frogspawn, hammer receding, what to do?

[moon jelly]

I have had frogspawn and hammer coral in my tank since April. It was doing well until a few days ago. I noticed that one "branch" on each of these corals have receded and the head does not fully extend. My calcium was low-300. So, I have been adding Kent Marine 2 part calcium/buffer twice a day. My calcium is now up to 390. Is it a goner or will it come back if I get my calcium higher? Any other suggestions on what to do would greatly be appreciated. Thanx!

 

[moon jelly]

Nobody knows if the heads base (you know, the white skeleton) will grow back with increased calcium levels?

 

[blange3]

Can it come back? Yes, but what about your other parameters?

What is the Alk, temp, ph, SG, etc.?

Do you do water changes? How much and how often. What else lives in the tank and how are they doing?

 

[moon jelly]

All my other parameters are OK except nitrate is 10. alk 4 meq, temp 78-80, pH 8.0, Sg 35 ppm. I change at least 5 gal weekly. I went thru a time when I was changing 15-18 gal every few days to try to rid the tank of nitrates.

 

[Wrench]

How many fish are in the tank? Seems like it's overstocked or you don't have a sufficient colony of bacteria to support the bio load in the tank. Do you have live rock? How much? Do you have enough water flow/current? How deep is your sand bed? What is your substrate?

 

[moon jelly]

I only have 4 fish-2 false percula, an orchid dottyback and a neon goby. I would think if I didn't have a good enough bioload, I would also have ammonia/nitrite which I have not had since Sept 2005. I have about 40lbs live rock. I have a 9.5 mag drive pumping water out of 2 returns (I think this is sufficient for a 29 gal). I have argonite (sp) 1-2 mm size. Sand bed is 3-4 inches (deeper in the back). Lighting is PC's 1 65watt 10000k and 1 65 watt actinic. I just changed the bulbs on Wed. My salt is tropic marin. I add Kent ca/buffer as needed. I am thinking of switching to tropic marin pro reef. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[baldbloke]

hi mate, whats your mg level?

 

[moon jelly]

mg level? no clue. don't have a test kit. however being a nurse, i know that there is a relationship with mg and ca. we actually give calcium to reverse magnesium when a patients level is too high. is your thoughts that my mg level is too high, therefore lowering my ca level? cheerio

 

[baldbloke]

hi, was thinking your mag may be too low, alot of salts here in the uk which i assume are the same where you are, can be pretty low in mg, even ones that state they are not, if your mg is too low, your corals will not absord ca etc effectively which will cause probs, i have alot of euphillias that are growing like wildfire, my mg runs at 1400, i'd run a mg test for sure, at least you will then know if your params are correct or not, id hazzard a guess they will be low

 

[moon jelly]

thanks for the info. i will get a mg test kit tomorrow (salifert). what should the normal levels be? if they are low, can i just add an mag supplement? i am trying to figure out the rationale (chemistry). i know that if magnesium is high, calcium will lower it. i don't understand why corals will not absorb ca if the mg is too low. BTW- what salt do you use? I use tropic marin and am thinking of switching to tropic marin pro reef. thanx alot.

 

[baldbloke]

hi moon jelly, was just about to mention your salt, the standard tmc salt is desinged for tap water, you will find when mixed with ro/di water you will have fairly low mg,ca,dkh levels all of which are vital for hard corals, this is why they brought out pro reef, i know this for a fact as my good friend is one of the reps for tmc which comes in handy!!! i use the pro reef version i rate it as the best salt available, every now and then i'll get a batch where the mag is a little low, but i just buffer it back to correct levels using tmc's bio mag, your mg ideally wants to be between 1300min-1500max, your ca mg dkh all go hand in hand with each other if one is out it can lock another so the coral cant utilize it properly, as long as brown jelly has not attacked your frog spawn when you correct your mag i think you will be plesently surprised, your corals will thank you for it

 

[moon jelly]

what is brown jelly? thank you for all your insight. you have been very, very informative. can i pm you if i have any questions? thanks. if i get my ca and mg in check, how long will it take for the euphillia to rejuvenate? also, can i send you fotos so you can tell me how it looks? i don't know how to post fotos on rc yet but i can email them.thanx a million. maria

 

[baldbloke]

sure you can pm me any questions, i'll help where i can, brown jelly is a bacterial in fection that can effect dying/damaged tissue, when it takes hold, its a real pain in the backside!!it can destroy the infected head in a couple of days! its pretty obvious when a coral has it, as to how long it will take to heal, i cant answer that some longer than others, i was given a hammer and frog spawn from another hobbyist because his was in a bad way, ie, receeded heads, heads not expanding, within two weeks you could not recognise it! slow flow i find gets the best expansion from mine, i have a euphillia fall all up one end of my tank,where they have a gentle flow and not to much direct light, when you have a combination of different coloured hammers and frog spawns all mixed up it looks real nice pm me if you want o mail some pics and i'll pm you my e mail back.

 

[moon jelly]

baldbloke, YGPM

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

sorry to hear...