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Bob Fenner in Brooklyn this Friday evening at BAS & Polyp loss 5/5/03 Hello there! I was reading some of the e mail on your web site and read that polyp loss can result from a build up of chloride ions. <to be specific... Chloride accumulation (usually taking 8 months or more from regular use of liquid calcium and not having enviable water changes (25% monthly or less)... can skew the Ca/Alk dynamic, leaving one quite low the other quite high, and that prolonged stress and inability to effectively calcify is what harms polyps> I have a 75 g reef tank and have had a pagoda coral for close to 9 months. Recently it has began to recede with polyp loss which started in areas of the coral that were in the shade but now has continued in areas of what was previously adequate light. Many possible reasons for this... most likely is inappropriate water flow (not enough or just merely laminar- yikes!- as from a power head blasting at it) or it occurs from a lack of feeding (Turbinaria needs fed weekly if you do not have a fishless refugium... else it slowly starves over time in most tanks> The polyps that remain extend quite well ( at least 1 - 1 1/2" ). There are several large Sarcophyton leathers that have recently divided and are encroaching on the pagoda. <the leathers are indeed quite noxious> And now for my question. I use liquid calcium and recently Kent's Liq. Ca++ <dreadful long term plan IMO... liquid Ca is a temp calcium for quick fixes and corrections... use a calcium reactor, Kalkwasser or calcium oxide for a long term Ca supplement> Is the loss of the polyps due to a build up of chloride ions or allelopathy? <could be either, both, or neither... do check you chemistry to see if Ca and ALK are skewed (ALK is likely low (under 8 dKH) while Ca is high if the liquid Ca was a problem> Do all liquid calcium supplements contain chloride? <all but Reefchem's Reef Calcium which is calcium gluconate> I use Coralife dechlorinator/deaminator on tap water for preparation of H2O for changes. <no worries> I perform on average a 5% water change every week. <yikes... a very weak water change schedule... allows much to accumulate and concentrate in time. Step that up to 10-20% weekly minimum, my friend... especially in a tank full of noxious stinging cnidarians (unless you have ozone and or wicked skimming)> Can you recommend a brand of Ca that is safer. <always calcium hydroxide unless a calcium reactor is a possibility. I love the Knop reactors if so> Thanks once again. Jim/ Long Island <hey, Jim... Bob Fenner is going to be in Brooklyn at the BAS club meeting this Friday night... do visit if you can! Best regards, Anthony> Coral losing polyps! HELP! 5/1/03 Once again let me thank you
all for maintaining such a wonderful source of info. <its truly our
pleasure> I am having a problem in my tank. I have torch coral, open
brain among bubble coral, maize brain, tricolor Acropora, star polyps,
xenia, mushroom and bubble anemones. <quite an odd mix for long term
success... troubles abrew easily in the 2-3 year picture if not sooner.
Best to stick with groups/specimens with more similar needs (low-med
light LPS... high flow-high light SPS... fast-grow octocorals, etc)>
My torch coral and open brain is losing its polyp for reasons I
don't know. <a few possible causes... how exactly are they lost?
slow necrosis... fine one day/gone clean the next... or simply ejected
(but fine and floating around)?> the torch coral has 6 branches and
it has lost all the polyps from 2 branches. The polyps from brain coral
is separating itself from the stony part and some are falling off it.
<hmmm... have you been using liquid Calcium for many months (its a
temp calcium... else it accumulates troublesome chloride ions and skews
chemistry)? Do you have high calcium but low ALK (below 8 dKH)? Have
the water changes been lax (less than even 25% monthly... when such
twice monthly or better is ideal)?> I feed my coral every 2-3 days
with a seafood mix. Recently I started adding garlic to the seafood to
benefit my fish and feed the coral the same thing. Is this why the
corals are losing polyps? <no worries... I don't believe the
garlic helps or hurts the corals> Also I have recently upgraded my
light. It's the same wattage but I am using better bulbs (changed
from Jalli power compacts to Coralife bulbs) now. <light shock is a
possible cause if the nature of your polyp loss is "bailout"
(no necrosis... just ejection). When increasing light (upgrade new
lamps or wattage) acclimation is important. Do a search of our archives
for info in the "screen method"> I tried using JBJ bulbs
but it kept burning after 1-2 days. And also my temperature fluctuates
sometimes between 78- 83 F. <Holy cow?!?! 5 degrees is absolutely
shocking. Stressful for the corals indeed... and definitely an
invitation to get ick on the fishes in time> It usually stays at
82-83 F but when it's cold it goes up to 78 F. The temperature has
been like this since I started my tank though. <you need another
heater my friend. It would be better to run a consistently higher but
stable temp with good oxygenation than have a "safer" low
temp that fluctuates wildly. Most references cite a swing of no more
than 2F daily> Other than that I have run the tank as I have always
done. Please help me through this and let me thank you in advance.
