dying or being eaten?

[willper]

I purchased some frags from a LFS and this one appears to be dying or something is eating it. I was told the name when I purchased it but now I cannot remember. Any Suggestion on what is wrong.

My tank is two months old and I do 20% water changes every two weeks.

PH 8.1
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm
Temp 79
Salinity 1.024

Here is a picture when it was purchased on 01-07-08

Here is the frag picture taken 01-20-08

Thanks,

Bill

 

[mpoletti]

Do you have any idea what your alk is? It looks to me like it is melting.

 

[dots]

That looks like a rock full of BTA's to me?

 

[robertloop]

Willper, I'm thinking you have a torch coral there. Its good to see your ammonia and nitrite down in such a new tank. Like the prior post.... We need alk and CA reading.

 

[willper]

I do not have those test kits, however I will take a water sample to the LFS and have it tested.
Thanks for your help.

Bill

 

[willper]

new information

new information

I pulled the frag out of the tank and inspected the underside of the rock and found 3 of these. They appear to be some kind of starfish, I really do not know. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[mpoletti]

In second picture down, it looks like there is some type of film on your sand bed. Is that just because it is a picture? If so, the problem could also be flow related.

 

[D&KSac]

I really might wanna think about getting KH and Ca test kits they are two of the most important things to keep regulated for sucess with corals.

 

[willper]

Marko9: Yes there is some algae buildup on the sand. Perhaps I should point the powerhead more toward the bottom of the tank.

D&KSac: That will be my next purchase.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[xia]

It looks like a hairy mushroom colony to me and it could be splitting. Sometimes they'll close up or pinch themselves in the middle and split. You can try feeding them mysis or brine shrimp too.

 

[MrMikeB]

Definitely a mushroom anemone/rhodactis of some sort. The starfish you pulled out - how large would you guess the specimen to be? It appears to be a micro brittle starfish, which are actually good for your reef as they will typically go about grazing algae. They are more than likely not eating your shrooms -in fact, if you ever did find something that would let me know - sometimes these things can take over.

The melting of shrooms are prevalent in newly caught specimens that are recent imports (versus tank propagated). I see it mostly with zoas, but occasionally shrooms and ricordias too. Some think a potential bacterial affliction or the reaction to synthetic salts. I am not sure myself, just have seen that look a lot on new imports - one of the major reasons I quarantine everything I receive. As others have suggested, your water parameters are something I would like to see to help identify a potential cause. These test kits are your best friends going forward.

By the way, welcome to the fray!

 

[willper]

I purchased a Ca and KH test kit today and the readings were:

Ca 300
KH 12

What is the best way to bring these readings to where they should be?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[robertloop]

kh is a little high. (IMO) Ca could use some dosage. If you are using instant ocean like I do, the magnesium is low and that's why the CA is low. Try a liquid CA suppliment like the one that Sea Chem offers. It contains mag along with the CA. The best of both worlds. NOTE... Your current CA wont kill anything, but it would be better at about 400.

Happy reefing.

 

[WarrenG]

For the water issues, I suggest you read the articles posted at the top of the ReefCentral forum called Reef Chemistry.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=112