Cnid Dis Trt F

FAQs on Stinging-Celled Animal Disease Treatments

FAQs on Cnidarian Disease: Cnidarian Disease 1, Cnidarian Disease 2, Cnidarian Disease 3, Cnidarian Disease 4, Cnidarian Disease ,
FAQs on Cnidarian Disease by Category: Diagnosis, Environmental, Nutritional, Social, Pathogenic, Parasitic/Pest, Trauma,
FAQs on Cnidarian Disease by Group: Hydrozoan Disease, Jelly Disease, Polyp Disease, Sea Fan Disease, Mushroom Health, Zoanthid Health Pests, Predators, Anemone Health, Stony Coral Disease,

Related Articles: Cnidarians, Water Flow, How Much is Enough,

Coral acclimation I have a 150 gallon reef tank, with a hospital tank set up. I know to put new fish in hospital tank that I run with copper. what do you recommend for corals before intro. into my tank. >> A slightly smaller Spg, a ppm of iodine and a tsp per gallon of a hexose sugar for about ten minutes. This is the SOP protocol I help soft and hard coral (and gorgonians) collectors implement all over the planet. Bob Fenner

Freshwater dipping new corals & coral frags 3/16/14
Hello,
<Alyssa>
I have looked through Wet Web Media and have not been able to find a complete answer to why dipping corals and frags in freshwater (RO/DI) is not recommended.
<Too much stress; not worth it in trade-off of what one might get in terms of lessening pests, parasites. Some slightly lower spg (a thousandth or two) with the addition of iodide/ate, and possibly a simple sugar (glucose or such... a hexose or pentose) IS>
I have seen statements that say to not do it on Wet Web Media, but I would like to know the science behind the why.
<How much? Have you considered the use of a reference librarian... help w/ a computer search bibliography? There's bits and pieces re these on WWM>
Thank you for your time!
Alyssa
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

malachite green question... As coral dip? 3/2/12
Hello i been searching all over your site and read a few posts on people using malachite green as a coral dip and the said they saw the procedure in the faq section please help me i cannot find it for the life of me
thank you
Jason Grasser
<Never heard of this, and would not do... too toxic. Bob Fenner>

Mushroom disintegrating.. coral dying.. HELP 9/25/09
I need help. My brother-in-law owned a 175 gallon reef tank. He passed away and we are left to take care of it. It is a beautiful tank. But because he took care of everything we know NOTHING.
<Every journey...>
Me and my husband did a lot of research on it and learned a great deal of things but still the tank is not how it used to be.
<These "things" take time>
We did a water change a week ago to higher the salt level (because it was too low) and we constantly check the levels of everything in the tank.
The calcium is at 360 which I know is low.
<Is fine>
We put in chemicals to higher the calcium but it is not getting higher. Our phosphate is also high and I know that if the phosphate is high the calcium will not raise.
<W/in reason...>
I do not know how to lower the phosphate. It was at 2 and we put in something to lower it and now it went down to 1. But I cannot seem to lower it to 0. How do I do this? What do I need?
<Mmm, to read: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/phosphatemar.htm
and the linked files above>
I came to the tank one day(yesterday) and I see that the mushrooms (that two days ago were flourishing) are disintegrating. Out of nowhere. They are kept low in the tank. And we have mushrooms all over the tank but only one section is being affected. Today, I looked at the tank again and its spreading. Should I remove the rest of them?

What should I do with all the gooey stuff there?
<Vacuum this out to waste>
Also, we had a yellow tang that since the passing of my brother-in-law has started to look very thin. Before that I remember he was healthy and not as skinny. You can see his skeleton. All the other fish are eating well, just not the yellow tang. He was getting stuck to the filters and twice we saved him but today we came too late.
<See WWM re feeding Zebrasoma species... Z. flavescens... Need to be offered algae...>
Another thing is our hard coral are also dying. Not all but some.
<Mmm... I would contact a local fish store, if there is such, a local marine/reef club and ask that someone come and visit you... Soon! To help, show you both "the basics"... The "learning curve" is too large, steep for you not to have such one on one help here>
I need help because I do not want to let this tank go to waste. Not only did he spend sooo much money on this tank, he spent all his time and energy on it. I cant imagine coming to his house and the tank not there. PLEASE HELP

P.S. - pH is at 8.3 which I was told is good. Temperature is at 80-81.
That is how he left it. And ammonia looks as if it is .50 maybe .25
<This MUST be zero...>
can't really tell, but it is def. not 0. Nitrate and Nitrite are ok. The rocks look dirty and they are not purple like I see in stores.
please help! THANK YOU
<Get out the Yellow Pages... pulp or electronic... for local mano a mano input here. Bob Fenner>

corals live rock losing color 3/16/2009
Hi
<Hello>
I have several reef and reef/fish systems. They range from 110 to 180 gallons.
I recently set up a Red Sea Max all in one.
<Nice units>
Generally I do not go for everything built units, however this system is very easy to childproof and with only one cord exiting for power
<Yes>
I thought it would be ideal for installation in a small office. Here is the problem, the water quality/clarity and fish health/activity are all excellent.
<This is a problem?>
The tank was set up with exceptionally beautiful live rock from my well established systems. The rock is or rather was almost 100 percent covered in thick red and purple coralline.
In addition I added some false Ricordea (Indonesia), red and blue stripe Actinodiscus, again taken from established tanks, with all growing and reproducing for at least twelve years. Finally I added a small Xenia
<Mmm, do keep this "contained" so it doesn't spread>
and a small Favia and small candy cane.
Because the Red Sea is shallow compared to my other tanks I gradually introduced them to what seems a stronger light.
Every one did well for about a month or so. Than the Xenia shrunk down to nubs.
<Likely allelopathy>
Since this is not that uncommon I did not panic. Than every coral and mushroom began to lose its color or completely bleach. The mushrooms shrank down to less than half their former size in the matter of a week.
<Or summat chemical, physical that's off>
I returned the corals to their previous homes , and with the exception of the Xenia all have come back fully. The aquarium remained a FOWLR system the live rock remained very colorful and all the coral and shell pieces within the sand bed were turning pink with coralline.
About a week ago I noticed that all that pink in the sand bed was gone, and now I see that over last several days all my coralline is starting to turn white.
<Mmmm>
The water parameters remain excellent, the tank received weekly iodine, Kalkwasser top offs and bimonthly small water changes. I have now taken out the nicer coralline live rock and I hope they will rebound. Can you give me an idea as to what you believe is the problem. Thanks
Glen
<I cannot... based on the data presented... but I do know how I might proceed... I'd lug/use water from the established systems you mention to do water changes here... reintroduce the invertebrate livestock on a punctuated basis (something new every few weeks). Bob Fenner>

