Please Help My Coral!!

[FishyBalls]

I need someones help asap. my brothers gone to hawaii and im in charge of his tank and his mushroom corals look like theyre shriveling up and disapearing. i dont know if this is normal or if i need to do something immediately. Also his hammerhead coral has retreated and gone purpley-green in one area. Ive never seen them like this before, so i dont know what to do. PLEASE help with any info or suggestions! Thanks!!

 

[salttess]

How large is the tank? Have you been adding water each night to make up for evaporation? Are all the pumps working? Is there any way you can contact your brother? Tina

 

[FishyBalls]

Ive beena dding a jug of R/O water a day like he told me to, all the pumps appear tobe wprking and im emptying the protein skimmer everyday, it hink its like a 50 gallon. its really big.

 

[salttess]

In the mornings things tend to be closed up. When the lights come on they may open up and spread out like you are used to seeing. Is this the first time you have seen them in the morning? tina

 

[Swanwillow]

have you been touching anything in the tank, or around the tank?

using glass cleaner on it to see better?

ummm, feeding anything?

 

[FishyBalls]

no they were like this last night as well. thats when i first noticed. the mushrooms seem to be very abundant on the rick, now theres only a few left. and no i havent used any glass cleaner or put anything near or in it other then water, i know better then that

 

[salttess]

Has your brother ever showed you how to check for salinity? Maybe 1 gallon isnt enough. I dont know where you live, but here the weather is much warmer this week and I evap alittle more than normal. So I have to add a little more, If your brother keeps the salinity at 1.025, with higher evap you would easily creep up to too much salinity. tina

 

[IslandCrow]

When you refill the tank, just make sure the water level is staying about the same. My tank normally loses about 1/2 a gallon a day, but sometimes more, sometimes less. As long as everything's opened up after the lights have been on for a few hours, they're fine. Does he have the lights on a timer, or are you turning them on and off manually. Both of these corals are pretty hardy, so it may just be that you're looking at them at the wrong times.

If this isn't the case, you may want to see if you can find your brother's test kits. As long as he's kept the instructions, they're usually fairly self-explanatory. If not, someone here with the same type of kit could probably walk you through it. The things you'd be most interested in are salinity (or specific gravity), ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

 

[FishyBalls]

ok thanks, yes the tanks on a timer, we're in canada but he has a very powerful overhead light, that absorbs a fair amount of water on its own, hence why i add a jug of water a day to it. I will keep my eye on the corals in question and see if i can find his water test kits. Hes home on monday but i dont want to leave it if there is a problem etc. Thanks for your help/suggestions, its appreciated

 

[Swanwillow]

well, I a bit south of ya over the border, and can tell ya: its warming up, and evaporation is rising... and I didn't mean to insult you, but sometimes people... well, aren't as smart as they should be

if you've been doing everything as told, you may be ok... hes not dosing kalk, is he?

 

[Anemonebuff]

Have you checked the temperature?

 

[FishyBalls]

no i dont know what the temp is supposed to be. and no hes not dosing kalk. the tank gets 40 mg of phytoplankton but its already recieved that.

 

[wetWolger]

also look in the caves/crevices of the rocks. Mushrooms can detatch and float around to find a new home. They may just be doing that.

 

[Swanwillow]

you wouldn't physically be dosin kalk-he'd have a drip system set up for it... something that he wouldn't feel the need to tell you about, since its mostly self-running. the only reason I asked that question is if he did, it may be dripping in a tiny bit too much...

otherwise, I'm stumped...

 

[skippysmind]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6936664#post6936664 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FishyBalls
no i dont know what the temp is supposed to be. and no hes not dosing kalk. the tank gets 40 mg of phytoplankton but its already recieved that.

The temp should be no higher than 83 degrees. Are the corals closing up after you feed the phytoplankton? Because sometimes they will do that.

 

[Sk8r]

If your brother has a favorite fish store, take half a pint of water there in a clean glass or plastic bottle, tell them the problem, and ask them to run every test they can on it and give recommendations. I'm sure he'll be glad to settle with them when he gets back. Salinity would be highly suspect in a sudden flight of mushrooms. So might PH. These are quick tests to run.

 

[FishyBalls]

thanks guys

 

[chrismunn]

YOUR BROTHERS GONNA BEAT YOUR *** BOY!