12 gallon Mr Aqua.... Lessons learned.... 🤓

[JcSH2o]

8 hours ago, jahnje said:

So did he come with his little anemones?  

Yes he sure did! Purchased from LiveAquaria and he came in happy and healthy and waving both anemones... 

[JcSH2o]

Question: These 2 corals are my first... The Duncan seems to open well during the day and closes at night which I assume is normal. It was supposed to have 3 heads but it  definitely has 4 so that's good.

 

The grape coral though, I am not sure if it is happy. I don't know if the polyps are all the way out, and I'm especially curious about the white base on its skeleton. Is this normal? It came that way. Also when I came home today it had some brown discharge clumped in amongst the polyps; which I gently blasted out with a baster. It's been in the tank for about 72hours so I'm not sure why it's expelling zooxanthellae... 

 

All params are in check. My LEDs are on about 40% white and 100% blue. My flow on the euphyllia is about medium I think.... 

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, JcSH2o said:

Question: These 2 corals are my first... The Duncan seems to open well during the day and closes at night which I assume is normal. It was supposed to have 3 heads but it  definitely has 4 so that's good.

 

The grape coral though, I am not sure if it is happy. I don't know if the polyps are all the way out, and I'm especially curious about the white base on its skeleton. Is this normal? It came that way. Also when I came home today it had some brown discharge clumped in amongst the polyps; which I gently blasted out with a baster. It's been in the tank for about 72hours so I'm not sure why it's expelling zooxanthellae... 

 

All params are in check. My LEDs are on about 40% white and 100% blue. My flow on the euphyllia is about medium I think.... 

Was the brown discharge kind of stringy?  Could be coral poop lol.  If it was jelly-like...

[JcSH2o]

It was kind of goopy... But when I blew it out and it flowed around the aquarium it was definitely stringy. I guess it did remind me a bit of a fish turd! Hahaha 

 

I thought that was a myth? So that is natural? I did feed the Duncan and the crab some brine shrimp Saturday night. Out of curiosity I put a tiny bit to the Euphyllia but didn't get any visible reaction. 

 

Its looked the same since it opened up Friday night. I'm hoping it's healthy. Is the white at the base of the stock normal? That's not bleaching or necrosis right?? 

 

Thanks for the reply by the way. ?

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, JcSH2o said:

It was kind of goopy... But when I blew it out and it flowed around the aquarium it was definitely stringy. I guess it did remind me a bit of a fish turd! Hahaha 

 

I thought that was a myth? So that is natural? I did feed the Duncan and the crab some brine shrimp Saturday night. Out of curiosity I put a tiny bit to the Euphyllia but didn't get any visible reaction. 

 

Its looked the same since it opened up Friday night. I'm hoping it's healthy. Is the white at the base of the stock normal? That's not bleaching or necrosis right?? 

 

Thanks for the reply by the way. ?

Nope, corals will definitely poop!  If it was just stringy then it's probably ok, I was worried about brown jelly disease which is nasty and kills quickly.  Not 100% sure about the bases, but a lot of times LPS will shrink up and look skeletal in the polyps when mad.  They also tend to recede from there.

[JcSH2o]

7 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Nope, corals will definitely poop!  If it was just stringy then it's probably ok, I was worried about brown jelly disease which is nasty and kills quickly.  Not 100% sure about the bases, but a lot of times LPS will shrink up and look skeletal in the polyps when mad.  They also tend to recede from there.

Very cool, thanks! They both opened within 8 hours or so, and only ever close about 30 min after the moonlight comes on. It's amazing how fast they close up, I was not expecting that! 

[R_Pierce]

I never had a diatom bloom in my tank either, until I added livestock and coral.  Then holy grail of diatom blooms instilled and is still going currently.  Its been about a week.  So I came to the conclusion that I just didnt have a large enough bio load to kick it off.  I waited to order by CUC until I had the diatoms which are now in full bloom and they will have PLENTY to keep them busy.  I also tend to feed pretty regular and pretty heavy, so there should always be plenty of food

[JcSH2o]

6 hours ago, R_Pierce said:

I never had a diatom bloom in my tank either, until I added livestock and coral.  Then holy grail of diatom blooms instilled and is still going currently.  Its been about a week.  So I came to the conclusion that I just didnt have a large enough bio load to kick it off.  I waited to order by CUC until I had the diatoms which are now in full bloom and they will have PLENTY to keep them busy.  I also tend to feed pretty regular and pretty heavy, so there should always be plenty of food

Nice! I certainly didn't want anyone to starve, that was my main concern. Even now I have just the lightest tint of brown to my rock and sand. I'm thinking the reason is how I cleaned my Pukani initially.