QT of corals -03/27/08 Hi, I plan on buying a mushroom coral and a toadstool coral to add to my tank. I would like to put them in QT for about one month. I have read the articles on QT of inverts on WWM and feel I am prepared. However, I have a question about lighting. I have a 20G long QT tank that I can light with three standard AGA fluorescent strip lights about 20W each. I believe they come standard with 8800K or 9250K bulbs. Will this be sufficient and is the K. alright for these corals? <This depends on the lighting under which you plan to ultimately put them (in your display). Ideally, the QT lighting should be similar to the lighting over the ultimate destination of the corals. As for the K values, yes, typically aquarists use bulbs with K values ranging from 6500 to 20000.> Thanks <Best,
Sara M.>

Candy cane/ torch coral loss, help please! 8/23/07 Hi Crew, I have a 37 gallon salt water reef tank. My nitrates are in the o.k. range, and my filtration system is (2) 50 gallon aqua clear filters, lighting is coral life, 30in 130 watt fixture, (1) T-5 30in 36 watt fixture, salinity perfect, 50 lbs of live rock. I have torch coral that shrivels, falls apart, dies one head at a time, (no brown slime). I also have been battling red algae (with frequent water changes & rock cleaning) which seems to also be on the stem of the torch coral. <These events may be related...> I do maintain an arsenal of snails in the tank. How can I salvage what is left of my torch coral?? <Break off the living heads, or the dead ones... move the live part/s to another system> I also have candy cane coral which appears to have some sort of pale yellow calcified growths with one small tube protruding out per growth. The growth surrounds the base of the heads and at this point I have lost 3. The growth is starting to appear on the live rock at various points in the tank. What should I do to save the rest of my coral and do I need to eradicate the growth, and if so, how?? Thanks, JP <"Frag momma frag, whatcha gonna do?" Need to discern what the real/root cause/s of the trouble in this one system is/are... and fix... "Small systems are hard to keep stable, optimized"... Perhaps a cursory reading on WWM re toxic tanks will bring something live to your consciousness. Bob Fenner>

Coral Quarantine? 6/5/07 Hello Crew, <Hi there! Scott F. here tonight!> Thank you (again) for your extraordinary web site. After pouring over your articles and FAQ's for countless hours, I managed to build a 135 gallon reef setup which was specifically designed as an SPS system. The system includes an Ecosystem 3616 mud sump (with Chaetomorpha) which I hope will provide supplemental food to the SPS. <Chaetomorpha certainly can help export nutrients and provide a home for incidental planktonic growth, which is a supplemental food source for many corals.> I added the following fish and invertebrates gradually, over a period of about a year and a half with the goal of keeping the environment stable and nuisance algae free. Fish - Purple Firefish, Neon Goby, Bicolor Blenny, Flame Angelfish and Sunrise Pseudochromis. <Nice mix of colorful, active fishes!> Invertebrates - Two cleaner shrimp, Tuxedo Urchin, Mushrooms and the following live rock stowaways - Zoanthids, Green Star polyps, assorted sponges, clams and a still un-identified stony coral . <Neat> I am ready to introduce SPS into the system and recently purchased two very small (about 1-1/2 inch) specimens; a Montipora plate coral and a Stylophora (both aquacultured and well acclimated to high MH light levels). They are currently in a ten gallon quarantine tank under a 150 watt HQI pendant. The tank is well cycled and includes an "aged" sponge filter. <A great quarantine setup> I have felt "the pain of Ick" in the past and faithfully employ a 4-6 week quarantine on all new specimens (especially fish) before introduction into the display. I believe this is perhaps the single most important thing one can do to maintain a healthy display. Now for my question - should the same quarantine protocol apply to SPS? Is there a trade off between getting the coral into the more "stable" display ASAP versus the risk of potential pathogens? Or would you recommend keeping the 4 week (minimum) quarantine? <Great question, and I would have to say, yes. Many hobbyists disagree, yet some employ varying degrees of quarantine. With the potential for coral pathogens and pests (the infamous "red bugs" you hear so much about), it's very important to employ a quarantine protocol. With good lighting, water flow, and some supplemental feeding, there should be very little trade off, IMO. An excellent practice to get into.> Assuming I need to keep the SPS in a full term quarantine, would you recommend some type of supplemental feeding? I am concerned the supplemental feeding would cause more harm than good (in terms of generating a nitrate source). <Valid concerns, but water changes are an ally, of course. I wrote a brief article on just this topic a few years back here on WWM: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/quarinverts.htm . Perhaps it addresses some of your concerns.> Thanks in advance for your reply. Scott <My pleasure! I commend you on your employment of quarantine, and encourage you to share your experiences on this practice with fellow hobbyists! regards, Scott F.>
Re: Coral Quarantine (Pt. 2) 6/6/07 Scott, Thanks so much for your reply. I will plan on a 30 day quarantine for these corals. <An excellent practice- I know that you'll benefit from it!> At the risk of sounding like a pest, I wonder if I can ask a follow up question. <Absolutely not! How dare you. Just kidding- ask away!> As I mentioned previously, I hope to provide for the long term feeding requirements of these SPS through the use of an Ecosystem 3616 Mud filter. It has a nice growth of Chaetomorpha which is pretty full of amphipods and I recently introduced a couple of large pieces of fresh (after 6 weeks quarantine) live rock to the mud bed to stimulate additional growth and "seed" the mud.. <Sounds nice> Additionally, my system has two very oversized overflows which I figure add about 30+ gallons of "fishless" water volume to the mud filter. <Excellent...it does increase your system's overall water volume, to your advantage.> So I am hoping I might be able to use the water from the display tank to help feed these two SPS while they are in quarantine. I normally do small and frequent water changes in the display (just easier for me to do it this way) and plan to change out one to two gallons of water from the quarantine tank with water from the display. <Great procedure. Since this is the water that the corals will be residing in ultimately, this is a perfect call, IMO. Do those small water changes frequently in the quarantine tank, too.> Based on your knowledge/experience, do you think this will keep these critters for healthy during the quarantine, or should I consider supplementation. I have a product called ZoPlan which says that is good for SPS. I also normally feed my display with frozen Mysis, which is soaked in either Selcon or VitaChem - I typically dispose of the pack water/soak but would consider adding it to the QT if this makes sense. Would you kindly advise your thoughts on this. <Interestingly enough, this is a potential use for the packing juices. However, you do want to keep a close eye on the water quality and execute frequent small water changes to keep it high.> Thanks again for the invaluable resource you folks provide to novices such as myself. Scott <It's our honor to be of service! Best of luck in your efforts! Regards, Scott F.>