<I do believe all will be quite well in time... keep
reading/asking/learning. Anthony>
Coral parasite control 4/2/03 My partner has a coral reef aquarium but is away for 3 months and has asked me to take care of the aquarium in his absence. I don't really know anything about aquariums and just do the basic stuff like feeding, etc. I'm having problems with one of the corals (shaped like a mushroom - sorry don't know what it's called). It's seems to be getting parasites on a very regular basis. I know that my partner normally removes these himself very carefully, which is what I've been doing, however, they keep appearing. Is there any way of preventing these parasites from appearing? <there are natural predators likely for these parasites... perhaps a wrasse species. But we must first identify the specific parasite (flatworm, etc) before we can find the compatible predator. Even then, a new fish would have to stay in quarantine for 4 weeks before being added to the tank for fear of introducing a contagious fish parasite to the established fishes. There is no fast solution unfortunately. Please keep removing them manually until your partner returns to make a long term decision on a natural predator. Best regards, Anthony> Coral Eating Flatworms and need for QT 3/25/03 Dear WWM crew- <cheers, mate> For the last year my Acropora sp. corals have been ravaged by coral eating flatworms (see picture in Julian Sprung's Invertebrates book or The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium). <yes... quite familiar with it. It is an aquarists penitence for not properly using a QT tank for all new livestock. Its a dreadful lesson to learn the hard way. Please be sure to QT all (algae, plants, fish, live rock, coral... everything) for a simple 4 weeks first. There are several very good articles here on WWM for guidance on the topic from Fellman> I first noticed that areas of my corals were bleaching usually underneath in low flow areas. Upon closer inspection I noted masses of <1 mm golden brown eggs next to the areas of bleaching. The worms themselves are cream colored and blend in with the coral quite well. In their wake they leave a pock-marked appearance to the tissue of the coral and eventual bleaching. My control methods so far have been to scrub the eggs off (although they can be in rather inaccessible areas) and blast the corals with a powerhead so that the worms come off. This seems to work better after the coral has been taken out of the water for 2-3 min. By the way, my Anthias have learned to love eating the flatworms and don't usually miss a single one. <yes... but labor intensive especially for a pest that has direct development (on its prey)> My question is do you know of any other method of control or better eradication? <nothing surefire... although many have been suggested. Anampses sp. (delicate) perhaps, but only if your tank is large (over 100 gallons), peaceful (fishes), mature (over 1 year old) and preferably with a fishless refugium to support it. These "Tamarin" wrasses have thick rasping lips... advantage over other wrasses> The worms seem to prefer my Acropora valida type corals (aka "tricolor"). They recover after my removal method but within 1 month are back in the same situation. Halichoeres wrasses seem to ignore the worms (hard to see) and I can't imagine that a Nudibranch would climb on to a coral to get them. Know anything about "Flatworm Exit"? <"Coming to a Theater Near You!"> Thanks, John Boe <best of luck, John. Anthony Hungry bubble and open brain? 3/20/03 Hi, I'd
like your input on a troubling development. My tank has been running
about 2 years and basically going very well , till the last few weeks
when my bubble and open brain which had both been thriving started to
open up less and less, secrete more mucous/waste, and accept feedings
of small pieces of shrimp much less readily. The tank is a
46 with 2x96 pc's (one actinic on for 14 hrs; one 10,000K on for 12
hrs). T= 78; SG=1025; pH=8.4; Alk=12; Ca=425-450;
NH4=0;NO2=0; NO3=varies between 1-3(can't seem to get it to
zero). Other critters are all doing great: 2 toadstools, pr
of Banggais, pr of ocellaris, 2 cleaner shrimp, one fire shrimp, a
frogspawn which actually does seem to be getting slightly browner; was
a brighter green at first). No new inhabitants or changes in
parameters that I can think of. The recent change in the bubble and
open brain is quite dramatic and puzzling since nothing else is
different. I know I should try to get
the nitrates lower with more h2o changes, but I can't
seem to do enough. I do about 10-15 gallons every few weeks;
it varies and NO3 did reach 3-4 recently for a short
time. I'd really appreciate any ideas you guys have as
to what's going on and if you think that the NO3 levels could
account for the "symptoms." Thanks very much!
<it is far more likely that they have suffered very slowly from
attrition. These are two of the "hungriest corals". Even with
ideal lighting, their daily nutritive needs are only served 70-80% by
photosynthesis. The rest they must get from food (organismal and
absorptive feedings). Without feedings several times weekly, most only
live 12-18 months before showing the signs. At 2 years, you may simply
have been feeding some but not enough. Or if not at all.. then these
corals were getting it incidentally from the bio-load (fishes feeding,
waste, etc). Do consider if this may be the case. And please read our
articles and FAQs on corals feeding starting here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fdreefinverts.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/growingcorals.htm
Best regards, Anthony> Nasty Snail Tale Hi, <Hi there, Scott F. here today!> I am writing on behalf of a friend who I don't think realizes just how frustrated and irritated he is. He has two tanks - both very beautiful and very well kept...except for those little, tiny, apparently irritating snails. These tanks are both marine one of which is primarily for more aggressive fish that cannot realistically be kept with coral that he would like to keep alive. The other is a smaller tank (for the time being) used for the coral. This tank has two coral beauties and many different types of coral including a brain coral and mushrooms among others. He recently acquired a couple of new pieces of coral and tonight while looking at it as I always do, I noticed a couple of snails. One was a tube snail (pointed end at one end, snail body at the other) and the other was a spiral-shelled snail. He then pointed out one of the pieces of coral that seems to be undergoing bleaching as we speak. He has no doubt these snails are the root of the problem, but when he has asked his fish store how to remedy the situation, they recommended a fish that apparently can either eliminate the snails or eliminate the coral. <Well, the snails may not be causing "bleaching", as this is an environmental response. However, some species of snails can be responsible for munching on polyps. There are a couple of ways to prevent damage caused by the snails. First, you should quarantine newly-arrived corals for a period of time, expressly for the purpose of letting these pests "drop off" from the corals. You can place them on a egg crate platform, and add some "meaty" food, such as krill, Mysis, etc. underneath. This will help "bait" the snails and other pests off of the coral, where they can easily be removed. The other thing that you could do would be to add certain fishes, such as hawkfish or some wrasses, to the tank, which enjoy preying on snails.