Someone help me please!!! Millie problems

[Stuginski]

Hi reefers... How are you????

I really need some help. I´m having troubles with my eletric green milepora.

I have this millie since december and when she comes to me, she was bright green polyps and a brown body....20 days ago...she started to become more and more pale....the polyps almost yellow and the body beige.... Until two days ago I was not so worried about this because she still with good growing rate and good polyp extension. But now polyp extension is zero!!!!

To try to fix the color (some friends told me that probably i´m starving my corals)...I increased my fishes feeding...and I start to use cyclopeeze....but to be honest..nothing changed.
I never see a millie eating the cyclop too....

So now..the polyps are trully retracted....what should I do?????

Shes is in a area with good flow (almost in front of the koralia) and with good light (top of the reef). I use a led (cree xre) fixture since the start. I dose vodka 1.2 mL in a 55 gallon system. I use zeolites passively and TLF carbon (24/7). I dose 5 drops of mb7 every day.
All my tests are API: 0 nitrates, 0 phosphates, 8dkh, Ca 420 ppm (I use two part Randy system, S= 1025.
I use brightwell salt and do water changes every 10 days...my reef is a barebotton.
I have 1 mediun size yellow tang, one little hepatus (the tangs will go to my fish only when reached the apropriated size) and 1 flame hawk...

I have another 5 acroporas (chester, tort blue green, tort turcoise, echinata blue and austera banana)...all with trully beautifull colors;;very bright...
I have another 4 sps: one stylophora pink (this colony are pinkish than hell), two montiporas with nice collors (orange) and one psamocora (I have some problems with this coral...his color is becoming dull...and seems like she is shedding her skin...it isn´t a tissue lost...just the colors fading);

I don´t found any parasite in my acros or other sps...no aefw..no red bugs...

So what the hell is happening???? Please someone help me...I don´t want to loose my millie!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best regards and sorry for my terrible english

D.

[chefzif]

could be to much current if close to the power head! try moving the milli! I had one did the same thing to close to the MP40! Good luck!

[Stuginski]

Thanks chef...but I don´t think that this is a flow issue because the millie is in the same place for more than 3 months...and just now i´m having troubles with the polyp extension....

The color problem and now the polyps retracted seeems to be a more chemical reaction I think...something in excess???...something missing??? I don´t no. Tomorrow I will perform a 20% water change...

Someone think that this could be a food issue???? Aminos could help me????

HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!! I DON´T WANT TO LOOSE THIS CORAL!!!!

Best wishes

D.

[Acrotrdco]

What's the level of Mg in your water?

[Stuginski]

Hi Acro...

Mg = 1200....

4 days with polyps retracted....

What should I do??? What is happening??????????????????

HELP ME SPS KEEPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

D.

[damienkee]

Hi reefers... How are you????

I really need some help. I´m having troubles with my eletric green milepora.

I have this millie since december and when she comes to me, she was bright green polyps and a brown body....20 days ago...she started to become more and more pale....the polyps almost yellow and the body beige.... Until two days ago I was not so worried about this because she still with good growing rate and good polyp extension. But now polyp extension is zero!!!!

To try to fix the color (some friends told me that probably i´m starving my corals)...I increased my fishes feeding...and I start to use cyclopeeze....but to be honest..nothing changed.
I never see a millie eating the cyclop too....

So now..the polyps are trully retracted....what should I do?????

Shes is in a area with good flow (almost in front of the koralia) and with good light (top of the reef). I use a led (cree xre) fixture since the start. I dose vodka 1.2 mL in a 55 gallon system. I use zeolites passively and TLF carbon (24/7). I dose 5 drops of mb7 every day.
All my tests are API: 0 nitrates, 0 phosphates, 8dkh, Ca 420 ppm (I use two part Randy system, S= 1025.
I use brightwell salt and do water changes every 10 days...my reef is a barebotton.
I have 1 mediun size yellow tang, one little hepatus (the tangs will go to my fish only when reached the apropriated size) and 1 flame hawk...

I have another 5 acroporas (chester, tort blue green, tort turcoise, echinata blue and austera banana)...all with trully beautifull colors;;very bright...
I have another 4 sps: one stylophora pink (this colony are pinkish than hell), two montiporas with nice collors (orange) and one psamocora (I have some problems with this coral...his color is becoming dull...and seems like she is shedding her skin...it isn´t a tissue lost...just the colors fading);

I don´t found any parasite in my acros or other sps...no aefw..no red bugs...

So what the hell is happening???? Please someone help me...I don´t want to loose my millie!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best regards and sorry for my terrible english

D.

erm... how long do dose vodka? do u still need 1.2ml?