Methylene Blue use with Coral 1/29/07 Is Methylene blue safe for use with corals since it is not safe for inverts? <Chris>

Chemical Warfare?...More Like Health/Water Quality Issues 6/27/06 Hello. <Hello Jon> I have a quick question. I was wondering if using a PolyFilter would reduce the noxious compounds my corals and anemones are releasing to the point where they would survive together. Currently I have a Condy anemone, rock flower anemone, colt coral, frogspawn, Fungia plate, and several less aggressive soft corals (xenias, mushrooms, zoos) in a 55 gallon, none of them are touching each other. Right now my Condy is usually shriveled up and my rock flower anemone is slightly shriveled. The frogspawn is out most of the way, but sometimes looks as if it's slightly shriveled too. If the PolyFilter is a ridiculous idea with no chance of working, which of these is the main problem and should be removed? I'm thinking maybe both anemones but wanted to check with you first. <Jon, sounds more like health/water quality issues more than anything else. The PolyFilter will help much in this regard. Is your lighting sufficient for keeping these types of inverts?> Thanks <You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)> Jon

Bleaching Crisis, Need Rehab Advice! - 04/25/06 Hi <<Hello!>> Have just returned from a 3-month long outbreak investigation in Africa (wish I was kidding) and I was pleased to see that my tank survived my mother's care, but it is certainly in trouble and I would like some advice about its rehabilitation. <<Mmm okay, let's see what we can do>> I walked in the door last night and was shocked to see that my 3 bubble tip anemones have turned completely white and are somewhat shrunken, my pulsing xenia have white patches, and my green star polyps are several shades lighter than when I left though they have spread madly over a large area. <<Does not bode well for the anemones>> A hammer coral, several mushrooms, and some yellow polyps have retained their normal color. <<Hmm, I'm starting to think "lighting">> My mother says the anemones changed color so slowly that she didn't even notice it (!!!) but she noticed that the xenia just started turning white last week. The tank is a 6 year old, 150 gal stable reef. <<Ok>> The only "recent" change was in September 05 I upgraded the lights from VHO to MH (2x 150w 10K HQI-MH + 2x 130w dual actinic). <<A nice rig for this tank I would think. The upgrade would have been well appreciated by the anemones>> After this upgrade I had the lights on a relatively short photoperiod of 8 hours. <<Mmm, indeed...I have known folks who used about this same photoperiod, however I don't agree with it, I would gradually increase this to 12-14 hrs a day>> The tank looked fantastic when I left the country in January, so if this lighting was inadequate it sure took a long time to show it and I never increased it. <<The lighting is probably "just not quite enough" for long-term health, thus taking a while for symptoms to manifest>> The timers have not malfunctioned - she would have noticed that because the tank normally comes on at 3pm and stays on till 11 so the lights on during the day would have been very noticeable. <<Ah good...guess that answers my question about the "regularity" of the lighting>> I did a few tests this morning and my chemistry is not optimal: NO3 12.5, KH 6, pH 8.3. <<Lack of frequent (enough) water changes maybe?>> She has been doing water changes every 3 weeks and I usually do every 2 weeks so I guess that's showing. <<Maybe just need to do "larger" water changes (30% or more)>> Also, it sounds like she hasn't been feeding the anemones much, but then I never fed them all that much either and it/they've been fine for 3 years (I used to feed about once a month - split twice last year). <<Feeding these animals is very important...especially if photosynthesis is at a reduced level...and even more so now that they are bleached>> The temp hasn't been out of line (range 77.3-78.5, the thermometer records that for me). The anemones have not changed positions (1 at 18" deep, 2 in the top 6") since I left. The usual routine for the tank includes adding calcium, reef buffer, reef builder, iodine, strontium, iron (for refugium), PhytoPlex (for large colony of feather duster worms that are also now looking a little ragged) 2x/week according to the directions on the bottles, and I haven't changed anything in a long, long time. My mom claims to have adhered to the schedule pretty well, and I do think she has but something has clearly gone awry anyway. <<Agreed>> I am sure of 3 steps I need to take - bunch of small frequent water changes, get the KH up (? Was thinking of getting Kalkwasser but that would be a change from my routine), feed Mysis soaked in Zoecon (twice a week? Every day?). <<The water changes will take care of the KH, and twice weekly for the anemones is a good start feedings (and Selcon is a better choice than Zoecon, IMO)...up feedings to three times a week if they will consume it all>> What I am not sure of is what I should do with the light - increase photoperiod? Decrease? Leave it? <<Increase (gradually) to at least 12 hours per day>> Any other immediate steps you would take? <<I think you have things well in hand/know what's required as of this moment. Unless there is something you didn't think to mention, the water changes should be able to handle your water quality issues. Do start increasing the photo period of the tank, and please read this article (and peruse the blue links at the top of the page) on captive care of these anemones: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/bubbletipanemones.htm >> Thanks for any advice Tracy Creek <<You're quite welcome. Regards, Eric Russell>>
Bleaching Crisis, Need Rehab Advice! II - 05/09/06 All is not well (actually getting worse?) in the bleaching crisis and I'm not sure what if anything I need to change in the rehab plan. Referring to email exchange with Eric Russell below... <<Hello Tracy...tis Eric again>> I have been home 14 days and in that time have done the following for my bleached anemones, xenia, & star polyps: -Increased photoperiod from 9 hours to 12.5 (~30 min every other day with some stalls because I was worried it was making them worse). <<Sounds good>> -Fed anemones 5x (Mysis with Selcon). <<Is a good sign that they are feeding>> -4 water changes totaling about 70 gallons (50% of tank). <<Could/should step this up if conditions have not improved...perhaps a single 50% water change, followed by weekly 25% exchanges>> -Cleaned debris from refugium & sump & improved refugium flow. <<All good>> -(Yesterday) Started carbon & a PolyFilter to mitigate any chemical warfare that may be taking place. <<Mmm, wish you had started this right away...but do continue its use>> Let me also add that I am completely convinced that you are right that too little light was the main problem. (My LFS gave me competing advice 2 wks ago and said decrease the light but I decided you