Hexadron's Nitoralis [Retired]

[Hexadron]

Keep the lighting levels low for now. Better to brown them and build them back up than to bleach them and them not come back. Think of it as a parent with a child that has a cold. Nothing you can do about it other than give some love and wait til it gets better.

 

I couldn't agree more. I have them maxed out at 20% (both channels) which I don't think to be too much - and only for about 4 hours @ that intensity.

 

So true. Good analogy

[nicholc2]

I have 4, so I'm very familiar with that analogy.

[NanoTopia]

Hang in there Jordon, BTW, Amino Acids are absorbed through the coral tissue so with no PE you are still fine to dose AA

 

When you say "bleached" do you mean the colour has gone or the tissue has come off?

 

You can PM me some close up pictures when you get a chance if you are unsure.

 

 

If the colour has faded and tissue is intact the corals can make a full recovery. I agree with others here, make sure you have food in the water at this stage, it's all they have for recovery now. When you first opened the bags did you measure the temperature of the water in the bags? I wonder if the water temp dropped during shipping.

 

Christine

[Hexadron]

Hang in there Jordon, BTW, Amino Acids are absorbed through the coral tissue so with no PE you are still fine to dose AA

 

When you say "bleached" do you mean the colour has gone or the tissue has come off?

 

You can PM me some close up pictures when you get a chance if you are unsure.

 

 

If the colour has faded and tissue is intact the corals can make a full recovery. I agree with others here, make sure you have food in the water at this stage, it's all they have for recovery now. When you first opened the bags did you measure the temperature of the water in the bags? I wonder if the water temp dropped during shipping.

 

Christine

 

Thanks for your support and your advice as well.

 

I believe there to be 3 corals that most likley have no tissue from what I can tell. At this point I am not taking them out just in case there is a small chance of recovery (unlikely) Ammonia levels are still 0, so I don't see it as a threat to the others.

 

A few are very pale (more creamy than white) but look to still have their tissue. I will PM you some photos when I have a moment.

 

As for other foods, at this time I don't have frozen handy, but I do have two different types of pellet foods. Would this be beneficial to add to the tank at all, perhaps dissolving the food prior to adding, and attempting to 'target feed' so to speak?

[NanoTopia]

Jordon,

 

Did you see tissue "flaking" off the coral(s) at any point, it often looks like human skin pealing after a sunburn?

 

If the coral skeleton is exposed, it will look porous in nature and white, algae may form in it's place sometime after the tissue has been absent.

 

In either case there is no harm in leaving the corals in the display. I have seen (personal experience) corals that show skeleton with no tissue and no PE come back from the dead on many occasions.

 

You should pick up some food Jordon. If you have amino acids for stony corals I would dose that for now.

 

Stony corals prefer zooplankton over phytoplankton but I feed both in my tanks since I have mixed reefs. SPS are not capable of capturing large particulate food such as pellets and mysis shrimp. You need a small particulate food (200um) roughly, there are many brands but I prefer the ones sold in a refrigerated liquid suspension like Reef Nutrition Oyster Feast and Zeovit Coral Vitalizer. Phytoplankton is also beneficial but more for the overall biology of the tank than for direct coral feeding. Zooplankton is what SPS and other stony corals like to capture.

 

Adding pellets and other foods (even dissolved or broken up) at this point in your tank will only raise non-benefical nutrients in your tank and cause algae to form faster.

 

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions Jordon, I will do my best to help.

 

Christine

[Hexadron]

Jordon,

 

Did you see tissue "flaking" off the coral(s) at any point, it often looks like human skin pealing after a sunburn?

 

If the coral skeleton is exposed, it will look porous in nature and white, algae may form in it's place sometime after the tissue has been absent.

 

In either case there is no harm in leaving the corals in the display. I have seen (personal experience) corals that show skeleton with no tissue and no PE come back from the dead on many occasions.

 

You should pick up some food Jordon. If you have amino acids for stony corals I would dose that for now.

 

Stony corals prefer zooplankton over phytoplankton but I feed both in my tanks since I have mixed reefs. SPS are not capable of capturing large particulate food such as pellets and mysis shrimp. You need a small particulate food (200um) roughly, there are many brands but I prefer the ones sold in a refrigerated liquid suspension like Reef Nutrition Oyster Feast and Zeovit Coral Vitalizer. Phytoplankton is also beneficial but more for the overall biology of the tank than for direct coral feeding. Zooplankton is what SPS and other stony corals like to capture.

 

Adding pellets and other foods (even dissolved or broken up) at this point in your tank will only raise non-benefical nutrients in your tank and cause algae to form faster.

 

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions Jordon, I will do my best to help.

