Do i have a LFS problem?

G

goalieman392

New member
ok ive had my 54 gallon reef tank set up for bout 2 months now, and i have about 10-15 lbs of live rock. I picked up my first coral, a leather mushroom like coral. It looked really healthy, and when i took it home it quickly opened up to my 160 watts of blue actinc and flourescent. It fully extended its polyps and etc. On the second day it was all alive and well, just not with quite the polyp extension. The third day i woke up and it looked like it was rotting and it was all slumped over and kind of deteriorating. It died on the fourth day and i had to remove it. I did testing and my PH was 8.2 ammonia was close to 0, as were nitrates and nitrites. the salinity was about 1.027. I had added the proper concentrations of idoine and calcium. Is it my fault that the coral died, or did i buy a bad coral or what? I didnt see my hermit crabs, clown fish or damsels messin with it so im just puzzled what could cause its untimely death. Any Ideas?
 
What kind of flow do you have? How did you acclimate? Do you test for iodine and calcium? Test your copper.

Maybe we can figure this out.
 
the iodine part is what scares me.... i think something might have been wrong in your tank.... btw, what part of georgia you from?
 
I have not tested for copper, but i have used no medications, and i cant think of any fathomable source for copper to be introduced.... the coral was in an area of medium flow from one of my powerheads, and i acclimated it both by temperature and mixing my tank water into the bag over a period of a few hours... I am just recently recovered from a big purple hair algae (actually i think they are diatoms) but it was all gone when i introed the coral.
 
im from peachtree city, in metro atlanta. yeah the store guy said iodine would be a good idea for it, and it being only a few bucks i went ahead and got it, as i had heard iodine lowers stress on fish too.
 
the problem is, iodine can be very toxic if it is overdosed, and it is very easy to overdose....im not saying iodine is a bad thing, just something that you have to be very careful of....i have had several reef tanks over a period of about 4 years now, and i have never dosed iodine...i believe there is enough in the salt to make up for any i might need... i figure, if i dont have a test for it, im not gonna put it in my tank, cause who knows what i might be doing.... that being said, i have never had any problems by NOT dosing iodine... i think that might be where your problem is...maybe... i would run some carbon and do some water changes.....
 
yeah i did 2 ten percent water changes over the last few days, and i underdosed a little bit from what the package said. Im very grateful for your help guys, i was just kinda worried that there was no obvious problem. tomorrow is payday so we will see how my new coral fares
 
yeah, when i first started in this hobby, a LFS owner wouldnt sell to me cuz i didnt use iodine. you know what? F***K HIM!
maybe you should test for the iodine, and deffinately add less that what recommended i add like 2.5ml per 25g once a week. (well thats supposed to be my schedual, but its more like once a month or less!)

you said that "were nitrates and nitrites. the salinity was about 1.027" how much nitrates and nitrites were ("is")there? and in my personal opinion, your salinity is just a smidge on the high side...maybe try lowering it to like 1.025 or so.....slooooooowwwwllllllyyyyyy....
 
ah i was saying the nitrates and nitries were at 0, like the ammonia heh. yeah im going to pick up some more top off water tomorrow to go back to the right salinity ive had a busy schedule heh. yeah im learning to take all that guys advice with a grain of salt. thanks again for the help
 
haha....no problem, and good luck with your new stuff, let us know how everything goes...

P.S. i have found, that it has been much to my benefit to come here, and ask people questions before buying something instead of always trusting the LFS guys... not that they are alwasy wrong, but you cant beat thousands of experienced reef people most of the time!
 
Re: Do i have a LFS problem?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6921886#post6921886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by goalieman392
ammonia was close to 0, as were nitrates and nitrites. the salinity was about 1.027. I had added the proper concentrations of idoine and calcium.
Click to expand...

Ammonia was CLOSE to zero..... or is WAS zero? Big difference. One would kill the coral, one would not. Also, I agree with the others.. do not dose iodine. It is not needed no matter what your LFS says. And if a LFS insists you dose it...find another LFS.

Tom
 
I third the motion -- any iodine your tank needs can be accomplished with water changes. Don't dose what you're not testing for, either...
 
Just a guess, but it may have been acclimation. I'm quite sure your LFS doesn't keep their salinity at 1.027, salt would be way to expensive. Most LFS keep their salinity low for that reason. So if the LFS is at 1.023 and you change the corals salinity .004 in just a few hours, that may be too much stress. I really don't know, just throwing it out there. I myself drip acclimate all invertabrates, for several hours, even lowly snails.
 
i would recomend not buying any corals until you were more certain about husbandry, identification, acclimation, lighting, filtration and dosing. it sounds like you have more questions than can be answered in one thread.

next paycheck, instead of buying another coral try buying a book
Books Dont Die, and are a good refrence to have on hand.

also, what is your lighting configuration. 160w of what type?
4x40w NO? VHO? PC?
 
You shouldnt have to add any type of supplements to the tank. Normal water changes will work just fine and will replace what was used.
I have a fully stocked 90 with LPS,SPS,leathers and a clam, I dont supplement anything. The only time I add anything is when I do water changes, that alone will be enough.
Unless you have demanding corals that soak the certain elements up, thatwould be the only time i would add anything, but like said above test for it firts to make sure you really need it.
It sounds like the LFS just wanted you to spend more money.
 
i agree with the group. when my dad and i bought a coral book it was 40$. i just told my dad that" which is better, a 40$ that we can read whenever we want and won't die? or a 40$ coral that dies overnight cause we don't know anything about it?
 
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