were right though they are generally great.) I had a brainwave one morning - my tank gets full winter sun. Hence when I left in January with the lights on an 8 hour photoperiod, the tank looked fantastic, but it was actually getting more like 15 hours of light. <<Ah, I see>> From Jan-April it lost the winter sun and gradually declined to get only the 8 hours provided by the lights. In past years the season hasn't made a difference, but I had the old VHOs on a long photoperiod. <<Though your tank/anemones looked great before (I don't doubt your word), what you are experiencing now well may well have been about to happened no matter what/may be the culmination of years of "living on the edge"...in other words just "barely" surviving with no real energy reserves until some environmental change (stress from acclimation to new lighting/a new keeper/different husbandry practices) put the anemones "over the edge" so to speak>> During my efforts to improve things, several not-great things have been happening: - Green fuzzy algae bloom (should I freak out now and order some more Reef Janitors? <<The "janitors" are just treating the symptom...you need to find and cure/remove the cause. Start by reading here, and be sure to follow the indices in blue at the top of the page: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/greenalgcontfaqs.htm >> I have about 15 little crabs that may be eating this stuff, but I'm not sure this is enough and I don't want it to get out of hand before I try to correct it. <<Agreed...but find the cause>> - Anemones looking weird: They are all able to eat, still have their "stickum" and remain in their usual positions. <<Good signs>> But they don't really look right. The smallest one looks the weirdest. Its tentacles are abnormally turgid, so instead of waving in the current, they jiggle. It has developed a LOT of small, iridescent white spots on its tentacles. I am not sure if they are good or bad - it used to have green iridescent spots, is this the beginning of the return of Zooxanthellae, or is this a fungal or bacterial disease? <<Disease is doubtful...likely a function of light (re)acclimation>> The medium sized one also has lots of spots and looks reasonably normal except for still being yellow-white overall. The largest one (deep in the tank) has fewer spots but has several thin red sticks protruding from its center. << ? >> As if it just ate a peppermint shrimp (possible? I suppose) and the legs/antennae are sticking out. <<Hmm...>> I have never seen this before. Does an anemone have thin red sticks among its normal internal anatomy? <> I really can't see its mouth, and can't tell you if anything else is protruding because the tentacles are mostly covering it. Its tentacles look essentially normal except for color. All three have faint pink at the tips. <<Ahh, good!>> Do you think they are suffering from light shock, or are they suffering from another week with inadequate light, or does this sound like "improvement"? <<Hard to say honestly. But making any more changes at this point will only be more stressful...best to leave things "as is" and give the anemones a chance to finish adjusting>> - Hammer coral now looking shrunken and exuding faint wisps of mucus. It looked fine before I started rehab. I can't seem to get any food to stick to it, no matter how tiny. <<Possible light shock...can you move it lower in the tank?>> -Xenia near disappearing. <<Not unexpected...considering>> Tiny, white lumps in place of the huge pink pulsating mass I used to have. <<If you leave this undisturbed, it is possible the Xenia will be "reborn" in time>> -Coralline algae sloughing off the back of the tank in massive thick sheets. <<Likely a result of the change/increase in light. Metal halide really does provide quite a bit more "punch" than VHO>> -KH has not improved really despite all the water changes and every other day addition of reef builder. Yesterday it was 8 (NO3 ~10, pH 8.3). <<KH is fine I think, the nitrate is troubling though...and likely mal-effecting the anemones...not to mention fueling your algae problem. Time for those larger water changes>> Of note, the xenia are in a space war with a spreading colony of green mushrooms and a small colony of green star polyps that somehow moved into their midst. <<Not good for the Xenia>> I suspect noxious chemistry in that corner, would you expect this to kill the xenia? <<Yes>> Would you expect it to affect the anemones? <<Anemones are quite sensitive to water chemistry, so yes, quite easily...another reason for keeping them in specie specific systems>> Should I try to separate all of these things manually? <<Physical separation in the tank is mandatory...separate tanks altogether would be optimum>> How long/often do I need to run carbon to mitigate this? <<A couple cups changed out every two weeks...run continuously (as in "as long as the tank is up")>> The mushrooms and yellow polyps still look great. And the green star polyps look better than before. <<All hardy (and noxious) critters>> Main question is, should I change anything? <<Increase water changes (size/frequency), use/keep using the carbon and Poly-Filter, and try to determine the source of your nitrate...look through here for more help: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nitratesmar.htm >> Should I continue increasing the photoperiod or sit at 12.5 hours for a while? <<Sit...I think this photoperiod is fine>> Thanks for enduring a long email, I am very grateful for the free technical support and would pay for your services, in case you are considering such a thing! <<No need my friend...very happy to assist>> Tracy Creek Atlanta <<Regards, Eric Russell...in not so far away Columbia>>
Bleaching Crisis, Need Rehab Advice! III - 05/09/06 Thanks Eric. <<Welcome Tracy>> I will follow your recommendations. <> Just one tiny additional question. <<Anytime>> I have found conflicting information on whether PolyFilters remove essential elemental additives or not. <<I suppose there's a possibility, even a probability, the resins scavenge more than just the "bad" ions present in your system...but I have never found its use to be detrimental (I use it on a continuous basis). Nor have I heard such from other users of the media. In my opinion the benefits of Poly-Filter far outweigh any negative aspects such as stripping trace elements...which are easily replaced with diligent attention to water changes>> Do you think it is ok to leave a PolyFilter in place for a long period? <<Indeed I do...though weekly/bi-weekly rinsing under the tap will clean accumulated detritus...possibly refresh/extend the resin's beneficial properties. I usually change out my Poly-Filter when it becomes a dark brown color and the resin is no longer "felt" during rinsing>> I have in the past used it only in periods of crisis for a week or so. It is relatively easy to leave it in place, though, if that wouldn't cause more problems. <<Nope...may even prevent a few>> Tracy <<Regards, EricR>>

