corals dying, questions

kyle4201

kyle4201

Active Member
Hello again every1, maybe some day ill be able to post good things (with some help) but I have another problem. My corals seem to be dying, not all, just 3 out of 7 of my frags. I use all the KENT additives as directed. I moved some rocks around and found a little thing growing, dont know the name (looks like a little hand) but I do know they kill coral. Is there any way this is the cause? I saw 1 in a pet store that was about 6 inches tall, the same pet store I got my plants for my refugium. should I take the frags out? do they regenerate? Or once they start to go the whole colony is lost?

HOW DO I KILL THE CORAL KILLING MINIONS ???
 
DianaKay

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
I suspect your water parameters are off. What corals are dying? pictures would be helpful along with posting your water test results. What "additives" are you talking about? When you post more info, I'm sure someone here can advise you what to do.
 
Bearjohnson

Bearjohnson

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
RS Ambassador
Pictures will help when trying to offer advise.

Kent products are good but you need to test the water parameters for salinity, calcium, alkalinity, phosphates and magnesium. If I'm understanding you correctly (I could be wrong) it sounds like you are just dosing according to the directions on the bottle?

If you can be more specific we can advise a little more educated.

Generally speaking and it's unfortunate, but once a coral starts to go down hill it's tough to bring it back. Not impossible, but tough. You see; the stress that you haven't been able to see has already taken place. What we end up seeing is the physical damage in the coral only after it's been stressed enough to visibly see what has been going on internally. Make sense?
 
nivek

nivek

Well-Known Member
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RS Ambassador
Yes a water parameter test result will show where the problem lies. Consistent weekly water changes and cleaning of sock/skimmer cup etc will give better water quality than constant dosing with certain additives that can't be measured. Another thing to look at is coral placement, light intensity, coral proximity to each other (coral warfare) and feeding regime.
 
kyle4201

kyle4201

Active Member
I cant post pics yet I think, it said I need 5 posts. Here is more info. Ph 7.5. Amonia 0.8. Trate 20. Trite 0.3.

I dose c balance A and B 30 ml 3 times a week.
Kent lugols solution 3 drops 1 a week.
Kent strontium & molybdenum 30 ml once a week.

My tank guy recommend what I do, its what he does & his tank is great! !


And the thing (found it online) is a aiptasia
 
reefer gladness

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
kyle4201 said:
I cant post pics yet I think, it said I need 5 posts. Here is more info. Ph 7.5. Amonia 0.8. Trate 20. Trite 0.3.

I dose c balance A and B 30 ml 3 times a week.
Kent lugols solution 3 drops 1 a week.
Kent strontium & molybdenum 30 ml once a week.

My tank guy recommend what I do, its what he does & his tank is great! !


And the thing (found it online) is a aiptasia
Click to expand...

Hmm... several things to address here so we'll start at the top.

You're pH is low - it should be in the 8.1-8.3 range. To adjust your pH you adjust you dose buffer (the part B solution). BUT it doesn't stop there magnesium needs to be maintained as well, low magnesium will result in poor calcium solubility and buffering.

Your ammonia is way too high, it should be zero, same with trites and trates should be under 10ppm. How old is your tank? With readings like that it sounds like it is still cycling. How often and how large are your water changes? By the sounds of it you should be doing a couple of major water changes (like 30%) to bring your tank back in line. What makes up your clean up crew? A diverse CUC makes life a lot easier in a reef tank.

You are dosing without testing. This is a no-no, never mind what the idiot at the LFS says. Pick up quality (I like salifert) test kits for calcium, alk and magnesium. You want calcium in the 380-420 range normally, magnesium should be about 3x whatever calcium is (if calc is 400 mag s/b 1200). Natural seawater has alkalinity around 7-8 dKH. Do NOT dose anything you don't test for. Dose only what you need and do it slowly. Again I recommend several large water changes for your tank, it will reduce all the bad stuff and replenish all the good stuff.

Aiptasia can be delt with. Funky high power lasers, chemical solutions, natural predators, etc. are all know to work.

