplankton. If you aren't doing it, this is the one thing that I would definitely try and if you are doing it, review your dosage. I have a 40g cube, I dose 60 mil daily !!! Outside of that I would say do an ATI test if you haven't and look into what's going on with your trace elements. 5g WC weekly in a 65 would not be enough IMO to replenish trace although many will argue not to do water changes at all however I believe a lot of those folks are dosing in some way to make up for it.

*edit
just to add, your coral looks fine! but if they aren't lasting more than a few months then there is some problem there obviously

Agreed. Everything else is a long term resident. Acros are newly added in the last 5 or so months but they're all growing really well.

nothing_fancy · Jul 11, 2023

Fenwickwick said:
Agreed. Everything else is a long term resident. Acros are newly added in the last 5 or so months but they're all growing really well.

Ya, thats good but comparing SPS to LPS....you already know. There is a sweet spot for nutrients and mixed reefs. You have all of the tools it seems to monitor these things. Not for nothing, and don't kill me, but I think you can get your par up even for softies. I would shoot for 125-150 at the bed. Take your time advancing this par but your SPS will thank you for it. Are you skimming? Get an ATI test!

JGT · Jul 11, 2023

Fenwickwick said:
Yes, I know it can extend further because I was there for its glory days

Extension should be 3 or 4 times this.

Then 0 PO4 might be your culprit.

Fenwickwick · Jul 11, 2023

nothing_fancy said:
Ya, thats good but comparing SPS to LPS....you already know. There is a sweet spot for nutrients and mixed reefs. You have all of the tools it seems to monitor these things. Not for nothing, and don't kill me, but I think you can get your par up even for softies. I would shoot for 125-150 at the bed. Take your time advancing this par but your SPS will thank you for it. Are you skimming? Get an ATI test!

One step ahead! (Mind you, this was a couple months ago...)

EDIT: As for the skimmer, I have am HOB skimmer but its sitting in the garage because it was a PIA that constantly bubbled over and flooded my electronics below. I was also noisy as hell which was a no-go because my tank is in my home office and I work remotely.

Furthermore, I found that everything seemed happier when it wasn't on. It made the water cloudy with micro-bubbles and caused a lot of stuff to close up. So....idk...I could set it back up but the utilitarian in me thinks it caused more harm than good. Maybe i'm full of it....

nothing_fancy · Jul 11, 2023

Fenwickwick said:
One step ahead! (Mind you, this was a couple months ago...)

EDIT: As for the skimmer, I have am HOB skimmer but its sitting in the garage because it was a PIA that constantly bubbled over and flooded my electronics below. I was also noisy as hell which was a no-go because my tank is in my home office and I work remotely.

Furthermore, I found that everything seemed happier when it wasn't on. It made the water cloudy with micro-bubbles and caused a lot of stuff to close up. So....idk...I could set it back up but the utilitarian in me thinks it caused more harm than good. Maybe i'm full of it....

Ok, nice, so you've raised your salinity a bunch, and your nitrates. Your po4 was low then and is still low. I think the others that commented about po4 are correct. You could dose that with bright well or feeding TDO pellets will bring that up. But thats a decent test result. If you're a couple months out on a test this is the perfect time to test again considering you have questions, if you didn't have questions I wouldn't test. RE the skimmer, you have good PH so you may be right about not needing it, however IMO (grain of salt here) I'd skim regardless. HOB skimmers are for the most part a waste of money. The reef octo and aquamaxx interested me but I have no experience with them. I had an Ice cap for a day (fell apart) and an IM ghost (did not work) You could do a full sized EXT skimmer in your AIO to get some oxygenation going if you're interested in the process check my build thread, IME a skimmer is necessary for long term reef tanks.