Dying coral 1/17/06 WetWebMedia Crew, A week ago I received a shipment of fish and coral for my 75 gallon reef tank from LiveAquaria. In one box, they sent me the wrong coral and the bag that contained it leaked out, neutralizing the heating pack. When I got the package, the tank water felt quite cold, as I live in Minnesota. There was also a tail spot blenny in the box and, after a long acclimation period, he has been doing quite well. Live Aquaria was good about what happened and sent me a new coral. However, the other coral has been dying back considerably, and has brown looking bubbles of what I believe is the dying material. I think that it is a Favites species coral but am not sure. Is there anything I can do to try and salvage the remaining coral <Yes... most directly either a bath or added iodine/ide...> and does the die back pose a threat to the other corals/tank inhabitants. <Yes, can. Best to treat in a dedicated system, not in the main tank> I believe I need to quarantine it as I have noticed a large spike in nitrate in my tank, to above 15. Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, and specific gravity is 1.025. Thanks, Tim Jernberg <Do give the Cnidarian section on WWM a read... particularly stony coral health. Bob Fenner>

Soft coral question - 1/6/06 confusion re cnidarians... Hi Crew and Happy New Year! <And to you my friend> I have a question regarding some recent additions and potential system changes that may be affecting my soft corals. Parameters: 250 gallon FOWLR with a few soft corals (listed below). skimmer working well, refugium with Chaeto, UV sterilizer (cleaned monthly), 20x flow rate (mostly turbulent),<<I'd cut this down by at least 5X. Soft corals aren't real nuts about high water flow.>> 250 lbs. of Tonga live rock, live DSB, wet/dry with Purigen/activated carbon. Ammonia, nitrite 0, nitrate 2.5, calcium 400, dKH 12, Spg. 1.024, phosphate .2, pH 8.3, temp 76 - 77.5, weekly 20% water changes with RO (aged one week), and daily top off RO buffered. Soft corals include: one medium Colt coral, two medium hairy (frilly) mushrooms, four small red pimpled mushrooms, one 10" giant cup mushroom, three small pumping Xenia, and one medium Spaghetti leather coral. All specimens are a good 12" + away from each other, except the Spaghetti leather is approximately 10" away from the giant cup mushroom. Until recent all of the specimens have appeared/acted healthy and "normal". I believe I am very sparsely populated in soft corals in this 250 gallon tank.<<Yes>> Problem: my Spaghetti leather has closed up for an entire day and not extended its branches at all as is the same for one of the "frilly" mushrooms on the other side of the tank. The mushroom is one of three on the same rock, of which the others are looking quite healthy. Recent changes/events potentially effecting this: recently changed lighting from 400 total watts of PC lighting (daylight and actinic) and added two Coralife metal halide pendants of 150 watts HQI bulbs each (15,000 color spectrum). This change took place a week ago, and I have the lights approximately 8" from the water surface and initially started at 2 hours per day and now have extended to 3 hours over the last week, ultimately will extend over the next week(s) to 5 hours total, all while keeping the PC fixture running the normal photoperiod of 12 hours. <<Going from 400 watts PC to 300 watts HQI isn't going to require adjusting the photoperiod. This may be why the coral(s) may not be looking as good.>> Other changes were a recent weekly water change of 20%, however changed from Coralife salt to Red Sea salt (have now heard neither of these are great and may change to Tropic Marine Pro Reef, or Instant Ocean Reef Crystals).<<I'd go with IO>> During the water change I did some general cleaning of scrapping the glass, re-arranged a rock that fell over, cleaned the over flow boxes, etc.. needless to say my hands were in the tank quite a bit, which I seem to do more often than I know I should. I also cleaned the UV sterilizer. I know in reading the FAQ's that Anthony has written that soft corals in particular do not like hands in the tank and can act adversely as a result of this. I also know that chemical aggression between species exist, but since I am exclusively soft corals, I thought I was in good shape/compatible. I started adding to Sweetwater Zooplankton some Cyclop-Eeze and DT's phytoplankton which is fed about twice per week sparingly. <<Good>> Do you see anything that stands out? I added fresh activated carbon and added Iodine today <<Soft corals, particularly mushrooms >these aren't soft corals... RMF< seem to do better in slightly less than perfect conditions. In using Purigen and activated carbon you are removing the iodine as fast as your adding it. Use one or the other, you have overkill, also removing trace elements quicker.>>in an attempt to boost water quality, but I would like someone else's opinion looking from the outside in to see if I am missing something. I have all of the specimens in the type of lighting, tank position, and flow that is recommended per the recommendations of each species. <<Steven, from what I read everything sounds fine. A little less chemical media, return lighting to your normal photoperiod, reduce that flow rate and things should get back to normal. And do keep dosing with iodine and consider using a strontium/Molyb supplement.>> Your comments and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated.<<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>> Best Regards, Steven
Re: Soft coral question - 1/6/06 James, Just read your response and I do certainly appreciate your comments. No need in replying to this email however I wanted to clarify something I believe was misunderstood or unclearly written in my previous email. I "ADDED" the HQI pendants (300 watts total) to my existing 400 watts of PC lighting. This is why I only run the HQI halides 3 hours per day, adjusting more time every second day, all while still running the PC fixture as I normally have. This set up will remain a combination PC fixture with HQI pendants....one is not in lieu of the other. <Ahhh, now it makes sense. In your original query you stated an "addition" and later a "change" so I wasn't sure which one was correct.> I will take heed with your suggestion however to add iodine, while removing the chemical media (I kind of guessed earlier this may be counter productive)...thanks for pointing it out. <Good to use some chemical media but you don't want to cold sterilize the system. Weekly 10% water changes using a good reef salt will replenish many of the lost elements.> Best Wishes,<And to you. James (Salty Dog)> Steven