 

Christine

 

I didn't see tissue flaking really, just it seemed to slowly dissapear. I did see a few of the corals expelling their zooxanthellae though. Basically looked like mucus, but only more brown in color instead of clear/white.

 

All I can do at this point is keep an eye on them and keep params stable.

 

I just ordered these items as per your reccomendation. If I didn't get them now, I would have later anyways, so whatever I can do to help recovery. My LFS didn't have them all in stock so I had to order from J&L:

 

• Reef Nutrition Oyster-Feast Premium Concentrate - 6oz.
• Reef Nutrition Phyto-Feast Live Premium Phytoplankton - 6oz.
• Reef Nutrition Roti-Feast Premium Concentrate - 6oz.
• ZEOvit Amino Acid Concentrate for Fish - 50ml (Korallen-Zucht)
• ZEOvit Pohl's Coral Vitalizer - 50ml 50ml (Korallen-Zucht)
• Kent Marine Sea Squirt Feeding Prong 21 Inch (Kent Marine) For target feeding. My turkey baster is huge.

I figured as much with the pellets, but just thought I would check anyways. Thanks again.

[NanoTopia]

Your a Rock Star Jordon!

 

J&L have the best prices in Canada overall so you made a good decision. All the reef nutrition products go in the fridge along with the Zeovit Coral Vitalizer. The AAHC should be kept at room temp.

 

The Zeovit Products should last you a year+ with a long expiry date, the Reef Nutrition products have an expiry date usually good for 6 months or so.

 

I have that exact Kent feeding baster, had it for years, works well.

 

 

Christine

[Hexadron]

Your a Rock Star Jordon!

 

J&L have the best prices in Canada overall so you made a good decision. All the reef nutrition products go in the fridge along with the Zeovit Coral Vitalizer. The AAHC should be kept at room temp.

 

The Zeovit Products should last you a year+ with a long expiry date, the Reef Nutrition products have an expiry date usually good for 6 months or so.

 

I have that exact Kent feeding baster, had it for years, works well.

 

 

Christine

 

LOL, Thanks

 

I'm not going to mess around here. My LFS' have a pretty limited selection of refridgerated and frozen foods (mostly larger particle size for fish), and absolutely no Zeo in sight. After seeing your system, I know you know what you are doing - and don't even have to think twice with your advice

[jedimasterben]

Think of phytoplankton as feeding the entire food chain - the guys at the bottom feed on it, stuff feeds on them, etc.

[Hexadron]

I just received my order at work! Holy crap that was quick!

I noticed something yesterday, that I ordered ZEOvit Amino Acid Concentrate for Fish instead of the concentrate for SPS ... Good lord, I think I was in such a hurry I didn't even realize.

 

I am going to do a target feeding today @ lunch and then test params when I get home after work to make sure Phosphate and Nitrates are in check.

 

It should be okay to dose 1 drop of the ZEO Aminos to the tank - even though it's for fish I figure. Probably not as great as the one for corals, but any little bit should help

 

Ideas? Suggestions, Dossages?

[jedimasterben]

Amino acids for fish? Are they serious?

[Hexadron]

Amino acids for fish? Are they serious?

 

Haha this is Zeo They have something for everything!

[Hexadron]

Since nobody chimed in on feeding amounts, I just winged it:

2 drops Oyster-Feast
1 drop Phyto-Feast Live
1 drop Roti-Feast
1 drop Amino Acid Concentrate for Fish
1 drop Pohl's Coral Vitalizer

I mixed it in a small container with about 20ml of tank water and target fed the corals. I turned the mp10 to feed mode for about 5 minutes, and afterwards turned it back on and basted the rocks just a bit to get some of the good stuff in the water column

 

No PE yet...

 

I'm going to test Nitrate and Phosphate tonight to see if there is any changes.

 

Do you guys think I should be feeding daily to help the corals recover, or space it out every 2 or 3 days? I will be perfoming water changes if Nitrates/Phosphate get a little too high for comfort.

[TristanC]

JDH! I have a question for you (sorry to derail your question you just added). Looking at picking up zeobak and zeofood7, zeo food says 1 drop per 25g/day and zee bak says 1 drop per 25g/week. What if i did one drop of each once a week? Im thinking since its such a small tank it would be more beneficial this way.

[Evanski9]

2 to 3 days. Corals need time to digest. Every day is just making your water dirty honestly

[Hexadron]

JDH! I have a question for you (sorry to derail your question you just added). Looking at picking up zeobak and zeofood7, zeo food says 1 drop per 25g/day and zee bak says 1 drop per 25g/week. What if i did one drop of each once a week? Im thinking since its such a small tank it would be more beneficial this way.

