Leptastrea help

[bues0022]

I've got a maroon and gold leptastrea that I just cannot seem to keep happy. At least, I am pretty sure it's Leptastrea - I got it from Capital Aquariums a few months back. It has ebbed and flowed with receding/regrowing several times and I'm sick of the cycle and just want it to grow.

 

Has anyone else kept this coral and had success? I've kept it low in the tank (30 cube, so it's pretty tall, Radion LED's running at 75%, but my program looks like a bell curve), and in what I'd consider medium flow. Other corals in the tank are doing well - besides the zoas, but that's self-inflected poor dipping technique. I keep reading how this coral is supposed to be easy, medium flow/medium light (even low light) and it grows like mad. What gives?

 

My coral looks like this, or rather it looks like this when it's happy:

https://vividaquariums.com/collections/beginner-coral-and-inverts/products/golden-leptastrea

 

[bues0022]

This is a crappy phone pic of what it looked like last night:

 

(sorry, don't know why the image turned funny)

Edited October 25, 2018 by bues0022

[bues0022]

Here's my light schedule. When i hover over the green dot, it says 46%. I'm not exactly sure what the means, however, because my slider on the left says 70%.....

 

[BtmDweller]

I’ve found leptastrea to be a difficult coral as well. Parameters have to be very stable, any swing, usually alk too high or ca too low and you’ll see it have problems. I have that same honeycomb and a spitfire. I get lazy with my water testing and use them as indicators when my paras start to shift, time to test the water, and adjust. They’re the first corals of all my sps/lps that recede. Tighten and keep parameters steady and they become happy.

[ReefdUp]

I've never had a problem with Leptastrea... in fact, it grew like wild fire for me. I run leds, have high flow, and keep my parameters in check. I also tend to run on the low nutrient side.

 

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[bues0022]

Makes sens that stability is key - the first recession conincided with a big whoops on my part. I really should be testing my water more, but I get lazy. I hate to use a coral as an indicator because then I get frustrated that it’s not making good growth progress. I’ll tighten up and hope for the best.

[bues0022]

A little update: I haven’t changed anything (literally, no eater changes even) about the tank, and the little guy seems to be making a slight turnaround. The only thing I did do differently, was placement of the coral. I put it on the sandbed turned sideways - trying to get the light very low on it (lack of good placement in shadows elsewhere). It has really good laminar flow across it all day there, and it seems to be doing better, with some better color and tissue growing back. Maybe I was just blasting it with too much light before - even though it was already bear the bottom?

 

This coral might just end up on my blasto rock which is literally in a completely shaded corner (and has been doing great there).