"Melting" corals (Travis' go) 12-12-05 Greetings, crew, Tim here. <Hello> Initially want to thank you for all the help I've already gotten by browsing your site. I'm about 4 months into my first mini-reef, and I've been relatively successful thus far, largely thanks to you. At the moment, I'm having some soft coral problems that I'm having a little trouble figuring out, and I'm hoping you can help.... My system is a 36 bowfront, hang-on Prizm skimmer, hang-on Aquaclear 50 filter (for mechanical and charcoal, changed every other week), 3.5 inch DSB (Caribbean play sand) with thin layer of crushed aragonite on top to hold the sand, 2 Aquaclear 50 powerheads in the corners, 2-65W power compact lights (one actinic 14 hours, one daylight 12 hours), 10 pound lace rock with 45 pounds live rock. Temp 79.7, pH 8.1-8.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, calcium 420 mg/l, Alk 4.5 mEq/l. Livestock: 2 percula clowns, 1 citron clown goby, 1 Firefish goby, 1 4-line Hawaiian wrasse, 15 Astrea snails, 5 Nassarius, 3 Cerith, 12 tiny blue hermits, 2 red hermits, 1 very small emerald Mithrax, 2 cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis), brittle star, banded serpent star. Corals: xenia, torch (Euphyllia glabrescens), button polyps (Zoanthids), Pachyclavularia (green star), plate coral, green hairy mushroom (Likely Rhodactis indosinensis), and a leather mushroom (Sarcophyton sp), and a small cluster of the dreaded grape Caulerpa. <Won't be a small cluster for long...> I know I'm pretty densely populated, and maxed out on stock, but I've managed to get everything I want in there, now I just want to try to get it to flourish and grow. I've had few losses so far (interestingly it happened every time I'd try something you advise against on your website -- <Hmmm, who'd a thought... *note sarcasm and evil grin*> I think my wrasse ate 3 peppermint shrimp). Livestock is doing great (they all eat like pigs), and I've managed to keep my water parameters in good shape (at least the ones I can measure). Corals, though relatively numerous, are widely spaced (no closer than 5 inches) Problem is the soft corals.... Xenia was my first coral. It looked great when I first put it in, and actually split off a daughter colony in the first week, but over time and with sequential additions of others, has drastically changed the way it looks. The stalks and polyps were initially very thick (like broccoli), but now have shriveled up to probably less than a quarter of their original thickness. The polyps still open in the day, and clamp down at night. Looking at pictures of xenia, I've seen some textbook examples that look thick, and some that look thin. I can't seem to tell if it's sick, or if it is just a morphologic change related to adaptation to different conditions. I have it in high flow, high in the tank for light. I'm not adding iodine or any other additives, but I do weekly 10% water changes with buffered RO water and Oceanic salt. <Sounds like you need to add carbon or switch yours out. Carbon will remove the toxins soft corals use to kill off neighbors.> The hairy mushroom seems to be acting in a similar fashion. I have about 5 separate mushrooms on a rock, and the first few days in my tank, they were spectacularly open, covering the whole rock completely. After about a week, the opening was less and less dramatic, and now, though still opening, they only open to about 1/4 of the original magnitude. One on the corner of the rock has also dumped his Zooxanthellae and bleached a bit, and I'm afraid he's not going to be with me much longer. The rock was originally near the bottom of the tank, and after reading that the hairy mushrooms may require more light than their non-hairy brethren, I moved it higher up in the tank, but it doesn't seem to be helping. <Carbon again.> The other corals seem to be doing well, though my observation (which doesn't seem to jibe with my reading) is that all of my corals (including the torch) are open all day, and clamped down all night (pH was 8.1 at 7 am before the lights came on). I feed the fish once per day as much as they can completely demolish in about 8-10 minutes (primarily frozen food with occasional pellets), and add Cyclop-eeze flakes to the tank for the corals twice a week. I've had a recent minor resurgence of diatoms and green hair algae, but that seems to be improving with bumping up the flow a little, and pulling back a little on the feeding. <Measure your phosphates as they will promote algae and stunt coral growth.> I'd love you comments on the following: 1) Is the "shrinkage" in the range of normal acclimating behavior, or am I in trouble? <In my vast experience, "shrinkage" is never a good thing...> 2) If I'm in trouble, why? My concerns are: Is the flow too high? The xenia gets blown around pretty good, and the 2 PH's alone are each rated to 270 gph in my little 36 gallon tank, plus the hang-ons. <Flow is fine.> Is somebody at war? I have some slightly aggressive species, but widely spaced, and I am using charcoal. <This is my bet and carbon needs to truly be changed ever 2 weeks to be effective.> Is something wrong with my param.s? Do I need to go higher on temp or pH? <Phosphates may be an issue.> Is it the dreaded Caulerpa? It's a small amount, thinned weekly, but I know they secrete inhibitors. Is it feeding? Do I need to feed my species more, less, or something different? Is it too little (or too much) light? <Feeding should be fine.> 3) Should I get rid of the Caulerpa anyway? Will my hair algae take off if I do? 4) Off the subject, but do you have suggestions for dealing with the return from hang-ons? I am restricted for space, and need to use hang-ons instead of a sump, but the flow return seems to result in laminar downward flow at the top of the tank which I'm afraid limits my coral placement. <You could create a baffle for the outlet to redirect the flow.> 5) Do you have any other comments/criticisms about my system which will make me more successful? <Keep the water clean and the carbon fresh and you will be fine.> Thanks again for your help, and allowing new hobbyists like myself access to your experience and knowledge. I'm sorry for being so long-winded; I figured I'd save up all my questions, and just hammer you all at once.... <Glad to help, Travis> Tim
