Nem Problem

J

jimbow

New member
So I'm getting my tank going. I have a single fish (Kole Tang) and it is doing great. One of the rocks I bought has xeinia on it and it looks very healthy. I also have a couple pieces of green star polyp that were given to me and they are doing fine. On Saturday I put in several corals and they seem to be doing OK (they are opening up and such). The tank is a 150 and I did a 20 gallon water change a week ago. I have an Apex dose set up to change a gallon a day.

At the same time in put in an anemone. It went under the edge of some rocks and opened up nicely. I was happy. The next morning it was all shriveled up. Monday night it was laying in its side out on the sand. I moved it to a more sheltered location but out in the light. Tonight it looks like slime under some rocks. I'm pretty sure it is gone.

So my parameters are:

Salt 1.026 on a refactor and 33.8 on the Apex
PH 8.07 on the Apex
Temp stays between 78.5 and 79 on the Apex
CA is 300 (A little low but steady for the past month)
Alk is 6.4 (again a hair low but staying between there and 7 for the past month)
MG 750
PO4 .16 (has been the same for a month)
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0

Any thoughts on what caused it to die so quickly?

Also I have a doser but haven't used it yet. ANy suggestions on what I could/should dose to get the ALK and MG up?
 
how long has the tank been setup and what type of anemone is it???
the xenia and green star polyps are some of the types of coral that LOVE dirty water so them looking good does not mean your water is good, However your params look okay so it could be acclimation or poor shipment depending on what type of anemone.
 
Your parameters are way off.
Ca 300 should be 420-460
Alk 6.4 dKh should be 8-8.6 dKh
Mg 750 very low should be 1300-1400
PO4 .16? This is high .01-.03 is a good range
Get these in line first.
How old is your tank?
 
Well, there is a reason it's generally said to wait for a well established tank (6-12 months) for nems. They can be really sensitive. Work on getting your params where they should be, review your lighting, and give it some time before trying again. You will get there!
 
The tank is about 2 months old. I never heard that I should wait for the nem.

Type of Nem to be truthful I don't know. I got it at the LFS and it has short tentacles with mint green tips.

How do I get the PO4 down? I know I can add for the MG and CA.
 
You don't need to add anything, you need to get a good quality Reef Salt mix. What salt are you using? Also your refractometer is off if your Apex says you're at 33.8 it should be 35 or 1.026 so you need to calibrate your refractometer.

I use and suggest using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. You can buy it online with delivery included for right at $50 for a box that will do 200 gallons. It's a great product for reef tanks IMO and IME. IORC is the reason that I don't have to dose anything because of doing 20% WC's every two weeks.

Most anemones are very difficult to keep for newbies because you're not accustomed to keeping good steady water parameters. It take time to learn how to do this. But a good place to start is what I said before. Calibrate your refractometer and change to IORC and keep it steady on your apex at 35 or with your newly calibrated refractometer at 1.026 Using the Reef Crystals mixed to 1.025 will put your parameters where they need to be yet a little on the high side. RC is made this way so that your hard corals have what they need to thrive and grow without having to dose anything as long as you get on a WC schedule that keeps you within the proper range. For me that is 20% WC every two weeks.

If you get started with getting your tank parameters where they need to be and stable you can get another anemone in about 4 months. As tanks mature they do become more stable and that stability is so very important to difficult to keep corals and anemones. Do not gauge anything about your tank with GSP or Xenia's as they are generally considered weeds of the coral world.

Good luck and we'll be here to help you succeed
 
I am using the Reef Crystal salt. I need to get a temp probe (I have the probe) installed with the apex cond probe so it is more accurate. I did calibrate the refractometer so I've been relying on it because I am not using the temp probe with the salinity check.

I have a DOS set up to change about a gallon of water a day (sounds like I might need to do more). I also have an ATO the reading on the Apex stays pretty steady. I am going to check where the MG and CA are in the NSW, I've never checked that.

Thanks for the information.
 
OK I checked the mixed water and I get
MG 960 Still low
CA 350 again low
KH 8.4 which is in the correct range.

