Lobophylia help!!

[gaby_scan]

Hello, i have had this lobo for quite some time and it has never seem to be doing good, i think partly is my fault as i had high dkh in my tank for quite some time without knowing what was the problem...fast forward i pinpoint my problem and my dkh is at 8-9 and my tank is looking good but my lobo does not. He has a couple of spots that are bleaching and i have tried to move him around the tank, sand bed, shade areas, middle of the tank but nothing seems to work. Also his tentacles are never out so when i try to target feed is useless. Any pointers would be appreciated i really wanna save this lobo.

[Uncle99]

Have you been feeding!
Lobo requires regular feedings of frozen mysis , brine, etc
Slowest freaking coral in terms of new growth, but resedes without feeding.

That’s goes for the whole group Trac’s, Lobo, Welso..... etc

[Tripod1404]

Have you been feeding!
Lobo requires regular feedings of frozen mysis , brine, etc
Slowest freaking coral in terms of new growth, but resedes without feeding.

That’s goes for the whole group Trac’s, Lobo, Welso..... etc

I dont think any of those corals require feeding. I have lobo that grew from quarter size to banana size. Same is also true for trachyphyllias, although those are slow growers in general.

[alton]

Feeding depends on how clean your tank is? When the cleaning people in my office tripped my plug strip and I lost my fish and SPS, my Welso's got fat and enjoyed the pollution. My brains seem to always tell me when my light levels have dropped. When I kept them under Compact fluorescent lamps they would look bad until I changed lamps. And then there is that last factor of no matter what we do we can still lose a coral which is unfortunate.

[gaby_scan]

I have tried to target feed but like i said his tentacles are never out so the mysis or any other stuff i try to target feed just fly away or gets picked up by a snail. I'm at lost here. Don't really know what to do, i put him today under a cave to see if the light is the problem.

[alton]

A very old picture but in this tank lit by a 250w MH my Welso's enjoyed a bunch of light. How much light do you have for this coral?

[Uncle99]

I have tried to target feed but like i said his tentacles are never out so the mysis or any other stuff i try to target feed just fly away or gets picked up by a snail. I'm at lost here. Don't really know what to do, i put him today under a cave to see if the light is the problem.

None of the photosynthetic corals must be fed, light can be sufficient.
But there's a difference I have found consistently feeding them over months, no question in my mind a difference in survive versus thrive.

Phyto, Zoo, Aminos, reef roids, and Mysis, are fed in different combinations every second day, lights out, no flow for 45 minutes, some seem to demonstrate feeding better than others.

[Desertoasis]

I'm struggling with my lobo too. Really not sure what it wants. It's never been very puffy but it's still alive. Wish I knew what to give it to make it happier. I've tried all sorts of foods but the tentacles never come out so it's confusing.

[wrott]

Like Unckle99 said, I would target feed zooplankton with a cover. Like a 2 liter jug with bottom cut off and use a turkey baster to squirt smallest zooplankton onto it.
Try to initiate polyp extension, baby brine shrimp would be great. Also stirring up detritus will initiate PE, like in the sump.
Fish picking at brains is a common culprit for brains staying retracted until they finally consume themselves.

[gaby_scan]

A very old picture but in this tank lit by a 250w MH my Welso's enjoyed a bunch of light. How much light do you have for this coral?

He is at the bottom of the tank on the sand hiding in a cave. I'm confused with this coral as you say they need a lot of light but other reefers swear too much light will make them bleach, i had him on the top part of my tank and never seem to be happy that is why i dropped him to the susbstrate, he was happy for a while then one day he just retracted and seems to be going downhill. All my corals are fine and my parameters are in check too:twitch:

[alton]

They don't need a lot of light, mine in my tank now have a PAR reading of 150. It is just two two in my old tank where flooded with light and it definitely did not hurt them.

[gaby_scan]

I see, i'll try moving him somewhere he can get more light and see how it goes

[Uncle99]

Just because tentacles don't appear to have extended outwards and/or grab something, does not mean the coral cannot feed. Some do grab, some send out sticky filiments and pull the captured food towards mouth, some absorb metabolically through their "skin" so to speak. I can't think of any coral that only feeds on exclusively light, however light, is likely 60-75% of most photosynthetic corals needs, but, most have ways to filter the correct sized foods from the column as well.

When I feed, I stop all flow and using a syringe with a 18" ridged airline tube attached, post a small cloud of 1/3 phyto, 1/3 zoo, 1/3 reef Roid over each coral.

They feed this way for 30 minutes.

I start one wavemaker on dead slow for another 30.

You seemed to have moved it a lot. He needs to stay put.

[gaby_scan]

Just because tentacles don't appear to have extended outwards and/or grab something, does not mean the coral cannot feed. Some do grab, some send out sticky filiments and pull the captured food towards mouth, some absorb metabolically through their "skin" so to speak. I can't think of any coral that only feeds on exclusively light, however light, is likely 60-75% of most photosynthetic corals needs, but, most have ways to filter the correct sized foods from the column as well.

When I feed, I stop all flow and using a syringe with a 18" ridged airline tube attached, post a small cloud of 1/3 phyto, 1/3 zoo, 1/3 reef Roid over each coral.

They feed this way for 30 minutes.

I start one wavemaker on dead slow for another 30.

You seemed to have moved it a lot. He needs to stay put.

Thanks for your advice, i did move him a lot. But only when he was bleaching, he stayed on the same place for more than 4 months. Sadly half of the lobo ain't here anymore, i'm going to do whatever i can to save the other half.

[Uncle99]

I have not had much long term success with the lobo, Traci, welso family. None past 4 years.
These are all semi-agressive type colours and need space.


I switched to Scolymia, which look a bit similar, but had great colours and are super easy to keep in any water. When they open there feeders at night, you will be amazed.

[gaby_scan]

I have not had much long term success with the lobo, Traci, welso family. None past 4 years.
These are all semi-agressive type colours and need space.


I switched to Scolymia, which look a bit similar, but had great colours and are super easy to keep in any water. When they open there feeders at night, you will be amazed.

Yes i don't think i'll be buying more lobos, from what i've been reading i am not the only one that have fail with them, as a matter of fact a lot of people have actually. On all my tank the only coral that look bad was the lobo, my other are growing not super fast but seem content.

[gaby_scan]

The only think i have to work on now is my ph, at 7.8 is gonna take a while to see some real growth.