> He does not like this iffy-ness and so is plucking these snails as he sees them. However, I am most concerned as these tanks are a source of great joy except this snail issue seems to really frustrate him. Please tell me there is a remedy for this and please then tell me what it is. Of course, these snails were introduced via live rock he purchased from that same fish store. He figures that store sees enough business that those live rocks are turned over before the store sees the snail problem. I have now spent the last two hours trying to find a solution and while solutions abound for the freshwater problem, I have found nothing that says what to do for marine. <Well, as mentioned above, I'd study those two ideas...Should do the trick> Ok, done babbling now. Please help. As a side note, he has mentioned that friends he shares this interest with have similar problems in their tanks. Of course, they are purchasing their coral, fish, and live rocks from the same place. Just to add more, case I haven't said enough, I know pH, nitrates, phosphates, silicates, and salinity are where they should be. He, as well as his friends, vehemently maintain their tanks within appropriate ranges and we are all Oceanographers and Marine Biologists with a tad bit of awareness of what marine environments should be like. But no matter how many Marine Biologists we ask, the answer is unknown as usually, propagation is desired, not removal. Or so we are finding when the question is asked. <Well, some types of snails, such as Strombus, Trochus. Astrea, Turbo, etc. are really helpful at eliminating nuisance algae. Other snails, such as the "Box" and Pyramidellid snails, are nasty little guys that damage clams and snails with their habits> Ok, really done babbling now. Please help. <Well, I hope that I gave you a couple of good ideas here. Good luck! Regards, Scott F> Thanx Lori Expulsion of coral pigments? 3/11/03 Hi guys <cheers> I just got home from work and was surprised to see about 200+ reddish specs floating in my overflow and tank. They are the size of Spectrum fish food pellets (about 1/32") and some are connected by clear "slime" and are floating/suspended in groups. I touched some and they tend to crush at the slightest touch and look like a spot of blood. I have a green with pink tips Euphyllia (Torch) that is deflated and the pink tips appear to be gone. <yikes... the spots could be expelled packets of pigments (proteins and zooxanthellae)> Could this be what I am seeing? <possibly yes> I also have a red/green open brain, a red Blastomussa merleti, red Wellsi, Red Lobophyllia, green Turbinaria, pink Pocillopora - all of which are deflated or have their polyps pulled in to some degree. <check all of the water chemistry ASAP (including strayed temp or SG?)... then do a large water change (25-50%)> The tank also has a variety of xenia and anthelia and a green Sinularia, orange Ricordea, mushrooms, Palythoa, and a small button leather all of which appear to be doing fine. I have had the corals from one to 8 years. This morning I had added Kent Tech-I. Could this be the problem? <only if you added too much or too fast. Not likely... look for a bigger parameter. Perhaps a sudden influx of freshwater from a neglected evap top off? A sudden change of carbon that improved water clarity?... or change of light bulbs that caused light shock> Maybe too much? Tonight I did a 10% water change and am running carbon. Is there anything else I should be doing? If it is the Torch, will the pink colored tips return? Thank you for your help. Tim <all of these corals can recover in time... but it will be very slow (months) and feeding will be crucial in the interim. Best regards, Anthony> Heliofungia Plate Coral 3/6/03 Great site...very informative! <thanks kindly> I have a Fungia plate coral bought like a week ago. I have him in a 90 gal, w/live rock, and various fish. He is on the sandy bottom. He mainly opens up at night. I have 265wat power compact lighting with actinic too.....Why does he only open at night, <planktivorous... when plankton is out> <<and predators not. RMF>> and my main question is this.....When I 1st got him, his mouth was visible...now, there is a hole there, and bare coral skeleton is visible. <Yikes... a sign of severe stress. Perhaps light shock if you did not QT in subdued light first.> He seems to no longer be able to accept food, but is putting off very little mucus, and is still puffing up at night... <the latter being a good sign> Is it just a matter of time, or is he ok do u think...thx a lot guys Tim <its a little scary... gaping is often a rather bad sign. My advice though is to not move or stress this animal at all... it is likely very weak and will not tolerate a change well. Patience and diligence are required here. Do keep offering food in small amounts and give it time to acclimate. Be sure nothing is bothering it (another coral nearby... fishes, crabs in the tank, etc). Anthony> Stressed coral from move? 2/17/03 Hi,
Thanks. It is a reef....I will use the old 8 month old white
until the new one arrives....any thoughts about the lighting having
some thing to do with my pearl bubble not doing that
well (an understatement) <not likely... bubbles can live
in extremely low light. They simply need fed a lot> He just keeps
shrinking....polyps , brain and pagoda....all fine ....but that little
guy just is struggling.... <is one of the other corals near to it
(say less than 6"). Aggression from chemical warfare (allelopathy)
could be the ticket> feed him zooplankton and little cut up food but
to no avail it seems....I wondered if he needed more light.
<might help... but not a quick fix> I sort of moved him around a
bit in the beginning when I first had him but then I thought I'd
better stop.... <yikes!!! For some coral, 2-3 moves in the first
week is all that it takes to kill them. It is very stressful and drains
their reserves trying to adapt. Please (!) put a coral in place the
first time and let it adapt no matter how it looks... moving it
won't help> nothing seemed to help and I thought that I should
leave him alone.. <agreed> He is mid tank in our 75 gal.... not
near anybody....not happy...Thank you for all your help....Helene
<alas... no clear cause either. Do keep feeding, improve light and
