NanoGeek's JBJ RL 45!

[NanoGeek]

Very nice Harry, looks very pretty.

 

 

 

 

I had a a nice rainbow as well, but exact reason I got rid of it

Here is the monti I got. My goby made a good photobomb. I named him spliff

 

 

And the baby torch

 

 

Still waiting on all the polyps to open up on the zoas and toadstool. I have them up on the rack until I figure out where I want to put them.

[Wretched]

Thats a sweet looking torch! That's the size I got mine!! Look at it now! haha

[NanoGeek]

Thats a sweet looking torch! That's the size I got mine!! Look at it now! haha

Thanks! I seen it and had to have it. I think it was a little bigger at the store. Maybe it will open up more. I hope it turns out like yours one day

 

Do you cut the bottom of the frag plus off so they can be glued onto rock?

[HarryPotter]

Thanks! I seen it and had to have it. I think it was a little bigger at the store. Maybe it will open up more. I hope it turns out like yours one day

 

Do you cut the bottom of the frag plus off so they can be glued onto rock?

 

I do, but be careful to not harm the skeleton of the coral.

[NanoGeek]

 

I do, but be careful to not harm the skeleton of the coral.

Im saying leave the round part on the frag and cut off the stem? How do you cut them off?

[NanoGeek]

Got some weird things going on today, actually ever since I added the coral frags. First is I havent seen my goby in 2 days now. He would always come out for food, and guard his burrow, now hes gone. Im pretty bummed over that, he was my favorite fish.

 

Second is one of the zoa frags I added Friday is not opening up. The other zoas are fine, but the one frag just refuses to open.

 

Third strangely is one of my clowns is just hanging out in the rear lower corner. They both would always hang out together, but not anymore. Almost like hes scared of something and staying down there.

 

Fourth is my brown algea is starting to come back. Cuc cant keep up with it. So everything all together has me pretty bummed out.

 

My parameters are

 

Temp 78

nitrate 5-10

ammonia 0

alk 9.2, seems a little on the high side

cal 420

ph 8.0

 

I got a gallon of kalk to start dosing from to raise my ph and stabilize it, but with my alk a little high I am afraid to start using it. Any suggestions?

[HarryPotter]

Got some weird things going on today, actually ever since I added the coral frags. First is I havent seen my goby in 2 days now. He would always come out for food, and guard his burrow, now hes gone. Im pretty bummed over that, he was my favorite fish.

Second is one of the zoa frags I added Friday is not opening up. The other zoas are fine, but the one frag just refuses to open.

Third strangely is one of my clowns is just hanging out in the rear lower corner. They both would always hang out together, but not anymore. Almost like hes scared of something and staying down there.

Fourth is my brown algea is starting to come back. Cuc cant keep up with it. So everything all together has me pretty bummed out.

My parameters are

Temp 78

nitrate 5-10

ammonia 0

alk 9.2, seems a little on the high side

cal 420

ph 8.0

I got a gallon of kalk to start dosing from to raise my ph and stabilize it, but with my alk a little high I am afraid to start using it. Any suggestions?

Your calcium is pretty low given that you just have softies... Have you done a water wrangle yet?

 

Sorry to say that the missing goby might be causing your brown algae, bummer. Hope I'm wrong though

[Wretched]

Got some weird things going on today, actually ever since I added the coral frags. First is I havent seen my goby in 2 days now. He would always come out for food, and guard his burrow, now hes gone. Im pretty bummed over that, he was my favorite fish.

 

Second is one of the zoa frags I added Friday is not opening up. The other zoas are fine, but the one frag just refuses to open.

 

Third strangely is one of my clowns is just hanging out in the rear lower corner. They both would always hang out together, but not anymore. Almost like hes scared of something and staying down there.

 

Fourth is my brown algea is starting to come back. Cuc cant keep up with it. So everything all together has me pretty bummed out.

 

My parameters are

 

Temp 78

nitrate 5-10

ammonia 0

alk 9.2, seems a little on the high side

cal 420

ph 8.0

 

I got a gallon of kalk to start dosing from to raise my ph and stabilize it, but with my alk a little high I am afraid to start using it. Any suggestions?

 

You parameters exactly match mine and my LPS thrive with it as well as all the zoas I purchased. I run my DKH at 9-9.5 always... Until I had my spike to 12.5. Stay there, your calcium is perfect as well... 420-440 is where I keep mine as well. To me your params are in great shape.

 

Source: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

 

 

Your goby maybe hiding? Lots of movement in the tank from adding things. Give it a couple more days to see if you can spot him... Don't be bummed about your clown, he'll come around. Most likely he's hosting that corner... Mine used to sit at the corner and swim up and down until they found my torch. Clowns aren't aggressive swimmers. They'll find a place they like and pretty much stick to it. Nothing wrong about that.

[NanoGeek]

Yes, I did a 10 gallon water change on saturday. Didn't do much after that. I was going to add the kalk to my top off water but havent done it yet.

