Lobo (??) Help

[scomac88]

I'm at my wits end with this. Time to go to the experts.

This lobo has been in my tank for a few weeks. 15g cube with one AI Blade Grow. It started in the corner it's currently in. This is the lowest flow, lowest light area of my tank I can put it in without shading.

A couple weeks back, I decided to move it into the middle of the tank, still on the sand.

It started to get grumpy in that spot. The upper right corner of the lobo started diving into the center of the lobo coming off the skeleton.

After a couple days of that getting worse, I figured it was getting too much light and turned down the lights. Got worse.

So I moved it back to the corner and kept the lights down.

Now, it's very very unhappy.

It has fed a couple mysis rounds in the last few days. I'm seeing bleaching or turning pale, can't really decide which it is. I'm at my wits end. Seems like I'm at that point where I need to get the next fix right or I'm toast.

Thoughts? I'm running the AI Blade at literally 3% or so. Should I turn up the lights and risk it? Anyone seen this? Is this even a lobo (saw something about orange likely being not a lobo).

Thanks all.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don't think you should turn down the lights for one coral cause then you make everything unhappy.

What are the nitrate and phosphate level? Lobo likes nutrients in the water, and the tank is looking kind of new. I also notice a lot of zoa's are closed up. Check the nitrate and phosphate levels to keep these happy.

 

[scomac88]

I don't think you should turn down the lights for one coral cause then you make everything unhappy.

What are the nitrate and phosphate level? Lobo likes nutrients in the water, and the tank is looking kind of new. I also notice a lot of zoa's are closed up. Check the nitrate and phosphate levels to keep these happy.

I'll run the tests on those in a second. It is a new tank. But I have high nitrates and minimal phosphates last I checked a few days ago. The Zoas are closed because the lights just came on. I'll follow up with numbers.

Sounds like your initial lean re lights is to start slowly ramping back up?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I'll run the tests on those in a second. It is a new tank. But I have high nitrates and minimal phosphates last I checked a few days ago. The Zoas are closed because the lights just came on. I'll follow up with numbers.

Sounds like your initial lean re lights is to start slowly ramping back up?

Personally I would. A par meter is really the only way to know what intensity to put your lights at, some LFS's rent them out. But 3% seems kind of low...

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

First off that is a true lobo

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Second off I wouldn't be the right person to help with this, lobophyllia has so far been the one coral I haven't been able to keep, is it wild caught?

 

[scomac88]

I don't think you should turn down the lights for one coral cause then you make everything unhappy.

What are the nitrate and phosphate level? Lobo likes nutrients in the water, and the tank is looking kind of new. I also notice a lot of zoa's are closed up. Check the nitrate and phosphate levels to keep these happy.

Nitrates are ~35 - 40ppm (Redsea)
Phosphates - .25 - .5ppm (Salifert)

 

[scomac88]

Second off I wouldn't be the right person to help with this, lobophyllia has so far been the one coral I haven't been able to keep, is it wild caught?

I am not sure on its sourcing. Most of the stuff in this particular LFS is tank, but I know he does get limited coral shipments in. Wish I had asked.

 

[Nate Chalk]

Nitrates are ~35 - 40ppm (Redsea)
Phosphates - .25 - .5ppm (Salifert)

.25-.5 phosphate is a huge range imo

But nutrients not ur issue. Could be constant moving. Mine go through phases of scrunched tissue and fluffy.

Light does seem low but mine was in 50 par for forever. Just recently added extra lights.

 

[Nate Chalk]

What other parameters are you running. Tank does look super new. (New dry rock, sand, clean power head)


Just wondering if it just needs time to mature.

 

[scomac88]

What other parameters are you running. Tank does look super new. (New dry rock, sand, clean power head)


Just wondering if it just needs time to mature.

Oh its definitely a new tank. No doubt about that. Ran a Dr. Tim's fishless lights-out high-temp low salinity ammonia cycle. Ammonia and Nitrate have remained at 0. And I do 15%-20% water changes every 5-7 days. Everything else is happy (says every poster on this forum lol).

If it's a tank maturity thing, I guess I'm just SOL. So I guess I might as well try and bump the lights back up and just see if it was getting ticked off by flow when it was in the center.

It seems like lobos are all over the map on lighting and flow requirements. Annoying little things.