HELP!!! My RSM 130 has been "cycling" for over a months

[Ready4Reef]

Emeralds will also pick at the bases of corals, looking for algae, etc., so the crab may not have been doing any harm, other than trying to clean things up.

The LFS store did mention that also. Will see how it does without him for a while. I'm building a good relationship with the LFS and they gave me a credit for the crab which was nice.

For now my CUC will be down to 3 red hermit crabs, 4 astrea snails, and 2 nassarrius (sp?) snails.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

maze brain, and they told me they are harder to keep than the open brain

The maze brain are much harder... lsf telling you right here... open brains do very well... I bet it was sick or weak somehow & really had nothing to do with your care or tank, the change to a new tank, might have just stressed him enough to cause this... our local reef club, fragged a large maze brain coral & out of 12 frags about 2" each only one survived, with in two months all the others turned white & died in 12 different tanks.

2 part Cal/Alk B-Ionic - should be fine... I would just use it... add a bit every other day & test, I just add it once a week.

 

[Reefmack]

On the ATO - I'd advise not leaving any fine filter pad in the back. Assuming you have the ATO sensors in back, you want to keep the water level as constant as possible. Also be sure that you have enough water in the ATO reservoir so that the pump doesn't run dry while you're gone. Or have your "tanksitter" keep an eye on it and refill if necessary (or unplug the ATO if the reservoir gets too low).

I have several small plastic bottles that I measure out my 2-part doses into. Then I just add a bottle of A and B each morning. If you do this be sure the tank sitter adds them a few minutes apart to avoid precipitation of the A&B.

Tell her not to overfeed. In this case too little food is much better than too much. Fish can go a long time without food. Even every other day feeding a little bit would be OK.

 

[Ready4Reef]

I just purchased a new coral and it arrived Sat. I acclimated for an hour and added to my tank on Sat, 20 min after it arrived by FedEx. I did not have lights on during day 1, reduced to 4 hrs for day two, and on day 3, I noticed what looks to be skeleton sticking out of the top corners.

Is it dying? Is there anything I can do to save it? All the others are doing fine, so I have to think it was shocked or something. This is my most expensive purchase so far, would hate to lose it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I posted this also in the Corals Forum, so can't add pictures here again. Trying to figure out how to link from that post.

 

[Reefmack]

Looked at the Scoly in the corals forum. Other than the skeleton in a few spots it looks to be pretty plump and healthy. Beautiful coral! I don't know much about Scolys (too expensive for me) so I'm not sure if what you see is normal for a new one or not. I'd probably put the lights back to full schedule if you haven't. Feeding it would I think help too. Let's see what other feedback you get.

By the way you should be able to post pictures in more than one place.

 

[drydens]

I agree with Sneakyowner. I just started my RSM (Had and have other tanks though). I simply used some water, sand and LR from other tanks along with adding quick acting Nitrification product. Tank was ready in two days. That was 45 days ago. Been smooth sailing since then and tank is loaded with fish and inverts. Would add a picture but being new to the forum, it is not clear how to do that.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Would add a picture but being new to the forum, it is not clear how to do that.

Start a tank thread (or start a new thread) of your rsm & post this question & I will point you to some quick & easy tips...

 

[Reefmack]

drydens -

to Reef Sanctuary and the RSM Club. I saw your other post and you have quite an assortment of tanks.

 

[Ready4Reef]

I have been super busy with work, and haven't posted in a while. I've added a couple of coral since my last post: a fox coral and a frogspawn. As well, I added 2 Helfrichi Firefish. Here's the latest pic.

 

[Ready4Reef]

I woke up this morning, and two corals had toppled over...the work of some nuisance crabs I've been trying to get rid of I suspect. The scolymia that I've been trying to nurse back to health (victim of stress from shipment) fell on top of my Symphyillia. I immediately removed the Scoly and put it into a 3 gallon tank with some of the tank water. I looked at it and brown jelly was all over the rest of the coral that was healthy. At this point, I think its a lost cause, so not even going to try to save it.

I'm most concerned about the Symphyillia. I saw some tissue oozing from it, and tried to siphon it off. I'm hoping it will recover on its own, no dipping.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Ready4Reef - tank looking great !!! Thanks for sharing the new pic !

 

[Ready4Reef]

The other coral, the frogspawn, already trouble opening fully after I added it about 10 days ago. It was in the sand, but my clowns kept "kicking" sand onto it. I noticed one head had starting to retreat back into the skeleton, so I moved it higher on rock. That head eventually receded completely. After I picked it up this morning, another head looks to have started to recede.

Not sure what to do, looking for suggestions. I don't see any brown jelly yet. I've been reading about treating with Iodine, but haven't seen any instructions on how to do that. Do I mix into 3 gal tank, dip for 10 min, and then put back into main tank? Or do I need another container to rinse after I dip it?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Reefmack]

Hi Ready4Reef - sorry about the coral problems. I could have been the crabs or the snail that bulldozed the corals off - when I had loose corals it was the snails that would knock mine loose. Tough to see that Scolly beat up like that. I think the Symphyillia will be OK - that fleshy stuff in the picture may be the coral's mesenterial filaments that were attacking the Scoly that fell on it. Just an educated guess based on similar things that have happened to me in the past. I'm not sure what to tell you on the Frogspawn, and I've never dipped any corals. Maybe a post in the corals forum would help too.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Sorry about the coral loss/problems... one thing that did come to my mind, was to ask is your carbon / cpe , fresh? If not, I would replace, might help them recover.

+1 what Terry said above... I would not give up yet on the open brain...

I dipped coral once, I put him in a tupperware bowl for 10 mins, with Lugol's Solution, on a frag of closed brain coral that was turning white, it didn't help & was the only piece of coral I ever lost.

 

[Ready4Reef]

Thanks guys, I just changed my skimmer last weekend. Out with the stock, in with the Tunze 9002, and boy is the Tunze quiet. I also switched out the regular carbon with the chemipure elite.

I looked at the symphyllia when I got home from work. It has recovered. Still worried about the Frogspawn. Will take the advice and try posting in the Coral site also.

Thanks!

 

[Reefmack]

Good news on the Symphillia! You may end up losing a few heads on the Frogspawn, but hopefully the remaining ones will be OK. Good luck with the Tunze - it's a great little skimmer and as you now know - very quiet!