yellow polyps dying out

[soupysteve]

I bought a colony of yellow polyps over a month ago. For a while they were thriving like you can't believe - splitting so fast that i'd see three new ones every day. Now that I have a sump and increased water flow, they have been dying off. What should I do? When I put them in a low flow area, they don't get the light they need... any help is appreciated.

 

[bang guy]

What are you feeding them? They should be getting small chunks of meaty food. I would recomment Mysis Shrimp

 

[ty_05_f]

I had a free colony of about three that trippled the number over time. Then all of a sudden. One by one they started disappearing. Finally something ate all of mine and I don't know what did it.

 

[nm reef]

Ya'all got a heck of a problem...one you could send my way if you find the source. I had a single yellow polyp almost three years ago as a hitchhiker. That single polyp is now in the hundreds and I'd love to remove them from my reef. They approach plague porportions in my reef and I take steps to reduce/control their spread!!!
Seriously....other than peppermint shrimp I don't know of any reliable reef save predators...and as a rule yellow polyps are extremely hardy and in most systems they tend to prosper to the point of being a pest.

 

[sebae0]

i have had the same thing happen to me but they are still spreading but slower. when i first got them the next day i noticed 3-4 were missing and blamed it on the 2 peps i have, but since then they have spred but every now and then i notice some are missing so i think my peps are keeping them in check.

 

[soupysteve]

I guess I should try to feed them directly - as everything else is doing well and my water specs are fine... thanks for the help!

 

[the claw]

Are you using a phosphate sponge? I didn't know this, but I almost lost a huge colony. I think I read it in Borneman. After I removed the phophate remover, back came the polyps. NM reef, just hook up a phosphate remover and see what happens.

 

[nm reef]

I've heard the same about phosphate sponge harming them...but I run Kents phosphate sponge once a month for about 3-4 days and the yellow plague continues!!

 

[soupysteve]

No phosphate sponge... To be honest, I just think they aren't getting the food that they were before. I thought I was OVERfeeding my tank - I was getting a cyanoalgae outbreak. Now that I have slowed the feeding, I guess the polyps need some spot feeding. I was shooting them in the "mouth" with a turkey baster full of watered down phytoplankton, brine shrimp, and live worms. They REALLY liked that. I just thought I was OVER doing it.
My aquarium is registered: Click here to see my aquarium

 

[bang guy]

Soupy - Just skip the Phytoplankton.