Houston!! We have a problem....maybe!

Tony

New Member
Hi every one,
Havent been on for a while but work has been crazy and you know the expression, Take it when it comes. Im in landscaping so this is the crazy time.
Anyhow, I have had the fortune of minimal problems with both my Nano tanks as of late but recently have noticed that some of corals have been losing colour on some parts and recently one of my corals died. I thought it was going though a phase but it went from the normal colour to a pale colour beige white and then yesterday started to melt away. Wondering why it died. Yesterday I also noticed that my plate coral has been losing some of its colour on the side where it attached to the rock. Is that a bad sign of doom? I have been keeping up with my water changes and have been diligent of keeping the tank clean. Some of the other corals are also showing stress. I dont have a skimmer. Is that a problem? I feed phytoplankton about twice a week and once a week i add a little Calcium, Strointium and Iodine.
Any Ideas?

Tony
 

Semo

New Member
Not sure about the skimmer...depends on your load with the size of your tank....

I personally wouldn't dose ca. strontium and iodine if you are doing frequent water changes...
 

reefman23

New Member
Are you testing for things such as nitrates/nitrites, calcium/alk, etc? Which phyto are you using and how much? How large/frequent are the water changes, what kind of water/salt are you using? How old are your lamps? What kind of corals do you have in the tank, which coral was it that died?

Jesse
 

Semo

New Member
Good golly reefman....he told ya he is busy...your adding to his list...

Great questions though.. :)
 

reefman23

New Member
Semo said:
Good golly reefman....he told ya he is busy...your adding to his list...
I know... I read that and I was thinking that same thing to myself as I was typing! But I gotta know those things before I can start to get to the source. :langle

Jesse
 

Tony

New Member
YOu guys are awesome. Need to act and now. I will follow up with answers. Stay calm.... :gcool
 

Tony

New Member
Ok i will try and answer as much as possible. Checked my levels and they seem ok. PH seems somewhat low. around 7.8 maybe lower. Everything else seems in order. Water changes are done once a week and at about 15%. I am feeding Kent Marine Phytoplankton. Ususaally twice a week and about a half teaspoon for the 12g and a full teaspoon for the 24. Salt. Instant Ocean. I have some 3 types of polyps, a plate coral, a Hmmerhead coral, a Christmas tree coral, and a brown cup coral? there are some small frags here and there. The corla that died I was told was very similar to a Fox coral but was purpleish brownish and little yellow tips. I am using Chemi pure in my chamber for my carbon. i was told that is is excellent. Is there a coincidence. ??
Tony
 

Tony

New Member
ps. using distilled water. Will be switching to RO/DI soon. Just waiting for a part to come in the mail.
Tony
 

skinson

New Member
I only dose my 12g with marine snow once every 10 days. I have just had to sell some colt coral back to the lfs because it got to big for my tank. My mushrooms are huge, and my button polyps spreading like wildfire. I have never added any other additives to the tank. Could it be that the corals are incompatible with each other and are killing them? I do a 10% water change weekly and all my stats are spot on. I also have a fire Gobie, a clown, and a yellow tailed damsel. as well as the usual cuc.
dave
 

Semo

New Member
7.8 seems low for ph...check your makeup water and see if ph is low before adding to your tank....fresh made IO should be 8.1 at least...7.8 ph could be one issue..
 

Tony

New Member
IS there anyone using a product called Chemi Pure. I was told that tis stuff is really good and will clean the impurities from the tank very well. Could this change the chemistry in a way that this could cause the corals to go screwwy. I have been adding Ph Buffer for the last couple days. Will check my ph tommorrow. If I switch to RO water, is it true that i have to let it sit for a day? why would that be?
Tony
 

reefman23

New Member
Alot of the makeup of Chemipure is simply carbon. I would just use regular old Marineland Black Diamond carbon... or if you arent into spending money on a name brand you can purchase HBH Granulated carbon (not pelleted) from PetSmart which is Black Diamond carbon without the Black Diamond name and price. It is what I use personally. If you are having issues with phosphates (PO4), you can run a little bit of Phosar or other phosphate media and you should be good to go. Remember that carbon is only effective for about two weeks, three weeks MAX. You should change about 1/2 of it every two weeks or so. This applies to other carbon-based products as well.

HTH,

Jesse
 

Tony

New Member
It does, Thanks Jesse. What about the RO water? Does it have to sit for a day before it gets put into the tank? I am also wonder if the switch from Distilled to RO water will affect anything. I suspect that it shouldn't.
Thanks in advance.
Tony
 
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