Coulter Schmidt
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2018
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 3
I got a stylophora 3 months ago (Feb 27th) and it seemed very happy in my aquarium with polyps fully extended. My parameters have been stable with only a small dip in alkalinity about a month from introducing it. I saw it gradually go from an average dkh of 10.0 down to 9.0 over two weeks. I raised the daily dose of alk until it started to stabilize around 9.7-10 which took a little over a week, I tested twice within this period. Calcium was decreasing alongside alk so I assume the coral was growing but I do have a decent amount of coralline growth around my aquarium and continue to. I have not noticed any die-back regarding the coraline. Calcium dropped about .10 ppm within the same period as alk. I increased dosing of this slightly as well getting it from 415 to 425 ppm. The aquarium has been set up for about two years and the rest of my corals are lps, the parameters stay pretty stable. I don't have many corals.
My nitrates were hovering around 10ppm and I was struggling to get them down. I know this isn't high to be a concern but I just wanted it a few ppm lower as I was having some hair algae growth in the display. I have a Reef glass skimmer running which helps. I siphoned out some detritus in the refugium and noticed the nitrates actually lowered to .08 ppm and over a couple weeks settled around .04 ppm. I was able to pull some hair algae out and it wasn't growing back as fast. In this same time alk started to rise above 10 ppm and I also noticed the stylo not looking so happy, the polyps were not as extended and the shaded regions under the coral looked white and there were a few missing polyps and some not extended. I spot feed all my corals twice a week with reefroids and whatever else is mixed into the small cup that I thaw frozen food in for my fish. I also have a purple ribbon gorgonian which I’ve had for about 8 months now and it’s doing great but honestly has not grown much and the purple has faded some but I have steady nitrates and spot feed it so I don’t understand why that is. I got some rhodactis mushrooms and a couple flower anemones at the time I got the stylo and they look just as happy and colorful as ever. The anemones have not moved from the spots I placed them when I first introduced them.
Specs:
20g long display
5g aquarium partitioned into sump with refugium
Average parameter readings past 4 months:
Alk: 9.5-10
Calc: 420-430
Mag: 1240-1260
Nitrate: .05-.10
Phosphate: 0-.1
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 79
First picture was around april 15th and the last 3 were taken April 27th. This is around the time I started noticing it looking strange and tissue loss began showing on the back/underside.
It started not looking so happy about a week after syphoning the refugium of detritus and that too is when alk began to rise. I understand less nitrate production leads to higher alk overall so I think this may have been what initially upset it. But I was able to keep my nitrates around .04 ppm and stabilize my alk to 10-10.4 while still spot-feeding it twice a week. There may have been a time or two where I only fed the fish but I don’t see why this missed feeding would upset it so much. The next day after I took those pictures I took it out and dipped it in Coral RX for 10 minutes to rule out any pests or bacterial infections. After stirring the water in the treatment container for some time, carefully looking with a flashlight I saw nothing other than some copepods. I’ve also been running a UV sterilizer for about 2 weeks now and always run carbon in a small filter I keep in the return section of the sump. It was only twice this last month that I missed a weekly 2g water change. First time was purposeful to allow nutrients to build in the water hoping particulates would build and feed the stylo, maybe buffer the alk too. The second time I missed was because I've been busy with school but I ALWAYS test for nitrate and alk at least once weekly before I do a water change and have not noticed anything out of the ordinary. All my corals look the same and the parameters are consistent other than alk now settling around 10.4 ppm. Around this time my gorgonian was looking off and lost even more coloration with a few polyps retracted, it shed a couple of days after but still looked dull. It’s been coloring back up since then and seems fine. The pictures I took today show the Gorgonnian closed up which is odd but its polyps were fully extended this morning and the days before.
Last week I checked my ATO and noticed the pump was slightly slimmy and the container had a mildew smell so I cleaned with hot water and citric acid and rinsed it out very well. I checked my RO/DI system and the di was pretty depleted as it had been over a year since it was last replaced. I consistently flush my membrane everytime I use it (before and after for about 10 seconds). After letting the water run through the unit for a few minutes, the TDS meter for the water in reads around 10 ppm and the water out reads 0 ppm. I just replaced all 3 filters and will replace the membrane tomorrow. I cleaned out the canisters for the filters with water and citric acid - rinsed well - and replaced the tubing that runs from the unit to the reservoir.
My lighting is an AI prime with all channels peaking around 40% with red/green peaking 15% at the highest point in the day. Picture of schedule attached. Reason I include this is because I wonder if the stylo was gradually starving under a lot of light. Its centered under the light about 17 inches. I have not changed the lighting in over a year. I'm afraid to tune the percent down slightly as I don’t want to stress anything out but maybe I should try? Also, there isn't very much algae growth in the refugium (pic attached) wondering if I should half the light intensity down there to encourage more nutrient availability for the corals in the display.
