Nano gone wild!

[rosemarie]

My Nanocube DX 12 (upgraded/doubled lights to 96 wts with Nanotuner's 4.24) is going bad in the last 3 weeks. I'd dosed with Joe's Juice for bad anemonies (forgot their names a- something - acroporia?) and raised the Ph to horrible levels. Have done several complete water changes with my LPS saltwater (Denny's in Totem Lake).

Lots of red algae with bubbles on everything that's rock or formerly coral.
The hard corals have bleached out.
Continual growth of hair coral, which I keep scooping out and removing.
zooanthids have closed and disappeared
mushroom corals slowly closing and not reopening
bubble tip anemonies - 5 on a rock, closed and not opening
*none of the corals are touching each other or aggressive.

On the up side:
Fish: spotted goby, 2 perc clowns and 1 peppermint shrimp seem to be thriving.
have rehomed big pieces of pulsing xenia because it's doing fine. Smallest piece is starting to grow: 2" Rest has been given away.

Do I need to be feeding the mushroom or other corals other than ZooMax, Shrimp pellets (1 a day approx, alternated with frozen shrimp)? If so, how. Thanks. I'm an idiot, and don't know why. (First salt tank after a lifetime of fresh. Would love to do well and have a healthy environment for my fish and corals.)

Help appreciated!

 

[reefman5511]

If you still have cyano & hair algae after complete water changes, IMO the water you're getting is probably suspect. What is the lfs using for make-up - tap, RO/DI?
How much Joe's Juice did you use? It's no doubt the cause of the pH problem. I have found that peppermint shrimp are a great solution to the aiptasia problem.
Corals & all are probably suffering from stress with all the water changes. What is your water testing out as?

 

[rosemarie]

Well, I talked to the LPS: they have much lower ph than my tank. They speculate that the plunge in ph might have kicked off the bubble algae. It is taking over everything! I put some red slime meds "erythromycin" type in today that is supposed to be in 48 hours. Then will try a water change back to my normal ph of about 8.3 or 8.4.

But in the meantime, I've lost corals, even my mushroom corals are being overrun. Oh no!!! I was told to grab as many bubbles as I could but a bunch got away. Don't know if I'm making it worse. Shall I just let the meds work and leave them alone?

The rest of the water tests are good - 0 ammonia, nitrates, etc. Will test again tomorrow -

the LPS is loaning me a white-mouthed black tang to eat the hair algae.

 

[reefman23]

First off, how old is this tank? Do you have any pictures of your tank? Are you testing the water or is the fish store? Turn off the lights for a couple of days... run them only when necessary... your corals will be fine. Dont add anything else to the tank in the way of medications, trace elements, food... nothing. Are you running carbon, have you removed the bioballs from the rear chambers, how often/large are your water changes? I know this fish store was trying to help youout, but you need to return the tang.

When you say bubble tip anemones, are you referring to Entacmaea quadricolor?
Sorry for all of the questions, but I just need to get a better understanding for whats going on here. Pictures would be a big help too.

Jesse

 

[rosemarie]

sorry - apparently my reply to Jesse didn't get posted. Couldn't get past the censors because I used the word "Scr aped" (together.) Bit weird. Oh well. Let me see if I can remember the post! I'm in another town on a trip but will do my best. Photos I posted also diasppeared. Will resend Monday. Thanks for your patience, and suggestions for any/all of the following:


Tank was set up at Christmas, so about 4 months old. I am experienced at fresh water, but this is my first salt tank. No problems until 4 weeks ago when the pH began to climb. Everything else seemed fine, all water parameters normal; first sign was hard corals died and anemone closed up. Fish doing well. Swapped an arrow crab (who ate the bristleworms) for a peppermint shrimp (who have eaten all the aptasia). Both seemed healthy and doing well. Arrow crab grew like crazy(was a temporary resident that the LFS was happy to get back.)