have hope/patience. Anthony> Green Slimer Hi WetWebMedia crew How's it going I have a question about a SPS coral that is starting to bleach a little at the base. I know why this has happen because the temperature in my area has dropped, which in return has made my basement colder and I have found out the hard way that my heater is not working properly. I found my tank running at 70 degrees, when I checked the heater it was not even on, so I had to compensate it by turning it up to 86 and have added another heater that I know is more reliable. <And the new one is properly set and the broken one thrown out, right? I suggest TWO good quality heaters so this doesn't happen again. Ebo's are very reliable.> Now to my question. The SPS coral in question is a green slimer and up until this happened was doing pretty good. The bleaching at the bottom does not look very bad, but I am hoping that it does not get worse. Looking for your opinion here, Should I wait to see if it gets better now that the problem has been corrected or do you think I should remove the bleached area. Thanks and keep up the good work. Scott <Optimize conditions (heat, light, current, calcium, alk, pH) and see if it doesn't recover. If it continues to spread, then you will need to take action (iodine dips, etc.) Since you seem to have located the problem, see if it doesn't recover without too much interference. Also, sometimes bleaching events destroy tissue and sometimes not, if the later and you remove the tissue, then you are doing more damage, not helping. Slimers are pretty hardy. Craig> Spots to left of me, bubbles to the right - 2/6/03 Hi to all, <Huuulllllooooooo.> I'm wondering if the brown, translucent spots on my white bubble coral are of any concern. <Sounds like a Planaria infestation, but could maybe be the start of some sort of "Brown Jelly" issues maybe? Other than the spots, are you noticing any disintegrating tissue?> The tank is 6 months old, water parameters are great, temp 80, sal. 20, <Do you mean 1.020?> lighting is a 48"PC <what kind of light? Just curious> which are on 8-9 hrs daily, water changes are 3-5% wkly <Mmmm.....maybe 5-10% weekly would be better> and the tank is 55glns. The coral is a little more than half way down, the brown spots started about two to three weeks ago and is covering approximately 75%. <A picture would be really helpful here, but if it seems that these are small irregular looking spots some darker than others, then try gently blowing bubble coral with a turkey baster. See if these "spots" come off or move.> Its fed twice a week with Mysis shrimp and a home blend food which includes garlic, serving size is less than 1/4" or smaller. <Could be fed more. Is it still eating currently?> There is a torch coral, <Be sure that the Torch is far from the Bubble as they have a tendency to use their feeding or err....."sweeper" tentacles to wage war on other corals, animals, and yourself <G> when not feeding with them> purple mushroom, buttercup and a plate coral <Be sure this coral is not too close to anyone either. As a matter of fact be sure they are all pretty far apart if not already ;)> in the tank with it. <Do any other corals have any "spots"?> I do have two gold band maroon clowns in the tank which don't bother it at all, actually I don't see any of the fish bothering it. Any thoughts? < Hard to say. See above suggestions. I would check here also: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pestflatwrmanthony.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/flatworms.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corldisfaqs.htm Hopefully something in there will help identify the issue. Let me know if I can be of more help. If you have the means, please send a pic. Paul > Manipulating Coral Color I have always had an issue with the color of my corals in my 72 gallon reef tank. <its a complex issue that cannot be resolved completely in any mixed reef tank with unnatural collections (LPS, SPS, soft coral, mushrooms, etc)> I have always had a problem with most of my corals end up turning brownish/ tannish color( Although always healthy and growing). <often a sign of high nitrates and/or low light (not necessarily from weak lamps either... could be aged bulbs (over 10 months old), yellow water, dusty salt creep lens/covers, etc)> I was always told the lighting would effect the color of corals my coral the most. <depends on many factors... more is not always better, and sometimes it is water clarity and color that is the issue skewing light penetration and coral color... and not the lights themselves>> So I changed it from 260watts blue actinics/whites to 440 watts of 03atinics/whites. The 03 made some impact but nearly what I was hoping for. My tank holds mainly 90% soft corals, 2-tangs, 1 clown, 1 Firefish, 2- cleaner shrimp and various serpent stars, snails and hermits. <good to hear the focus on soft corals and not a hodgepodge. My advice for optimum soft coral color is URI VHO fluorescent lamps or 150 watt 10K HQI MH outfits> The following were not supposed to be brownish but have slowly turned brownish/tannish in color. The following was sold from GARF: Capnella was sold as blue but now is tannish. POM POM Xenia were a brilliant pink but seems to become more brownish in color the longer its in my tank( very similar in color to the common Xenias). Lemnalia was sold as pink but has more of brownish hue. Overall I have about 45 different frags from GARF. <what?!?!? 45 frags in a 72 gall. I don't care how small they are, you will be lucky to keep this mix alive let alone in good color for the allelopathy. Wow... serious chemical exudations occurring here. The tank can look "fine" and frags will grow for a year or maybe two. But I'd put any kind of money on this tank having a serious problem in the 1.5-3 year picture for it. Just too many specimens to grow out in one tank healthy> All of these corals are doing well since 04/02 but I am very disappointed in my colors. My mushrooms retain there colors. This gives my tank is very tannish appearance from all the corals colors except I was wondering if it is something that I am doing or if one of my levels is off. <are you using carbon weekly or at least a large portion monthly? Are your nitrates under 10ppm? etc> All the normal test are within normal ranges. <normal relative to what? Numbers would help here bud> I follow GARF'S bullet proof reef recipe. <heehee... bullet proof marketing too> I use Seachem reef plus, reef complete, reef builder. I add Magnesium & Iodine once a week. My PH is about 8.4. I also test for Phosphates, Calcium, Alkalinity , Iodine and Magnesium. However my Iodine is always very low. <Its taken out of solution within hours... I like dosing a small amount daily instead of a large amount weekly> Could this be my problem? Is there any other area I should be testing that could be effecting the color of my corals? <your coral are brown likely because they are over fertilized (phosphate and/or nitrate)... Or... they have shed UV reflective proteins because they are not getting enough UV (yellow water, poor skimming, dusty lenses or lamps, old bulbs, etc). There are other possibilities but these are most common. Anthony> Bleached coral- how to handle We have a 20 gallon reef tank in our home. Recently we have been given an Acropora. However it is white with blue/purplish tips. <ahhh... bleached with only UV reflecting pigments left. This coral will die within a year if it is not fed and colors up (likely brown... hopefully... with purple tips> I have read about them and understand that there is no naturally white Acropora. <exactly correct> I came across a post on