New Guy

[stormscall]

Hi everyone,

I just thought I would log in and say Hi. I live outside Decatur (Priceville) and just put my first Reef tank together a little over a month ago. I have a 90g Deep Sea Aquatic with a 20g sump. I was lucky enough to get together with John at Coral Reef Aquatics as I was getting started so he has kept my head above water for me. I also have had a Lot of help from Don in Decatur. Between those two, everything has worked out pretty good.

I have had a lot of experience with Freshwater, but this being my first Saltwater as well as Reef tank, its a bit different. All that being said, I'm having a great time with it.

Shawn

 

[8BALL_99]

]<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

John is a great guy. That's a great tank to start with also! Sounds like your off to a good start. You should come to a meeting and meet everyone.. Once your tank has cycled several of us will be happy to get you started with some easy common corals.. Pulsating Xenia kenya trees and GSP flows freely around here lol

 

[mltmtascp]

Welcome to the Alabama forum.

Monica

 

[stormscall]

I'm having something going on in my tank that I was wondering if you guys could help me with. My tank has been cycled for about a month now so I have a few corals and fish in it already. The problem is I'm having a couple corals die and I can't figure out why.
It started with a small piece of Staghorn. I know, I shouldn't have that yet, but a friend gave me a small piece just to play with and see if it would work. It started losing its flesh but i didn't think a lot about it because my Black Combtooth Bleany just wouldn't leave it alone. Then a Pulsating Z just turned to mush. I pulled those two out and they had a bad smell, but now a really nice Trumpet coral (about 6 heads) that a friend fraged for me is starting to look like it is melting. What the heck it that? I really don't want to lose that Trumpet but I think it maybe too late.

I checked my water parameters yesterday and they are good really. Cal: 450, Alk: 11, Nit: 0, Phos: 0, Mag a little low at 1250. I don't have a ph tester yet but last week at CRA it was 8.01.

List of what I can remember I have. I'm at work and it is to early to think:
Pulsating Zenias
Torch
Trumpet
Frogspawn
Kenya trees
Broccoli
Very small Candy Coral
Cap
Duncan
Maze Brain
Some kind of encrusting coral ??
a few mushrooms
Clam
Black Combtooth Bleny
Pajama Cardinal
Sailfin Tang

I think thats it, I maybe forgetting something.

 

[NicoleC]

I'd say too much too soon, some of it not very appropriate for a spanking new tank. Your tank is cycled, but is not mature. In particular pH takes a while to come up to good levels and stabalize.

For now I would keep your water quality up as best as you can, try to get your pH up (but steady is more important - avoid yo-yoing with supplements) and avoid bring anything else home until what you have begins to thrive.

Yeah, I know it's hard not to get new stuff! We all go through that. By the way, don't worry about the xenia melting. It's funny stuff; for some people it's a weed and others can never grow it at all. Melting away isn't unusual.

 

[8BALL_99]

what's your salinity? Xenia hates low salinity. If you use a swing arm hydrometer they are notorious for bad readings. I would tend to agree with Nicole also..Probably a little to much to fast. Some corals are harder to keep then other.. Some also really need established tanks. Its a good idea to give a tank a few months before you start adding to much.. You dont have to.. But if you don't expect to loose a few things.
Will

 

[mltmtascp]

I agree with Nicole and Will. Wow what a list. It was over six months before we had that much coral in our 120. For the longest time we had rock and a few fish. We added one coral at a time. We also started with hardier corals such as leathers, kenya trees etc. We lost a few along the way but now our tank is full. Xenia is a ticky coral. It will grow in our sump but not the display tank.
What kind of lights do you have on your tank?

Monica

 

[JoeTSI]

Check your ammonia level. Also, welcome to the club and I am in Priceville as well. I can frag some Xenia for you once you get whatever is ailing your corals in line.

 

[stormscall]

I think I may have not said the whole story yesterday.

I have 3 more Pulsating Xenias that are doing just fine but in different locations in the tank. I was thinking that there maybe some kind of sickness or something that may have came in on the live rock that could have caused the problems. The Stag, Xenia, and now the Trumpet were in the same area in the tank. Everything else spread threw out the tank seems to be doing great. I just thought that someone may have seen this problem of melting corals before and know what to do for it. I wasn't too worried about the Xenias, its the trumpet that has me a little upset.

I have a corallife light. 2x 14,000k HQI Metal Halides plus actinics and moon lights.

 

[NicoleC]

There are coral diseases, but they are more opportunistic than anything else. Under proper conditions, corals usually don't succumb -- it's typically only stress that allows a disease to gain a foothold. The conditions in that area of the tank may be poorer than the rest of the tank, for example: poor flow, the lighting is much stronger/weaker than the corals are used to, the corals are too close to each other and are stinging each other, they are not getting enough or the proper nutrition, chemical warfare with so many species in one tank, or they suffered physical damage.

Short of a hitchhiker on the rock actually eating them (a possibility), any disease brought in would be usually spread rapidly through the whole tank. This is reason #1 to quarantine, quarantine, quarantine! If you did have such a pandemic disease (which I doubt), the stronger and healthier corals might not succumb.

I don't know which species you are referring to as a "Trumpet;" I would normally think of Caulastrea furcata but you also said you had a "Candy Coral." Caulastrea furcata is extremely hardy and you usually don't see any problem with them except for brown jelly disease, which strikes with physical damage or other major stress coupled with poor water flow.

Close up, in focus pictures of the actual damage would probably be helpful.

Speaking of things eating corals... have you been keeping an eye on that blenny? They are algae eaters (diatomaceous films), but in captivity they sometimes are seduced by the dark side and start scraping on stony corals, especially if there isn't enough film on the aquarium glass to keep them occupied.

