trumpet really hurting...

[phil28]

hi all. it's been a very long time since i've been here. anyway, my trumpet is really shrinking, and has been doing so slowly but steadil over the past couple of months, i'd say. i have a few possible ideas, but i could use all the help i can get.

1) i've noticed a substantial green algae bloom (hair, but also the annoying bryopsis kind) recently, even though i feed the tank about 1x a week!

2) i've introduced a blue damsel into the tank recently. do they go after trumpets when they're hungry?

3) my Ca is pretty good, but i'm basing this on the fact that i'm constantly fighting corraline algae everywhere.

4) all my other corals (finger leather, fancy toadstool, wells brain) are ding very well, so this is a bit of a stumper for me... is it possible that trumpets are much fussier?

thanks in advance for your advice

--phil

[thezookeeper]

I know that my trumpet is usually a good indicator of water quality. Believe it or not, even with lower than SHOULD be levels of Ca, corraline can still be growing. I know because I recently (last 2 1/2 months) have experienced an ammonia spike (sponge died off, bad BAD sponge) and tank got out of whack in all of this. Anyway, I let my Ca drop (not intentionally) to around 315 ppm, too low. But the coraline algae kept on going strong. I'd check some other levels and see where you fall. It's hard to tell without knowing your Ca, alk, pH, etc.


Joanne

[bongobrian]

Sounds to me like something got in your water that the trumpet doesn't like. IME trumpet corals are VERY easy to keep. I think they are one of the least fussy corals I've ever had. Someone may have had a different experience though. Check and double check your water params. Also, make sure you are adding iodine to help fight any infections that the coral might have. You may even want to consider doing an iodine "dip" with the coral a couple times a week.