I'll probably venture out to a LFS or 2 this week and see if I can't replace the Skunk shrimp that was DOA from LiveAquaria. Even though he was DOA, they are still making me wait 14 days for a replacement  so....  

Overall my experience with the company was pleasant, although I have nothing really to measure the quality of corals against. I mostly went through them for the pom pom and the shrimp, and decided to trade the shipping money for corals since they do offer free shipping at $99.... 

I think my next corals will come from Tidal Gardens or WWC, and then I will have a better idea of what LiveAquaria is all about. 

 

And now I'm rambling and somehow did a mini-review through the eyes of a noob based on a single first impression.... Haha 

[R_Pierce]

5 hours ago, JcSH2o said:

Nice! I certainly didn't want anyone to starve, that was my main concern. Even now I have just the lightest tint of brown to my rock and sand. I'm thinking the reason is how I cleaned my Pukani initially.

I'll probably venture out to a LFS or 2 this week and see if I can't replace the Skunk shrimp that was DOA from LiveAquaria. Even though he was DOA, they are still making me wait 14 days for a replacement  so....  

Overall my experience with the company was pleasant, although I have nothing really to measure the quality of corals against. I mostly went through them for the pom pom and the shrimp, and decided to trade the shipping money for corals since they do offer free shipping at $99.... 

I think my next corals will come from Tidal Gardens or WWC, and then I will have a better idea of what LiveAquaria is all about. 

 

And now I'm rambling and somehow did a mini-review through the eyes of a noob based on a single first impression.... Haha 

Just a suggestion, check out M&G Reef's website as well for corals.  You WILL NOT be disappointed!

[JcSH2o]

27 minutes ago, R_Pierce said:

Just a suggestion, check out M&G Reef's website as well for corals.  You WILL NOT be disappointed!

Wow looks nice!! I'm definitely open to suggestions from anyone! Thanks!!!

[R_Pierce]

2 hours ago, JcSH2o said:

Wow looks nice!! I'm definitely open to suggestions from anyone! Thanks!!!

no problem!  And his prices are awesome!  

[JcSH2o]

Today as my lights came on I noticed my 2 corals were not as open as they have been. At first I thought Me Miyagi had stood on the corals again, but they've remained half mast all day. This prompted me to perform my tests and these are my results:

 

Temp: 25.5°c

Salinity: 1.025

Ammonia: .1

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: >2

pH: 8.1

Ca: 480

KH: 7.7

Mg: 1600+

Phosphate: .034

 

I know Ca is high, Mg is way high, and KH is a bit low. The thing is, I have no idea why my Mg is so high. I tested it twice with the Red Sea Pro. Are these levels the cause of my corals not opening fully? Does this warrant an emergency? 

I've done nothing other than top off daily with RODI, and I've fed twice in the past 6 days. San Fran Brine shrimp to the Duncan and the crab. My planned water change day is Saturday but should I do it sooner? I'm using RODI at 0tds and Fritz RPM. Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

 

My plan was to add a shrimp, fish, or corals this weekend (depending on what I find locally) but now I think maybe I should not! Ugh!

 

[JcSH2o]

Okay based on lack of response (and on several articles I read) I'm certain my Mg levels aren't a pressing concern. 

What does concern me is my sudden "spike" in ammonia. I've eliminated the possibility that it's the following:

 

Dead CUC members. I've removed any DOA CUC...

New coral additions. I'm told healthy corals won't contribute to ammonia, only dying ones will....

Water change. RODI and fresh mixed salt water both test 0....

 

So now I'm thinking it's due to leaving my pinky floss in the filtration for the bulk of the cycle... And then recently replacing it after adding my CUC and first few corals. (Also about the same time I started feeding the tank). I'm thinking I should replace this weekly, or rinse in old tank water and continue using it like a sponge?

 

Yesterday I did a 5 gallon change on the system and today I tested at:

 

.2 ammonia

.05 nitrite

4 nitrate

 

My response was to add a 1/2 bottle of BioSpira, approx 4oz. To try and boost the BB population.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm concerned about my pom pom and my corals. 

 

Cheers all.

[JcSH2o]

Starting to flounder here... Could really use some advice.

 

I've got my NH3 under control. The BioSpira seems to be working and it tested 0 this morning. 

 

My Euphyllia Cristata though has taken a plunge. The closing up issues I was having has worsened and I woke this morning one head jellied out and the other head receding. In my panic I went to blast the brown off and the whole head deteriorated and came apart. I don't know if it was sick to begin with, or if I had it in bad flow and damaged it, or if my parameters affected it and caused this mess. 

 

Do I dip and try to save it? I only have CoralRx. Do I cut off the dead head and try to save the other? It's closing but still has all of it's polyps... Do I just remove the entire thing and hope nothing else in the tank gets affected??