 

[stormscall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13528488#post13528488 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NicoleC
There are coral diseases, but they are more opportunistic than anything else. Under proper conditions, corals usually don't succumb -- it's typically only stress that allows a disease to gain a foothold. The conditions in that area of the tank may be poorer than the rest of the tank, for example: poor flow, the lighting is much stronger/weaker than the corals are used to, the corals are too close to each other and are stinging each other, they are not getting enough or the proper nutrition, chemical warfare with so many species in one tank, or they suffered physical damage.

I have been pretty careful about placement of corals so as not to have stinging and what not happen. Chemical is a little harder to see so that is a posibility. The Stag I got had some physical damage when I got it, I was just hoping it would come around and the one Pulsating Xenia I had melt away was on the same rock with it. I got it that way from Don who had most all these corals in his well established tank for years.

Short of a hitchhiker on the rock actually eating them (a possibility), any disease brought in would be usually spread rapidly through the whole tank. This is reason #1 to quarantine, quarantine, quarantine! If you did have such a pandemic disease (which I doubt), the stronger and healthier corals might not succumb.

As far as hitchhikers, I have noticed two bristle worms (not such a bad deal) and one crab about the size of a half dollar, maybe a bit smaller. The crab has got to come out as soon as I find him again! I belive that he killed my maroon clown fish but not sure. I was on a diving trip and my wife woke one morning while I was gone to find him pulling half my clown into a rock. The clown never did act right so he may have just died. I'm not sure. I tried to get the crab out when I came back but he got away, I havn't seen him sence. He is either still in there (likely) or dead. I may have hurt him trying to get him out. If you do a Google image search for Preditory Xanthid Crab I think its the first picture that come up.

I don't know which species you are referring to as a "Trumpet;" I would normally think of Caulastrea furcata but you also said you had a "Candy Coral." Caulastrea furcata is extremely hardy and you usually don't see any problem with them except for brown jelly disease, which strikes with physical damage or other major stress coupled with poor water flow.

Close up, in focus pictures of the actual damage would probably be helpful.

More than likely they are the same coral. I have a very small florecent green coral that John at CRA called a Candy Coral so thats what I call it. The nice large Blueish coral Don fraged for me at his house he called a Trumpet. Very posibly the same but I didn't see any of the green ones at CRA with near the size of polyps that the blue one had so I thought they may be different. I need to look up brown jelly disease, my wife said the pulsating xenia was covered with a jelly when she took it out. The new fragging and switching it from his tank to mine would account for physical damage and stress I would think.

Speaking of things eating corals... have you been keeping an eye on that blenny? They are algae eaters (diatomaceous films), but in captivity they sometimes are seduced by the dark side and start scraping on stony corals, especially if there isn't enough film on the aquarium glass to keep them occupied.

You know, its funny you say that. I was convinced last week that the Blenny was eating the Stag. He would swim up and bite at it then swim away. I mentioned it to John and he suggested that it may have already been dieing off and the Blenny was just eating the dieing flesh it was losing. But with you saying that they can get in the habit of eating SPS, then I'm convinced he was doing so. I was conviced last week until I was talked out of it. It looked like to me he was eating at the healthy flesh.

Anyone need a coral eating Black Combtooth Blenny?

 

[stormscall]

After reading up on Brown Jelly Disease, I think that may be what is going on. What can I do about it? If it is a bacteria maybe a does of Chemiclean that I bought for cynobacteria a while back would do the trick? I just noticed this morning that my brain may have a spot on him as well. Also, one head on my Frogspawn is blanched white (polyps) and the skeleton is a grey color. The other 3 heads still look good though.

 

[NicoleC]

In general crabs are BAD in aquariums - there are some exceptions like cool little commensal crabs and such. I really doubt it could tackle and kill a healthy maroon clown - it is more likely the clown was dying or already dead.

If you want to catch him, get a small jar and put a piece of food inside, like shrimp. Lean it up against the rock where he lives. In the morning, you'll almost certainly have a crab inside you can't get out. The most humane way to dispose of him is to smash him or chop him in half very quickly. (Well, actually clove oil is the most humane way, but if you don't have any...)

No, bristleworms are not bad. If you get a lot of bristleworms, it's a sign your tank is too overloaded or overfed. Cyano is also a symptom of this (also it indicates, usually, areas of poor flow). Using an antibiotic is not a cure; it will do harm in the long run, so it's best avoided. The remedy is improved flow and more water changes.

There is no "cure" for brown jelly disease other than to help the coral fight it off, mostly with proper flow. For LPS corals like the Euphyillias (like the frogspawn) that means polyps should wave in the flow and stay aloft, but not be blown strongly in a way they cn get damaged.) Siphon off the jelly and give the corals a Lugol's (iodine) dip. For multi-headed corals which can be fragged without tissue damage, fragging off and throwing away the affected portion may help.

Yes, fresh fragging and then moving into a new, unstable tank is not a good thing. Ideally you'd let the frags heal in their old environment before moving them, but sometimes that's not practical.

Your blenny is probably not deliberately eating the coral, but rather scraping it. They feed by scraping algae off things. If the coral is weakened, there may be diatom films growing on it the blenny is actually trying to eat, but doing harm in the process. Or it could actually be eating the coral - it does happen, but it's more likely he's eating the algae. It's something you'll need to keep an eye on.

Again, photos will help. The frogspawn you just described does not sound like brown jelly. Xenia do not often get brown jelly disease - but they do melt when they die.

It sounds like you have had a tough time so far. Slowing down and practicing good QT will save you a lot of grief and money. Just hang tight with what you have for now until everything is under control.

 

[stormscall]

Here is a picture of the Trumpet. Its the best I can do with my camera on my phone.