Is my coral dead?

[Dymond]

I just bought this yeaterday and it came with a tiny starfish in it, which I didn’t notice until I got home, but some of the “branches” are green and some are brown. I can’t tell if it is dying or just beginning to sprout. 

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

It look like a pocillopora coral and I would definitely remove the starfish. It does look like dead skeleton on some parts of it. If you get rid of the pests that are on it and keep your water conditions good, it should come back. It’s also an sps, so it likes high light.

[Dymond]

Should I trim off the dead parts or leave it as it is?

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

You could trim it, that would probably help it grow faster. It would grow back those parts, but on the other hand, you don’t want to put too much stress on the coral. It’s up to you really. 

[Tamberav]

Your tank looks very young. What lights do you have?

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

Yea, sps corals really shouldn’t be in a new tank.

[Dymond]

The box says 14000K LED light. It goes from the bright white to blue and of course off. It came with the Fluval Evo tank I bought. 

[Tamberav]

4 minutes ago, Dymond said:

The box says 14000K LED light. It goes from the bright white to blue and of course off. It came with the Fluval Evo tank I bought. 

What size tank? It doesn't sound like that small light will support your anemone or SPS. I assuming two tangs are not in a fluval Evo?

 

You need to slow down and stop buying livestock as right now that stuff might slowly die without some changes first. Corals and anemones are phososynthetic and their minimum lighting needs must be met for them to survive long term.

[Dymond]

It’s only a 13.5 gallon tank so it’s pretty small. I started out with have a Xenia coral, zoanthid, and a gsp. They were all doing fine. I added the anemone yesterday and it seems to be doing fine, but it caused my gsp to close so I separated them. But this is the only one that seems to be having problems. Someone said it may have been because there was a starfish attached to it. 

What changes do you recommend I make??

[mitten_reef]

Looking at the tiny neotherm in the first pic, it looks like you have two tangs in a tiny tank...that's a BIG NO-NO!.  Understandably, you may have been given bad directions from the store to which they came from.

Highly recommend taking them back to where you got them ASAP for store credit or refunds.  Those two fish require much larger tank than you have to thrive (i.e. 100+ gallons).  Also they can grow fast, so let's not kid ourselves about the whole "will upgrade soon".   

Please do more research on livestock compatibility with your tank size and lighting prior to future purchase.

 

 

[Tamberav]

The tangs need to be returned. You can not keep large fish in 13 gallons. This as cruel and they will eventually die. They travel many miles in a day and a 13g is a prison so the store should have not sold you them and showed you some appropriate fish.

 

Your blue Tang grows to 1 foot long and needs 180 gallons to meet it's physical needs.

 

2-3 SMALL fish max that get no bigger than 2-3 inches. Such as a occy clown, small goby and a tailspot Blenny or firefish are some examples.

 

The fluval Evo light is not very powerful but can support easier corals like soft corals (GSP and Xenia are examples). The pocci will probably die on its undersides from the low lighting. The bubble tip nem also requires powerful lighting and may slowly lose color or die over many months.

 

The Evo is a beginner tank and was made to support beginner corals not higher demand organisms.

 

A rock flower anenome instead of a bubble tip would be appropriate for this tank.

 

 

[mcarroll]

2 hours ago, Dymond said:

I just bought this yeaterday and it came with a tiny starfish in it

Not dying, but looks tweaked.

 

Can you please post the test results from your "Big 5" water parameters?  (calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, nitrates, phosphates)

 

The starfish shouldn't be an issue to worry about (99% of all hitchhikers are beneficial or neutral), but maybe post a photo of it to be sure.

[Dymond]

Do you have any recommendations on a better lighting system to use?? I do have a 40 gallon tank already that I could move them to but I wanted to start out small. Also, we bought the water from the store we bought the fish so I do not have a tool that reads the “Big 5” that were mentioned, they told us the water would be fine. Are there any recommendations on what type is best for that??

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

3 minutes ago, Dymond said:

Do you have any recommendations on a better lighting system to use?? I do have a 40 gallon tank already that I could move them to but I wanted to start out small. Also, we bought the water from the store we bought the fish so I do not have a tool that reads the “Big 5” that were mentioned, they told us the water would be fine. Are there any recommendations on what type is best for that??