 

I know at the lfs I got the frags from, they have the same light fixtures as me, but theirs hang a good 12-16 inches above water level. He told me he keeps his whites set at 20 percent. I think mine is at 25 percent and 9 inches abobe the water line. Maybe too much light for the zoa?

 

I just lowered my frag rack a few inches to see if that helps tomorrow. All softies except for the montipora. I havent took the zoas or the toadstool off the frag rack yet because I havent decided where I want to put them.

 

I seen my goby the other day hanging out in a weird spot that he never goes, then he vanished for the rest of the day, later that night after midnight when my blues turned off I seen him in another weird spot and I havent seen him since.

 

My peppermint shrimp has been picking at the torch so thats kind of pissing me off too.

 

The algea is more green than brown, maybe thats just the second stage of algea. I need to measure phosphates but that test is a pain in the ass.

 

Yea I guess the clowns will go where they want, just find it awkward they split up.

 

Maybe tomorrow I will set up the kalk in my top off water

[Wretched]

Algae is normal in a reef tank. I get green algae on the glass every 3-4 days and just use my mag cleaner to clean it off. No worries there. Phosphates are crucial to development of corals, to an extant. Too clean water = no go. Possible could be the lights, and corals need to adjust... keep them low as you did, and gradually move them up. I wouldn't set up kalk until you know your parameters, and know exactly how much to use. Just my 2cents.

[NanoGeek]

Algae is normal in a reef tank. I get green algae on the glass every 3-4 days and just use my mag cleaner to clean it off. No worries there. Phosphates are crucial to development of corals, to an extant. Too clean water = no go. Possible could be the lights, and corals need to adjust... keep them low as you did, and gradually move them up. I wouldn't set up kalk until you know your parameters, and know exactly how much to use. Just my 2cents.

Ok, thanks wretched. I will test phosphates tomorrow and go from there. And I will also hold off on the kalk until I get my parameters figured out.

[NanoGeek]

Well, I woke up this morning to both of my clowns dead and my peppermint shrimp dead. I am assuming that my goby is dead too since I havent seen him in over a week. All of this really pisses me off because I have no clue what could have killed them.

 

My ammonia is a little high right now because of the dead fish, but everything else seems to be in check.

 

Nothing has went wrong until I added the batch of coral last weekend. I dipped them with coral rx as per the directions so I was under the assumption that nothing harmful was coming with them. Do any of you all know what I can do to figure out what killed all my fish? One of the zoa frags never opened since I brought it home but all the others seem ok.

[Wretched]

Take your water to the LFS, or get reliable test kits. Something went wrong. Somewhere, which my guess is Ammonia/Nitrite is present, or salinity is absurbly high, or low. I added around 20 frags in a day from the zoa rock. Not to mention a rock from a completely different tank. I'm leaning towards water parameters or salinity. Do you have some one near with experience that can help you? or lend you some reliable test kits?

[NanoGeek]

Take your water to the LFS, or get reliable test kits. Something went wrong. Somewhere, which my guess is Ammonia/Nitrite is present, or salinity is absurbly high, or low. I added around 20 frags in a day from the zoa rock. Not to mention a rock from a completely different tank. I'm leaning towards water parameters or salinity. Do you have some one near with experience that can help you? or lend you some reliable test kits?

I can probably take some water to a lfs just to see what they say. My test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are api, all my other test kits are red sea. I have a refractometer for salinity and it measures 34ppt. I calibrated it with calibration fluid to 35ppt. I did test some saltwater I had left over also from the lfs and it is 35ppt also.

 

Ammonia is .5

Nitrite is 0

Nitrate is 10.

 

Im stumped. Now I have moved rock around looking for the goby, hes nowhere to be found. My hermits are still alive, and my pistol. I found the scarlett hermit eating my clown not too long ago, thats when I noticed.

[Wretched]

Interesting, sounds like you're on track. I'd reckon to get a second opinion from a LFS. I'm sorry to hear this... so sad. Somewhere there's an imbalance of chemicals. Something nuked your livestock. Do some troubleshooting and report back here

[NanoGeek]

Interesting, sounds like you're on track. I'd reckon to get a second opinion from a LFS. I'm sorry to hear this... so sad. Somewhere there's an imbalance of chemicals. Something nuked your livestock. Do some troubleshooting and report back here

I will. On my way to the lfs now.

[HarryPotter]

I will. On my way to the lfs now.

Did you WASH the corals in salt water after using coralRX?

 

CoralRX is not supposed to be introduced into the tank- that's all I can think of besides extreme chemical warfare from the new corals

 

Sorry man... That stinks. Hope you figure out what happened asap

[Matteo]

I randomly had some fish die as well one after one. One of the corals might have brought in an disease/infection from the existing tank?

[NanoGeek]

Did you WASH the corals in salt water after using coralRX?

