Just got some LPS from DD this morning, tissue is melting off in QT

[GroktheCube]

Any ideas on what I could do to save them at this point? One galaxea, one favia, one favites. They looked fine when they initially arrived. Matched temp, checked salinity to make sure it was the same, popped them in after a quick rinse in clean ASW in a bucket. The QT is a 10 filled with water made yesterday and mixed overnight, temperature at 79*. Very mild flow provided by 100gph PH.

At this point, I can see skeleton sticking through all over the place on all three, about 5 hours after I got them into QT. I double checked parameters, and all are 100% fine (8.2pH, 0 nitrogen of any sort, 0 phosphate, 420ca, 9dKH). I've never kept LPS before, is it normal for tissue to appear to be rapidly receding just after going into QT?

Should I just ignore it and hope for the best? Toss them into the DT? I do not see any way any sort of toxin or chemical could have gotten into the water in the QT, but now I'm feeling paranoid.

 

[GroktheCube]

Ok... I just found some brittle star hitchikers, dead as doornails... I yanked all three and put them in an emptied Poland Springs bottle with about .3gal of water from the DT. Salinity and temp are a little off, but I have absolutely nothing to lose.


There must have been something really nasty in there. EVERYTHING in that tank was brand new, including the tank, and cleaned with vinegar. I'll be replacing all my RO/DI filters and my mixing tank now. Don't think I'll be able to rest easy otherwise.

 

[Stylaster]

If your QT tank is brand new it hasnt gone throught a cycle then. Once you added the corals you started the nitrogen cycle you have probably gone through an ammonia spike and now im guessing a nitrite spike. Thats why things are dying off. Your QT should be an establish tank for atleast a month.

 

[GroktheCube]

There were no dissolved inorganic nitrogenous compounds of any sort that were detectable in the water. The animals were only in the water for a couple hours, and not fed. I have cycled sponges usable for long term QT, that definitely wasn't the issue here. It seems like there was some sort of nasty contaminant here. Thank you for the reply though.

 

[impur]

So you only acclimated to temp and did not acclimate to your water params?

Matched temp, checked salinity to make sure it was the same, popped them in after a quick rinse in clean ASW in a bucket

By just popping them into the tank without them adjusting to the different params of your water I think you shocked them which is causing the recession. You should have added water from your tank to the water they were shipped in little by little over the course of an hour or so. Its just a waiting game at this point IMO, give them the best params you can, low light low flow and hope they recover. Feed them if they show some feeders also. Good luck.

 

[GroktheCube]

I was under the impression that it was better to not let animals sit in shipping water if temperature, salinity, and pH are the same? Does this only apply to fish and motile inverts? I thought that I had read that comparatively small differences in mag/cal/alk were insignificant compared to ammonia, mucous, etc in shipping water.

In this particular case, I am pretty sure the primary issue was something super nasty in the water. The 3 showed improvement within a few hours of being taken out of the tainted QT in placed in ~1/3rd of a gallon of water from my main system with some air for circulation. Put them in the sump under some light, and all are much better. The largest (favites) went into the DT today, as it was fully recovered, and actually appears to be growing a new head. The smaller favia has covered all exposed tissue, and it looks like all of its heads survived the ordeal, but it still hasn't fully recovered yet. The Galaxea seems a bit slower to recover, but it is extending further every day, and both are taking food.

 

[impur]

I acclimate everything the same (gradual additions of tank water to the water it came in) and QT everything, and I haven't had the problem you describe unless it was already occurring in the bag while shipping or something. That was the only thing that stuck out to me.

 

[GroktheCube]

Thanks. I may try doing the drip routine with the next corals I get in.