Just the Duncan, Torch and Frogspawn? Cnid. hlth.    3/3/20
WWM,
The aquarium is a 90-gallon breeder, mixed reef, with Acros, Cactus, Blastos, Zoos, Galaxy, Rhodactis and Acans all doing great (growing, good color).
However, Torch, Hammer and Duncan corals are all not expanding and the Duncan is receding. Temperature is consistently at 77°, phosphates are 0.25
(Red Sea test kit) nitrates are 20, SG 1.027 Calcium 440, DKH 11 –
<Water parameters seem to be fine>
four power heads (generally moderate flow) —— I dose with Red Sea products (Coral Pro Salt) and AquaVitro (Fuel, Calcium, 8.4).
<How often do you change water and how much each time?>
I feed Reef Roids and Oyster Feast. The tank has a Foxface, Kole Tang, clown fish, damsels, and electric blue and scarlet hermit crabs. in addition, a few brittle stars and sea urchins. What parameters would cause a Duncan, Torch and Hammer coral to slowly recede/deteriorate, while the others mentioned above are growing and expanding fully and have good color??
<Water parameters may not be the reason of your corals deterioration; since the rest of the corals are thriving, it may be something else... sometimes certain corals don’t “like” where they have been placed, either because of the water flow on that particular place or the illumination they are receiving. I also think that maybe some of your fish, (perhaps the Foxface) could be nipping at them.>
Thanks, WWM
<Cheers. Wil.>
Re: Just the Duncan, Torch and Frogspawn?      3/4/20
Thanks for the response
<Welcome>
Regarding water changes they are not very frequent, about every three weeks.
<And what is the percentage each water change?>
Regarding filtration, I run Phosfiltrum and Purfiltrum, a little higher than the manufacturers recommended amount for the volume of water and a protein skimmer.
<Even though these are very good products, I wouldn't rely solely on them, water changes have proven to be the best way to export nutrients and replace beneficial elements required by living organisms to thrive. Wil.>  
Just the Duncan, Torch and Frogspawn? Cnid. hlth.    3/3/20
WWM,
The aquarium is a 90-gallon breeder, mixed reef, with Acros, Cactus, Blastos, Zoos, Galaxy, Rhodactis and Acans all doing great (growing, good color).
However, Torch, Hammer and Duncan corals are all not expanding and the Duncan is receding. Temperature is consistently at 77°, phosphates are 0.25
(Red Sea test kit) nitrates are 20, SG 1.027 Calcium 440, DKH 11 –
<Water parameters seem to be fine>
four power heads (generally moderate flow) —— I dose with Red Sea products (Coral Pro Salt) and AquaVitro (Fuel, Calcium, 8.4).
<How often do you change water and how much each time?>
I feed Reef Roids and Oyster Feast. The tank has a Foxface, Kole Tang, clown fish, damsels, and electric blue and scarlet hermit crabs. in addition, a few brittle stars and sea urchins. What parameters would cause a Duncan, Torch and Hammer coral to slowly recede/deteriorate, while the others mentioned above are growing and expanding fully and have good color??
<Water parameters may not be the reason of your corals deterioration; since the rest of the corals are thriving, it may be something else... sometimes certain corals don’t “like” where they have been placed, either because of the water flow on that particular place or the illumination they are receiving. I also think that maybe some of your fish, (perhaps the Foxface) could be nipping at them.>
Thanks, WWM
<Cheers. Wil.>

Moray Eels and Coral          /BobF     9/14/19 Hello Crew, <Iishan> Does the mucus from moray eels inhibit coral growth? <Mmm; have not come across such statements... Marco?> I have a 32 gallon aquarium with live rock, live sand, a small eel and four SPS corals. WWM crew identified this eel as a Gymnothorax australicaola many years ago. It is about 8 or 9 inches long. The corals are two Montipora and two Acropora. <Stony corals, Acroporids in this case, are easily influenced by metabolite accumulation...> I am trying to learn why the corals are dying. If the water chemistry, lighting and temperature are OK, could the eel be causing a problem for the corals? I feed it a small fish about once every two weeks. The nitrate and phosphate levels are undetectable. <Numbers please, for what you mention, lighting, feeding> I have a professional do maintenance on the aquarium once a month and he does not know why the corals are dying. He suggested that the mucus could be the problem. Thank you, Iishan <Possibly... Bob Fenner> Moray Eels and Coral        /Wil    9/14/19 Hello Crew, <Hello Iishan, Wil this morning> Does the mucus from moray eels inhibit coral growth? <Not usually> I have a 32 gallon aquarium with live rock, live sand, a small eel and four SPS corals. <Not the ideal water volume, do you have a sump-refugium?> WWM crew identified this eel as a Gymnothorax australicaola <australicola> many years ago. It is about 8 or 9 inches long. The corals are two Montipora and two Acropora. I am trying to learn why the corals are dying. If the water chemistry, lighting and temperature are OK, could the eel be causing a problem for the corals? <The only thing that I’d blame the eel for, is that it may be toppling the corals while swimming or at feeding time and this may be stressful for your SPS.> I feed it a small fish about once every two weeks. The nitrate and phosphate levels are undetectable. <Do you have a good protein skimmer? Eels are messy eaters that produce a lot of waste so, frequent water changes are required to guarantee the cleanliness of the water needed by corals, especially in reduced water volumes.> I have a professional do maintenance on the aquarium once a month and he does not know why the corals are dying. He suggested that the mucus could be the problem. <I don’t think the mucus produced by the eel is the reason of the inhibited coral growth, if your lighting, nitrates and phosphates are adequate, it must likely be an alkalinity and/or calcium issue, what are the levels on both?... you didn’t mention the ph level either.> Thank you, Iishan <You're welcome. Wil.>

