Possible Crocea Problems

[Gimplar]

I have a 125 with 4 110 VHO's (2 actinics and 2 10k's) As well as 2 175 or 250 MH (got them used and havnt looked at tthem yet.) but i have 2 crocea's one is doing fine and is a very nice blue, but the other was blue and had alot of green lacing on it. Now, it seems like its starting to turn brown and the green isnt as aparant. I did recently have an anenome die, but i removed it immediately and did a water change. The nitrates are about .1 but would this cause it to loose color?

 

[cgries]

Shouldn't, clams are filter feeders and consume the organics that can cause nitrates. There are some hobbyist that think that clams and corals can swap zooanthanlee. Others believe corals and clams "brown out" due to a nutrient rich enviroment. That's why the Zeovit system has gained some popularity, because it claims to increase the bacteria levels which in turn creates a nutrient poor enviroment. Another theory is the intensity of your lighting is not enough, if you have it lower in the tank move it to a rock half way or higher in your tank. With MH, even 175's it should be sufficient.

 

[Gimplar]

yeah, ive heard the same thing, maybe my water has too many nutrients, i turned on my skimmer again and ill watch it closely. thanks!

 

[robthorn]

gimplar . NEVER TURN YOUR SKIMMER OFF. unless you are cleaning it of course. not to tell you how to run your tank but you will do yourself a favor by running it always. it doesn't have to be a euro or anything nice but as long as it is doing something it is better than nothing. unless you have no fish at all you are better off with one running. it is the only way to pull out poop without waiting for it to break down. there are a few people that are successful without skimmers but there are 100 that are successful with skimmers to every one without. then you have to measure success. I don't even consider myself very successful because I can't make my tank do what I want and I kill things all the time tinkering. I do think I would be alot worse off without a skimmer though.
I would think the discoloring is from ammonia . I would keep the skimmer running and do another water change as soon as you can. I would also vacuum your substrate to pick up anything breaking down causing what may be an ammonia spike.
just what I would do good luck and let us know how the guy does. problem is it will more than likely never color back up were it turned brown.

 

[Gimplar]

well, i do what john does and i stir my sand on a regular daily basis to get all the detratis that may lay in there. Ok, ill run it 24/7, on my 50 bowfront i ran it for a few months and then i turned it off for like 4 or 5 months. I have a uv sterilizer that i cna hook up but i heard it can kill some good bacteria as well...opinions on that?

 

[robthorn]

it's only free floating bacteria that can be killed that actually makes it through the uv that actually gets hurt while in there. so will it kill some yes but not a significant amount in my opinion to do real damage. the skimmer will pull most of that dead bacteria out hopefully attached to some nitrate and phosphate. I personally don't use one because it heats the water up too much. cooler water slows down the parasites metabolism anyway and hopefully the reproductive cycle