Anthrax & Gangs! 50G SCA

[thecoralbeauty]

nope- and you'd think the carbon would help with that, if it was the case, and it doesnt seem to do a thing. i have no idea whats going on.

[ninjamyst]

only SPS having issues? LPS and softies are all fine?

[thecoralbeauty]

only SPS having issues? LPS and softies are all fine?

my jack-o-lanter lepto is REALLY not doing well... not sure if thats technically LPS or not... but yes, all lps and softies are fine. clams are fine. shrimp are fine. fish are fine. tube anemones are fine.

 

nitrates are 0, so doubt its a dirty water issue.

[ninjamyst]

my jack-o-lanter lepto is REALLY not doing well... not sure if thats technically LPS or not... but yes, all lps and softies are fine. clams are fine. shrimp are fine. fish are fine. tube anemones are fine.

 

nitrates are 0, so doubt its a dirty water issue.

possible to take it out for a dip? maybe some kind of pest. i know when my monti were doing really bad, i had black bugs.

[thecoralbeauty]

possible to take it out for a dip? maybe some kind of pest. i know when my monti were doing really bad, i had black bugs.

i can try, but it doesnt explain the other SPS not being happy either. the pink birdsnest is the weirdest.... that thing had been through a ton.

[FlowerMama]

Did you just put some new carbon, or GFO, or anything, maybe a shock to them or something?

[metrokat]

nitrates are 0, so doubt its a dirty water issue.

Could be the opposite. It's too clean maybe.

[thecoralbeauty]

i'm at a loss of what to do.

i guess not a water change...?

 

I don't know why it might be too clean, but i guess my macro algae that I have in the sump has gone wild and with the increased demand on nutrients has been sucking them up...

 

even the purple monti from gena is turning a little pale.

[ninjamyst]

do you dose any aminos or feed coral food?

[thecoralbeauty]

do you dose any aminos or feed coral food?

i do. i'll up the dosage and see if it does anything.

[metrokat]

Pale is a sign of low nutrients. If the algae in the sump is growing fast that explains it. Shut off all pumps and target feed the corals. Keep pumps off for 30 minutes. You can also put the skimmer on timer so that it removes less nutrients.

[D Z]

I would definitely recommend upping your feeding and cutting the skimmer back to 12 hours a day as Kat suggested. That should help out emensly.

[thecoralbeauty]

thanks guys! I'll give it a try.

[thecoralbeauty]

Ok. havent been skimming the last few days. plenty of reef energy, feeding, and live phytoplankton.

however, not much of a bounce back.

 

NOT doing well:

jackolantern lepto

purple idaho grape monti cap (just pale)

starburst monti cap

unidentified frag of some purple acro from last year

pink birdsnest

green slimers (eh- minor)

red monti setosa

supergirl monti

hawkins echinata

pearlberry (goner)

monti digitata

 

things doing fine:

sunset monti- looking incredible, actually!

lakers monti

green pavona

green poci

monti stellata

yellow candy/trumpet

hammer

frogspawn

elegance

plate corals

green star polyp

gonioporas

oregon tort

cali tort (eh, there's one spot on him)

miami hurrican chalice

unidentified pink chalice

tube anemones

zoas

acans

clams

starfish

all fish

 

 

can anyone see any sort of pattern here?!

 

 

-my blue tang i believe jumped to his death. he was missing about an hour after feeding two days ago- and there is no body to be found. cat food, i'm assuming. but i didn't know they necessarily were jumpers like the wrasses are. this may also be contributing to the loss of nutrients, having one less fish?

[jedimasterben]

this may also be contributing to the loss of nutrients, having one less fish?

Only if you are feeding less.

[thecoralbeauty]

Only if you are feeding less.

i haven't been. so i guess the others are eating what he would have been eating and still producing the same amount of poop.

[jimbonds]

I think you said your NO3/4 and PO4 are registering on your tests as 0ppm. Which kits are you using? Do you have access to a kit that will show parts per billion?

[ReefWeeds]

I think it would take some time for things to show an improvement personally. I'd give it a good couple weeks to see if you see an improvement.

[cnseekatz]

Fixed your photo for you.... you're welcome...

 

[FlowerMama]

I'm just hoping that it'll pass and it'll just strangely leave as it came.

[ninjamyst]

hope things are recovering. i just got a tube anemone and thought of yours.

[metrokat]

Morgan, the majority of the corals not doing well seem to be montipora species. I would check them extremely well for nudibranchs. Check online for images and what to look for so that you can spot them. Montipora eating nudibranchs are no fun and I hope it is not that but have to cross it off the list of possible causes.

[thecoralbeauty]

Morgan, the majority of the corals not doing well seem to be montipora species. I would check them extremely well for nudibranchs. Check online for images and what to look for so that you can spot them. Montipora eating nudibranchs are no fun and I hope it is not that but have to cross it off the list of possible causes.

 

Hey!

Sorry for the long Hiatus.

Actually, the decline has slowed/stopped.

 

Most of my SPS are wiped out EXCEPT FOR:

 

the idahoe grape monti cap

sunset monti

lakers monti

monti digitata

green pocillopora

oregon tort

 

the pavona is BARELY hanging on, but I'm trying not to hope too much.

 

I've been doing a little more aggressive water changes and keeping parameters stable. at this point i just have those monti's and a ton of LPS that is super happy and seemingly unaffected.

 

still have no idea what caused all this.

 

have been looking for bugs, nudi's, and other pests.... haven't seen a dang thing!

[jimbonds]

I recently almost wiped out all of my SPS as well. I was so frustrated because all of my params were perfect and I even got a Hanna ULR PO4 checker to make sure I hadn't stripped my water. I was about to go nuclear by saying "F you" to the tank and tossing in a hand full of pennies when I realized that I was killing my corals with activated carbon.

 

Unfortunately, the only evidence to support the theory that too much carbon is bad for corals is anecdotal (at least what I could find). You may want to check out this link though...

 

http://www.fishchannel.com/saltwater-aquariums/aquarium-frontiers/reef-aquarium-granular-activated-carbon-2.aspx

 

The link I provided pretty thoroughly explains the effectiveness of carbon in different scenarios. In a nutshell, it's probably best to stick to 3 Tbps/50 gallons of water. The article also recommends only using the carbon for 12 hours once every week because the effectiveness of carbon drops almost logarithmically with respect to time. The author also makes some recommendations about flow through the carbon. Specifically that flow should be limited to one aquarium volume per day, which is pretty hard to do unless you have a reactor with tunable flow.

 

Some of what this guy says is logically derived, referenced, or experimentally derived (although I wouldn't call his experiments very controlled or publishable). So take it with a grain of salt, but it's good food for thought. Anyway, I hope everything is going smoother for you now.

[vlangel]

I am sorry that you had a setback with your tank but am happy that the worst is over. It is always frustrating when the cause is not definitively determined however. There are still lots of mysteries to aquaria and in a way the challenge is part of the fun...well except when it isn't fun, like when stuff is declining.