your website that described a similar Acropora. The Acropora we have although white is loaded with green polyps. What is your opinion on this Acropora? The coral is indeed bleached and the pigments you are looking at are reflective proteins and not zooxanthellae> Would the polyps still be open and thriving if the Acropora was bleached? <absolutely...one thing has nothing to do with the other (feeding organismally on nanoplankton versus symbiosis. What you need to do is fed this coral... but because the polyps are so small (and your mention of a 20 gall display leads me to believe that you do not have a plankton generating refugium), there is likely little hope for this coral to survive here. If you do not choose to move the coral to another tank, however... my advice is to make sure that you have a source of nitrogen in the tank (allow nitrates to linger). If your nitrates are low, you can make an ammonium or nitrate solution to dose the tank with (carefully) to feed the coral. Also, know that this coral will not eat bottled green phytoplankton. It needs zooplankton so small that you cannot provide it from a bottle or can. Do consider adding an upstream refugium to your tank (no Caulerpa though). Gracilaria or Chaetomorpha will help you to grow nutritious plankters for your corals below> Thanks for your time and help. Sincerely, Tana Landau <best regards, Anthony> Light Shocked Corals? Greeting and salutations <Hi there! Scott F. with you today!> My problem is as follows setup: 300 Litres. Used to have 2 Actinic Fluorescents and 2 10000K White fluorescents -Recently changed the 10000k's to 2 x 150 MH and kept the Actinics . Power head driven protein skimmer which only does about 1 cup a week ??? Problem here ?? <Well, not a problem, per se- but try to adjust it to pull out a couple of cups a week, if possible> Fluval 404 Filter NO Calcium Reactor / doser My water parameters are good although monitoring my Calcium is a problem. I use reef life Calcium Supplements and Buffer tablets on a weekly basis. <Do try to monitor calcium additions closely...The calcium/alkalinity dynamic can get really out of whack if you don't test for these regularly> My problem is that about 2 months ago I purchased a small cluster of brown mushrooms and a tree coral . My tree coral was doing great all of his small little feelers where coming out and grabbing the water for food . Now 2 months later it hasn't opened up for about 2 weeks and my mushroom coral is dying . I do 10 % water changes every week , my lighting should be fine ...... Why is this happening to me ??????? Should I add iodine and all those other expensive supplements you find in the pet shops ???? Werner Schoeman <Well, Werner- it sounds like everything is in order here...However, it appears that the decline in the corals occurred about the same time you upgraded the lights. Mushroom corals, in particular, can be adversely affected by sudden changes in lighting (both intensity and spectrum). Anthony has a great article on this on the WetWebMedia.com site. Do check it out! I don't think that you need lots of supplements....just maybe a little patience, and some slight adjustments. Check all water parameters for any aberrations.. then I think you'll see those corals come back! Good Luck! Regards, Scott F.> Werner Schoeman Coral and anemone follow-up Hello Everyone: <Cheers, my friend> Would like to give a special thanks to Anthony for his advise regarding the tube anemone. <my pleasure> I reluctantly removed it and couldn't believe how the rest of the coral has responded. <they are indeed hostile> Everyone is fully open and enjoying their meals per Anthony's instructions. Even the candy coral seems especially happy and has remarkably bounced back, <great to hear!> although I couldn't find the brand name frozen food he recommended, I bought Hikari's brand of Zooplankton and Mysis Shrimp (hope this is acceptable). <no worries if the protein is comparable (over 60%?)> Everyone seems to be eating just fine because they are obviously very happy. Have been feeding them 5:00 AM when their feeding tentacles are out. I do have a concern regarding a lime green feather duster (with a soft tube). I'm having trouble with bubble Caulerpa sprouting on it. Apparently some time back it must have seeded itself everywhere. <bummer> I have tried pulling it off the tube but it seems to stress the tube itself. Also, there is a thick dark velvety red algae growing on the last inch of the tube that seems to be getting thicker. I've tried to scratch it off with my finger, but it appears to be very dense. <do try a peaceful grazing urchin like a Tuxedo sp (Mespilia)> The rest of the tube is fine since I have it buried in the sand. So far it doesn't seem to have bothered the feather duster. Should there be concern? <little> Am also concerned about roots from the Caulerpa growing inside the tube and bothering the little guy. <agreed... remove when possible> Everyone at WWM is just great, thanks for all the professional assistance. <our great pleasure> May the force be with you. <it is... I had Mexican food for dinner. Thanks for noticing. Anthony> Coral problem I have an SPS coral, Pocillopora sp. who has
been exhibiting what I believe to be is RTN. First it was a
small amount of bleaching, and then it began to increase more and
more. Only like 20% of the total coral has been consumed by
this, and I am wondering what to due. I have removed the
portion of the coral that was affected, but what if it continues onto
the still living tissue? Can this be helped? Thanks! -D
<Hi Donovan, In the past when I have coral starting to RTN I frag a
couple of pieces off from the coral and remount them somewhere else in
the tank. I have lost whole colonies due to RTN but some of
the frags do make it believe it or not. There are many
things that attribute to corals RTN' ing. Good luck!
Chad
D. Bryant chadb@reefscience.com
Coral health Thanks so much for your response. I failed to mention, but I do have a 4-6" DSB in the main tank. <very good to hear... very light sand too!> I will start QT all corals. I do have a QT tank, I need to get lighting for it. <yes... please do, my friend. No worries about fancy lighting either! Normal Output (NO) cheap fluorescents daylight tubes from the hardware store can work fine (plant type bulbs). No VHO, PC or MH needed in QT when the water is so shallow. Besides, corals benefit from the lower light on acclimation and all deficiencies in lower light can be corrected with extra feeding (but the reverse is not true about a lack of food with well lit corals)> I already QT all fish prior to addition to main tank. (the fish and coral QT tanks are separate. <excellent!