Help Candies wont Expand!?

[bluespotocto]

I got these 3 candy heads about a week ago. They were doing really good at the beginning of the week. Now they wont expand. There tentacles arent coming out at night any more. All my parameters are good in the tank. Here are some pics. Does any one know?

 

[bluespotocto]

Any one know......? I do have it placed about half way in the tank. It is also getting some flow on it. I have a hydor koralia 3 in a 40 gallon tank.

 

[bluespotocto]

Does any one know? I think one of them are dieing! :sad2:

 

[Dadekster]

Well, normally I would say light shock, but you said they did fine for a week. If your parameters are good only other thing I could think of is maybe livestock is bothering it, either fish or maybe whatever is upstream from it.

 

[bluespotocto]

They have been knocked over a couple times in the last week. I lowered them to see how they will do.

 

[ParanoidObseshn]

Make sure they arent in an area of heavy flow.

 

[bluespotocto]

Well it is dieing for sure now. I am starting to see the skeleton of it. I have it in the sand in the least amount of flow. I dont know what to do?!

 

[bluespotocto]

Well.... all my other LPS arent doing to well either. Does any one have any ideas what might be wrong with them? I will check all my parameters again tonight.

 

[bluespotocto]

I just checked my parameters.

Calcium: 500ppm
Alk: 1300 ppm
Ammonia: .05 ppm
Nitrite: .10 ppm
Nitrate: 40 ppm

There all a little high. I just did a water change. Could those high parameters be my problem.

 

[ralphie]

What other corals do you have in there? Do you run carbon? Can you run a phosphate test?

My candy canes do not look great if I do not change my carbon regularly since I have soft corals in my tank too.

 

[timr]

Definitely do the water changes to lower the ammonia and nitrite levels. The ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate numbers all indicate the tank has some die-off. How long has the tank been set up? Any fish die lately or something else that might have kicked off a cycle?

 

[bluespotocto]

I have had the take running for 2 years now. I did just have monti. cap. die. I then crushed up all the bleached monti. cap and put it in the sand. Could that have been the problem?

I dont run carbon, but i do run a phosphate reactor.

 

[greggnyce]

Run some carbon and change the water. Bleached corals can still contain life inside of them for a time and if you crush it up and place it in the sand it is no different then burying some food in the sand. I don tnkow if that would cause the ammonia though, how big was the colony? Any swings in temperature or salinity?

 

[LPS_Blasto]

Are you running a skimmer? Can you give a rundown of the tank setup and equipment? I think you are running 2 PC 65w on a 40g tank, is that right? Your ammonia, trites and trates are all bad IMO. You should strive for 0 on all those parameters. There's either a cycle or you don't have adequate nutrient export. Give us the rundown on the setup.

 

[bluespotocto]

I have a 40 gallon tank with a skimmer filter pads and a wet dry trickle filter. I have about 35 pounds of live rock and about 2 in sand bed. I also have the the two 65 compact fluorescence on the tank. I have a lot soft corals and some LPS. I know wet/dry are nitrate factories, so right after i checked my parameters i cleaned out the wet/dry trickle filter. Nothing has died in a long time except for that monti. cap. That night also fed all the corals and made them perk up really nice. The candy that is slowly sinking into the skeleton came back out over it while the food was placed on its mouth. My acans are doing good and my closed brain is looking ok. My torch coral has had no problem but i got home today and wasnt out. So i hope nothing is wrong with him. So what could be my problem?

 

[LPS_Blasto]

Sounds like you might have some nutrient export problems or it could be a small cycle. Ammonia should be well under control at this stage of your tank. Got any dead snails hiding under rocks? How's your clean up crew? Got at least 20-30 snails and 20-30 crabs in there? Can you convert the wet/dry to a sump? Usually 2 or 3 strategically placed baffles and 25lbs of live rock will get you started. You'll want a sump where the return pump sits. You'll want a spot for some live rock and macro algae.

If thats not an option, you might consider a HOB refugium. You can usually power them with a 250-400gph pump. Slap a light on top and fill the bottom with sand. Stuff some macro algae in there and light it opposite your tank to stabilize pH.

I'd be doing 10% - 15% weekly water changes with good RO/DI water. Clean your filter pads every day. Just rinse them in warm tap water and flush all the gunk out of them. You don't want to grow bacteria on them. Just mechanical filtration so they need to be flushed off daily.

I'd also have more live rock. The rule of thumb is 1 - 2 pounds per gallon.

Even a 10g tank and 3 baffles can make a nice refugium. If you can place the refuguim over the top of the tank it's even better. That way the pods will naturally drain into the tank without having to go through an impeller wheel.

 

[bluespotocto]

I have been thinking about taking all the bio balls out of the wet/dry spot and putting in some live rock and macro algae or what ever you need. For my clean up crew i have about 10 hermits and 5 snails and 2 serpent stars and a sea cucumber and a urchin. I might have said that i had a low amount of live rock i have about 40-45. If i could get some details how to convert my wet dry to a think with live rock and macro algae would be great. Also what are baffles?

 

[LPS_Blasto]

Baffles control the water flow through a sump or refugium. They are mostly used to trap bubbles and stop them before they get to the actual sump where the return pump is located. Return pumps take bubbles and chop them up into tiny microbubbles and those SUCK in your reef tank.

Take a picture of your wet/dry and I'll edit it to show where you need the baffles. It shouldn't take more than 2 or 3 baffles and a tube of silicone to convert that wet/dry. You can go to most mom and pop hardware stores and have glass cut for your baffles. 3/16" glass is not more than $4 or $5 per square foot. Get 1/4" glass if you can find it.

 

[bluespotocto]

My wet/dry is split into 2 sections. Is it possible i could have a half and half thing going? I can really get a good pic because its so close to the wall. Also i want to convert it cant i take those out and put some live rock and macro algae? Before entering the tank it will run through my return pump so wont that chop up the little bubbles? If i am going to turn into a fuge(is that the right word) should i keep the drip plate there or just have it run into the section and then go into the other one underneath the splitter? I could also first have a little fuge in the first section then have it over flow into the second section which i was thinking i could keep live rock. Will a 50/50 thing be good?

 

[kingfisher62]

They do not look like they are dying just not expanding. You mentioned the fell the other day.That can set them back a bit , the skeleton underneath the tissue is extremely fragile and can break very easily. They will regenerate and recover but it takes a little time. I find mine do a lot better If I mount them to a larger rock so they do not ever fall over.

How is your salinity , I notice that has a big affect on my LPS if too high or too low.When is the last time you calibrated your refractometer?
The high nitrates do not scare me as much as your nitrites and ammonia. I have never measured any nitrites and amm. after my original cycle completed, somethings up!