Melting corals (Bob's go) 12/13/05 Greetings, crew, Tim here. <Howdy Tim> Initially want to thank you for all the help I've already gotten by browsing your site. I'm about 4 months into my first mini-reef, and I've been relatively successful thus far, largely thanks to you. At the moment, I'm having some soft coral problems that I'm having a little trouble figuring out, and I'm hoping you can help.... <Will try> My system is a 36 bowfront, hang-on Prizm skimmer, hang-on Aquaclear 50 filter (for mechanical and charcoal, changed every other week), 3.5 inch DSB (Caribbean play sand) with thin layer of crushed aragonite on top to hold the sand, 2 Aquaclear 50 powerheads in the corners, 2-65W power compact lights (one actinic 14 hours, one daylight 12 hours), 10 pound lace rock with 45 pounds live rock. Temp 79.7, pH 8.1-8.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, calcium 420 mg/l, Alk 4.5 mEq/l. Livestock: 2 percula clowns, 1 citron clown goby, 1 Firefish goby, 1 4-line Hawaiian wrasse, 15 Astrea snails, 5 Nassarius, 3 Cerith, 12 tiny blue hermits, 2 red hermits, 1 very small emerald Mithrax, 2 cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis), brittle star, banded serpent star. Corals: xenia, torch (Euphyllia glabrescens), button polyps (Zoanthids), Pachyclavularia (green star), plate coral, green hairy mushroom (Likely Rhodactis indosinensis), and a leather mushroom (Sarcophyton sp), and a small cluster of the dreaded grape Caulerpa. I know I'm pretty densely populated, and maxed out on stock, but I've managed to get everything I want in there, now I just want to try to get it to flourish and grow. I've had few losses so far (interestingly it happened every time I'd try something you advise against on your website -- I think my wrasse ate 3 peppermint shrimp). <Very possibly> Livestock is doing great (they all eat like pigs), and I've managed to keep my water parameters in good shape (at least the ones I can measure). Corals, though relatively numerous, are widely spaced (no closer than 5 inches) Problem is the soft corals.... Xenia was my first coral. It looked great when I first put it in, and actually split off a daughter colony in the first week, but over time and with sequential additions of others, has drastically changed the way it looks. <Not atypical...> The stalks and polyps were initially very thick (like broccoli), but now have shriveled up to probably less than a quarter of their original thickness. The polyps still open in the day, and clamp down at night. Looking at pictures of xenia, I've seen some textbook examples that look thick, and some that look thin. <Yes... species and conditions differences> I can't seem to tell if it's sick, or if it is just a morphologic change related to adaptation to different conditions. <Well put> I have it in high flow, high in the tank for light. I'm not adding iodine or any other additives, but I do weekly 10% water changes with buffered RO water and Oceanic salt. The hairy mushroom seems to be acting in a similar fashion. I have about 5 separate mushrooms on a rock, and the first few days in my tank, they were spectacularly open, covering the whole rock completely. After about a week, the opening was less and less dramatic, and now, though still opening, they only open to about 1/4 of the original magnitude. One on the corner of the rock has also dumped his Zooxanthellae and bleached a bit, and I'm afraid he's not going to be with me much longer. The rock was originally near the bottom of the tank, and after reading that the hairy mushrooms may require more light than their non-hairy brethren, I moved it higher up in the tank, but it doesn't seem to be helping. The other corals seem to be doing well, though my observation (which doesn't seem to jibe with my reading) is that all of my corals (including the torch) are open all day, and clamped down all night (pH was 8.1 at 7 am before the lights came on). I feed the fish once per day as mush as they can completely demolish in about 8-10 minutes (primarily frozen food with occasionally pellets), and add Cyclop-eeze flakes to the tank for the corals twice a week. I've had a recent minor resurgence of diatoms and green hair algae, but that seems to be improving with bumping up the flow a little, and pulling back a little on the feeding. I'd love you comments on the following: 1) Is the "shrinkage" in the range of normal acclimating behavior, or am I in trouble? <Perhaps a leaning to the latter...> 2) If I'm in trouble, why? My concerns are: Is the flow too high? The xenia gets blown around pretty good, and the 2 PH's alone are each rated to 270 gph in my little 36 gallon tank, plus the hang-ons. Is somebody at war? <Yes... most likely influence here are the Zoanthids... then the "polyps"...