Bugs Eating Coral??? / kH too high

[crushton]

Hello - this is my first post. I have noticed that my button polyp coral is not doing so well. Last night I spied on the tank with a flashlight (lots of fun). Anyway the coral was covered with the arthropod/copepods (?) I am not sure which just little bugs all over it. It looks as though they may be eating the coral - help. How do I get rid of them - an Arrow Crab has been suggested from another sight but I don't think they are reef safe? Thanks for any help.

Alos my kH is at 19. I know this is way too high. My calcium is at 400 and pH at 8.0. Iam adding a reef buffer to increase the pH and the dual jug (can't think of name) set of calcium - just the calcium to increase it. How do I get the kH down? A 20% water change was done last week. I have 5 corals in a 2-month old 120 gallon reef tank.

Charlene

[Woodstock]

Copepods are reefsafe however, they do act as a "clean up" crew and maybe simply eating dead flesh? I am guessing the high alk is the reason for your unhappy polyps. As far as an arrow crab.. just say "no" IMO, those are not reef safe...

Stop dosing the PH buffer and look at other alternatives to increasing your PH if needed. What is your PH? The buffer is only increasing your alk and is probably a sodium BIcarbonate that will lowering PH a bit. IF you need to increase alk in the future and your ph is less than 8.3, use a sodium carbonate additive -- I use Arm & Hammer Baking soda cooked on a cookie sheet in the oven at 450 deg for an hour. This simple procedure converts it from a sodium BIcarbonate to a sodium Carbonate (raises PH) by removing all co2 (carbon dioxide). To correct your high alk, perform 20% water changes.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu.../chemistry.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

[Woodstock]

Ohhh... Welcome to Reef Sanctuary!!

[Dragon Wrasse]

How much live rock do you have??? Do you have a sand bed?? Two months is pretty new....is your tank fully cycled??? I didn't start adding corals to my 75 gal. for eight months, if your tank is full of Pods, I would think of getting a Mandarin dragonet (AKA goby)... mine eats a ton of pods, I keep a HOB Refugium on my tank just to supply pods for him. can you supply a little more information about your tank, filtration, occupants, ect. By the way welcome to RS.

[KimPossible]

!!!I Believe You!!!!
Check out this thread Found It!! I think !
I had to take the breading ground! I found some good info on Wet Web Media, it took me about 10 hrs to find it.
I really need to update that thread.

[crushton]

Wow! Thank you for helping so quick. I have about 120 pounds of live rock that came directly from a guys tank and into mine in about 8 hours. I have 120 pounds of aragonite as a substrate.

Lighting is 2 - 400 watt metal halides (20,000K).
150 gal wet/dry filter with protein skimmer
pump for protein skimmer (? gph)
sump (? gph)
240 gph pump in the tank directing water to the top to break the water
rotating powerhead on left - 270 gph
smaller powerhead on right (? gph)

My tank cycled in about 4 weeks as I checked ammonia every other day and nitrites as well. It was cycled according to my supply store.

Right now water chemistry is

spG 1.023
Ca 400
pH 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - <12.5
kH 19

20% water change 12/29

The reef buffer I am adding is supposed to raise the pH safely to 8.3 without overshooting it.

The supply store said that the high kH is because the corals have not taken the load of it??? I have had one of the corals (blue mushroom) for about 3 weeks and with the lighting it is doing fine until 2 days ago.

Coral - blue mushroom - had 3 weeks doing fine until 2 days ago, maroon mushroom - hitchiker on live rock (yea - freebie!) - has been doing great to whole time, button polyp - had since the 12/26 and was doing fine until 2 days ago, green mushroom - had since 12/26 and is doing fine through all of this, the other looks like a tubeworm 12/26 but I forgot the name - they will grow all over the rock - they have been doing fine through all of this as well. There is another hitchiker coral that looks like a mushroom but has tentacles like the button polyp around the edges - pretty and doing fine.

What are your opinions with the new information?

PS - I read a post about no crabs period - does that include hermit crabs as part of the clean-up crew.

Livestock - 2 blue damsels, 2 percula clownfish, turbo snails, narcisis(sp) snails, pepp. shrimp (think it died), hermit crabs

THANKS - sorry about the long post!
Charlene

[Woodstock]

Originally Posted by Woodstock

.........Stop dosing the PH buffer and look at other alternatives to increasing your PH if needed......IF you need to increase alk in the future and your ph is less than 8.3, use a sodium carbonate additive -- I use Arm & Hammer Baking soda cooked on a cookie sheet in the oven at 450 deg for an hour. This simple procedure converts it from a sodium BIcarbonate to a sodium Carbonate (raises PH) by removing all co2 (carbon dioxide). To correct your high alk, perform 20% water changes.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu.../chemistry.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

To increase your PH, increase the co2 blow out and Oxygen absorbtion by increasing the water flow/turbulance at the water's surface; keep the diterus vaccumed out of the tank; if you have a new 'air tight' house/apt, your inside air may be co2 laden (which will keep the ph down)...try opening a window in the room for fresh oxygenated air.

I only allow scarlet hermits in my reef.

[cheeks69]

Which test kit are you using for alk and did it match the #'s with the LFS ? What salt brand are you using and have you tested the alk levels before doing a water change ? I'm very surprised that with your alk that high you still have the calcium at 400.

[reefjitsu]

As for the little pods that may or may not be killing your button polyps. I would try to siphon them out if possible. You may want to consider some kind of treatment for the coral too like a dip, but I am not sure what would be appropriate. There are many kinds of pods in this world and while most are harmless some aren't. I would try to eliminate the ones found on the button polyps. If they are harmful then they need to go. If it turns out that they are harmless, then you will have plenty more in your tank so no biggie on killing a few.