 

CoralRX is not supposed to be introduced into the tank- that's all I can think of besides extreme chemical warfare from the new corals

 

Sorry man... That stinks. Hope you figure out what happened asap

Yes I washed the corals in saltwater after I dipped them. I made sure of that. Maybe I didnt rinse them enough?

 

Neither of the lfs stores had any insight. They both had the same api test kits as me. Their test showed the same results that I got. They both said they had nothing more they could test for besides basics. Ph, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia.

 

The first lfs which is where the corals came from said there could be a parasite in the tank, but that wouldnt kill everything at once. They also told me there is no way a coral frag can bring a parasite and I needed to take another fish to put in to test it. Thats all I needed to hear there so I left and will probably never go back.

 

I had a second water sample and took it to the lfs I got my fish from. Again, my water tested perfectly and he had no clue. His only guess was my electric went out and there was a lack of oxygen. Well I know for a fact my electric did not go out. So basically he had no more time for my situation because there was a customer there that wanted to buy a fish.

 

So I am still clueless.

I randomly had some fish die as well one after one. One of the corals might have brought in an disease/infection from the existing tank?

I actually consider this as I have one zoa frag that hasnt opened up since I put it in. Maybe its the sick one and I need to remove it, but the place I got them from was very snooty about their corals not carrying diseases.

 

I wish there was a good lfs around here....

[Hammerstone]

Sorry :-(

[NanoGeek]

Sorry :-(

Thanks, I guess this is just all part of the hobby. I just didnt expect anything like this to happen. Sad part is my kids are upset, they have been watching finding nemo the last few days in a row, now their pets are gone. They watched me flush them and told me all drains lead to the ocean just like the movie lol, but I feel bad for them. I just cant come around to adding anything again for a while now until I am sure something fatal isnt in my water.

 

I am going to do a water change and try to get all my rock back the way it was and see what happens over the next couple weeks.

[Wretched]

You know it's not 'supposed' to happen like this but you're right sometimes it does. I just don't see any reason why this would happen. No signs of illness, just poof. We need to figure it out before you add anymore livestock. What's wrong with your rock? I wouldn't do anything extravagant yet. Keep it simple, water changes are a good thing. Didn't you dose the ammonia in the beginning? Maybe that has something to do with it... When my tank cycles, I do it naturally. Not saying it's the correct way by any means, but maybe there's some of that chemical still present. I'd do like 3-4 water changes over the next week. 10/10/10/10g making sure that parameters match.

[Hammerstone]

Thanks, I guess this is just all part of the hobby. I just didnt expect anything like this to happen. Sad part is my kids are upset, they have been watching finding nemo the last few days in a row, now their pets are gone. They watched me flush them and told me all drains lead to the ocean just like the movie lol, but I feel bad for them. I just cant come around to adding anything again for a while now until I am sure something fatal isnt in my water.

 

I am going to do a water change and try to get all my rock back the way it was and see what happens over the next couple weeks.

Yeah it's especially hard with little kids when things die. Especially after watching Finding Nemo. They just don't understand. I have little kids too. Our fish go to Heaven. It's hard to know what to say. I hope things turn around for you. Now the only way is up from here.

[NanoGeek]

You know it's not 'supposed' to happen like this but you're right sometimes it does. I just don't see any reason why this would happen. No signs of illness, just poof. We need to figure it out before you add anymore livestock. What's wrong with your rock? I wouldn't do anything extravagant yet. Keep it simple, water changes are a good thing. Didn't you dose the ammonia in the beginning? Maybe that has something to do with it... When my tank cycles, I do it naturally. Not saying it's the correct way by any means, but maybe there's some of that chemical still present. I'd do like 3-4 water changes over the next week. 10/10/10/10g making sure that parameters match.

Thats exactly what I was going to do, a water change every other day this week. I had read only success stories about dosing ammonia for a fishless cycle, nothing negative at all. Im fairly certain there was none of that in the tank. It was cycled out. For some reason I am really sure something came in with the corals, but what? With the corals he did sell me some food for them, and a bottle of stuff called fuel to help them grow. I added it twice this week just like the bottle said. Thats the only thing that went in the tank yesterday besides fish food. And just like that, all dead this morning.

 

My rock was all messed up because I was moving it around looking for the dead goby. Never found it. I just changed 10 gallons and got my rockwork back close enough. I will let it clear up and test parameters again tomorrow.

 

Is there any way the zoa that is not opening could be letting out a chemical that killed everything?

Yeah it's especially hard with little kids when things die. Especially after watching Finding Nemo. They just don't understand. I have little kids too. Our fish go to Heaven. It's hard to know what to say. I hope things turn around for you. Now the only way is up from here.

Thats true, thanks. I will get more fish for them. I just want to figure out the cause so I can avoid it again. I really dont know anything else to test for.

[Wretched]

I'd recommend not adding any 'fuel' or such products until you're stable. Could've overdosed as well. How'd the corals look in his store? You dipped them as you say right? Yea i'm not sure. Usually when something like this happens, ammonia/nitrite is present. Keep up with the changes, and test again