> I have some slightly aggressive species, but widely spaced, and I am using charcoal. <Do make sure this is actually activated carbon of good quality> Is something wrong with my param.s? Do I need to go higher on temp or pH? <Nope> Is it the dreaded Caulerpa? <Perhaps another mal-influence, yes> It's a small amount, thinned weekly, but I know they secrete inhibitors. Is it feeding? Do I need to feed my species more, less, or something different? <Not likely> Is it too little (or too much) light? <Again, probably not a real factor here> 3) Should I get rid of the Caulerpa anyway? Will my hair algae take off if I do? <Possibly...> 4) Off the subject, but do you have suggestions for dealing with the return from hang-ons? I am restricted for space, and need to use hang-ons instead of a sump, but the flow return seems to result in laminar downward flow at the top of the tank which I'm afraid limits my coral placement. <A hang-on or added piece of plastic as a dissipater will likely help here> 5) Do you have any other comments/criticisms about my system which will make me more successful? <Mmm, to plan on something larger...> Thanks again for your help, and allowing new hobbyists like myself access to your experience and knowledge. I'm sorry for being so long-winded; I figured I'd save up all my questions, and just hammer you all at once.... Tim <Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Re: "melting" corals 12-12-05 follow-up 1/4/06 Hello, again, Bob. I have attached my last email for review and for details on my system. The problems I emailed about last month were unfortunately the beginning of some real badness for my tank, and in the interim, I have lost all the hairy mushrooms, the button polyps (Zoanthids), and the xenia, as well as the emerald crab, the banded serpent star, and both cleaner shrimp. Torch coral is hanging in there, Pachyclavularia opens about half of it's polyps, plate coral is bleaching, and Sarcophyton looks like something is taking dime size bites off it's periphery. Fish seem unaffected. The mushrooms dying and disintegrating seemed to set off a cascade of badness everywhere, including a terrible break out of hair algae, slime algae, and diatoms. Water checks have not been too bad (stable SG at 1.0245, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, though a short burst of nitrites up to 0.2 mg/L controlled with water changes and reduction of feeding and now back down to trace (far less than 0.1 on scale) -- interestingly, I never saw any ammonia or nitrates). When the algae went nuts, I bought a phosphate kit, and found 5.0 mg/L!!! I did some water changes, removed all carbon and changed out carbon for Chemi-pure, cut back on feeding to very small amounts every 3 days, reduced lighting to 10 hours, and tried Phos-X from Hagen for about a week. On recheck, phosphate went down to 1.0 mg/L and stayed there for several days. Here's the part I don't get... I did a real good scrubbing of the glass with my cleaning yesterday (lots of diatoms), vacuumed substrate, blew off the liverock, changed 3 gallons with SG and temp match buffered and aged RO water, rinsed the small amount of bioballs from the AquaClear filter and the Chemi-pure in system water and returned to hang-on filter, removed Phos-X and replaced it with a PolyFilter, and added a very small amount of Kent reef carbon to my Prizm skimmer. Phosphate back at 5.0 today 24 hours after cleaning!!!!! I tested my RO source water and again after buffering and adding salt -- no phosphate in there (0). I put some Kent carbon in some RO water for 15 minutes (did get a reading of about 0.5 to 1.0 mg/L there). <Leave it soaking a day or so. This is very likely the source> I have not fed or added anything else to the tank since the cleaning. Now I need some advice on where the phosphates are coming from... 1: Do the dying corals release phosphates (or nitrites) to rocket things up that fast? All the mushrooms had disintegrated completely well over a week ago, but there is still a tiny amount of shriveled up xenia and button polyps that I am praying may recover. I never found the shrimp, but removed the other dead invertebrates as soon as I saw them. 2: Is it all from the algae storm I induced doing an aggressive cleaning? 3: Can the system water over time or with filter flow effectively concentrate the small amount of phosphate in the carbon even though it tested so low? 4: Can that much phosphate come from residual soap on your hand/arm in the water? I always rinse my hands many times before putting them in the tank, so I can't believe that's it, but I am stumped. On your advice, I did test for iodine, found 0, and have begun to add some slowly (although I am fearful of fueling another terrible algae outbreak). I am very frustrated, but I'm not giving in. I just need to understand what happened and where I went wrong. Can you give anymore advice on where my phosphates are coming from, and how to control it? I am thinking about putting another bag of Phos-X in if I need to. Can I go back to feeding my fish once a day? Eventually, I'd like to start building again, but I'm not going to add anything other than small amounts of food until I feel like I have some control again, or until I have some idea what happened. The whole downward slide started with the disintegration of the mushrooms, which I thought were supposed to be "easy" for "beginners" to keep. Sorry, I know this is another long one, but I feel I need to provide you with info, and I am trying search your site carefully and try everything I can before bothering you with another long email... Thanks again for you support.... Tim <Examples of extreme negative Cnidarian interaction are not often well-discussed... I suspect this is what you've encountered here. Bob Fenner>

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