I test about weekly, but took a sample to the fish store in case my readings were off. Nope. Very high pH from trying to get rid of aptasia anemones (Joe's Juice had been recommended by LFS). It did nothing for the aptasia, but skyrocketed my pH over a few weeks. I gradually lowered that with R/O water changes from the LFS, but didn't realize that they kept theirs at .021 for fish; mine had been at .025. (I had been using home filtered water rather than R/O, but am now buying fresh R/O water and adding Instant Ocean salt.) Ammonia: 0; NO3:5-10; N02: 0; Calc 400-440 (with joe's juice). Can't remember the last reading, but I think it was more like 380.

I turned the lights off Friday (yesterday) when I got your message. I feed daily but not on weekends, so no food, etc. will be added. The LFS asked what I was feeding, and after looking at the labels found no binders that would encourage bubble slime. (ZooMax 1 drop/week; frozen ReefComplete ? cube - 1 over two days, or shrimp pellets - 1-2 over the course of a day.) The arrow crab, spotted goby, or now peppermint shrimp grab anything that the 2 percs let drop.

Had added Slime Off meds in tank when I got your note; that 48 hour cycle will be over when I'm back in the office on Monday 7am. Planned to begin 25% daily water changes then to remove the S.O.

No carbon. Live rock: 3 or 4 big chunks line the back of the tank; didn't weigh them but they cover about 2/3 of the back wall, about 1/3 of the sand bottom. There's room around them for water circulation, and the two-headed pump outlets circulate water pretty well..

Haven't ever removed the bioballs in the 2nd back chamber. Stir them and siphon off waste with water changes. I do salt-water rinse the pre-filter, wiry plastic strands in the 1st chamber. Pump, which has been upgraded, is in third chamber.

Water changes have been pretty big in the last 2 weeks to balance the high pH. Have done three 30-50% changes. Usually I swap 15-25% each week.

The tang: on loan only. He seems to have found his areas of ownership under the live rock and the 2 percs in the tank ignore him. The LFS said to return him when he had eaten the green hair algae that's covering the sand and starting up the rock and pump outlets. They thought a few weeks would have him eating and done. He swims the whole tank, but doesn't bother the percs, either.

The anemones were pale orange with glowing green tips when they last opened a few weeks ago. They're still alive, but not eating or opening. Can't see them to compare them to the photos of Entacmaea quadricolor. Sorry.

The rock is covered with red bubbles and slime and I have pulled it off the anemones, leathers, and corals the past few days. Everything the red slime touches dies off, so I'm wondering if there will be anything left after the weekend! (I'm on a business trip F-Sun.) Hopefully the lights off and meds will help! I tried to catch/net the bubble slime as I pull it off (pump off when I do it), but of course some of it gets away... same with the green hair algae.

Prefer natural solutions. Of course a nano-tank is not the most natural environment... thanks for your help.

 

[rosemarie]

R again: other cleaner occupants: 4 snails, 2 hermit crabs. Have seen only one hermit in the past 2 weeks.

 

[rosemarie]

nuked! HELP ASAP appreciated.

Well, that's that for this tank, I guess. Came in Monday morning to the horrible stench of rotting fish. The clowns and goby have survived. The tang was dead, along with the peppermint shrimp, the anemonies, and assorted bristleworms and crabs. I'm not sure my xenia will make it. It's barely moving. The hair algae is thriving. Bummer. No bubble slime in sight so far.

I've changed the water - swapped out about 4 of the 8 gallons and will go buy another 5 gallons this morning after meetings with my boss. (Ugh, work! when there's such a tank crisis.)

I turned the lights back on to half: 48watts.

Help me out - I do want to rescue what's left ASAP. I have another business trip this afternoon until Wednesday. What can I do in the meantime?

 

[Trogdor]

i wish that i could help but i'm at a loss as to what to do now with such a short amount of time. hopefully someone with some answers will help out, sorry i wish i could do more

 

[rosemarie]

Came back tonight (Wed) and the clowns and goby made it, along with the xenia and soft leather. Will see if there's anything else crawling around tomorrow when I go in to work and the lights are on. I did the second water change and the tank stopped smelling by the time I had to leave. Will see if i can just let it all settle down for a few weeks. anyone with ideas would be welcome to help me out. thanks. Still haven't been able to upload my photos. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do that tomorrow.!