40 gallons is also way too small. You could probably keep the yellow tang, but the blue tang needs at least a 120 gallon tank. I would get store credit for the blue tang and if you are upgrading to a 40 gallon, you may be able to keep the yellow tang, but that’s still small for him

[mcarroll]

Just now, Dymond said:

Do you have any recommendations on a better lighting system to use?? I do have a 40 gallon tank already that I could move them to but I wanted to start out small. Also, we bought the water from the store we bought the fish so I do not have a tool that reads the “Big 5” that were mentioned, they told us the water would be fine. Are there any recommendations on what type is best for that??

You can get everything tested at the LFS more than likely....probably for free or at least for cheap.

 

It's not a bad idea to have test kits at home for these things too, especially when you're starting out.

 

As for lighting, your tank (I think) is only 10" deep right?  The stock light will be fine if you want to use it.  

 

If you want to switch lights anyway, I'd start looking around at other tanks that people have other lights on so you can get an idea of how other lights look.  THEN try to decide if you want to replace yours or not.   Looks at lights in videos is more useful to me....folks (usually) jack around with the colors less on videos so you get a more accurate idea of that....plus you can get an idea of what the motion of the tank looks like under the lights.  As a rule of thumb, strip lights like yours have a very consistent look across the tank where spotlights have a very dynamic look.  Neither is better, and don't worry about "shadows"....just another internet boogeyman, not a real issue, but you WILL read "concerns" about shadows.  It's really 100% down to what you like...either is fine if you use it properly.  (So if you do find a light that's intriguing....ask about using it on your tank to see if there are any caveats like needing more than one light.)

 

And find a new home for, or return, those Tangs as soon as possible.  If the store knew what size tank you had, they should be ashamed of themselves for selling them to you.   As mentioned in a post above...you really want a LARGE tank for them....some folks will push the limits and have them in a 4' tank....(the 120 Gallon is the smallest four footer you could consider)...they would be much better off in a 6' tank or larger...especially for someone new to saltwater.

 

As a newbie you don't want to be pushing limits, you want the opposite – to be establishing a margin of safety!  As in having WAY MORE space than your livestock "technically" requires.  Posted requirements are almost always MINIMUMS.  You want more than the minimum....you want EXTRA space for everything.   👍

[Dymond]

i was told at the store that it would take a few months for newly made saltwater to be livable for the fish. Would the tang be okay in this tank for now?

[mcarroll]

Just now, Dymond said:

i was told at the store that it would take a few months for newly made saltwater to be livable for the fish. Would the tang be okay in this tank for now?

I'm not sure what you mean about the newly made saltwater?

 

They'll be fine for the moment, but don't waste any time finding a new home for them.  Return them TODAY if possible, IMO.  If the store would take them back, that should be the simplest outcome.

[jservedio]

17 minutes ago, Dymond said:

Do you have any recommendations on a better lighting system to use?? I do have a 40 gallon tank already that I could move them to but I wanted to start out small. Also, we bought the water from the store we bought the fish so I do not have a tool that reads the “Big 5” that were mentioned, they told us the water would be fine. Are there any recommendations on what type is best for that??

 

I'm going to say you need to find a new LFS. Any LFS that sold you a couple tangs for a 13g and a Pocillopora that is clearly in STN which is just 1/2 dead skeleton with algae growing on it and saying "your water is fine" without testing it is shady AF.

[Tamberav]

7 minutes ago, Dymond said:

i was told at the store that it would take a few months for newly made saltwater to be livable for the fish. Would the tang be okay in this tank for now?

Did you cycle the tank?

 

If the tank is not cycled and you added a bunch of livestock, everything is a risk for dying from ammonia poisoning. 

 

If the tank is cycled, then everything should survive for now but the tangs need to go as soon as possible.

 

 

 

[Dymond]

Mcarroll what I meant by that was when I make the saltwater. For my small tank I bought the saltwater made already from the store where I got the fish. If I make my own saltwater, I was told it would take months before it is acceptable for the fish to live in so I just wanted to be sure my Tanya would be okay in the smaller tank for now until that water is ready. 

