Toadstool problem

[God of thunder]

Hi everybody.

I have a toadstool coral which doesn´t blossom as it should.
I have a 90 gal tank with 400W MH and 80W blue T8
Any ideas?

Here´s a photo of him.

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...572&gid=16936819&&imgid=261844339&offset=1053

 

[fsn77]

Is the toadstool a recent addition?
If so, it may need some time to acclimate to the 400w MH, as most LFS don't run lighting with that kind of intensity on their tanks.

 

[God of thunder]

No, it´s been there for several months now. I have others softys which are doing fine. By LFS, do you mean soft corals?

 

[joshnano]

local fish store*

 

[God of thunder]

Thank you, that makes sense.

 

[gh0st]

What are your water parameters like, and how much flow is the leather seeing?

 

[God of thunder]

Nitrite 0, Nitrate 25mg/l
PH 8,5 Calsium 500pp Alkalinity almost zero
My toadstool used to get a lot of light and waterflow but i recently replaced it ina spot with lesser of both.

 

[fsn77]

Well, there's a couple of things in this last post that point to potential reasons for your toadstool problem...
First, your water chemistry is out of balance -- Ca at 500 ppm and alkalinity near 0. Nitrates are a little high, but I'm not sure I'd consider that your biggest problem at the moment.
Second, if it was relocated recently, it may still be upset about being touched and moved. It will need a little bit of time to adjust to its new location.
In the end, I'd say the water chemistry issues are the likely culprit. I'd work on getting those back in line, then go from there.

 

[gh0st]

Yup, low Alk will definetly do it, and the Nitrate probably isn't helping.

Personally, I'd move it back to a higher flow area, but correcting the Alkalinity issue is top priority.

 

[God of thunder]

How do i raise my alkalinity level?
I´m using red sea buffer, but so far it´s not changing my measuring resaults....

 

[fsn77]

I'm not sure what's available in Iceland, but you would be looking for a product to raise carbonate alkalinity. I like Seachem Reef Builder, personally.

Alternatively, you could use baking soda (NOT baking powder), as is done in this DIY Two-Part solution (link goes straight to the baking soda part):
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#5

 

[God of thunder]

Thanks alot

 

[Mr..Tang]

Hows that leather? any better? I have a toadstool doing the same thing now for about a week. My alk was done to 5 but its been on the raise for 3 days and now sits at 8. I hope thats the problem!

 

[God of thunder]

Mine not getting any better.
I got some stuff from my LFS and my alk is incresing slowly.
I reckon it will take him some time to get used to the change, and hopefully it will blossom. I took sem water sample to my LFS and it was measured. I was told that the only problem with my water was the lack of alc.

Another problem that i´m having how do you measure alc?
aren´t there several diffrent ways? for exemple what does 5 mean?

 

[Mr..Tang]

Well

I don't know exactly but its the measurement for dkh. And there is a set of number values I gues 1-12? The idea dkh for a reef tank is 8 I've been told. I talked to some friends at our frag swap this past weekend about my alk dropping and they suggested using baking soda to raise the alk. I wonder if you can drip baking soda mix in your sump if you can figure out how much you need to sustain the alk at the desired amount.

I don't know of many ways to measure your alk. The only way I know is how the LFS does it.

Goto the reef chemistry part of this forum and you should find morre info on alk

 

[Mr..Tang]

Well

I don't know exactly but its the measurement for dkh. And there is a set of number values I gues 1-12? The idea dkh for a reef tank is 8 I've been told. I talked to some friends at our frag swap this past weekend about my alk dropping and they suggested using baking soda to raise the alk. I wonder if you can drip baking soda mix in your sump if you can figure out how much you need to sustain the alk at the desired amount.

I don't know of many ways to measure your alk. The only way I know is how the LFS does it.

Goto the reef chemistry part of this forum and you should find more info on alk

 

[PJSEA]

There are several ways to measure alkalinity. Your test kit will tell you what units it measures in. Here's a link to a Reef Chemistry calculator and other info. Maybe this will help.

http://reef.diesyst.com/

 

[gh0st]

If you were told 5 and it's low, they are probably testing in dKh as previously stated. I ussually shoot for between 9-10 dkh, but natural sea water is about 8.

Another common unit of alk measure is milliequivilants per liter, or meqs/l. Natural seawater is about 2.8 meqs, but most try to run around 5 ish.

 

[God of thunder]

Thank alot.

 

[Mr..Tang]

Well

I took a look at my toadstool today and was very sadden. It looks like something has been eating it from the inside out. The outer skin was loose from the rest of the stalk and when I touched it , it fell off. It also has a nasty funk to it!! So I have decided to remove it from my system all together. Very sad day.
On the same front, I have some candy canes that look like they are receding a little from the stalk. I'm going to relocate them in the tank and see if that makes a differnece.

Is there any info and pics of bugs that eat coral??

Again please advise

Thanks

Mike