Reef Discussion

[Grug]

Hi all.. its been 2 weeks and 2 days since the big tank upgrade..

my fish is great.. my leather is looking good.. my Ric looks fine.. my candy cane is recovering (lost 2 heads) my duncan, gonnie and torch are unhappy.. (duncan looks the worst.)

Have lost so far squishy the star fish.. prob my fault.. and Bubba my pep shrimp.. :(

Duncan looks like this..

and has done so since the move.. only ever puts the small heads out for about 3 mins a day.. but never the bigger heads.. this was my first coral.. started with 3 heads and now has 12-13 and has made me sooooooo proud.. dont wanna loose him.. any ideas..? not talking water quality here.. i know the why's.. just wanna know if anyone has seen corals as unhappy as this pull through.

 

[MTG]

all you can realy do it wait! :worship

 

[Grug]

im just worried about the brown fluff he seems to be spitting out of a few of the heads on the RHS of the pic.. :(

Homer Simpson: "The waiting game SUCKS"

 

[MavG]

Water change regime, water parameters, system description, current information on these things will help to identify any possible causes as to what is happening. Ive got my money on phosphate, but what are your exact parameters?

G

 

[brendore]

The brown "fluff" is zooxanthellae Grug.. If you can keep your params stable and as long as there is some tissue left, IME Duncanopsammia are extremely hardy and can pull thru just about anything.. Out of curiousity what position do you have him in?

 

[Grug]

orright.. water change has to wait till thursday.. will get 60L tomorrow and heat it up for a change on thursday..
will do param's tonight and post back soon..

Duncan is place currently at half height in the tank.. (same distance from lighting as the last tank but this one has more light.. :( ) and in what i believe to be a very similar flow area.. he is stuck in the rock that he has been in since bringing him home..

Off to test ALL the parameters! i promise to post them all no matter how bad they are. ... ... ...

 

[Grug]

orright.. here is the parameters.. everything i can test.
PH: 8.4
Ammonia: .1? (between 0 and .25)
Nitrite: 0 (no doubt)
Nitrate: 0 (no doubt)
calcium : 360 :(
Alk: red sea pro kit.. i dont think im using it right.. but around 5Dkh??? still dont really have the hang of this test.. i can say i know it will be low.. but THAT LOW??? :eek its possible i guess.. but i dont know..

Temp. 26.8deg avg over the last hour.. (nothing over 27 nothing below 26.5)

 

[MavG]

If you have recently moved the tank and you still have ammonia readings it is possible that you are on the tail end of a spike. That alkalinity seems very low, be sure to read very carefully through the instructions on the Red sea kH pro, make sure the tip is on and the bottom of the plunger is at the 1.0ml mark when you start, there should be an air gap between this mark and and reagent which should sit a 0.85-0.9mls. The instructions will walk you though it. an Alk that low could very well be the problem but i think it may be an incorrect reading, make sure you are reading the correct color change and that the test tube being used is free of all residual and rinsed in the water to be tested several times.

What are your phosphate readings?

 

[Grug]

its strange.. all my corals see to look happier during the lights out period.. could i be killing them with the lighting upgrade? 2 x 14k t5 2 x 10k t5 and 2 x aqua blue chinese globes 36 watt? each.. (3 ft long)

 

[MagicJ]

What lighting did you have on the previous tank - you might want to try raising your lights and/or reducing the photoperiod.

 

[Grug]

2 x 10k and 2 x blue chinese globes 24 w t5ho

they get grumpy as soon as the lights come on.. photoperiod unchanged from old tank.. just amount. i rekon raising the unit onto its legs might be the way to go.. Mrs grug isnt going to like it .. but she doesnt like the dying corals either..

 

[MagicJ]

Your light output has increased by 50% which may have shocked the corals - if you can raise the lights a bit and reduce the photoperiod it may help. You can slowly increase the photoperiod back to normal over a week or two so that the corals have a chance to get used to the new light.

 

[slin1977]

Those are all low light demanding corals you have mentioned, maybe ease them into the new light regime.
It's like my Irish mate that came over and got servere sunstroke on Bondi beach his first day in OZ spent two weeks in hospital and went back to Ireland the next day.

 

[MavG]

Still no phosphate reading and an update on the kH reading?

 

[Grug]

Sorry.. have been flat out tonight.. raised the lights onto the supplied legs (3 inches)

Massive change in colour of light and intensitity in the tank.. have shortened the photoperiod.. Torch looking better already.. duncan has sucked his brown fluffy bits back in.. will do 60L water change tomorrow afternoon and re post parameters before and after change..

Thanks again all..

 

[Grug]

Right'o .. what a day..
pre water change para's:
Phos. 0's
ammonia: 0's
ph:8.2
Nitrate: 0's
Calcium 380
Alk Below 5.3 (below the scale. i used .3ml to achieve the resulting colour change)

i have a mate with some brains here.. and we are confident that we are using the red sea pro alk kit properly..

did a 50ish L water change.. (have worked out that either a 20L container isnt 20L or my new 60L container has false markings on the side)

went out and had japanese for dinner.. mmmm

Came home.. re tested all parameters..

No change.. none whats so ever.. MAYBE if i was really pedantic.. id say calcium may have been 390.. but thats just coz im searching for a change..

Corals havnt reacted to a shorter length photoperiod or the lights being on 3 1/2 inch legs.

Salinity is 1.024 with an ATO.

 

[MagicJ]

Grug, what are you using for water changes? In your TJ you mention NSW - this should have a dKH of around 7 - can you do a test on this water for calcium and alk. Can you also check and confirm what alk unit you are using.

I would also be interested in your Magnesium reading, but I'm guessing you don't have a test for that.

 

[Grug]

Short answers.. and then ill hit up my left over NSW.
Red sea Alkalinity Pro test kit.. Tritant used scale starts on 0.38ml (im using .30 not counting the .04ml i use to reach the starting colour)
this equates to less than both 1.9 Meq/L or 5.3 dKH.

will get a fresh NSW Alk and a tank Mag reading now.. havnt been doing Mag as of yet coz ive been too worried about all the others.. although i guess everything except for Calcuim and Alk are sort of ok. bbk shortly.

 

[Grug]

Magnesium level in tank water.. red sea pro mag test kit.. 900ppm.

 

[MagicJ]

Magnesium level in tank water.. red sea pro mag test kit.. 900ppm.

That is your problem - that is extremely low and should be around 1,300. What are the test results for your NSW?