Reef Discussion

[Buddy]

About two months ago I lost 3 separate colonies of Duncans that were in different areas of the tank, I only managed to save two heads which are already sprouting new heads.
Through all of this, my green duncan wasnt effected at all but now all of a sudden it has lost about 10-20 heads over night. The only thing that has changed is that I moved the duncans from the sand to a rock. Every other fish and coral in my tank is great.
Anyone have any idea why this is happening? I have since chopped off the bad heads. It doesn't look like brown jelly. The skeleton goes from healthy to bone white overnight. Ive had the duncans for about 2 years now.
Calc - 330
alk - 8.5
mag - 1350
nitrate 5- 10
phos 0.09
ammonia, nitrite - 0

Here is the same duncan 7 days ago.

 

[OSCAR85]

wow sorry to hear but i have no idea what the issue is. Could it be a reaction to bio pellets sucking up some nutrients?

 

[Buddy]

Oh yeah I forgot about that. Well it has only been on for 4 weeks and my measurements havent changed since I have been using it. The previous lot of duncans were lost before I even added the bio pellets.

 

[OSCAR85]

weird can't figure it out.

 

[ezza]

Perhaps just do a major water change?

 

[ezza]

Seems like a cop out... But after losing half my coral in a week, then discovering that the phosphate and nitrates were throuh the roof, it was all I could do and it's on the mend now. It can't hurt.

 

[Buddy]

Well I did large water change last week but I will do another this weekend :)

 

[ezza]

I am aiming to effectively replace the entire tank volume over a few weeks. I can't make too much water very quickly so I do what I can, but it's better than not changing it if there were some kind of pollutant you can't see causing trouble.

 

[Buddy]

well its 1000L, I changed 500L last week, I prob have about 300L left so Ill do another decent change.

 

[Sam Parker]

Not enough phos? Maybe?

 

[Buddy]

Well my phos has always been between 0.05 and 0.10, plus they get fed every now and then. I reckon ill end up putting it down to 'one of those things!'

 

[DavidS]

The heads aren't rubbing against the rock when they're expanded are they? Depending on your flow, it might be causing them damage?

 

[daveH]

I have my Duncan sticking out from the rocks in a medium water flow, full light and target feed it most days.
I also have my calcium up towards 500.
Nitrates 0, Phos .03, Mag 1350, Ammon 0, Alk 8 and do 10% NSW change each week.
My Duncan is fat and happy in these conditions.
My only suggestion is to maybe try feeding it a bit more.

 

[daveH]

The heads aren't rubbing against the rock when they're expanded are they? Depending on your flow, it might be causing them damage?

Good point! See if you can have them sticking out and clear of the rocks.

 

[Buddy]

All the ones that died the first time were sticking out clear of the rocks because the skeletons were quite long and I had then end of the skeleton stuck down with coral putty. I have moved this green one back to the sand bed for now though.
I just find it strange that they were going great for 2 years!
I will make sure I try and feed it more often now too.

 

[Buddy]

It's my f###ing blenny!!

 

[daveH]

It's my f###ing blenny!!

Is he sitting on them? Cause that's what mine use to do, he'd annoy the shit out of them and they would finally cark it.

 

[Buddy]

No the little prick is eating them, or atleast biting them. I noticed this morning a polyp was extended but half of it was missing, which I thought was strage. Then tonight I just happened to glance at the tank and saw the blenny picking at it.

 

[OSCAR85]

what a C%$# !

 

[ezza]

I had wondered if a fish ate my elegance because it was disappearing in chunks. Is it normal for a Blenny?