[abrian]

I am just trying to recover from problems I created in my tank when I was vodka dosing, running carbon and GFO and skimming heavily. The combination was too agressive at cleaning my water and I started to starve my sps. I lost one nice green tabling milli, and have a few other sps that were suffering as well before I figured it out. I have removed the carbon / GFO and tapered off the vodka and hope that with less stripped water my corals rebound. It sounds like you might be creating the same scenario.

[Chyendra]

I agree, I think you're dosing way too much vodka. Did you cut your dose when you nitrates reduced? My 40 gallon system only needs .2ml of 80 proof for maintenance.

[SPSEMPIRE]

Yep, starving the corals. Watch out for ULNS.

[Stuginski]

Hi fellows

I will follow your tips...

I will decrease the vodka dose to 0.8mL to start...

I´m afraid to reduce too much my vodka because my others sps are trully colorfull...and I don´t want to browning....

Can I use something too feed my millie??? Dr. G oyster eggs or aminoacids could be a option????? What do you think???

Unfortunally I am conviced that she don´t eat cyclopeeze...

Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!

D.

[john90009]

i would say either feed the corals alot more because the vodka and the zeolites maybe eating so much that the mb7 isnt enough i would guess- dose bright-wells amino acids to that should help them a bit without over dirtying the water. if you reduce the vodka the corals wont brown out. Alot of people get some pritty crazy colors without gfo vodka or any of that stuff - i havent ran carbon gfo any bacteria on my system and my colors are bolder then anyone else's in my area. I started to feed alot more and added amino acids because i noticed my green millies polpys wernt like the zeo people and i think the aminos helped just start slow with it , i have a 105 gal system a nd im stuck on 5 drops a night cause i noticed a diff and will keep it there cause thats what works- when people want more and more color they risk the health of others. Sorry about my spelling trying to type fast.

[john90009]

if i were you i would feed the fish 5 minutes before the lights go out- then turn off your return pump so their poop sits in the top tank- when you notice the polpys are out take some coral food - which ever it may be- although you dont see the polpys retracting on the polpys they may somehow get benefits from it - put the drop of amino acids in with the food to soak- slow the powerheads and leave the skimmer and return off for like 15 min after u put food in. Good luck

[john90009]

another thing is that possibly the zeolites absorb the potassium outta your water, i read a report of the millies polpys retracted because of this, best thing if you wanna think its this then get an elos potassium test kit and check it.

[Mikigo]

If all other corals are doing well, change the location for Millie. Place it lower down in the tank. Food should not be a major issue.

[Stuginski]

Hi reefers....

I don´t think that the potassium is the real problem...because I do regular water changes (10 days)...and all my blue sps are trully blue...( I read in some places that blue corals are the first to loose your colors when potassium are low...

The position of the millie is the same of the past when every thing was fine...

This millie together with one austera and one stylophora are the oldest sps in my reef...so if something could be "starved" i will think about this 3 corals...I don´t know but...maybe is possible that millie is more delicate in too clean systems...

Someone use oyster magnificant of Dr. G....I want to give a try to some food that millie could eat...I think that cyclop eeze are too large for her.

thanks again..

D.

[jc-reef]

Hi Acro...

Mg = 1200....
4 days with polyps retracted....

What should I do??? What is happening??????????????????

HELP ME SPS KEEPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

D.

You may want to bump up your Mg...1200 its a bit low. 1300-1400 is a good target. I also concur with others as your tanks is probably starved of nutrients (sign of pale colors).

-----

[DustinB]

Just another possibility, though maybe unlikely. Do you have any leathers or any other softies near the affected corals?

[Stuginski]

Hi Acro lovers....

I don´t have leathers in my reef. The only soft coral is my GSP...but no coral are near the Millie...

Today I tryed the aminoacids from brightwell (1ml in my 50 gallon tank)...no response..:-(...the polyps still retracted. I don´t dose vodca yesterday neither today....tomorrow I will restart the vodca but with a low dosage (0.8 mL)...I will try again aminos tomorrow...let see. I don´t have many hope...

I post some pictures to ilustrate the problem...my sad millie...and others healthy corals...the pics are bad...because my camera is a junk...the colors are so much better in real. Photograph with leds is trully frustrating....

What should I try now???? Dr. G oyster magnificent????

Thanks again...

D.

[Chyendra]

You a have a beautiful reef. You milli seems a little bleached, or at least pale from lack of nutrients. Did you adjust your LEDS at all recently before you saw these changes? I know some fixtures can be tuned brighter.

