My first casualty

[nannodad]

Seven days after buying my first and only coral it died today. So before I continue I want to see what I did wrong. So here's the numbers Ph 7.8, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate ~8 temp runs 78-81 as far as my salinity I haven't checked it cause I use ocean water from LFS. I am wondering if my Ph is too low or if I need a skimmer. If I am not mistaken a simmer will lower my Ph more! I am stumped any advise?

[brian92]

What kind of coral was it?

[Laura6686]

Seven days after buying my first and only coral it died today. So before I continue I want to see what I did wrong. So here's the numbers Ph 7.8, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate ~8 temp runs 78-81 as far as my salinity I haven't checked it cause I use ocean water from LFS. I am wondering if my Ph is too low or if I need a skimmer. If I am not mistaken a simmer will lower my Ph more! I am stumped any advise?

please do not take offense but you need to always know your sg. If you read sg and temps you would understand more why it is extremely important.

[nano_nick]

whats sort of coral ?? please check your salinity ! , ph is low but shouldnt kill it , i doubt not skimming would be the issue ...how often do u do water changes ??? whats your other parameters like ?? if its a sps or lps (not so bad for softies) keep up the calc around 400, alk 8-12 Dkh and mag 1250-1350 as well as a ph around 8.0 to 8.3 when possible , maybe unwanted metals in the water try some carbon in your filter for a week if all other parameters come up good.

[nannodad]

frogsprawn. What is sg?

 

whats sort of coral ?? check your salinity , ph is low but shouldnt kill it , i doubt not skimming would be the issue ...how often do u do water changes ??? whats your other parameters like ?? if its a sps or lps (not so bad for softies) keep up the calc around 400, alk 8-12 Dkh and mag 1250-1350 as well as a ph around 8.0 to 8.3 when possible

 

It is a new I have done one water change so far about 20%. Plan on 15-20% every 10-12 days. As far as those other parameters I have never checked them. Maybe I need to!

[nano_nick]

specific gravity of the salt..... u should look into doing some research on refractometers,hydrometers before u go buying anymore livestock.

 

main most common things that you should keep an eye on would be your salinity , ph , temp , amm , nitrates , calcium , alkalinity , and magnesium levels.

[ddr_phish]

Seven days after buying my first and only coral it died today. So before I continue I want to see what I did wrong. So here's the numbers Ph 7.8, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate ~8 temp runs 78-81 as far as my salinity I haven't checked it cause I use ocean water from LFS. I am wondering if my Ph is too low or if I need a skimmer. If I am not mistaken a simmer will lower my Ph more! I am stumped any advise?

 

Do not always assume that your LFS water is the perfect salinity. I have heard too many times of people buying premixed water from the LFS and testing it when they got home only to find out that the SG is 1.015 or even 1.010. I tried buying premixed water from my LFS only to find out 15 gallons later that it was 1.013!! Hypo-salinity can kill a coral

[nannodad]

Is it true that people are topping off with tap water. Should I wait till i can test salinity before doing this?

[brian92]

Is it true that people are topping off with tap water. Should I wait till i can test salinity before doing this?

You should not top off with tap water.

 

For top off it would be ideal to use fresh RO water

[S197]

dont top off with tap, top off with some RO water or Distilled. You didnt mention anything about what flow or lighting the coral was in, or how you aclimated it either. Include all that in your next post.

[ddr_phish]

Is it true that people are topping off with tap water. Should I wait till i can test salinity before doing this?

 

You top off with RO/DI water when you notice the water level decreasing from evaporation. When water evaporates it leaves the salt in the tank, increasing the salinity, if you add more salt water then you are slowly increasing the salinity over time, thats why you use freshwater (preferably Reverse-Osmosis Distilled). As for saltwater, you use that whenever you do a water change, and be sure to test the SG before you add it to the tank. I would hold off on everything until you are able to accurately measure your specific gravity, atleast with a Hydrometer (come on now, only $10), Refractometer ($45), or Digital Salinity Meter (I believe $80?).. You need to be sure of your tank params before you go any further.