> I will now insist that frags from fellow aquarist tanks be 'healed' before addition to the QT tank. <indeed... it is much more responsible> I assume that the only way to keep the pH in the 8.3-8.4 range with a calcium reactor is to dose Kalkwasser in the makeup water. Is this correct? <not correct at all... its more likely an aeration/circulation issue (accumulated CO2 in the water ... or... same but in the winter sealed house). Test this by taking a glass of aquarium water to the garage or another well aerated spot (outside even!). Test the pH before and after 12 hours of vigorous aeration. The pH shouldn't move. If it increases... you have a CO2 problem. Regards, Jeff <kindly, Anthony> Desperate Hello, First off let me apologize for the length of this question. I'm sure that you receive many questions such as this from desperate aquarists, and it must be tiresome at times. <a labor of love> I'd also like to thank you in advance for your assistance. <our pleasure> First, my system specs: 125 gal display tank (6'x18"x 24") with a 30 gal refugium and 26 gal Rubbermaid sump. Lifereef protein skimmer, dual chamber calcium reactor. Lighting consists of single 400W Ushio 10k in the center and a 250W AB 10k on either side. Supplemental lighting and dusk/dawn effect with (2) 160W actinic blue My most recent water quality parameters (yesterday) are: pH= 7.9 to 8. <this is too low indeed... aim for 8.3-8.5> Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate-5 ppm (previously this had been at 1 ppm, but I recently pulled all my Caulerpa from the refugium and suspect the spaghetti algae hasn't had a chance to catch up) <very good move to Chaetomorpha... away from Caulerpa> Alkalinity- 10.6 dKH Calcium- 435 ppm Phosphate- 0.03 ppm Temperature varies from 79-82 F Specific gravity- 1.024 on my hydrometer (but was read out as 1.0255 on a refractometer) Water flow is provided by a MAG18 as the main return pump, a Maxijet 750 ph and a Gemini ph to provide additional flow. The main tank has about 175# of mixed LR. <hmmm... that sounds like only about 2" of sand. Do read through the WetWebMedia.com archives about the advantages and disadvantages of this> The 'fuge contains a mix of Chaetomorpha, Gracilaria, Halimeda, and Ulva. The main tank also has areas of Caulerpa racemosa which came with the LR. I am currently trying to rid the tank of it (an impossible task). The tank currently houses a Purple Tang, a Lysmata amboinensis, and a Maroon Clown. I desperately want to have primarily SPS (I know many hate that terminology) corals in this system... especially plating type Montiporas, but can't seem to get Montipora frags to survive. <hmmm... there must be a simply problem to address somewhere here. Montipora are so categorically hardy. > All of the frags that I've gotten have been from captive raised corals grown out in local reefers' tanks. The primary difference is that the corals had been previously under 400W 20K Radiums. <no worries here... attractive but weak (PAR) lighting... or rather... comparable to your heavier daylights of a lower wattage> I acclimate the frags slowly over 1-2 hours, I dip them in Seachem Reef Dip and after mounting them with superglue, I place them on the sand (in the lowest part of the tank) to acclimate them to the lighting. <OK... two problems here. The dip and handling of a young unmounted frag is undue stress. The other problem is that you added the coral without a QT period! This may not be the problem now, but I assure you that if you keep it up, you will be writing to us again within a year or two about the suspected and unseen microscopic Nudibranch predators killing all of your Montiporas. Please, please, please quarantine every living thing for 4 weeks that you bring home. Protect your investment if not their very lives (your display inhabitants). The other benefit here is that it will serve as a diagnostic. If they survive in QT but not after then move to the display... the problem is in the display> Additionally, I run activated charcoal after introducing the frags to help with any 'chemical warfare'. Over the course of several days to a week or two, the frags gradually lighten, then slough tissue and the calcareous skeleton becomes covered with brown filamentous algae. <wow... a handling or water quality issue for sure. Try simply acclimating an unmounted (untouched) frag to QT and see if it lives longer> I'm hopelessly frustrated. I read Borneman's book and researched quite a bit on the reef message boards. Most people recommended Montiporas as good "starter corals" for SPS. <they are the best> Ironically, two Acropora Millepora frags that were given to me along with the Montiporas are doing quite well, while most of the Montipora are dead or dying. Mr. Calfo, I saw you speak at the local WAMAS meeting here in the summer, and was very impressed. <thank you, my friend... you have a wonderful club and very kind people> I am ready to do almost anything you feel would increase my chances of success. <I suspect that this will be solved easily. Most likely a handling problem (fresh taken frags are already a bad habit... they should always be settled an healed first. Many service though. To then dip them, hit them with superglue and throw them in new seawater is really pushing your luck <G>. Simply acclimate to QT, then attach later> Again, sorry for the lengthy post. Thanks for all you do. Feel free to email me with questions. Gratefully, Jeff <best regards, Anthony> Re: Coral placement I have another question for you if I may:
<Rock on my brother> Hammer (below) has one polyp (of six) which
has recently started to retract and extend daily. The rest stay
extended day and night. I can see no reason for irritation
but my calcium level has recently risen to 520ppm (it is normally kept
at 450ppm) due to a faulty top off switch (I add using top off water),
could this be a trigger for such behavior? <not a
trigger for the behavior, but an actual value of 520ppm is highly
unlikely and at grave risk of causing a snowstorm (crystalline
carbonate precipitation.. ALK crash!). Frankly, I doubt your test kit
is reading accurately, but do confirm and dilute with water changes if
true (slowly... nothing fast here please). And if true, what is your
ALK? It must surely be on the lower end (below 10 dKH?)> Is this
otherwise normal? <indeed... no worries on the faster hammer polyp
cycles. It could simply be because of nearby flow, fish or critter
activity- this specimen gets more detritus and plankton and digests
more matter. Many actual possibilities here... none are bad. Best
regards, Anthony> Brown Jelly infection on Gonio I think that my Goni might
have brown jelly disease, there is a kind of orange film
developing on some of the polyps, how do I get rid of this infectious
disease and save my Gonio? <this secondary barrage of infectious
pathogens known as "Brown Jelly" is highly infectious and so
virulent that odds are not good at all of saving the specimen. You will
be lucky if it doesn't kill other corals in the tank too (healthy
established ones too!). This is just one of the many reasons why it is
so critical to quarantine all livestock for a full 4 weeks before
adding them to a display. Besides having a better chance to save the
new guy, there is always the risk of infecting some/all of the
established animals. My advice is to capture this coral underwater with
a large plastic bowl and lid (the coral is to be moved slowly and
sealed in the bowl underwater) to reduce the chance of drifting
infected tissue through the water. If any pieces do float away...
siphon them out promptly... it is highly infectious to other corals.