If there's been no changes with the lighting, I would guess lack of nutrients is the problem. Any changes you make need to be gradual, I probably wouldn't have stoped dosing vodka all together, but what's done is done. start with a smaller dose, monitor your nitrates and phosphates to make sure they don't start to rise again. Feeding the amino acids is a good idea, or just feeding you fish a bit more would be fine too. You're not going to see instant changes. Give it a week. Don't worry too much, I don't think it's too far gone yet :) it still has some color in the tips.

OH are you using GFO at all? I noticed one my acros and stags looked like that after I changed my GFO (used a bit too much I guess). They've been slowly recovering

[Stuginski]

Hi my friends....

I´m happy that you appreciate my other corals Chyendra!

I´m happy with the colors too...

I was thinking if bleaching could be a possibility...but this coral stayed at the same place and under the same light for 3 months...and I use vodka since the begginig so...I don´t think that the water became hyper clean few days ago and the light penetration increased.

I can´t say for sure that the aminoacids made something in my tank....I used the brightwell recomendation (1ml per 50 gallons)...but to be honest I don´t saw any coral with a crazy polyp extension...as usual is comented in some threads. My other corals have a good/mediun polyp extension...and amino don´t changed this.

I´m using cycloppeeze too....but honestly...I still want to see the wonderfull results that everyone says...I´m pretty sure that the only two sps that I saw grabbing cyclop are my A. austera and my chesterfild acro.

I´m thinking to giva a try to Dr.G Oyster magnificent...but...I can´t find many reviews about this product.

Here in Brazil the price of every aquariun product is quite abusive...the brightwells amino 60 mL cost to me 81 U$ !!!!! So it´s important to sure about the product before the buy!!!!

Here a pic of the same millie 1 month ago....and some days ago (maybe 10)...when the polyps start to retract

Thank´s again..

D.

[James404]

I believe cyclopeeze is too big to be beneficial to SPS, it would be better to feed oyster eggs or rotifers.

[Ostentum]

2nd the rotifers. I feed them once a week at night to my sps.

[Ostentum]

Couple of additional questions. How long has your tank been up and running? Is this a wild colony? What are your temperature swings like from night to day? Do you know what your ph is? There is a direct correlation between Alk, CA, ph and Mg. I would personally use Elos or Salifert test kits. I have never had luck with API, maybe its just me. Also are you using an Auto Top Off to keep the salinity stable. In my experience Milles are sometimes the first to show signs of stress. I would do another check for redbugs and AEFW.

[Stuginski]

Hi Ostentun...here the info...I put another info to complete the board

Another information:

1- This reef is running since november.
2- No. It isn´t a wild colony
3- My temperature swings in less than .5 celcius degrees...normaly 26.2 to 26.6
4- Personally I reaaly trust in my API tests because during the first months I check than with Elos test kits too. My Mg test is Salifert
5- I have a auto top off water system....I don´t have any swing in my salinity (the system works with less than 300 ml)
6- My Ph is 8.2..Hanna phmeter
7 - I use Ro/Di water...tested with hanna conductimeter.
8- I really tring hard to found some dammed bug here...I search for than every day...many times a day....with eyes nakked and some lenses...but I canot find none...
9- I use Brightwell salt
10- I use Two part Randy´s adictives
11- I use GAC (TLF) passively
12- I use zeolites (Neozeo passively)
13- I don´t use GFO
14- I never had any algal problem...just diatoms in the first 15 days
15- I use Barebotton
16- I fed my fishs 2 or 3 times a day
17- I use 10 hours photoperiod for blues and 8 hours for whites
18- The other sps like the tortuosa turcoise are almost totally brown before I put in my reef
19- I have some coral grow...it´s not a huge grow...but I have some.
20- I never lost a frag or a colony for any reason in this reef...yet
21- I use mb7 (stopped for now)
22- I use vodca (stopped for now)
23- I use Cyclop eeze
24- My circulation is composed by two koralias 750 oposed each other
25- My skimmer is a custon skimmer ..and this model is sized to 1000 l

I think this is every information...

What should I do???????

1) Wait...reduce my vodca to .8 and use aminoacids every day???
2) Try Oyster eggs????
3) Change the millie position?????
4) prey????

Thank you so much guys!!!!! It´s good to know that I have your advice!!!!

D.

[Ratkiller]

D. Can I get an up-date on your milli issue? I'm running into the same problem with all 7 of my millis.

[THE JOEY]

My Millie is doing the same. Loss of color while other corals do great. My conclusion is to much light. To me it looks like your Millie is very high and close to your light. I would move it quite a bit lower and let it recover.