[nannodad]

It was in a low flow area mid tank under PC's. I acclimated it over an hour in a small separate container adding about a half cup of tank water every 15 min for about an hour.

[ddr_phish]

It was in a low flow area mid tank under PC's. I acclimated it over an hour in a small separate container adding about a half cup of tank water every 15 min for about an hour.

 

Did you temperature acclimate it? Could the acclimation container of possibly been room temperature? Like 70f or lower? That could of killed it, but I'm voting on somethings up with your salinity.

[nannodad]

Well I defiantly have an idea of what I probably missed now hopefully I can figure it out before I go waste any more money on livestock.

 

Thanks

[lakshwadeep]

Try looking at this site for care details on prospective corals (frogspawn is Euphyllia divisa):

http://www.asira.org/caresheets

[nannodad]

So my LFS is calling it a bacterial infection in my tank. here is a pic. That's a whole new post DAMN! So the question of the day yesterday was my salinity answer 1.025!

 

 

[GrandpaFeathers]

oh snap!

[HankB]

Sorry to hear about your first loss. Showing that to the LFS gives them little to work with. Like picking up a partly decomposed squirrel found in the yard. Evidence of what killed it is long gone.

 

More important is knowing your tank, water conditions and age as that is most likely the cause of it's demise.

 

I highly recommend just keeping the tank stable for weeks or months and looking for signs of cycle completion like diatom bloom and algae growth to indicate that it will soon be time to start stocking. I would stock some CUC first and then if things still look good in a couple of weeks, add fish or corals.

 

HTH,

hank

[Christo]

sorry to hear about the rough start, hope it goes better for you, so just to summarize

 

- try keeping salinity around 1.023

- buy a rerfractometer

- always use ro/di water for topping up and diluting water

- id also suggest buying a bucket of salt its cheaper in the long run to mix your own saltwater and get a ro/di unit that hooks up to your tap (if it was a bacterial infection its possible that it came from the coean water that you purchased

- never stick your hands into the tank without washing them (you may introduce toxins into your tank... i have done this and had to do 40% water changes every day for about a week to get my problem resolved)

- make sure you have enough light in your tank for the corals you want to keep especially with PC's depending on your tank size id say you should shoot at least for 60-70 watts to keep your froggy in a nano tank, mind you the colour on it might fade in this light

- i also found that you dont have to worry about ca/alk/mag levels if you keep up with water changes (keeping track of those trace elements are more important later when you want to become more advanced and if you are looking at keeping sps (plus it costs extra to keep track and maintain proper levels))

- start with softies and go from there theyre usually a bit cheaper to start with too get some xenias and see how they do

- you dont need a skimmer (you need it when you start feeding more and when you start to place more corals/fish in your tank) yet wait a bit and research the type you need and go for a quality skimmer!

 

hope this helps

[Laura6686]

So my LFS is calling it a bacterial infection in my tank. here is a pic. That's a whole new post DAMN! So the question of the day yesterday was my salinity answer 1.025!

 

 

 

 

Sorry to hear about your loss.

[nannodad]

If it is a bacteria infection, how do I know if it is gone? And secondly my lfs told me the use the same water that they are selling. So I can only gather that they are lying to cover their a** or I introduced something.

[CassiusClay]

I'd mix my own water if i were you.there are a few reasons for this:

1.you have no idea what salt they're using and it could be salts not suitable for a reef

2.no REAL idea what the SG is

3.you dont know anything period about the water it could be tap for all you know

4.theyre probably charging you an arm and a leg for it

also you've seemed to discovered that you should NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TRUST THE LFS even the reputable ones will rip you off if they know they can trust me.As a test you can always go in and ask about that hippo tang(don't even try).I only trust 1 store in town and that because its owned by my best friends dad he's lived next door from me since i was 2 and I'm 25 years old so I've known the dude for basically my entire life.Just an example i went to a store not too long ago mentioned how much I'd love to keep that porcupine puffer but i have a reef,dude told me it was ok as long as i fed him well...............