Cant keep Acans alive

[homer1475]

My dilemma starts with the addition of Algaefix by API several months ago.

I had several small frags of acans I've had for a couple years now and came from my original tank a 32G biocube. Moved tanks up to an 80G and all was doing well until I got a massive GHA breakout. Battled it for nearly a year when after reading a thread about Algaefix I decided to try it. After adding it for a few days all my acans shriveled up and died! Every single frag at the same time, seemingly overnight! I chalked it up to the algaefix as all other LPS and softies in my tank are happy, inflated, and growing.

I attributed the loss to being the algaefix as nothing else changed and the frags were thriving for the last year in this tank. I waited a couple months and after several WC, I decided to give acans a shot again(they are my favorite corals). Picked up a 2 nice looking frags and placed them on the sandbed.



I dipped in bayer, and placed them on my sandbed. They did great for a month and had started to grow, moved them up onto the rockwork and still did great. So I picked up a couple more frags. Fast forward 2 more weeks and I came home from work on sunday afternoon to find dead bare skeletons. They were happy inflated and colored up saturday night when I fed the fish. This is what they look like now, and my other 3 frags are starting to recede and look like crap. Pretty sure I'm going to loose these frags also.



Parameters and anything else I can think of:
SG - 1.027 Slightly high I know, just realized it when checking last night. I'll correct it next week during a WC. I don't think being 1 point high is going to kill any acans when everything else in my tank is happy and thriving.
Ammonia, nitrites - 0
nitrates - 0 according to redsea and salifert which I know isn't true due to the algae in my tank.
PO4 - .02
ALK - 9.3
CAL - 450
MG - 1350
Temp rock steady at 78.5
lights are 2 300w mars aquas

Typical setup with a 3 compartment sump consiting of a drain into filter socks/ skimmer section, refugium section with marine pure and cheato, return section. 100# of dry BRS pukani, 2 mp10's and 2 PP-4's.

Stock list:
Flame angel
3 clowns
dottyback
green goby
citron clown goby
leopard wrasse
mandarin

Coral list:
2 octospawn
frogspawn
branching hammer
wall hammer
torch
maxima clam
ducan
gonipora
plating monti
candy cane
several smattering of zoas
GSP
couple rock flower nems
gorgonian
elegance coral


Sorry for the long post, but I really want to figure this out and posted anything I could think of that might be pertinent.

 

[ReefWreak]

Sorry to hear that they aren't doing well bud. Not too much to add here, but I'm curious with what the community comes up with. I can keep sps for says, but LPS not as much.

For reference, usually my problem with LPS is too much flow and light. My LPS do well fallen to the sides of the tank where they get less flow and almost no light.

Your euphyllias are doing fine, so I wouldn't chalk it up to black bugs or another pest or even a critter eating LPS flesh... Hmmm....

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[deputydog95]

I can tell keep them either. But have a ton of flow and a lot of light.

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[homer1475]

Yeah I'm at a loss on this one. Everything else in the tank is doing great.

 

[soulpatch]

Acans are weird in that some of mine LOVE higher light and flow whereas others prefer to be almost shaded and with minimal to no flow.

Im not much help other then the potential bad batch of salt like I said in your other thread similar to my case that wiped out my acans seemingly overnight last year.

On the bright side should you get back and deem ready for some, come on down my way and you can pick a few acans from my tank to get fragged...

 

[homer1475]

As mentioned in my build thread think I'll go with the bad batch of salt aand do a massive WC with a fresh box of RC I just got in the mail.

 

[ReefWreak]

And if you make it down to RAP this year, I'll do my best to get there and bring you some frags that you will be able to keep alive. So many SPS pieces that I should trim the hell out of. Everything has grown in leaps and bounds with the obvious exception of the Oregon Tort. Still same size as last year soul, but that's to be expected.

 

[homer1475]

I am planning on RAP this year, but not sure as of yet. I have a huge wedding planned for that weekend, but I'm trying my hardest to make it out there this year.

 

[soulpatch]

Darn Reef. The tort I cut for you is double the size it was. Though I read that SPS under an inch take longer to grow then frags over an inch. They speed up as they get larger.