Re: Moray Eels and Coral       9/17/19 Sorry for the delayed reply, Bob! I am not aware of any negative impact of moray eel mucus on coral growth and have seen stunning systems with corals and moray eels, although those tanks were large and heavily filtrated. I suspect water quality and/or microbiology being the culprit here. Cheers, Marco. <Thank you Marco; this is the experience Wil and I related. Cheers, BobF>

Dying Acan coral... no useful input    1/7/19 Hi!, <Richard> I have several Acan corals, one of which began dying on me a month or so ago. It is slowly dying back, and I have not been able to find anything causing it. <Umm; a description of your system, maintenance practices, supplements used, livestock... water quality tests, what you've done to date... not only helpful, but absolutely necessary to help you. Am/we're not mind readers> Today I pulled it, and using a scalpel, cut away some of the dying "flesh" to see if something was burrowing under it and doing the damage. What I found was many small clumps of what almost looks like a fungi. I am attaching a pic with the fungus area showing some of this. It is not present above the living tissue, only under it. Is there anything to be done for this? Have a great day and thank you. Richard <Uhh, see WWM, respond to the above. Bob Fenner>

SPS issues.     5/31/18
Hello again Bob, hope this finds you well. I was wondering if you could weigh in on something for me. Over the last few weeks I’ve had issues with a few colonies of my Aussie Acros. In one case a colony of highlighter Acro about 6”x6” started bleaching from the bottom up very slowly.
The bleaching was kinda odd because the demarcation line was perfectly uniform across the whole bottom of the colony and worked its way up keeping uniformity. I had to pull it and frag it to save some. So far the frags seem to be ok.
<Good>
Something that I am noticing is that most of my Acros don’t seem to have the vibrant colors they used to. They seem to be pale and muted color. My chemistry is as follows
CA 475
<Too high, esp. in rel. to [Mg]>
Nitrates 0
<Likely NO2>
Nitrates 0
<... absolutely necessary>
PO 4 is undetectable
<Also essential>
Alk 10 dkh (just won’t go lower with my reactor)
PH 7.8-8.0
<A little low... I'd shoot for 8.2 on the low side>
Salinity 1.025
Mag 1300
ORP 390 (ozone)
Temp 77-78
And I run Radions from 7am to 6pm at 90% intensity.
<Do you have access to a PAR or PUR meter? Need values at the depth of your Acroporas>
My flow is adequate. Several wave makers and power heads. Can you think of anything that I could be missing?
<The above; most likely nutrient starvation>
Anything I can be testing for? I was wondering if maybe I have low potassium?
<Unlikely>
I don’t have a test kit to check it yet. I will have one in the next couple days.
As always, thank you.
John
<I'd either be feeding more or adding chemical feeds for NO3 and HPO4. Bob Fenner>
Re: SPS issues.     5/31/18
Thank you Bob. Do you have any nutrient feeding suggestions other than overfeeding the tank? Any product you prefer?
John
<Mmm; well... as this is a purposely public forum, I am wont to not state caution... Because you have a large volume/system, you are a candidate for direct chemical dosing... There ARE nutrient supplements one can either mix up (DIY) or buy commercially... and administer drop wise on a tested, daily basis. However, again, if it were me, mine, I'd add more foods... live, frozen/defrosted, dried-prepared TILL you had a few ppm of Nitrate and a few hundreds of ppm of soluble Phosphate. Is this satisfying? Bob Fenner>
Re: SPS issues.      6/1/18
I read you loud and clear. More food it is. Thank you Bob.
<Welcome John. Do please keep me/us informed re your Acropora health, measurable nutrient levels. BobF>
Re: SPS issues.      6/1/18
Sure will Bob. Thanks again.
<Cheers mate>

corals dying; General input in, general output out      6/30/17 <5.6 megs...> Help Rich here <RMF here> My corals are dying. I have a 180 gallon setup that has been running for six years. It was FOWLR and some inverts: hermits, cleaner shrimp, small snails. Last Fall I put two live rocks with anthelia in the tank. They did great. slowly, over six months, I added a few mushrooms, Zoanthids, trumpets, Duncan branch colony, a dragon soul and an Acan lord. Everything was doing fine, growing, until I added a mummy eye chalice from a LFS. <Mmm; could be just coincidence> My water parameters are stable: zero ammonia and nitrites, nitrates 2 ppm, ph 8.2, temp 77 degrees, KH 11, calcium 420. <Have some HPO4? About three times [Mg] than Calcium?> Three sicci circulation pumps in the main display, and reef breeders led lights. I do 20% water changes every 10 to 14 days with RODI water. The mummy eye had a small area on it that looked like some of the "skin" was starting to peel. I should have never bought it. Over about three weeks it started to die off . I brought it back to the LFS and they cut off the dying parts and dipped it. <Worth trying> After going back in the tank it continued to die off over a few days. It was removed, and now, about six weeks later, a Zoa garden that I have had for seven months, my Acan and dragon soul are all going thru the same process. I am also starting to see some small patches of green algae in the tank for the first time. I have attached two pics. I think I waited too long for the Acan but I need help to save what I can. Any suggestions? Thanks you. <The usual "punting" ideas of overdosing iodide-ate, use of simple sugar (glucose likely). All gone over on WWM. See the search tool (on every page), or learn to/use the indices. The large/r issue/s could involve some other aspect/s of water quality, "something" missing critically, simple/r allelopathy... there are a few approaches to discounting these... Massive water changes/almost clean-outs, use of chemical filtrants, addition of refugiums/sumps with massive DSBs, macroalgal culture on RDP... So; a bunch to state that cannot be easily re-keyed daily. Bob Fenner>