Lobo not fully opening anymore

[ajxackt]

Hi all!

My lobo used to be a beautiful green/blue outside and orange inside. It used to throw out feeder tentacles every night and I loved watching it retract them every morning. It was my first coral.

But now it doesn't do that. I've seen very small feeder tentacles during target feeds and it sort of inflates at night, but nothing like it used to. It's also mostly pink now instead of its dual coloration. Under blue light I can still see some orange striping that it had before though.

Here's a bit about my tank;
13gal fluval evo, set up for almost a year
Stock lighting
Carbon filter pad, bioballs, purigen, and phosguard (trying to fight the hair algae part of the ugly stage)

Stock;
Two clowns, a sailfin molly, hermits, snails, hammer, ricordia mushroom, and rhodactis mushrooms, lobo.

Chemistry;
pH; 8.4
Salinity; 1.025
Calcium; 400
Alk; 10dKH
Phosphate; <.25
Nitrate; <5

Thanks!

 

[JaaxReef]

Hi all!

My lobo used to be a beautiful green/blue outside and orange inside. It used to throw out feeder tentacles every night and I loved watching it retract them every morning. It was my first coral.

But now it doesn't do that. I've seen very small feeder tentacles during target feeds and it sort of inflates at night, but nothing like it used to. It's also mostly pink now instead of its dual coloration. Under blue light I can still see some orange striping that it had before though.

Here's a bit about my tank;
13gal fluval evo, set up for almost a year
Stock lighting
Carbon filter pad, bioballs, purigen, and phosguard (trying to fight the hair algae part of the ugly stage)

Stock;
Two clowns, a sailfin molly, hermits, snails, hammer, ricordia mushroom, and rhodactis mushrooms, lobo.

Chemistry;
pH; 8.4
Salinity; 1.025
Calcium; 400
Alk; 10dKH
Phosphate; <.25
Nitrate; <5

Thanks!

View attachment 2347395

Lobos can be tough. A lot of them are maricultured and have a difficult time adjusting to aquarium lighting. Some times they color shift, brown out, or bleach as a response. Could be that the stock EVO light is not enough par. Some lobos love light, some want very low light. No hard and fast rules.

How often are you feeding it? I bet your phosphate is a lot higher than .25 if you have that much algae in the tank and still get that reading. If it has been set up for a year, that hair algae is no longer part of the ugly stage. Manual removal and a series of water changes might help the whole tank. How do your other corals look?

 

[LordofCinder]

I agree with Jaaxreef, the phosphate should be much lower with that much algae in the tank, there is something wrong. You might be heavily overfeeding, or else your lightbulbs are done, or something else.

EDIT: I'll just add, that so much algae will deplete the oxygen level in the tank, if you don't solve the algae problem, sooner or later the fish and corals will have trouble

 

[ajxackt]

How often are you feeding it? I bet your phosphate is a lot higher than .25 if you have that much algae in the tank and still get that reading. If it has been set up for a year, that hair algae is no longer part of the ugly stage. Manual removal and a series of water changes might help the whole tank. How do your other corals look?

I'm sure my phos is higher than whats reading because of the hair algae. The algae is just devouring it all.

I feed it about twice a week and it has a pretty solid feeding response.

I have been doing water changes with manual removal of the hair algae about once a week and it keeps coming back. You think im out of the ugly stage? I feel like it would last longer in a nano because of the fluctuating parms.

And my other corals are looking good except one rhodactis, but I think a hermit hurt it while trying to steal food.

 

[ajxackt]

Would adding a protein skimmer help lower phosphate/limit algae growth to help the lobo thrive?

 

[Kellie in CA]

I have difficulty with Lobos too. For some reason they don't like my tank. They seem to do ok for a while, then they never open again.

If it has a feeding response that is a good sign.

 

[MaxTremors]

I would guess it’s a couple things. First is your phosphates, try to keep them between 0.03 and 0.1. And secondly your lighting, the lighting on the EVO is adequate to grow most softies and LPS, but they are not good for coloration, it’s likely getting enough light to survive and even grow, but without UV light and proper spectrum blue lighting, you’re not going to get pr maintain good coloration. I had the stock lights on my Nanocube for around 6 months, and they’re actually pretty powerful, but my lobo, acans, and Favias lost a lot of color under them. I’ve since switched to an AI Prime, and within a couple weeks all of those corals regained their color and some even got brighter and more colorful than when I originally got them. So getting better lighting will definitely help.

 

[randyharr1]

Hi, are your par settings around 90-150? thanks