Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Started this for chim as things are not going well!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 I need a smaller mortgage and bigger fish tank,... story of my life... anyways, a little off this threads topic but cant be arsed starting a new one... i removed a dead acro today, it had completely RTN'd over the past couple of weeks, is entirely bleached now and brown algae growing on it. it was about the size of my fist although had never shown any sign of colour (perhaps a slight blue tinge). no idea what happened. was doing well til i decided to move it down lower in the tank as i thought it was getting too much light. didnt move that much down to make a difference so think it's just coincidence. i think it was an o/d on zeovit food at one stage my bad. i also got another purple acro about half a fist size that is bleaching (no sign of TN, just going mega pale) dunno whats happening to the tank, getting pissed off with it in all honesty. considering a 50% water change on the weekend as i can only attribute it to lack of one or more trace elements because of infrequent water changes. will probably strip the display tank down completely and halve the amount of rock in the next few months. i think there are many areas that are lacking flow coz of too much LR. also got a heap of diatom growth after I did 2 x 20% water changes in a week (previous change was 20% about 6 weeks earlier). might stick to 10% a week for 2 months and see what happens diatoms feed mainly on silicates right? things were going best when i was running rowaphos might go back _________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:09 pm Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- makes me wonder if the writeup by 'tang' in the phosphate thread is true - it shares some resemblence to my tank, potential phosphate increases all of a sudden because of too much LR. the drop in pH in those areas breaks down the insoluable phosphate on the rocks, the sudden and unexpected addition of phosphate into the water column causing algae growth and a backwards step in acro colour. many of my acro's shown signs of colouring up and do so to a point, then take a backwards step all of a sudden. as those that have seen my tank, even though the LR is sitting on reef rack, its quite "packed" with LR. partly the reason I might strip it down and take half the LR out (plus the aesthetics of less LR IMO looks better too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 9:00 pm Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: give it to me. you will get it back minus a small frag! come pick it up Quote: patience is the name of the game. i realise that. Quote: didn't you just upgrade your lights? just upgraded??? try 4 months ago. things were getting BETTER after the lighting upgrade and now they're going WORSE. NO OTHER CHANGES have been made. Quote: all i can see are changes and more changes all the time! rtn? what is rtn? change things slowly! if i change something i'll wait 3 months. do i see any improvements after those 3 months? no, then work out why. i compare this to changes made on others tanks over similar periods with no changes, most are quite significant. Quote: "lets get some bigger lights, and get a much bigger skimmer. lets start zeovit. lets buy large newly imported acro's. etc etc." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How is your alk/ca/mg ? How much does your PH change overnight? How much is your ALK/CA fluctating. Your coral growth (monti in particular) looks odd. I have the same coral, mind grows nice thick branches with bushy ends. When its stops growing its almost always low CA/ALK. As for the algae, its just normal algae attaching to dead coral, I think this is simply a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. Skimming enough? How much skimmate you pulling? One other thing could be, are you starving your tank of nutrients? I was reading a while back that your not feeding much at the moment? Maybee try and amp up the feeding for 2 weeks see what happens. Screw the phosphate, leave that for Layton to argue about, load the tank with food, cyclops 3-5 times a day, see if it makes any difference. Are you dosing anything (i've seen people latley dosing strontium, remember its a poison DONT DO IT!). If you are, STOP. As for comments about you changing lots, I was under the impression you change things with your tank far more than 1 once every 3 months, but I havn't been watching that closley. The advice given was good, take it slowly, stop tinkering and let it take care of it self. Good luck with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 434 Location: Hamilton Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:29 pm Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although I not too experienced, I agree with pies, I had similar problems when I changed my alk/calc too fast. Not sure if you have dosed recently... _________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Quote: How is your alk/ca/mg ? How much does your PH change overnight? How much is your ALK/CA fluctating. STABLE. completely stable in fact, i have been testing weekly for all 3 for the past 3 months. Even need to go get new Ca and Alk test kits... pH changes from 8.05 to 8.24 depending on time of the day, all in normal range. In the last 4-5 months I have not let any of these parameters jump out of normal range. Quote: As for the algae, its just normal algae attaching to dead coral, I think this is simply a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. agreed, the algae is merely taking over what is dying off - so merely an observation. Question is what's the cause of the problem? Quote: Skimming enough? How much skimmate you pulling? AP902 maxed out. Skimming well, mainly dry although I empty about half AP902 collection cup weekly. Should I be skimming wetter? Quote: One other thing could be, are you starving your tank of nutrients? I was reading a while back that your not feeding much at the moment? I did feed little (3+ months ago), but feed alot more now after I noticed the blue tang getting skinny. I do overfeed, but also do have a decent skimmer for nutrient export. I also feed the corals phytoplankton and cyclopeeze every 2nd night. Feed frozen once or twice weekly (mysis and brine) Otherwise feed flake, pellets all the normal stuff. Quote: Are you dosing anything (i've seen people latley dosing strontium, remember its a poison DONT DO IT!). If you are, STOP. Nope. Have Calcium reactor maintaining tank, top up with baking soda, Mg and Ca chloride when needed (weekly or fortnightly) - same as a great deal of others do. Also dosed vodka every now and then (if any signs of cyano showed up) Only dose a maximum recommended amount in 24 hours as per the dosing calculator web site. Quote: As for comments about you changing lots, I was under the impression you change things with your tank far more than 1 once every 3 months, but I havn't been watching that closley. The advice given was good, take it slowly, stop tinkering and let it take care of it self. I realise things take time, I monitor it closely, take note of what I dose and change, it may seem more often than not but most of the time when I post I ask questions on products as opposed to always use them. I did start K-balance just over a week ago but these problems started before that, decided I'd try it to hopefully darken up some of my corals that looked so