 

My Hammer/Frogspawn, my Duncan, and my zoas all are open and healthy looking. I am at a loss as to what caused my Grape coral to do this, and what my response should be.

 

Please help! 

[JcSH2o]

[JcSH2o]

[JcSH2o]

?? 

[WV Reefer]

Ok, give me a recap on the current state of affairs—-water change schedule, filtration?, skimmer?, parameters etc.  

 

are all the Corals looking gross or just a few? Did you get them all from the same place? How’s that cleanup crew doing? Everyone accounted for?

 

[JcSH2o]

15 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

Ok, give me a recap on the current state of affairs—-water change schedule, filtration?, skimmer?, parameters etc.  

 

are all the Corals looking gross or just a few? Did you get them all from the same place? How’s that cleanup crew doing? Everyone accounted for?

 

Water change schedule has been 4 gallons each for the past 2 weeks. I purchased this grape coral and the Duncan from LiveAquaria and they've both been in the tank about a week. Filtration is an Oceanbox POB sump, with 2 tbls of BRS carbon, 1 pinky filter pad, and a bag of Seachem Matrix. No skimmer yet, and no dosing or additives. I've fed twice last week, a squirt of San Fran brine shrimp.

 

This is the only coral in trouble that I can tell. CUC Is accounted for, although a few snails were DOA and have been removed. There's a pom pom crab in there somewhere but I haven't seen him yet today. I have no fish. 

 

Test this morning were:

 

Salinity 1.026

NH3 0

NO2 0

NO3 ~4

Ca 480

Kh 8.7

Mg 1600

 

RODI water @ 0tds and Fritz RPM salt. Temp at 25.4°c

 

Thanks for responding!

 

 

[JcSH2o]

Also I got the Grape coral and the Duncan both from Live Aquaria along with the crab. 

 

The zoas and the Hammer/orFrogspawn from a LFS in my area. I've had the latter for only about 2 days.

[WV Reefer]

2 minutes ago, JcSH2o said:

Also I got the Grape coral and the Duncan both from Live Aquaria along with the crab. 

 

The zoas and the Hammer/orFrogspawn from a LFS in my area. I've had the latter for only about 2 days.

 

If everything else is fine I would remove the coral that is falling apart. 

 

Most other things can be solved with a extra water change.  

 

If you are keeping a filter pad or floss you need to be religious on changing that because it will start to cause all kinds of nasty. 

 

 are you feeding at all?

[JcSH2o]

2 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

 

If everything else is fine I would remove the coral that is falling apart. 

 

Most other things can be solved with a extra water change.  

 

If you are keeping a filter pad or floss you need to be religious on changing that because it will start to cause all kinds of nasty. 

 

 are you feeding at all?

I've only fed twice, mostly just for the Duncan which seems to appreciate it so far. About every 3 days. The crab gets the leftovers.

 

I had left my pad in for the duration of the cycle and when adding my CUC. I changed it when I did a water change right as I added the first two corals. I think I may have screwed up there because I did see an ammonia spike at around .25 for 2 days after changing it. Which reminds me, I did add 4oz of BioSpira, believing the pad removal may have messed with the BB population. Do you think this started it? Should I change that weekly? Maybe twice weekly once I'm feeding fish?

 

I will remove the coral and consider it a loss then. 

[WV Reefer]

2 minutes ago, JcSH2o said:

I've only fed twice, mostly just for the Duncan which seems to appreciate it so far. About every 3 days. The crab gets the leftovers.

 

I had left my pad in for the duration of the cycle and when adding my CUC. I changed it when I did a water change right as I added the first two corals. I think I may have screwed up there because I did see an ammonia spike at around .25 for 2 days after changing it. Which reminds me, I did add 4oz of BioSpira, believing the pad removal may have messed with the BB population. Do you think this started it? Should I change that weekly? Maybe twice weekly once I'm feeding fish?

 

I will remove the coral and consider it a loss then. 

You may have released some stuff that has thrown the balance off.........I know you had a long crazy cycle too. Change that pad at least once a week and twice once you get more dudes in there. 

 

You should be ok, just let it all settle back down before doing anything else. Everything you do and every change you make affects everything else. When the tank is new just take it slow.   

[JcSH2o]

1 minute ago, WV Reefer said:

You may have released some stuff that has thrown the balance off.........I know you had a long crazy cycle too. Change that pad at least once a week and twice once you get more dudes in there. 

 

You should be ok, just let it all settle back down before doing anything else. Everything you do and every change you make affects everything else. When the tank is new just take it slow.   

Okay thank you so much! I feel better already. I really appreciate the help! 

[WV Reefer]

Just now, JcSH2o said:

Okay thank you so much! I feel better already. I really appreciate the help! 

No problem. Sometimes in this hobby you just need someone to tell you you’re ok.