Anxious coral keeper need advice/identifying problems

[organism]

I top off by removing 10lt and I use the hose method to slowly pour 11lt back into the tank once every week, I get my saltwater from my LFS supplier who uses crystallized salt mix.

Just to clear up, you don't dose any new freshwater into your tank to make up for evaporation?

I'll be ringing up few of our LFS and see if they have the service to do the job because I don't have the equipment nor would I know where to cut, but since you are the second person to suggest I frag the dead skeleton I will go my way to see that this is done, the other two mouths look healthy on the Euphyllia and it would be a right shame to lose them.

You don't need to be fragging it for it to survive, it's dying from water quality issues so that's only going to stress it further. A dip in a bucket of tankwater with some Lugol's iodine wouldn't hurt, but you need to make sure it's getting flow and that you're fixing your water parameters.

You need to consider buying a refractometer with 35 PPT calibration fluid, your own ro/di unit, an auto top-off unit, and some pickling lime for mixing 1 Tbs per 3 gallons of ro/di top-off water.

 

[Leath]

Just to clear up, you don't dose any new freshwater into your tank to make up for evaporation?



You don't need to be fragging it for it to survive, it's dying from water quality issues so that's only going to stress it further. A dip in a bucket of tankwater with some Lugol's iodine wouldn't hurt, but you need to make sure it's getting flow and that you're fixing your water parameters.

You need to consider buying a refractometer with 35 PPT calibration fluid, your own ro/di unit, an auto top-off unit, and some pickling lime for mixing 1 Tbs per 3 gallons of ro/di top-off water.

I did buy a KH/Alk test kit my results were 6.1 KH Value in dKH (Alkalinity in meq/L: 2.16), I saw that this is a low result so I bought a bottle of reef carbonate, should I put in just a dripple or two to increase the results?

Also I don't use fresh water to top up the loss of evaporation, it's only a 21 gallon tank so it only loses about 3 quarters of a litre of evaporation each week.
I'll be sure to look into buying a refractometer with 35 PPT calibration fluid, I'll need to read into it, as you can tell I'm a first time aquarium keeper and 80% of the things I'm being told is new to me.

I'm afraid I've already had her fragged this morning, I took her into my LFS and had her examined by their coral keeper, I was told that it might be a good idea but a risky move to get her fragged. He did it for me for free and said if anything goes wrong and if she dies he will replace her for me free of charge. He did make a nice clean cut btw, I will update a picture if any one wishes to see the results.

Right now after 2 hours after I've had her fragged she is looking fine, just slowly inching her tentacles out of her skeleton.

 

[Duna_]

Fragging her would stop the infection, and the damaged part would never recover. But the main problem is the KH, it's too low, she has a skeleton, it'll suffer and disolve, you should rise it to 8ºKH.
If you add saltwater to replace the evaporated one, you'll be rising the salinity slowly, because salt and solids do not evaporate, only water. You need to replace with destilated water (no minerals).
You may check your water parameters at your LFS to be sure.
When you get the salt water from your LFS, you can change the amount of water you replace. And then, during the week, the water from evaporation with destilated water.


Hammer corals are very hardy to most water parameters, but the alkalinity is very low, and maybe the salinity is not ok. And also, the crab hurt it and the infection started. If she spreads her polips, she has a chance to survive.

I would have corrected the parameters before the cut, but if the tissue melts quickly in a brownish jelly, you have to act inmediately: you'll lose it in 24h.
It's different from a normal tissue loss for other causes.


Good luck!

 

[jonthany]

I agree, you really need to make sure your parameters are in check. Do yourself a favor and get yourself a test set as well as a refractometer. Here are a couple links as examples.
http://www.saltysupply.com/Aquarium-Pharmaceuticals-Saltwater-p/ap3313.htm
http://www.saltysupply.com/Aquarium-Pharmaceuticals-Saltwater-p/ap3137.htm
http://www.saltysupply.com/Deltec-D-D-ATC-Seawater-RefractoMeter-p/ss531102.htm

You don't have to buy these from that seller but you should have them and test regularly. I test just about everything once a week.