Maybe I'll have my refactometer checked. If the salt is low that might be at least part of the problem. I guess it could be a testing issue too. I'll have the LFS check to see if their readings match.
 
jimbow said:
OK I checked the mixed water and I get
MG 960 Still low
CA 350 again low
KH 8.4 which is in the correct range.

Maybe I'll have my refactometer checked. If the salt is low that might be at least part of the problem. I guess it could be a testing issue too. I'll have the LFS check to see if their readings match.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I was gonna say, something didn't jive with your other points. This would explain it. Either your readings are wrong or you got a batch of salt that doesn't have the elements in proportion (unlikely, but possible). If it is your readings, I'd guess you're off by almost 30% because IME, RC mixes up to around 1360 Mg.
 
Yes something is bad wrong, either you got a bad batch of Reef Crystals or your refractomer is not right. I use RC and the numbers are a lot higher than that.

Kh of 8.4 is in range but RC produce way more than that at 1.026. Like I said its only one of two things. So bring some water and your refractometer to your LFS have them test it, and you see what their water reads on your refractometer to see how far off it is.
 
jimbow said:
OK I checked the mixed water and I get
MG 960 Still low
CA 350 again low
KH 8.4 which is in the correct range.

Maybe I'll have my refactometer checked. If the salt is low that might be at least part of the problem. I guess it could be a testing issue too. I'll have the LFS check to see if their readings match.
Click to expand...

How to make your own checking solution. I tried this and compared a prepared standard to be sure I made it correctly, and for the most part, it was spot on.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/rhf/#18
 
So I am getting to the bottom of my water issue. It is not the refactometer. But the moron reading the tests.

So my water parameters are:
Salt is 1.026
MG is 1400
KH is 10.5
CA is 400
PH is 8.03
PO4 is .16

Now nothing has really changed except I'm reading the tests correctly.

So my question is what could be wrong that the Nem died so quickly? Just the PO4 is off. I have started dosing vodka to lower he PO4.
 
Can you explain how "the moron" misread so many tests incorrectly at the same time? KH off by 2, Ca off by 50, Mg off by almost 500?
 
Well sure. I bought some new tests. My other one were older and I thought maybe they were not good. All of these require dripping a drop at a time from a 1ML syringe. I did the CA test and got near the same reading as the old test. When I did the KH test my result was not even listed on the chart. Trying to figure this out I noticed the chart said amount used. IE if the syringe reads .4ML I have used .6ML. I had been reading the .4ML line not the .6ML line. The reason the CA and KH are close is the amount used was closer to .5. The MG was closer to like .7 used so I was reading .3. It would be way easier to set the chart up so I don't need to subtract.

The LFS store said the same about the PO4 not being the problem. The corals I put in the same day are looking great. There are some mushrooms that look better than when I took them from the store. I also got a leather (it think that is what its called) it looks great. I got a couple zoanthus that look OK. One looks better than the other but it might be a flow issue. The one not as nice is in a high flow area. Also my CUC has been in for 6 weeks and they seem fine.

I'm thinking the thing was sick and just didn't make the transfer.
 
jimbow said:
Well sure. I bought some new tests. My other one were older and I thought maybe they were not good. All of these require dripping a drop at a time from a 1ML syringe. I did the CA test and got near the same reading as the old test. When I did the KH test my result was not even listed on the chart. Trying to figure this out I noticed the chart said amount used. IE if the syringe reads .4ML I have used .6ML. I had been reading the .4ML line not the .6ML line. The reason the CA and KH are close is the amount used was closer to .5. The MG was closer to like .7 used so I was reading .3. It would be way easier to set the chart up so I don't need to subtract.
Click to expand...

What tests are you using so I don't do the same thing down the road. Salifert does what is remaining so I could see me doing this if I ever switched brands.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
Saltwater cycle possible stuck
2
Replies
26
Views
796
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
griss
High pH / Low Alk
Replies
6
Views
763
griss
griss
C
Question Help Plz!!!!
Replies
9
Views
514
Timfish
Timfish
R
Cyano and nutrients
2
Replies
22
Views
536
Radicalrob1982
R
jeryl
Free Equipment - Parkland
Replies
1
Views
277
jeryl
jeryl
Back
Top