Hey guys,
I really need some help with my tank, and since I can't figure out whats going on, I'm coming to all of you with hope of some (correct) ideas to fix the problem(s), whatever it may be! This is likely gonna be kind of long, so anybody who hangs in there, it is appreciated...
It started probably about 6-8 weeks ago. Everything was going fine, but first thing that I noticed was my zoanthids started to look no so hot, as seen in the pictures below. Up until this point, Zoas had done great in my tank and spread rapidly!
IMG_20130508_184923_700 by scotty878, on Flickr
IMG_20130508_184951_685 by scotty878, on Flickr
Then a day or so later my tank got really milky white out of seemingly nowhere, and nothing had changed to cause this. Skimmer was going pretty hard pulling out a lot of stuff, but the skimmate didn't smell like normal, but more like one of those stink/shield bugs for those of you who know what they are. Fish looked fine, anemone fine, most coral looked alright. Did a WC a day or two after, coral was back except my zoas still. Another few days go by, more milky water. Another WC, most corals back to alright, zoas still looking sad and now my BTA was acting up.
Over the next week or so, I did a few more WC's to be sure. Most everything else was again looking fine, but still the zoas and anemone weren't. Zoas were opening even less at this point, and my BTA moved for the first time since it found it's happy place in my tank. For a few strange days my hamer coral looked bad, flesh receding and it dropped a branch. Tested water for what I could, and everything came back good. BTA finally was now visible after being behind some rocks for a while, and looked as good as dead, closed up, pale, droopy, but still holding tight to my back glass. While looking in the tank with a flashlight one night, shine it on the anemone, it is clearly still alive, as it reacted to the light, but not looking healthy.
Fast forward a week or two, more WC's with a fresh bucket of salt, more clean tests, still no improvement to zoas or BTA. Have two unexplained fish deaths about 10 days apart, a small goby
and a good sized long-nosed hawkfish, who I'm not overly upset about since he ate all of my ornamental shrimp. Took my water to a few places, was told from both places that my water was pretty much perfect. Another few days go by, BTA disappears again. Shows up looking like the picture below. The second picture is of the anemone when it's healthy.
IMG_20130720_121621_391 by scotty878, on Flickr
IMG_20121206_120228_536 by scotty878, on Flickr
So clearly, although in poor health, the BTA is still alive.
Zoas develop green spots of algae as seen below, lights off for a day or two, that goes away, but picture shows their general state otherwise...
IMG_20130720_122612_782 by scotty878, on Flickr
Then to a few days ago, I come home mid-day to find my buddy Moby the Goby, a good sized diamond watchman, as lunch for some snails! I'm ****ED at this point, as he was one of my favorite fish, and looked completely healthy and active the day before! I'm running out of ideas here now!
To give a comparison of other coral health during all of this, here's a picture of my galaxea during all of this...
IMG_20130717_204929_042 by scotty878, on Flickr
The galaxea is doing GREAT, growing as quick as ever. Frogspawn and trumpet corals looks good, hammer looks alright. Flowerpot is okay but not as good as normal. Birdsnest seems to be starting to feel some pain from whatever may be happening, as the polyps aren't full and skeleton color is fading slightly. Xenia isn't looking great, but I think that's more because my urchin has developed a taste for it more than anything else.
Little note: Pretty much no problems with any sort of algae growth of anything like that EXCEPT for large tufts of algae growing on the inside edge of my overflow, right at the top, where the water flows through the slots. Needs to be cleared out about weekly.
So that's pretty much it, I don't know what to consider or try at this point. I got a different brand salt to try for tomorrow. Aside from that no hardware has changed, Everything has stayed status quo, water is seemingly good...?
I just don't know where to look next!? PLEASE HELP!!!!!
Quick tank run down:
90 Gallon tank, sump underneath (25ish gallons).
Ecoxotic original panorama fixtures, Bubble King skimmer, EcoTech powerheads. Aquiripure Nitrate Filter (I know some people are "eh" on this, but got it with the used set-up and has seemed to keep nitrates low during extended periods between past WC's). Refugium with red mangroves and cheato.
Livestock (after three unexplained deaths):
Pair of Clowns
Pair of Anthias
Pair of Banggai Cardinals
Yellow Tang
Flame Angel
Long Spine Urchin
Sea Serpent Star
Brittle Star (Possible reason for dead fish? Would it attack fish?)
Snails snails snails
PLEASE GUYS PLEASE! OUT OF IDEAS, GETTING REALLY FRUSTRATED!!!
:headwallblue: :worried2:
Anybody who made it through that, I appreciate any insight!!
Thanks in advance,
Scott D.