Treatments to date are highly experimental with antibiotics, FW dips
and iodine spikes. I honestly don't think the coral will be alive
48 hours from now, I hate to say, but do consult Eric Borneman's
Aquarium Corals book for an extensive range of options. My advice is a
60 second shower under cold tap water (seriously) before placing it in
QT. Maintain vigorous circulation and aeration in QT as well. Best
regards, Anthony> Candy Coral First, I have to say your web site is awesome. I wish they had tools like this 40 years ago. If I spend any more time on this site someone is going to expect an engagement ring. <Thank you for the kind words, but I am already taken.> I recently bought what I was told was a LPS known as a Candy Coral. After I got it home I noticed one of the polyps didn't seem to fully inflate and upon closer inspection, it looks like a very small fan-shaped transparent feeler is feeding from inside this polyp. Is this part of the Candy Coral or did he just hitch a ride and is an unwelcome guest? <From your description, it does not sound like a part of the coral.> Will he cause trouble? <Hard to say, this could be some sort of mutual relationship. Likely not parasitic in nature. At worst, the creature is exploiting the coral and may in time damage this one head.> Should I kick him out for not paying his rent? <I would leave it alone for now.> Keep up the excellent work. <We will. -Steven Pro> Acropora injury Hi! I have 440watts of PC lighting and a beautiful piece of purple >Acorpora(5x4 inches in size) which is from my local fish store Purchased 2 months ago)- It has about 8 different large branches coming off it. It did fine for the first 6 weeks. It still is doing fine but 2 weeks ago one of the branches started to turn white at the very tip of the branch. This particular branch is about two inches tall. For about a week, the whiteness worked its way down the branch. I became very worried the whole coral was going to di. But now it looks like the whiteness/it stopped progressing>down the branch. For over a week it hasn't become worse. It only worked its way down about 1/4 inch of the 2 inch branch. The whiteness has now turned brown. <it is difficult to diagnose without seeing it or a photo, but it sounds like tissue became infected and denuded. The white corallum (skeleton) was exposed and has now been attacked by diatoms. The coral may reclaim or lose tissue. Hard to say. Do you really have the tank for SPS corals? Very stable Alk, Magnesium and Calcium? You test for these things regularly and dose daily? What have your parameters been specifically?> Are my worries over? <I suspect this is a mixed garden tank too... mushroom anemones, LPS corals, soft corals. Going to be challenging to keep the SPS more than 1 year here> If not, What can I do to help this coral? I do have other Acroporas for over 4 months that had no problems- Should I consider cutting this tip off and allow the branch to grow back? <Definitely break this branch off... if is easier to regrow a branch than reclaim one with diatom algae> Please let me know.- Thanks Ron <you may want/need some more information before proceeding too much further with delicate SPS corals. I get the vibe that you are very new to at least this aspect of reefkeeping. Live animals here... not stereos or widgets. Perhaps you should get (or read) a good book too before buying another coral my friend. Let me suggest Eric Borneman's "Aquarium Corals". Covers corals diseases at great length too. Best regards, Anthony> Re: Sick Donut Coral? Wow! What a prompt reply. Actually I meant 2 1/2 to 3 feet (') from the lights ;) <my fault, bud. Flying through e-mail I misread. I do indeed see the single hash foot mark :) A deep tank and fine for the coral is it were on the sand bottom> My tank is deep and the lights are about a foot above the water. <ironically, I will suggest that you keep your 175 watt lamps 6-9" from the water for maximum benefit. Lower slowly (weeks). Yoshi among others has done great work regarding this> I really don't have any open floor locations. My aquarium is a 75 gallon with a mountain of LR. The only book I have on corals is Sprung's Quick Ref guide - which IMO is a great reference on a variety of corals, but not enough for an intermediate refer like myself. <agreed, my friend. It is exactly as billed: a concise reference. Eric's book is heavily illustrated and a pleasure browse. Do consider.> Thanks Anthony. Your help is valued indeed ! Steve <our pleasure! Kindly, Anthony> Odd creature attached to coral ? Dear crew, I am sorry but I don't have access to a digital camera at the moment. However, I have attached a graphical representation of the beast, sorry but I am no artist. <actually a fine job, thank you :) > The tendrils withdraw when they capture floating particles. They are definitely a feeding structure of the beast. If this rubbish picture doesn't give you any clues I will see if I can borrow a camera and scan the image. Many Thanks, Jon <an odd creature indeed. I still want to say a flatworm. Its presence on the capitulum (even if non-predatory) is a long term problem for the coral. Remove the coral into a bucket or bowl of water, have another handy for rinsing. Pull the creatures off the coral with tweezers gently. If it is small enough, you could seal it very tightly in a film canister (and then doubled in Ziplocs) with some Formalin from the pet store ( a clear, colorless medication... Aquarium Products is one brand). I would love to look at it and ID it for you. Perhaps I could photograph it and put it in our upcoming book on Reef Corals (with credit to you of course!). My postal addy is Anthony Calfo, Box 446, Monroeville PA 15146. With kind regards, Anthony> Open brain coral that will not open... HI- I have a 72 gallon reef/fish aquarium with several healthy corals and fish. To name a few I have tangs, gobies, chromes, a pair of clowns, an anemone, finger leather, flame mushrooms, star polyps, yellow leather, etc. All are healthy and doing well. My nitrate and ammonia levels are good, the temp is 78, the salinity is 23....I have live rock, live sand, and a good sump and separate 55 gallon refugium. My concern is my open brain that I added bout 10 days ago- it was open and healthy in the store but will not open in my tank. I have tried moving it, feeding it directly, etc with no success. Any ideas?? <water flow that is too strong or rather simply directed upon it in laminar (one directional fashion is very irritating). Else a simple acclimation to new lighting. This is a sand dwelling creature... and I assume that you have placed it on the sand bottom. If it is on rock, it will likely die from an infection due to abraded tissue from unnatural polyps cycles in contact with hard live rock. Must be kept on sand. Best regards, Anthony> Elegance Coral Hi, Steven Pro, how are you? <Not too bad.
