Very Strange Problem

F

FreddyC

New member
I have not visited this forum in months because everything has been going great in my two reef tanks. Tuesday I encountered a very strange problem in my 75 gallon reef at work. Typically I turn the lights off on Saturday and Sunday when I am out of the office, come in Monday, feed the fish (Formula 1) and add a gallon of RO/DI top off water which I get from the dispenser outside the supermarket. Did that this week with no problems. Tuesday I come in and every coral is closed up tight, and my two big leather corals are shedding. The chemistry (Ph, Alk, Nitrates, Temp, Sp Grav, and KH) all look good. Skimmer is working fine and I trust everything will be OK by today. Today, it looks the same, the leathers are shedding a second time and the coral banded shrimp has lost his two largest claws and the new ones are really small. I haven't a clue what is wrong. I will do a large water change tomarrow, but I honestly don't think it is the chemistry. Any suggestions?
Fred
 
Leathers can sometimes do this. Give it another day or so.

CBS sometimes do lose their claws in a molt. They will regrow.
 
Just a thought, but does anyone clean your office on the weekends. Maybe something was used around your office that you weren't aware of.
 
If i understand you correctly....you turn your aquarium light off over the weekend? Not only will this have a negative effect on the corals since they need the light.......Ph drops at night time when the lights are out or in your case a PH crass happens each weekend...invest in a timer........the leathers, as said above, should return to normal after a few days......but don't continue to go two days w/o light on the tank
 
Granted your tank was fine for a long time but sometimes our tanks are on the edge and we just don't know it.


Besides a drop in pH , you'll also have a drop in O2 with the lights out. Get some timers that can be set for seven days a week and do an abbreviated light cycle over the weekend if you don't want a full light cycle.
 
The reason I typically leave the lights out on the weekend is that the tank sits next to the front window of the office, so there is always plenty of light. By going just two days w/o light I have been able to keep any hair algae in check, something that was a problem before I turned the lights out 8 months ago. The pumps and skimmer contunue to run. No one cleans the office durring the weekend, so I don't think there is a chemical in the tank unless it could have been in my top-off water. As for the shrimp, he didn't "molt" at least not in the traditional sense......his two front claws just fell off prematurely. I've had reef set-ups for over ten years now and I know about the leather shedding. This just seems "different." Is it possible stray voltage can cause this, and if so how can I tell?
Fred
 
Have a one of your worst patients stick his hand in the aquarium!:lol: Hee-Hee! Just kidding, but I couldn't resist!
 
If your worried about keeping the hair algae under control I would still keep the tank on a regular light schedule. There are other ways to control that problem. A shorter photo period per day, add some macro algae, weekly water changes, low boiload, phos-removal media, a stable ph----are all ways to keep the hair in check with better results than with only sun light from outside over the weekend(that might even be encouraging algae growth).

As for the voltage---not very sure if that has a negative effect but it would not seem to help things.

In my case i had a yellow leather that trippled in size and them crashed after allmost 1 1/2 years (all tested level were consistant). Sometimes they are funny like that.

good luck.
 
It's also quite possible that the supermarket topoff water had something in it. You really have no idea if the filters in the machine have been maintained and are working properly. A little chlorine or chloramines would cause some issues if they made it into the tank.
 
I had the same thing happen to my leather. just wait and it should be fine.


Lighting is an issue when you mess with the consistent lighting schedule. Invest in a coralife digital timer (abour 35 bucks) and your lighting cycle should be fine.
 
Lost the shrimp today.....the corals are still closed up and shedding, but I changed the water. I will keep the lights on over the weekend from now on out. I'll see how it goes over the next few days.
 
anytime you suspect there may have been an unknown substance in water you got from a strange source, and there is a reaction going on in your tank it sure would not hurt to run some carbon either....

Dave
 
I would always run carbon and other bonders like the Polyfilter pads in a case like this. Helps eliminate some possible causes from toxins etc...
 
Carbon is a great idea! I can put a simple hang on filter on temporarily for a few weeks, thanks......who said I have 10 kids? I have two, one of which has a 10 gallon tank :)
 
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