johnpirnat
New member
Have a 90 gallon and test weekly. Parameters all fair and stable, half LPS half SPS. Tank up and running for 16 months and most of the live rock was moved from a five year old 38 gallon. Everything growing (slowly i'll admit) but healthy, and added a juvenile Tomini and Blue Tang to otherwise sparsely stocked tank.
Recently a Lobo that has been with me for 5+ years began to bleach out one "lobe" by one. I adjusted lighting checked everything etc etc checked forums everywhere without finding a solution. There wasn't much info on helping a coral that is "easy" to keep. I normally feed first thing in the a.m. as I'm leaving house, so it wasn't until the other day that I discovered I had inadvertently "trained' the Tomini into a very bad habit.
I target feed from time to time, and usually during the weekend when I have more time and can enjoy the process. I would do this during the day and over time the tang figured out pretty quick the Lobo needed time to take up the meal.
Well, the Tang got bigger of course, and now i've noticed about 5 min after feeding (after I've left) he would go over and hammer on the Lobo looking for a little more food. It's like a built in response now, and although I have covered the coral and think a full recovery is in the cards, I may have to swap either the fish or coral out at this point, because I believe the behavior is ingrained.
My practice going forward is target feed with the lights OUT... The Tangs stay away... The coral gets fed... No bad behavior.
Haven't read any other's with this problem/solution, so thought I would share. John
Recently a Lobo that has been with me for 5+ years began to bleach out one "lobe" by one. I adjusted lighting checked everything etc etc checked forums everywhere without finding a solution. There wasn't much info on helping a coral that is "easy" to keep. I normally feed first thing in the a.m. as I'm leaving house, so it wasn't until the other day that I discovered I had inadvertently "trained' the Tomini into a very bad habit.
I target feed from time to time, and usually during the weekend when I have more time and can enjoy the process. I would do this during the day and over time the tang figured out pretty quick the Lobo needed time to take up the meal.
Well, the Tang got bigger of course, and now i've noticed about 5 min after feeding (after I've left) he would go over and hammer on the Lobo looking for a little more food. It's like a built in response now, and although I have covered the coral and think a full recovery is in the cards, I may have to swap either the fish or coral out at this point, because I believe the behavior is ingrained.
My practice going forward is target feed with the lights OUT... The Tangs stay away... The coral gets fed... No bad behavior.
Haven't read any other's with this problem/solution, so thought I would share. John