 

Are you dosing Zeostart3? That is the actual food for the bacteria, not so much Zeofood7. Zeofood7 will help, but is more of a coral food and can quickly increase Nitrates. I think you should do Zeobak twice per week initially for 2 weeks then you can switch to going once every week.

 

Zeofood7 can quickly increase Nitrates and honestly in a small system it's not like you're doing anything wrong, so dose that sparingly, and keep an eye on your No3. It is a form of food for the bacteria, but is most beneficial for the corals. I would reccomend you dose ZeoStart3 to help feed the Bacteria

 

Zeofood7 can be dosed daily if you like, but just keep an eye on the params like I mentioned, and cease dosing if it rises, then adjust if necessary like every other day or every 3 days

 

2 to 3 days. Corals need time to digest. Every day is just making your water dirty honestly

 

Thanks for chiming in.

[TristanC]

Are you dosing Zeostart3? That is the actual food for the bacteria, not so much Zeofood7. Zeofood7 will help, but is more of a coral food and can quickly increase Nitrates. I think you should do Zeobak twice per week initially for 2 weeks then you can switch to going once every week.

 

Zeofood7 can quickly increase Nitrates and honestly in a small system it's not like you're doing anything wrong, so dose that sparingly, and keep an eye on your No3. It is a form of food for the bacteria, but is most beneficial for the corals. I would reccomend you dose ZeoStart3 to help feed the Bacteria

 

Zeofood7 can be dosed daily if you like, but just keep an eye on the params like I mentioned, and cease dosing if it rises, then adjust if necessary like every other day or every 3 days

 

 

Thanks for chiming in.

At the moment i am not dosing anything, I was thinking that by dosing zeofood and zeobak once a week wouldnt increase no3 too much. I was reading zeostart and i was under the impression it was more for a new tank than anything.

[brad908]

Start should be dosed daily

[Hexadron]

At the moment i am not dosing anything, I was thinking that by dosing zeofood and zeobak once a week wouldnt increase no3 too much. I was reading zeostart and i was under the impression it was more for a new tank than anything.

 

It does sound like it given the name but, it also helps feed bacteria. Think if it like a supercharged carbon source.

 

Here's a basic rundown of what each is:

 

ZeoStart3

for reefers who want optimum water parameters in a biological way. It promotes the reproduction of all nitrifying bacteria in the aquarium and is therefore very effective in reducing phosphate and nitrate, nitrite and several inhibitors.

 

This product is not only for the initial phase, it should be dosed every day in all tanks. It enhances the metallic colors on Acropora, Montipora, Poccilopora and Stylophora. Soft corals grow faster and open the polyps wider.

 

Zeobak

The essential microorganism solution for a healthy, well-balanced and efficient bacterial fauna in a tank. ZEObak contains several bacterial strains, used in combination with ZEOfood and ZEOstart building up bacteria plankton. That is absorbed by many corals.

 

Zeofood7

Contains more than 95 substances, e.g. amino acids as well as several vitamins. It is a multiplication of and food for the dosed microorganisms and a food source for your corals. It enhances the growth of all corals.

 

---

 

I have been dosing ZeoStart3 every day (1 drop) as well as Zeobak twice per week (1 drop) and Zeofood7 daily (1 drop) while keeping a close eye on Phosphate and Nitrate. I usually wouldn't dose Zeofood7 every day, but I need to make sure my corals are getting proper amino acids during recovery.

[Evanski9]

My next tank is going to be zeovit. but i dont want to have a reactor... possible....

[Hexadron]

My next tank is going to be zeovit. but i dont want to have a reactor... possible....

 

It just means you are not going to full Zeovit. It's called a hybrid. I'm just dosing Start3, Food7, and bak for now. Zeo is great because many of the products work without the zeolites, but you won't get the full effect or level of control that you would with the full Zeo ULNS.

[TristanC]

Thanks for the info man, that answered my questions. Ill be placing an order today for those 3 zeo products

[Hexadron]

Thanks for the info man, that answered my questions. Ill be placing an order today for those 3 zeo products

 

No prob. I got a lot of great advice regarding the actual amounts for nano's from Christine (NanoTopia) So thank her as well!

[TristanC]

No prob. I got a lot of great advice regarding the actual amounts for nano's from Christine (NanoTopia) So thank her as well!

Ive been catching up on her thread, she also has a good link to the zeovit "instruction manual".

[Mstefa1]

Jordon, very sorry about your issues... I haven't seen your photos as I'm mobile on reduced bandwidth but... If you remember i suggested testing your tanks with one or two starter corals...i think some of your trouble was your sterile qt tank as well as your super intense par light. Again sorry and good luck. I think you are trying too hard and need to go back to the basics.