Lack of Polyp Extension

MiNdErAsR

Dark Lord of Sriracha!
Staff member
RC Mod
OK guys, I have a problem and I'm looking for ideas here...

For the past few days, none of my acros are showing polyps (day or night). This is highly unusual, especially at night. Clams all look great with mantles extended.

Water test results as follows...
Temp 80-82Ã"šÃ‚°f
Salinity 34-35 PPT (refractometer)
Alkalinity 4 mEq/L (LaMotte)
Ca not tested
pH 8.00-8.15 (PinPoint)
ammonia undetectable (Seatest)
nitrate undetectable (Seatest)

Tank setup is 120g AGA RR w/30g sump, dual 400w Iwasaki 6500Ã"šÃ‚°k halides and dual 110w URI actinic 03 VHOs. Lots of turbulent water flow provided by a Mag9.5 for sump return via AGA returns, Mag7 feeding a Ã"šÃ‚¾" Seaswirl, and 4-Maxijet 1200 powerheads on a Red Sea Wavemaster Pro. Deep sandbed (5-6") and roughly 40 lbs. of live rock.

At first I thought perhaps the thermometer was off. I lowered the heater reducing the temperature swing from 82-84Ã"šÃ‚° to what I posted above. Also began running carbon aggressively via a HOT Magnum, and floated a polyfilter. No change.

Any ideas or thoughts of what I should look for or try next?

TIA

Just an update...calcium is ~ 557 mg/L (LaMotte) and phosphate is ~ 0.02 mg/L (Hach).
 
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Jim,

I fairly certain you don't have any softies in your tank. Correct? That would have been my first guess (Chemical Warfare).

I would try a large water change first...

Let me know...
 
Jim,

I just reread your post, Ca is at 557?? That doesn't sound right, mainly because your Alk is at 4. Just a thought...check your Magnesium levels. I think Craig states somewhere in his papers that low levels of Magnesium can cause a severe ionic imbalance. I doubt it has anything to do with your SPS's...but at least it's a start.
 
Actually the elevated calcium level is possible with a reactor. Lower magnesium would depress calcium levels so I don't think that's the problem. Looks like some water changes are in my future. Thanks for replying.
 
yep, do a water change. mine was doing the same thing. did a water change and polyps extended for 2 days with lights on and now they don't extend with lights on but do extend when lights are off. good luck
 
Sue,
Unfortunately not. Corals are still not showing polyps. My table is gone...tissue peeling off (but it never was doing that great). Funny thing is my clams never looked happier, fish are fine, as are the snails.

Ran carbon for 4 days straight (via HOT Magnum), floated a polyfilter, and I'm mixing up 35g for a water change as I type. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

:(
 
i had the same thing happen once. something had changed with my reactor. bubble rate had increased, or something along those lines. changes in Ca and Alk will do it.

557 seems pretty darn high to me. even with a reactor. that's unnaturally high.

check for stray voltage perhaps too.

fwiw

Tim
 
Jim, my fingers are double crossed for ya. I have no idea what the problem is but it seems to have come on quick. Maybe with a good water change things will look better. It sure must be something the sps are reacting to as the clams are fine and fish aren't bothered. I wonder why the clams are showing no signs of stress and the corals are.

Check out my 120 sps tank:
http://suetruett.homestead.com/home.html
www.marshreef.org/members
 
Just a followup...

After performing a 35g water change, I see no difference in the coral. Going to try another 35g change in a few days and see what happens. After that, I don't know. Probably just let things be, and allow nature to take it's course.
:(
 
Mike,
Yes. A thread with the same topic exists in Eric's forum. He too suggested a water change.
 
I figured you did, I was just too lazy to look for it ;)

So, lets see what you've done so far
  • Ran Carbon for several days
  • Checked Calcium, Alk, PH etc... all normal (except for that Ca reading, I still think it's too high!!!) ;)
  • Large water change - 35gl another one coming

I would check the following
  • Proper grounding - I'm sure you've done this, but hey I'm grasping for straws here!!! ;)
  • How about small amounts of copper or trace metals somehow getting into the tank? Check above item for my reasoning (Think Straws here) ;)
  • How about poor/contaimainted makeup water? Remember think straws here...;)

Hope I gave you something to smile about, while you go through this problem. Keeping my fingers crossed for ya...
 
Hey Jim. If there is a contaminant in the water, the PolyFilter will certainly help. Rather than float it, I would cut it up into small pieces and place it in the Magnum. You should get much better impurity removal that way. Best of luck to ya, man.
 
Agu,
I'm not quite sure what's going on in the tank. As you may or may not know, I only had a few pieces of coral to begin with. Lost my table top (A. cytherea?), and none of the other acropora are extending polyps. It's been a couple of weeks now, so I don't have my hopes up. With the exception of the table top, all still have "skin". One thing that I'm happy for, a Montipora confusa frag I recently obtained from Rich Knecht appears fine, with normal polyp extension. Go figure!

After running carbon agressively for nearly a week, polyfilter, a 35g and 30g water change (within 4 days of each other), I've given up. Going to let nature take it's course, while striving to maintain proper water parameters. :(
 
Jim,

I have an idea for you. It sounds like a pathogen of some sort is in your tank specifically attacking certain corals. Try Steve Tyree's dip recipe http://www.dynamicecomorphology.com/ (click on "acclimation n mounting"). If you're unwilling to dip an entire coral at least take a frag and try dipping the frag. If the frag shows polyp extension after a couple of days you have your cure. If not, you're not out anything for trying.

fwiw,
Agu
 
Jim,

So whats the scoop on the tank? The only other thing you might wanna check for is to see if anything was accidently dropped in the tank? Pennies....god forbid. I say do a 50% water change and another 50 a fter a day or so. That'll really take out whats in the water.

Jan

ps..Would you happen to know if Rich Knecht has anymore confusa frags for sale or trade??
 
Thanks for the continued replies/thoughts on my situation. Very much appreciated.

Dipping the coral is not an option as these are frags which have already encrusted to the live rock. I'm unable to cut a frag from these pieces as they are still too small.

Hadn't thought of using a UV Sterilizer. Unfortunately going to MACNA has depleted the monetary resources needed for such a purchase. Plus I'm running out of circuits! :)

Already performed two 35 gallon water changes in quick succession (within 4 days of each other), and it made not one bit of difference.

Thanks again.
 
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