Euphyllia Issues (UPDATE 6/26)

So I have been battling some issues the past few months with basically all my Euphyllia corals. I have made some changes in the tank including flow and lighting and brand of carbon. Went from dual T5 to Quad T5 and upgraded Korallias to Vortechs. Stopped using seachem seagel and started BRS carbon. I also did a couple months of GFO and then stopped it just using the Seachem phosguard in small amounts instead as was in the seagel. I also had to start dosing and use BRS pumps which I still am trying to get dialed in just right. I have not added any fish but of course have added multiple corals over the year so far.

I know parameters are a must and I must admit I did have an Alk overdose and CA crash a couple months ago. I had a small cyano bloom with the GFO which has sicne subsided and other than t hat no obvious issues. My SG is 1.0255-1.026 but has crept up to 1.027 or 1.028 every know and then. My pH runs around 8.10 average in the morning and climbs to 8.4 by evening. Alk runs 8-10 and Ca 420-450. Mag a little high at 1500-1600. Phosphates and nitrates both test 0 with API, Red Sea, and hanna checker. I do every test with at least 2 brands to compare results and get similar numbers.

I am completely baffled. I have many SPS including 4 large monti frags that show great growth and little tiny polyps. I have 2 stylophora as well 1 is a large colony that has been growing amazing and the other a smaller frag both with great PE. I also have 3 birdsnests of different variety that are doing great with ncie growth and PE. My xenia and jasmine polyp grow like a weed and my yellow fiji leather and 3 types of zoas are also growing with full extention every day and great color. I thought maybe my tank is not right for LPS even though my SPS, softies, and leather all thrive but I have other LPS that are doing good as well. I have a large elegance coral that looks beautiful when fully expanded every day, a red favia that has been in there for 4-5 months and hasnt show much growth but still has great color. I also have a frag of 4 heads of neon green candy cane coral that hasnt grown any new heads but it fully inflates and extended feeder polyps every day/night. All my fish look great and eat well. I also have a few different varieties of snails and hermits that have been around for a long time and seem to be doing fine. I also have a feather duster and a really large yellow fleshy limpet that look well and my other loss was a starfish that got too invovled with a pump.

My only issue is all the Euphyllia coral!!!! I have tried everything from moving them around to different areas of flow and lighting and leaving them be for a few months to try and settle in with no luck. I made sure nothing touching them and have seperated hammers from other hammers. The funny thing is t hey all have good color that has never really changed since they went downhill and they all still expand but do not look as full and soem of their tentacles look slimmer. My 1 frogspawn colony looks like the tentacles got real short and pointy even for some reason. I never see anything pick on them but have witnessed small white pods crawling on some of them from time to time. My only suspect is some kind od Euphyllia specific disease or pest since it might have started when I introduced a wild caught wall hammer that has since parished and every other coral looks great.

What should I do?? I am so fustrated as I have been trying to figure this out and rsolve this since feb or march. Sorry for such a long post but hopefully there is enough useful info in here that someone could give a helpful pointer

 

You are not the only one my friend.

 

Every source says that frogspawn and hammers are moderate to care for. I figured my softies mushrooms and leather would be doing great as they are so easy and forgiving but all my sps and even other lps so amazing! I know wall hammers are known to slowly die in our tanks which is why I was not all that surprised, but my branching hammers and frogspawn even! The most disturbing thing is that it started with 1 and slowly over the course of a month or so another would look bad until all 6 colonies seemed affected. Thats why I think its a disease/ parasite over parameters or lighting. In one way Im glad it is only my euphyllia and hopefully it will not effect anything else down the road.

Any suggestions?? How do people have long term success with these corals or is there no long term success? At one point they were all splitting and growing great until one day they jsut didnt look right.

 

Well I hope someone chimes in with a clue but I have NEVER had luck with Euphilia's.Frusrated me to no end.My friends tank it grew so big he had to cut it by monthly.:

 

I wish you the best of luck and here's a bump...I know its weird, but some people, just can't get certain types of corals to thrive in their tanks.

For example, I have tried to keep fiji yellow leathers twice now and both times they just died off. I've kept other leathers with no problem at all, but I guess I'm like kryptonite to Fiji Yellows

Also, do you have any pictures of the hammers/ frogspawn?

 

I know it takes awhile for corals to show stress sometimes but my wall hammer did great for 8 months!!! I then added a branching hammer that did good for about 6 months and then a 2 branching hammers that did good for about 6 months as well. I then added a wall hammer that did good for a few weeks before a slow demise and recently added another branching hammer a month or so ago that still looks good. It just seems that for them to grow and divide they had to have been happy at one point in my tank! I dont have any pictures of them looking bad only looking good from awhile ago I should do some before and after shots though but am at work right now.

 

yes, would love to see pictures basically of everything you describe Your tank sounds amazing. Perhaps it's a matter of if something does well then that somehow impacts another's ability to thrive....With what you list as your parameters and your care of your tank, everything should be doing well. Mother nature works in mysterious ways

 

Maybe a feeding issue? Just throwing an idea out there. My hammer and frogspawn were looking very bad and recessed in there skeleton so I started target feeding them mysis with reef chili and coral vibrance. Its been months and they are looking amazing! I target feed twice a week and no issues with nitrates. They both have really filled out. I hope they get better bud.

 

My Euphyllias always did better in tanks with less intense lighting, more DOC and mod flow.

Many of the Euphyllias are harvested from back reef areas that experience period of increased water turbidity, not the pristine environment that most people strive to keep their tank at.

 

For a few months now I have had hammers and torches die all over the place, either brown jelly or polyp bail out.

At the moment I have been trying to get my SPS to work, and a suggestion was turn my lighting way down (cause I have LEDs), and as well as getting my SPS to come back abit, it also resurrected my LPS! they are back to full extension and size!

+ I have also been getting my params back up to scratch. But I do feel the light is playing a large part.