Potters angel and my reef...

[Jrambo88]

So I am at a loss with my tank. I had a beautiful majority LPS reef. I seldom have time to truly sit there and enjoy the aquarium so this is just my guess. Slowly over the past few months I have loss one by one torches, a Duncan with 35+ heads, beautiful Lobos and maze brains. Now I thought it was my water maybe something getting in there. But time and time again my water parameters were in check. some corals such as my frogspawn, hammer, elegance, favia, bubble and a chalice are doing well. I've seen my potters tonight picking at a dying lobo. Now it can be just coincidence or do you think he is the culprit?

[Reel North]

Coincidence. Word is that angels clean up dying tissue.

You should look deeper into pests

[eastlake]

It's not outside of the realm of possibility that the potters could be nipping enough causing these corals to die, it is an angelfish after all. But that also doesn't mean that it is the culprit, like reel north said, keep an eye out for pests and keep an eye on your potters to see if it moves onto one of the healthy colonies.

[ca1ore]

Unfortunately, many of the things that can afflict corals will not show up on a water test. That said, potters could be the culprit.

[MondoBongo]

Unfortunately, many of the things that can afflict corals will not show up on a water test. That said, potters could be the culprit.

frustratingly true.

i've lost almost all of my LPS and softies over the last few months. the only LPS still surviving are my platy, torches, hammer, and small duncan. all of my acans, chalices, pectinias, scolemia, and a few others melted away for an unknown reason.

i haven't changed salt mixes. maintenance regimen has remained the same, as has testing, dosing, and tank temp. so i am at a loss.

the flip side of that is that my SPS growth has been absolutely bonkers. acros have been growing like weeds, as i watch "easy" things like mushrooms evaporate.

something is up, but i doubt i will ever be able to pin down what.

[wildman926]

It sounds like your tank is "too clean", where as, all the nutrients available, the SPS is taking up. Feed more and see if the LPS's turn around.

[MondoBongo]

It sounds like your tank is "too clean", where as, all the nutrients available, the SPS is taking up. Feed more and see if the LPS's turn around.
Yeah. I thought that too for a while, but I have an insane, and I do mean plague proportions, amount of cyano and gha through the tank.

Due to my particular selection of fish, I feed quite a bit.

[wildman926]

Then I would definitely pull that Potters and stuff him in the sump, and see if your LPS's turn around. All dwarf angels are hit and miss.

[Jrambo88]

How would be the best way to go about looking for pests that would do this? Also like mondo said which is funny, I have two aquariums and I use the same exact water and have them on the same schedule. My SPS dominant tank is doing extremely well and my LPS is just systematically going to crap. I would understand if it's all at once or one here and there. But they are going one at a time slowly.

[MondoBongo]

How would be the best way to go about looking for pests that would do this? Also like mondo said which is funny, I have two aquariums and I use the same exact water and have them on the same schedule. My SPS dominant tank is doing extremely well and my LPS is just systematically going to crap. I would understand if it's all at once or one here and there. But they are going one at a time slowly.

about the only thing i have left at this point is chasing some WAGs. i've been told an iodine deficiency could be to blame, as it is important in soft tissue development.

some of the corals that were receding i just gave back to my LFS. several were able to make a full recovery, others were too far gone.

so something is amiss in my setup, just not sure what.

prior to moving them in to this tank everyone was happily growing in my old 75. same lights, same salt, etc...

it's absolutely infuriating. hopefully you can figure something out.

[Bent]

If I was a bettin man I'd throw my money on the Angel.

[Jrambo88]

So I took some of the healthy and dying corals out to inspect them. I didn't see any oblivious pests but it doesn't rule out ones that can't be seen with the naked eye. I'm really beginning to think its the potter, the only other fish in there is a Melanurus. It could be him too I suppose. This sucks.