These past few days the stylo has looked way worse and at this point I think it’s a goner. Almost all the tissue has shed and the white skeleton is showing. I’ve tried to keep one of these once before but had the same outcome. I assume it’s my care but I’m not sure what exactly I’m doing wrong, it’s very disheartening. I plan to do a ICP test but just don’t want to spend the money at the moment as I’ve already bought a new nitrate test kit (NYOS) and new filters/membrane for my RO/DI unit.
I'm extremely careful when it comes to any contaminants around my aquarium and always wear a food-safe rubber glove when sticking my hand in.
My nitrates were hovering around 10ppm and I was struggling to get them down. I know this isn't high to be a concern but I just wanted it a few ppm lower as I was having some hair algae growth in the display. I have a Reef glass skimmer running which helps. I siphoned out some detritus in the refugium and noticed the nitrates actually lowered to .08 ppm and over a couple weeks settled around .04 ppm. I was able to pull some hair algae out and it wasn't growing back as fast. In this same time alk started to rise above 10 ppm and I also noticed the stylo not looking so happy, the polyps were not as extended and the shaded regions under the coral looked white and there were a few missing polyps and some not extended. I spot feed all my corals twice a week with reefroids and whatever else is mixed into the small cup that I thaw frozen food in for my fish. I also have a purple ribbon gorgonian which I’ve had for about 8 months now and it’s doing great but honestly has not grown much and the purple has faded some but I have steady nitrates and spot feed it so I don’t understand why that is. I got some rhodactis mushrooms and a couple flower anemones at the time I got the stylo and they look just as happy and colorful as ever. The anemones have not moved from the spots I placed them when I first introduced them.
Specs:
20g long display
5g aquarium partitioned into sump with refugium
Average parameter readings past 4 months:
Alk: 9.5-10
Calc: 420-430
Mag: 1240-1260
Nitrate: .05-.10
Phosphate: 0-.1
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 79
First picture was around april 15th and the last 3 were taken April 27th. This is around the time I started noticing it looking strange and tissue loss began showing on the back/underside.
It started not looking so happy about a week after syphoning the refugium of detritus and that too is when alk began to rise. I understand less nitrate production leads to higher alk overall so I think this may have been what initially upset it. But I was able to keep my nitrates around .04 ppm and stabilize my alk to 10-10.4 while still spot-feeding it twice a week. There may have been a time or two where I only fed the fish but I don’t see why this missed feeding would upset it so much. The next day after I took those pictures I took it out and dipped it in Coral RX for 10 minutes to rule out any pests or bacterial infections. After stirring the water in the treatment container for some time, carefully looking with a flashlight I saw nothing other than some copepods. I’ve also been running a UV sterilizer for about 2 weeks now and always run carbon in a small filter I keep in the return section of the sump. It was only twice this last month that I missed a weekly 2g water change. First time was purposeful to allow nutrients to build in the water hoping particulates would build and feed the stylo, maybe buffer the alk too. The second time I missed was because I've been busy with school but I ALWAYS test for nitrate and alk at least once weekly before I do a water change and have not noticed anything out of the ordinary. All my corals look the same and the parameters are consistent other than alk now settling around 10.4 ppm. Around this time my gorgonian was looking off and lost even more coloration with a few polyps retracted, it shed a couple of days after but still looked dull. It’s been coloring back up since then and seems fine. The pictures I took today show the Gorgonnian closed up which is odd but its polyps were fully extended this morning and the days before.
Last week I checked my ATO and noticed the pump was slightly slimmy and the container had a mildew smell so I cleaned with hot water and citric acid and rinsed it out very well. I checked my RO/DI system and the di was pretty depleted as it had been over a year since it was last replaced. I consistently flush my membrane everytime I use it (before and after for about 10 seconds). After letting the water run through the unit for a few minutes, the TDS meter for the water in reads around 10 ppm and the water out reads 0 ppm. I just replaced all 3 filters and will replace the membrane tomorrow. I cleaned out the canisters for the filters with water and citric acid - rinsed well - and replaced the tubing that runs from the unit to the reservoir.
My lighting is an AI prime with all channels peaking around 40% with red/green peaking 15% at the highest point in the day. Picture of schedule attached. Reason I include this is because I wonder if the stylo was gradually starving under a lot of light. Its centered under the light about 17 inches. I have not changed the lighting in over a year. I'm afraid to tune the percent down slightly as I don’t want to stress anything out but maybe I should try? Also, there isn't very much algae growth in the refugium (pic attached) wondering if I should half the light intensity down there to encourage more nutrient availability for the corals in the display.
These past few days the stylo has looked way worse and at this point I think it’s a goner. Almost all the tissue has shed and the white skeleton is showing. I’ve tried to keep one of these once before but had the same outcome. I assume it’s my care but I’m not sure what exactly I’m doing wrong, it’s very disheartening. I plan to do a ICP test but just don’t want to spend the money at the moment as I’ve already bought a new nitrate test kit (NYOS) and new filters/membrane for my RO/DI unit.
I'm extremely careful when it comes to any contaminants around my aquarium and always wear a food-safe rubber glove when sticking my hand in.
