frogspawn trouble

[madnav87]

I have a Aquapod 24 w/ 70W MH, the tank has been running for about 2 months, and i put a big frogspawn in about 2 weeks ago. My nitrates, SG, pH, Alk., are all at good levels, but the frogspawn is begining to bleach, and one stalk is dying off. Does anybody know what could be happening? Any suggestions would be helpful.
Side note, i saw my emerald crab munching on my closed brain last night.....they are reef safe, right?

 

[SilverShark]

You checked your calcium levels?

 

[madnav87]

yea, it stays around 410-420

 

[splateee]

What is the tank temp? Our frogspawn looked good for about a month but then it also started bleaching out and started to receade. The temp was close to 83 to 85. I lowered it by using a fan, now it is around 78 with the lights on. Now the frogspawn is starting to color back up and extending more but it is very slow.

Also we had two emerald crabs that took care of the bubble algae. Then i noticed one day they were picking at the GSP, so i got rid of them. They say they are reef safe but it is pretty much a hit or miss i think.

 

[madnav87]

I keep the temp at 78 to 80 over the course of the day, so i hope thats not the problem. Could it be water clarity? I have a skimmer that is still breaking in, and is producing many microbubbles that are kind of clouding the water.
Thanks, i guess i'll have to remove the crab

 

[papagimp]

how are your phosphate levels? I've heard that high phosphate will precipitate calcium and render it unusable to corals. I had a problem with a hammer receding and bleaching. My phosphate were around 2.0ppm, I raised calcium to 600 and the hammer started to recover. now that my phosphates are lower I'm lowering calcium back to normal. just a thought.

 

[madnav87]

ok, how do i reduce phosphates? just water changes or should i use phosphate absorption media?
thanks

 

[splateee]

I have used phosphate removers in a filter bag and placed it in my power filter. I think there are a certain kind of phosphate remover that can cause problems, but i can't remember why though.

 

[Chupakabra-King]

Actually if you drip some kalkwasser ( limewater ) in your tank it will help deplete the water of phosphate. ( precipitate it or whatever you wanna call it )

 

[madnav87]

i have been using calcium supplements (like kalkwasser) , and im going to try to raise the levels to over 500 to get the phosphate out. But in the meantime, should i just wait, and hope it doesnt get worse?
Thanks

 

[PatMayo]

I would check that assessment of kalkwasser helping to deplete phosphate. You can double check this in the chemistry forum.

Regards,

Pat

 

[t_wolf323]

I had a emerald crab as well that liked to eat my red lobo. All I have to say is that he sleeps with Nemo now in the toilet!

 

[madnav87]

I put some PhosGuard in a media bag in the sump, so i hope that helps with the phosphates. And i am going to switch to using RO water instead of dechlorinated tap water. Also, my calcium level dropped from about 410 to less than 300, and i have no idea why...grrrrrr.