Your bonsai is at least 3 times the size of what you gave me at this point.

Homer - I can take pics and bring stuff to reefapalooza if you can make it this year. I might actually gead up for both Saturday and Sunday and go see some stores in NJ and NY while I am up there. Still discussing it with my buddy as to what our pans will be.

 

[ReefWreak]

I guess we've already ruined this thread anyway, so here's the pic of the oregon tort (as well as the SSC I picked up 2 years ago, that has been a brown turdcake until I finally brought it towards the middle (well lit) area of the tank.

My bonsai has actually grown back from the 3 branches I had left, to almost the size of the colony I originally gave you (okay, that's a bit exaggerated, but it did grow significantly). I'm glad yours grew nicely as well.

I really need a new tank. I'm constantly scraping coral branches while cleaning my glass on the left side of my tank...

 

[homer1475]

Just dumped 30G of water. Making more as we speak.

Now that I think about it, my other frags died when I started this bucket of salt! You might be on to something soul.

The thing I find odd though, I've used almost this entire bucket of RC and this is the first problem that I've seen. I've had those first frags nearly a month now. They have been through 4 WC's with this same bucket of salt. But they did start to decline on saturday right after a WC on friday, and the frags I added just a week ago are starting to recede also. Maybe I can still keep the other 2 alive.

Fingers crossed its just a bad batch of salt.

 

[homer1475]

Useful discussion is never a waste of a thread. :thumbsup:

 

[soulpatch]

I went through a majority of my bucket as well. I am guessing there was some contaminant or such in the bucket and it settled towards the bottom. My levels were always on point when I had the acan crash so there was something else. I gave it a while after switching salts before I brought in new acans as well. I wanted to ensure whatever was in the water column was out. Tons of carbon, gfo, and water changes were done before I added in my new rainbows. I had a few acans survive and once their color started to return and they puffed back up I knew I was close to being clean enough for new frags.

I should have paid to send out a sample to Triton but at the time I was more concerned about stopping the disaster then finding out exactly what in the water did it. I might have to buy a test and keep it on hand should this happen again...

 

[The Kahnasaur]

Some flame angels enjoy a good bite of acan every now and then.

 

[homer1475]

Some flame angels enjoy a good bite of acan every now and then.

A bite here and there I can see, even though my flame is a model citizen. But it would have to be a whole school of flame angels to kill 7 frags overnight. I would also think there would be some bite marks or a disturbance of some sort to the skeleton.

If it were from the flame, I don't think they would recede and die overnight. I would think I would be able to see some sort of bite mark or what have you before they totally receded and died.

Besides with the sheer amount of LPS in my tank, something else would be showing sign of being eaten, and not just acans. Specially since I have not had any acans for the last couple months.

Thanks for the reply though. :thumbsup:

 

[eschulist]

I for the life of me have never been able to keep an acan in my tank as well. I have acros, lobos, brains, hammers, chalices, etc. Sometimes a certain species just doesn't jive with each tank.

 

[The Kahnasaur]

Completely agree Homer. Just throwing it out there cause I use to have a Flame that would only mess with my acans and none of the other LPS.

 

[homer1475]

I for the life of me have never been able to keep an acan in my tank as well. I have acros, lobos, brains, hammers, chalices, etc. Sometimes a certain species just doesn't jive with each tank.

My problem believing this is.....

7 frags lived and grew for nearly a year(10 months) before they just all of a sudden up and died.

I honestly think Soulpatch is on to something with the bad salt. The original 7 acan frags I had died when I started this bucket(previously alive and growing for 10 months). Didn't add any new, as I thought it was the algaefix. Waited about 2 months (several WC's later I figured the algafix was gone from the tank)added 2 frags who did great for a month, then just up and died overnight. Now the other 3 frags I have are starting to recede and not look so hot.

I'm mixing up new water with a fresh box of IORC. I should be able to change roughly 90% of my water when I get it all mixed up. If they continue to recede I'll know it's not the salt. Then and only then will I possibly agree with you.