Depending on how much you really are going to get into the hobby I would suggest you also buy a
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-5-stage-plus-ro-di-system-75gpd.html

This will allow you to make your own water. It ends up being cheaper then going to the LFS to buy water all the time. Also you know they ATO water that your putting in your tank is 0 TDS.

 

[organism]

Also I don't use fresh water to top up the loss of evaporation, it's only a 21 gallon tank so it only loses about 3 quarters of a litre of evaporation each week.

That's pretty much a slow, painful death sentence for your tank for the reasons Duna mentioned. It seems like you've just started keeping a reef and are going for a sprint before you've learned to crawl, you need to spend some time reading all of the stickies in the "New to the Hobby" forum on here and stop spending money on anything, corals or otherwise, until you narrow down exactly what you need for your tank first. Buying corals is fun, but first you need to buy all of the things your tank actually needs to keep them alive.

 

[jonthany]

+1^^^

Don't feel bad we have all made mistakes here and there. Even doing a lot of research things will happen you dont expect. I learned the hard way a couple times already. I lost 2 snowflake clowns, dottyback, flame angel, yellow tang, powder blue all to ICH about a month ago. I didnt know that powder blues were known for having it and I didnt quarantine before putting in my DT. Then I lost about $300 in SPS frags because I had them all close together on a frag shelf and they stung eachother. It wasn't until I lost just about all of them before I figured out what was going on.

Just do yourself a favor and do as much research and ask questions before getting any deeper into the hobby. Also if you are very new, I would suggest a larger tank then a 20 gal. It is more upfront but more stable.

 

[organism]

Also, stop listening to your LFS... I know they make it sound like they know what they're doing, but some really don't have a clue and others are just trying to push products onto you that you don't need, like strontium additives. We all end up learning the hard way on that one, my first tank had crushed coral and I tested salinity with a swing-arm hydrometer thanks to LFS "advice".

 

[Leath]

+1^^^

Don't feel bad we have all made mistakes here and there. Even doing a lot of research things will happen you dont expect. I learned the hard way a couple times already. I lost 2 snowflake clowns, dottyback, flame angel, yellow tang, powder blue all to ICH about a month ago. I didnt know that powder blues were known for having it and I didnt quarantine before putting in my DT. Then I lost about $300 in SPS frags because I had them all close together on a frag shelf and they stung eachother. It wasn't until I lost just about all of them before I figured out what was going on.

Just do yourself a favor and do as much research and ask questions before getting any deeper into the hobby. Also if you are very new, I would suggest a larger tank then a 20 gal. It is more upfront but more stable.

Now that you mentioned this ICH I just bought a Button Polyp, which is looking stunning and is doing great in my tank! However I was looking up ICH just now and it mentions white spot disease. I don't have any fish in my tank YET however I noticed on the walls of my tank tiny white spots, their rather hard and they scratch off easy is this something to worry about or is this my button spreading seeds or something?? :S

Also, stop listening to your LFS... I know they make it sound like they know what they're doing, but some really don't have a clue and others are just trying to push products onto you that you don't need, like strontium additives. We all end up learning the hard way on that one, my first tank had crushed coral and I tested salinity with a swing-arm hydrometer thanks to LFS "advice".

Not to worry my LFS has one or two experts but their not in all the time so I usually get the salesman who will sell you anything when you're anxious as I was. I showed their coral expert pictures of my Euphyllia and he told me to bring her in and he will examine her, he even gave me a mini acrylic box to put her in (Two boxes, one to rinse her in my tank water), he took her in and fragged the dead skeleton and ever since then she has never looked better, polyps are further out than before, my Alk is now balanced, and as Jonthany said you learn as you make mistakes.

 

[Leath]

Hah scrap that, a little research never hurts any one, just looked it up and various research tells me its just gasses that were dissolved in the water and stucks to the glass or walls... phew *relieved*! Any ways thread going a tad bit off topic so I forgive an admin to shut down this thread since my Euphyllia problem has been resolved.