How are you?> My elegant is not doing well. I just got back from LA
for Thanksgiving. I only went away one day. I don't know if it is
possible to get you out to my place in La Mesa (near Lake Murray) to
take a look to see what can possibly be going on and is there anything
I can still do for it. <I am out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.> Or
maybe if you have a place at your place that you can try to raise it
back to health. <There is probably nothing you, I, or anyone could
do.> The store I bought from had it under 175 watt MH's at mid
tank, about 12 inches below water surface. <That was its first
problem. They should always be kept on the sand under low to moderate
lighting.> The owner said he had it for 3 weeks, and it did look
healthy. <They generally do. One of the bad things about these
corals is they survive long enough to give the hobbyist false hope.>
Like you said damage can be done at anytime, but I just can't
believe with calcium reactor keeping alk/pH in check, that it can't
make a recovery from whatever the damage. <Many Elegance has
perished in recent years in the hands of very experienced keepers with
well maintained tanks. It is the coral, its particular needs, and the
care it received previously that are usually the problem. Never buy an
Elegance that has been perched up on liverock, never place it on rock
yourself, give it low to moderate amounts of water movement and
lighting, and hope for the best.> Something else have to be the
problem that's causing it to not improving. <Not really> I
did find the cleaner shrimp (one-I assume is the same one), that was
picking on it when I walk in the door today. <I would describe the
behavior as opportunistic and not attacking. It is feeding on necrotic
tissue, not attacking healthy tissue.> The cleaner shrimp I got is
the kind that have 2 red stripe and one white strip in between the 2
red strips. So I immediately fed them and my fish and I am planning on
feed the shrimps everyday if I can, and hope it stays away. I
wasn't successful on catching it today. I always only see one
shrimp picking on it at one time, so I assume it's the same one and
maybe it developed a taste for it. Now after they all ate, the shrimps
went in hiding. I do have a 10 gallon empty tank (no fish/shrimp), but
there is water, live rock, and some Caulerpa with two 8 watts
fluorescents on it. It used to be seahorse tank. One bulb is regular
fluorescent (which doesn't help much with Caulerpa growth), and the
other one is a Aqua-glow bulb (which Caulerpa likes). But, due to busy
schedule at work, I sent the horses away. It does still get water
change and power head still running, but no calcium reactor. It has a
drop in air pump powered skimmer, which was turned off since no more
seahorses are in it. If necessary, I can rinse old sand from my old 50
gallon and make a few inches deep sand bed for Elegance. I will have to
buy another Aqua-glow bulb, I think if I want to put elegance in that
tank. What do you think? <It might be best to quarantine this
specimen now for fear of wasting away in your display.> I don't
even know if you are in San Diego. I figure if you are partner with Bob
Fenner, you probably close by. <Actually the other side of the
country, The beauty of the internet.> But I could be wrong. If you
can come check it out, I would really, really appreciate it. If
possible perhaps this weekend. I don't know how long the coral will
last. Probably no more than 5 days to 1 week. Please let me know ASAP.
My cell number is 619-xxx-xxxx. If you are in town, I can go pick you
up, if you don't feel like driving. I just hate to see things die
on me. <I understand.> Thanks in advance. Hope to hear from you
very soon. Sincerely, George <Sorry about your coral. On a positive
side, our conversations have spurred me to begin an article discussing
Elegance corals. Best of luck to you! -Steven Pro> Ugg, Slug problems on corals Good Afternoon Mr. Fenner, <Anthony Calfo in your service> Having tried to find some info on the WWW with not too much luck, I was wondering if you could advise me on what to do with a slug problem, I am having in my tank. I live in the UK, and am quite new to marine fish, having kept tropicals for years. My tank is 60 UK gallons, I have live rock, live sand and coral sand as a substrate, >> Livestock >> 1 fox fish >> 5 green Chromis >> 2 Percula clowns and bubble tip anemone >> 1 orange spot goby >> 1 small blenny >> 1 dwarf cherub angel and an assortment of soft corals, also have 2 cleaner shrimps, 1 blood shrimp. And a clean up crew of critters i.e.: blue and red hermit crabs, and turbo snails. All of which are doing very well. I am running an Deltec APF600 Protein skimmer,1 UV Sterilizer. I also have 2 large Eheims, plus an internal filter for the filtration, and 2 power heads for the moving of substrate. And my problem is I have star polyps which are currently infested with these slugs ! they are small and white, and have completely decimated 1 coral, and I am now afraid they will start on the other one. So do you have any advice on how to dispose of them, without using chemicals in the tank, as I am against using anything in the tank, is there a fish or something I could put in that will happily munch on them. <yes... you can use a wrasses species like the six-line wrasse. There are in fact many other species that will work well. The best bet if to move this coral(s) to the quarantine tank while you QT the new fish for 2-4 weeks in isolation. This will force the new fish to eat more and do so faster while the stranded slugs in the display starve without a host> I also use an R/O Unit to make my own water, and I am about to change my salt to tropic Marin, after using Kent sea salt, as I was advised this was a better quality. <A VERY wise move in my opinion> Hope this isn't too long winded ! but I felt if I were to ask an expert, such as yourself you would need to know all the statistics. <you've done an excellent job of providing background information my friend> The tank has been up and running for 7 months now and no losses. Hope to hear soon. Yours Sincerely, Sue Coveney <Sue, to avoid these problems in the future... please be sure to QT all new corals, live rock, etc for 2-4 weeks just like fishes. Else you take a great chance with every piece of livestock added fresh to the display. Best regards, Anthony> Trapped gas in Euphyllia? Hi guys, I have a question about my Euphyllia. It was sold to me as a branching hammer coral and it's been absolutely gorgeous up until now. I did a water change on Tuesday and now on one of the branches in the middle of the of the branch near the mouth there are like two bubble looking things, they look like air pockets. <arghhh... not good> The only thing I can think of that might be a possible cause is the water temp. The water may have been a little colder than the water in the tank. I can't get a clear photo of it because of the angle, but it just looks like two little air pockets on either side of the mouth. Any ideas? Thanks, Arthur <you are correct... the sudden mixing of cold and warm/hot waters can cause this condition (like an embolism). It is also caused by microbubbles that supersaturate the water as when aspirated through a pinhole leak in the return pump plumbing. It is also caused by excessive illumination (recent upgrade of lights or changing of an old lamp). And lastly, air is sometimes ingested deliberately by some SPS with or without food (perhaps for the proteins attracted to the surface of each air bubble). The last event is the least common and seems to occur most often captivity (not on a reef so much). All other explanations here are unfavorable but not fatal. We simply must give it some time to see if it will pass (week+) or lance it if necessary (interferes with normal polyp cycles). Best regards, Anthony> Zooxanthellae I am a beginner reef keeper, <welcome my friend> my tank is pretty mature about 8 months and water quality is good (as far as I know). <please be sure to test all parameters regularly before you buy corals> I just purchased bubble coral and it has emitted some zooxanthellae, I have read this is normal as it is adapting to my tanks parameters. <its not normal or healthy... just common in stressed animals> How do I know if it is too much or if it is in fact emitting all of its zooxanthellae and therefore dying? Thx AB <we cannot say without more information and images at least, but rest assured that the coral will almost certainly adapt. At times like this feeding is crucial if the coral will survive. Feed small portions of very finely minced meats daily for the first 2 months... then at least 3-5 times weekly indefinitely after that. See this article as well: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fdreefinverts.htm Best regards, Anthony Calfo> |
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