bit off more than I can chew

[chrispmcgill]

you should not remove the dead sps yet, I had one colony that rtn'ed on me come back. The skeleton lost all flesh, looked like garbage covered in black algae and it still came back. My Friend convinced me to keep the dead looking skeleton and he was right, it is still not up to what it used to be but the come back is amazing. Give them at least a couple months to see if anything comes back, even if it gets covered in algae.

Jose

I am fine letting the SPS ride out and see what happens. I just want to make sure doing so is not going to cause any damage to anything else.

Will it?

 

[dohc97]

no damage to anything else. By the way as someone else mentioned leathers and softies tend to release toxins or other substances that dont play well with sps, if you intend on keeping those you should run plenty of carbon and the skimmer sounds like a good idea.

Jose

 

[JDT Reef]

you should not remove the dead sps yet, I had one colony that rtn'ed on me come back. The skeleton lost all flesh, looked like garbage covered in black algae and it still came back. My Friend convinced me to keep the dead looking skeleton and he was right, it is still not up to what it used to be but the come back is amazing. Give them at least a couple months to see if anything comes back, even if it gets covered in algae.

Jose

I agree. If it is dead, the decaying part is already in the water and the hard skeleton won't release much more...no point throwing it out at this point. If anything,it will just become part of your live rock.

There is a great long thread on rescue corals and and how people got corals to make a comeback. I think it's in the LPS section. I suggest looking that over and what worked for them.

The tank looks much better than before...be patient. In this hobby, things don't happen quickly, both good or bad.

 

[dohc97]

here you go, lame phone pictures but you get the idea:

before rtn:

making a comeback, todays picture, notice the dead skeleton covered in coraline:

 

[chrispmcgill]

no damage to anything else. By the way as someone else mentioned leathers and softies tend to release toxins or other substances that dont play well with sps, if you intend on keeping those you should run plenty of carbon and the skimmer sounds like a good idea.

Jose

Ok I will do that. The system came with a air pump driven skimmer that does the job decent. I will need to upgrade to something a little better though.

I total noob question: Is there any guidelines to introducing carbon? I have a 1lbs box of it and was going to use cut up stockings for a bag. Is that ok? Is there a certain amount I want to add? Will it harm the tank of there is too much carbon introduced? Or if the water gets ultra clear too fast?

Probably dumb questions but if I have learned anything in my short time it is to ask many opinions and make sure you know exactly what you are adding to the tank.

I agree. If it is dead, the decaying part is already in the water and the hard skeleton won't release much more...no point throwing it out at this point. If anything,it will just become part of your live rock.

There is a great long thread on rescue corals and and how people got corals to make a comeback. I think it's in the LPS section. I suggest looking that over and what worked for them.

The tank looks much better than before...be patient. In this hobby, things don't happen quickly, both good or bad.

Thanks for the note. I will look for that thread in the LPS section.

here you go, lame phone pictures but you get the idea:

before rtn:

making a comeback, todays picture, notice the dead skeleton covered in coraline:

That is encouraging. Not going to hurt anything trying.

Here are my readings today:
temp 78.5
Salinity 1.024
pH 7.9
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 10-15 (I am doing a 5G water change today.)
KH 8
Ca 400

 

[tinkerman]

Yes adding to much carbon can affect stuff. You want to start with a smaller amount and increse slowly, just like gfo. I use stockings for carbon haven't seen any problems yet, they are new never been washed.

 

[allsps40]

Oh man this poor little nano tank is in such disarray. Yep OP all those sps are dead and most of the lps look unhappy. Get a skimmer and clean up the water. So much went wrong with this tank before you got it. I would just do a restart on it, replace all sand, clean all rock really well and clean out the tank. Fill with new clean fresh salt water and just start fresh with it.

 

[chrispmcgill]

Yes adding to much carbon can affect stuff. You want to start with a smaller amount and increse slowly, just like gfo. I use stockings for carbon haven't seen any problems yet, they are new never been washed.

I will slowly introduce carbon to the system. The stockings are new. Thanks for your help.

Oh man this poor little nano tank is in such disarray. Yep OP all those sps are dead and most of the lps look unhappy. Get a skimmer and clean up the water. So much went wrong with this tank before you got it. I would just do a restart on it, replace all sand, clean all rock really well and clean out the tank. Fill with new clean fresh salt water and just start fresh with it.

Ya and I thought I new what I was getting in to. Rookie mistake and my next build will be from the ground up.

I hope it does not come to me tearing down everything. I think I am going to give it a least 4-5 more weeks to see what happens. Although the tank still looks bad, there has been improvement everyday. Lets hope that continues. If the improvement stops, then I will have to go the tear down route.

 

[HHIreefer843]

man i did the same thing, then made even more mistakes on my next build. take your time and read for hours, i made the mistake by not doing research and am still regretting this!!! READ READ READ

 

[HHIreefer843]

oh good luck BTW

 

[chrispmcgill]

man i did the same thing, then made even more mistakes on my next build. take your time and read for hours, i made the mistake by not doing research and am still regretting this!!! READ READ READ

oh good luck BTW

Thanks for the notes....and Gig'Em Aggies. See you in the SEC.

 

[chrispmcgill]

Will introducing carbon make the KH spike? Mine went from 8 yesterday to 11 today. From what I have read, 11 is still ok though. I guess is a 3 pt swing in a 24hr period is not good though. All other chemistry is doing ok besides my low pH at 7.9.