[Dymond]

 

I was not taught anything about cycling the tank. I was just told to make sure I do not pour the bagged water into the tank with the rest of the fish. 

[Tamberav]

6 minutes ago, Dymond said:

Mcarroll what I meant by that was when I make the saltwater. For my small tank I bought the saltwater made already from the store where I got the fish. If I make my own saltwater, I was told it would take months before it is acceptable for the fish to live in so I just wanted to be sure my Tanya would be okay in the smaller tank for now until that water is ready. 

Water does not cycle, rock does.

 

Water can be made, mixed a few hours and added. It takes days or weeks for rock to cycle to process the waste from fish. If a tank is not cycled... the fish pee and poop leads to ammonia poisoning killing livestock. 

 

If you bought LIVE rock, wet and aged in water, the cycling process can be quick. If the rock was not well established then it takes longer.

 

Here is some information on cycling: 

https://reefbuilders.com/2018/03/17/beginners-guide-to-cycling-a-saltwater-aquarium/

 

 

Your LFS is just wrong and has given you bad advice but you can fix this. 😞

[jservedio]

7 minutes ago, Dymond said:

i was told at the store that it would take a few months for newly made saltwater to be livable for the fish. Would the tang be okay in this tank for now?

No! Jesus man....did the guy who told you this have a last name that sounded remarkably like mine, wear a velour sweatsuit and a pinkie ring, copious amounts of chest hair, slicked back hair with cards up at the register for his other scams legitimate recycling, loan, and repossession businesses?

[mcarroll]

Just now, jservedio said:

 

I'm going to say you need to find a new LFS. Any LFS that sold you a couple tangs for a 13g and a Pocillopora that is clearly in STN which is just 1/2 dead skeleton with algae growing on it and saying "your water is fine" without testing it is shady AF.

Agreed.  

 

But sometimes the purchase happens without a lot of questions though.  And if the customer is acting confident and not asking questions of their own, and/or the store was busy at the time that's probably expected.  (Speaking in general from my own experience on both sides of the retail transaction.)

 

More info has come in that I think shows a misunderstanding...

2 minutes ago, Dymond said:

Mcarroll what I meant by that was when I make the saltwater. For my small tank I bought the saltwater made already from the store where I got the fish. If I make my own saltwater, I was told it would take months before it is acceptable for the fish to live in so I just wanted to be sure my Tanya would be okay in the smaller tank for now until that water is ready. 

If your tank never cycled and if your rock and sand were DEAD with your bought them, you might have an emergency on your hands.

 

You really need to get the water in your tank tested for ammonia ASAP.   If you can get a Seachem Ammo Alert badge to hang in the tank, that would be ideal.  Continuous ammonia-level monitoring.

 

Saltwater does not take a month to be ready.  It takes 5 minutes with common, popular salt mixes like Instant Ocean.  I'll post a two vidoes of me mixing it (in 5 minutes) at the end of this post.

 

I suspect the store meant it would take the WATER IN YOUR TANK a month to be ready...that's about how long a cycle takes.

1 minute ago, Dymond said:

 

I was not taught anything about cycling the tank. I was just told to make sure I do not pour the bagged water into the tank with the rest of the fish. 

You have bagged water, or bagged salt?   If the salt is premixed in the water, you should be good to go right now.  (See above if you're making the water....videos coming below.)

 

If you use a pump to mix your saltwater, note the specific setup in this vid.  If you can't do it something liek this, with the point aimed at the bottom of the bucket, a pump is not really that good of a tool.  Positioned in other ways, you'll have salt piled on the bottom of the bucket SLOWLY dissolving in the gentle swirl of water that's created....not a good mixing environment.

 

So if you CAN'T set up your pump like that, literall using your hand or a mixing paddle (or equivalent) is WAY better than using a pump.....see the second video for that method.  Which is my preferred method.

 

This is too simple NOT to be the best way to mix saltwater...and works faster AND better than any common method.

 

[mcarroll]

12 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Here is some information on cycling

From the top of the beginner's forum here on n-r has some good info on that too:New to the hobby? Read this list of resources first!