I really need some help with my tank, and since I can't figure out whats going on, I'm coming to all of you with hope of some (correct) ideas to fix the problem(s), whatever it may be! This is likely gonna be kind of long, so anybody who hangs in there, it is appreciated...
It started probably about 6-8 weeks ago. Everything was going fine, but first thing that I noticed was my zoanthids started to look no so hot, as seen in the pictures below. Up until this point, Zoas had done great in my tank and spread rapidly!
IMG_20130508_184923_700 by scotty878, on Flickr
IMG_20130508_184951_685 by scotty878, on Flickr
Then a day or so later my tank got really milky white out of seemingly nowhere, and nothing had changed to cause this. Skimmer was going pretty hard pulling out a lot of stuff, but the skimmate didn't smell like normal, but more like one of those stink/shield bugs for those of you who know what they are. Fish looked fine, anemone fine, most coral looked alright. Did a WC a day or two after, coral was back except my zoas still. Another few days go by, more milky water. Another WC, most corals back to alright, zoas still looking sad and now my BTA was acting up.
Over the next week or so, I did a few more WC's to be sure. Most everything else was again looking fine, but still the zoas and anemone weren't. Zoas were opening even less at this point, and my BTA moved for the first time since it found it's happy place in my tank. For a few strange days my hamer coral looked bad, flesh receding and it dropped a branch. Tested water for what I could, and everything came back good. BTA finally was now visible after being behind some rocks for a while, and looked as good as dead, closed up, pale, droopy, but still holding tight to my back glass. While looking in the tank with a flashlight one night, shine it on the anemone, it is clearly still alive, as it reacted to the light, but not looking healthy.
Fast forward a week or two, more WC's with a fresh bucket of salt, more clean tests, still no improvement to zoas or BTA. Have two unexplained fish deaths about 10 days apart, a small goby
and a good sized long-nosed hawkfish, who I'm not overly upset about since he ate all of my ornamental shrimp. Took my water to a few places, was told from both places that my water was pretty much perfect. Another few days go by, BTA disappears again. Shows up looking like the picture below. The second picture is of the anemone when it's healthy. IMG_20130720_121621_391 by scotty878, on Flickr
IMG_20121206_120228_536 by scotty878, on Flickr
So clearly, although in poor health, the BTA is still alive.
Zoas develop green spots of algae as seen below, lights off for a day or two, that goes away, but picture shows their general state otherwise...
IMG_20130720_122612_782 by scotty878, on Flickr
Then to a few days ago, I come home mid-day to find my buddy Moby the Goby, a good sized diamond watchman, as lunch for some snails! I'm ****ED at this point, as he was one of my favorite fish, and looked completely healthy and active the day before! I'm running out of ideas here now!
To give a comparison of other coral health during all of this, here's a picture of my galaxea during all of this...
IMG_20130717_204929_042 by scotty878, on Flickr
The galaxea is doing GREAT, growing as quick as ever. Frogspawn and trumpet corals looks good, hammer looks alright. Flowerpot is okay but not as good as normal. Birdsnest seems to be starting to feel some pain from whatever may be happening, as the polyps aren't full and skeleton color is fading slightly. Xenia isn't looking great, but I think that's more because my urchin has developed a taste for it more than anything else.
Little note: Pretty much no problems with any sort of algae growth of anything like that EXCEPT for large tufts of algae growing on the inside edge of my overflow, right at the top, where the water flows through the slots. Needs to be cleared out about weekly.
So that's pretty much it, I don't know what to consider or try at this point. I got a different brand salt to try for tomorrow. Aside from that no hardware has changed, Everything has stayed status quo, water is seemingly good...?
I just don't know where to look next!? PLEASE HELP!!!!!
Quick tank run down:
90 Gallon tank, sump underneath (25ish gallons).
Ecoxotic original panorama fixtures, Bubble King skimmer, EcoTech powerheads. Aquiripure Nitrate Filter (I know some people are "eh" on this, but got it with the used set-up and has seemed to keep nitrates low during extended periods between past WC's). Refugium with red mangroves and cheato.
Livestock (after three unexplained deaths):
Pair of Clowns
Pair of Anthias
Pair of Banggai Cardinals
Yellow Tang
Flame Angel
Long Spine Urchin
Sea Serpent Star
Brittle Star (Possible reason for dead fish? Would it attack fish?)
Snails snails snails
PLEASE GUYS PLEASE! OUT OF IDEAS, GETTING REALLY FRUSTRATED!!!
:headwallblue: :worried2:
Anybody who made it through that, I appreciate any insight!!
Thanks in advance,
Scott D.
