Cyphastrea not looking to great

[paulsz]

Hi all,

 

I bought a cyphastrea a month or so ago. Within 5 mins, my ycg and bicolor blenny nipped a few pieces off each. However, that stopped the very next day and I haven't seen the nip at it since. 

 

It was placed in direct light, but at the bottom (getting maybe 80-100 PAR). It kept losing some tissue on its own over the next week, so I moved it to a spot with more shade. It no longer gets a ton of direct light, but it's not inside a cave. It gets some direct light but mostly light bouncing off the back wall. 

 

It hasnt changed much in the last three weeks. I try feeding every so often (reef roids), but the polyps aren't extending. I do this as the lights are about to go out for the night. 

 

I've read on cyphastrea, and it's all over the place in terms of light. Some have it thriving next to their acros, others have it thriving in shade. For some, it dies in direct light, others it dies in shade. So I don't think changing its position will help. Unfortunately, I don't know the exact strain of cyphastrea that I have. But it was purple base with green polyps at the store.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations on helping LPS like this out? I would thought it would at least show some progress, as it's not being burned and no one is nipping at it. 

 

Also, for these polyps that have lost their surrounding tissue. Is there any chance of comeback? I would think that with a polyp there, it's possible.

 

 

[paulsz]

Forgot my paramaters:

 

All 8.5-9

Cal :430

mg: 1440

nitrates 5-10

phosphates 0.1-0.15

Temp 78.5

pH - 7.65-7.95 (I know it's a little low. But I've heard thats not a huge issue) 

Tank is 4 months old

 

[jservedio]

Your parameters are fine now and keeping it in a low-ish light area in lower flow is about all you can do while keeping things stable. Yes, it can absolutely recover and any polyps that are still intact, even without surrounding flesh, can recover and eventually grow back into the main colony.

 

That said, did it start doing this when your two new fish were added? You may have had a mini-cycle when you added those two fish. Make sure your fish are well fed and keep them away from it as much as possible. It can take a very long time for it to recover - likely longer than your tank has even been running.

[paulsz]

 

2 hours ago, jservedio said:

Your parameters are fine now and keeping it in a low-ish light area in lower flow is about all you can do while keeping things stable. Yes, it can absolutely recover and any polyps that are still intact, even without surrounding flesh, can recover and eventually grow back into the main colony.

 

That said, did it start doing this when your two new fish were added? You may have had a mini-cycle when you added those two fish. Make sure your fish are well fed and keep them away from it as much as possible. It can take a very long time for it to recover - likely longer than your tank has even been running.

The fish were there before the cyphastrea. It may be getting too high of flow though. I have a jebao sw4 on lowest setting in a fluval 13.5? But it may be in a line of high flow 

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

Of the genus, it can be one of three species based on a really educated guess, but that can be discussed later.

 

This happened to a perfectly good colony after 2 days in my tank.

 

 

About 2-3 weeks of feeding twice weekly of Reef Roids and Coral Gumbo suspended in Fuel and Phytoplankton it returned to color. Keep at it. Don't give up on corals. I believe!

[jservedio]

26 minutes ago, paulsz said:

 

The fish were there before the cyphastrea. It may be getting too high of flow though. I have a jebao sw4 on lowest setting in a fluval 13.5? But it may be in a line of high flow 

I highly doubt it was flow unless it was pointing directly at it from inches away. I've got well over 3x that flow in my 24" 20g tank and lots of more flow sensitive LPS.

 

If it happened right after you put it in your tank, it may not even have been something you did. Just keep it lower light, keep nutrients stable, and forget about it. The more you try to intervene, the better that chanceof killing it. Let it settle and very, very lightly feed.

 

I would suggest much less than diamonds does until it settles in and starts recovering. Not feeding it isn't going to hurt it, but feeding it may temporarily stress it further.

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

🤔 do a light dusting, now that the conversation is leaning towards specifics. now since you're feeding at night. i actually don't feed my corals right when the "sun" goes down. i actually wait out a couple hours until the corals get the idea. sometimes it takes me to turn off all the lights in the living room to get the idea...by that time it's 2am and im watching anime with friends and i nearly forget to feed.

 

but hey your tank at the end. if you got reef roids and only roids in your pantry then use your best judgment using much, some, or none at all. there probably is a "right amount" or "right content" to feed a coral, but that's something practice will generally tell you with the help of some suggestions online or in-person. there is a good practice of feeding less since you can always feed more. if you end up overfeeding, then you'll end up doing a water change much sooner haha.

[paulsz]

50 minutes ago, Diamonds x Pearls said:

i actually wait out a couple hours until the corals get the idea.

on that topic. Are the corals closed and "smell" the food coming, so they open up? Or do yours open up at night? All of my corals open up during the day but not at night. 

 

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

3 minutes ago, paulsz said:

on that topic. Are the corals closed and "smell" the food coming, so they open up? Or do yours open up at night? All of my corals open up during the day but not at night. 

 

I'm not keen on the actual mechanics, but based on what the same manufacturer of Reef Roids says they have this product called polyp booster that encourages corals to open up based on their chemical sensing. For lack of better term its like a combined taste/smell. I've never bought this yet and I'd like to test it out once my credit card billing cycle completes someday. However the general idea goes that corals open up at night to feed perhaps its to protect its parts from diurnal predators or whatever, not completely certain.

 

I do know that in pitch black darkness or as dark as possible since I live in a suburban city in an apartment building complex (so light pollution through the windows), a lot of the LPS corals do extend their tentacles. Of my corals I know my Favites doesn't seem to care. I see tiny tendrils throughout the day and night. My Fungia doesn't care and just eats whats before it even a stray fish food pellet. Zoas certainly open during the day and close at night for me. Altogether it's a mixed bag.

 

Either way, from a procedural standpoint opened up during the day seems to be easier since...we're all awake during the day. Sometimes waiting for the night feels like a chore. A fun one, but can feel like a chore nonetheless. If they're open during the day more power to you!

 

However I'm certain that an animal knows to be opportunistic if food is presented in front of them time regardless because the three things any animal could ever ask for is food, shelter, and sex (or the insurance of propagating/projecting its genes to subsequent generations).