light they were almost bleached. Quote: Good luck with it! cheers. Ok, I'm not stupid (no smart arse comments please ), I know it takes time - or rather good things happen slowly and bad things happen fast! To make a generalised statement on what the best and worst thing I've done - the best thing I did was upgrade to the new lights (only then did the acro's colour up really nicely) the worst thing I did was stop dosing zeovit (no evidence here, but when I stopped thats when things went backwards - in fact acro's got lighter coloured than when dosing zeovit - although this was around the same time the new lights went in) Could new lights and stopping zeovit at around the same time cause MEGA problems over the last 4 or so months? If so, how and how can this be corrected? Could have been caused from stopping zeovit and dosing vodka every now and then? I made the decision when changing the lights to go back to basic's, no zeovit, no other additives except regular water changes and dosing Ca, Mg and kH when needed. I noted the tank ran best (least algae) when I simply had the skimmer and rowaphos, nothing else! _________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Chim are you running carbon if so how if not why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 "Chimera's needs help" Geez Fay, saying that to a reefer is like telling a bloke he needs to use viagra! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 thanks fay. yes, definately running carbon. it was replaced 2 weeks ago from the same batch i've been using for the last 6 months. im running the carbon in a fluidised reactor. that also coincides to when problems started to occur, but dont think fluidising carbon would be the cause (had it in a stocking next to the sump baffle prior) I'm considering putting it back how it was (coz it worked just as well) and running rowaphos in the fluidised reactor again. Geez Fay, saying that to a reefer is like telling a bloke he needs to use viagra! not quite at that stage :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 I was under the impression that you shouldn't put carbon under too high flow as it strips the water too quickly. Personally I stopped using carbon about 12 months ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifty Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 is it possible the new lights are too much or the photo period is too much for your corals. Could the change in the way u administer your carbon have cleaned the water up too much and the corals cant handle that much light Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Sorry to hear Chimera! Sounds just like what I went through a few months back when I changed tanks. Nearly lost some corals, everything went brown, tank looked like crap. Did big water changes but that didn't seem to help, basically I just maintained water parameters such as calcium, dosed absolutely nothing else, not even carbon, and waited it out, took a few months. Blamed some new rock but never really new for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Wouldn't have red bugs or some such nasties? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 possibly pies, will try that advice and put carbon back into non-fluidised area tonight. thanks drifty but don't think so, I lifted the lights about 3 inches higher than they previously were. nothing abnormal about photoperiod (similar to everyone elses around 10 hours) they have been running 3-4 months now and as i say, when they initially went on some corals didnt like it so got moved. most adjusted well and coloured up really nicely (as shown in the pink monti pic) however in the last probably 6 weeks it's gone backwards, probably more so in the last 3. really dont think its light related - something "in" or "lacking in" the water i think. wasp - a possibility. if you see the pic's of the acro's they are receding on the tips which looks to be just what those little bugs do. pretty rare though i thought and no actual sign of "red" bugs! as i say, its one of those things where almost everything you can test for is bang on being right and nothing obvious stands out to what the cause is. will move the carbon in lower flow area, do a reasonable size water change this weekend and wait to see what happens. only concern is im in melbourne on monday for a week, dont want things to turn to crap while im not here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Chim put the carbon back how you had it, reef and I both had trouble when we did that. I run it in a sock by the baffle 1/4 of the amount I need for a month and change it weekly it is working well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 and running rowaphos in the fluidised reactor again. Yes and do that I get a good brand off Steve which is cheaper and runs cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 And as Pies recommended start feeding the corals Cyclopeeze and I love REEF BOOSTER I don't think people are taking my advice on the reef booster so will shout it out it is FAB Do your water change and leave everything else alone apart from the carbon I'm sure thats the problem and start phospate remover in the fluidiser if you do to much at once you won't know what the problem was. puttputt be warned I don't think carbon in the fuildiser is a good idea. I know reef lost corals doing this a couple of years ago and I neraly lost two Anemones bleached them right out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Don't forget it is going to take time for the corals to recover from this it took my Anemones well over a year. Check with reef and see how long it took for the corals he didn't lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 "Chimera's needs help" Geez Fay, saying that to a reefer is like telling a bloke he needs to use viagra! What is it with men!! I think you only have a problem if you don't admit you need help!! This site isn't much use if we can't learn from the bad times as well as the good. It's not just a brag site :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 And as Pies recommended start feeding the corals Cyclopeeze I have been for months! Do your water change and leave everything else alone apart from the carbon I'm sure thats the problem and start phospate remover in the fluidiser if you do to much at once you won't know what the problem was. puttputt be warned I don't think carbon in the fuildiser is a good idea. yeah, definately will take the carbon out of the reactor. could certainly be the cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 note to myself, cross Chimera of the list of possible candidaites for babysitting my corals when i shift...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 so you were going to do it cause i was? oh how sweet... pfft! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 so you were going to do it cause i was? oh how sweet... pfft! what, going to do what??? Don't understand Chimera. I was hoping to ask the odd person to look after a couple of my favourite corals when i move to Kerikeri, in an attempt to safeguard some of my treasures. I was just having you on, given your current and I'm sure temporary problems, that I would not be asking you. any clearer??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 puttputt be warned I don't think carbon in the fuildiser is a good idea any clearer??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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