And finally... I read in your sig 'copper treated'. Just want to be sure that's your QT and not your DT, copper will kill corals within hours so I don't think that's your problem but it's something to be aware of. You must be very careful no water from your QT gets into your DT.
 
nivek

nivek

Well-Known Member
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RS Ambassador
Agree. Looks like your tank is still in cycling phase.
 
blackbeltmom

blackbeltmom

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
Also, you said you moved the rock and found a small Aptasia. It would need to be touching the corals to kill them. I am assuming since you didn't see it until you moved rock that it wasn't touching any corals.
 
kyle4201

kyle4201

Active Member
wow,, that helped/complicated my life a lot, lol. my tank is about 2 months old. I built a refugium but its a little smaller than I wanted so Im in process of building a 40gal. I do 20 gal water changes every 2 weeks like clockwork. I never mix water from QT to DT.

What test kit do you suggest? I only have the kit for the 4 things I listed, and that most of the time is hard to match test tube colors with the little cards. Im always kinda guessing. I have spent alot of money and time so far, (im sure not as much as you guys), but in the past 2 months I would like to think Im doing better than most. It turns out I only know enough to know I dont know enough!! lol

I am verry proud of my tank so far. I do alot of work on it and for it. HOURS and HOURS of building custom refugiums, custom sliding lexon canopy pillars, ect, (I was a union carpenter, fabricator, all around handy man type). I really app the help. Im not use to asking, I figure out most things 4 myself, but this is blowing my mind. I made a binder with about 200 pages and files I have yet to complete reading.
 
kyle4201

kyle4201

Active Member
black, yes, that is correct. not touching,
and do they shed spores or anything? why cant I just scape them off the glass?
 
kyle4201

kyle4201

Active Member
o,, I also use an old school hydrometer, the test tube in the hollow tube kind. It came with the tank and I like the old school feel of it. :)
 
blackbeltmom

blackbeltmom

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
kyle4201 said:
black, yes, that is correct. not touching,
and do they shed spores or anything? why cant I just scape them off the glass?
Click to expand...

If you are referring to the Aptasia, you have to be carefully how you go about eliminating them. Most people attempt to kill them. There are various ways. Kalk/pickling lime paste, Joe's Juice/Aptasia X, lasers. Normally trying to physically remove can make your problem worse as it can cause them to spread.
 
Akshay

Akshay

Member
Haaa... Kyle... I think you need to chill a little before you start adding stock like that. pH of 7.5 after 2 months of cycling, it's crazy! You need to whack your LFS guy who has been advising you. Apart from hardy fish not much is gonna survive in that. I would suggest the following :
1. Don't add any fish/coral in your tank. If possible give away the corals, becoz if they are dying, they will end up decaying and reducing your pH further. Also all your Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites.. levels will increase.
2. Do a major water change, lets say 50%. If you're in a hurry, use live water from someone's established reef tank for a starter.
3. Ensure your filters are working properly & proper gas exchange happening.
4. Wait till Ammonia is 0. Ammonia is the first step in the Nitrogen cycle, if that is not breaking down (being oxidised to Nitrite and then Nitrates), the cycle just has not set. Do not add anything till it is 0. Once it is 0, start with a single fish & wait till the levels come in acceptable limits (Ammonia must be 0).
5. Stop dosing your tank. Your tank has no inhabitants, it does not need to be dosed.
6. As your tank is not yet set, I'd suggest you just give away or exchange the rock with the Aiptasia on it. They are troublesome to get out later on.
 
S

saltfan

Well-Known Member
upload your pic to photobucket then open the pic there and click on the center icon to the right and it will copy the ULR then click on the add image icon in your RS post and past the ULR there and it will appear when ya post.. Hope this helps.
 
kyle4201

kyle4201

Active Member
Thx Aksha, The ammonia tip is much appreciated! I am doing a 60% change this weekend. I really have no1 to give the corals to. should I just pull the 3 that r dying and keep an eye on the rest? I also have 100 blue leg, 50 snails, 5 sand shifting stars, 2 baby horse shoes, 1 sea hair and 2 coral banded shrimp. so my cleanup crew is pretty good. (some snail have died/been eaten, see some blue leggs in big shells, lol).

I have a refugium, but just finishing the final touches on a new 1. waiting 4 my buble Mangus that should be here friday then Ill have a better fuge system. Im hoping that might help some, actually,,, im counting on that alot!!!! The Aiptasia (2 now, dam they grow fast!!!) are on the back glass, not the rock, but this makes me thing they r on the rocks also but just cant see them. I ordered someones "juice" to kill them.
 
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