weird happenings going on

[nemofish2217]

hey, some things in my tank have been acting weird recently, and I wonder if someone could give some insight on why. First, a couple of my SPS are looking puny. Loss of color, not very good PE, etc. These two happen to be a pink and green millipora. Now, I also have some other type if acro, not sure exactly what type kinda looks like a slimer, and I have an orange monti cap. They both are doing fine and are even already showing growth signs. I have a green bubble tip who is acting happy as well as a small finger leather frag, some gsp, as well as a few ricordea. They all are doing fine as well.

Another weird thing is that some of snails don't look all that hot, they are the big turbo ones. One is doing fine cruising around and the other two are just kinda sittin around. The other snails and hermits I have in the tank are doing fine as well.

Tank params are Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Calc 440, Alk 8, pH 8.25, phosphate 0.

I can't think of what else might be causing just these couple of milli's and couple of snails to be acting so weird?! any ideas? thanks

 

[redfishsc]

Off the top of my head, it's possible that you have low-level amounts of copper, or even stray voltage... but I'm not sure why the selectivity in what is affected.


How long have you had the millepora, and the snails?

 

[nemofish2217]

on the new snails or all the snails together? The new snails just two days (these are the ones acting strange). The two milliporas, about three weeks or a month. They were both doing fine until when I came home one day last week, they both looked like they had lightened up a lot. Almost the look of bleached but not that bad.

Yeah, I was possibly thinking copper too, as the fish are all fine, but I was confused on why it would only affect certain things. Where could my sources of copper be coming from? thanks

 

[nemofish2217]

also, wouldn't stray voltage cause my fish to act weird? Maybe it could be copper....

 

[redfishsc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14707164#post14707164 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nemofish2217
The new snails just two days (these are the ones acting strange).

Bingo. Snails are actually more sensitive to changes in environment than people think. There is a GREAT article somewhere around here on RC about caring for snails-- they have a sensitive system that is badly damaged by abrupt changes in salinity.... which actually tend to occur before they reach the LFS. But since they don't die quickly, they are considered "bulletproof" by a lot of importers. What do they care? So long as the snail survives to the LFS

My guess is that their behavior is unrelated to the millepora.

They may kill over in due time--- watch them and remove them if they do, they will foul your water (more or less... no need to risk it)

The two milliporas, about three weeks or a month. They were both doing fine until when I came home one day last week, they both looked like they had lightened up a lot. Almost the look of bleached but not that bad.

Millepora sometimes takes a while to reach full polyp extension. I've seen it take several months.

What kind of lights do you have? How far are these from the light? Being this new, they may be going through a light shock---- if you suspect this, move them lower in the tank and/or put something directly over them to diffuse the light they get.... and slowly remove this. People use lots of things to do this, like eggcrate light diffuser from Lowes.

Yeah, I was possibly thinking copper too, as the fish are all fine, but I was confused on why it would only affect certain things. Where could my sources of copper be coming from? thanks [/B]

Source of copper, not sure. Do you use RO/DI water, or tap?

To be safe, take some tank water to a good LFS who will test for copper for you, or just buy a good Salifert copper test. A 0 is a good breath of relief.


As for the fish being sensitive, they are actually VASTLY more tolerant of copper than corals and other inverts-- usually. That's why you can kill off lots of fish parasites with copper and not quite harm the fish (depending on the specie).

However, just "say" the word "copper" even close to a coral and it shrieks in fear.

 

[nemofish2217]

Yeah, I was actually referring that I would think the fish would react more/ be more sensitive to the stray voltage. I use RO/DI with a TDS of 0. I can try to get the water tested for copper.

The millis were fine for a couple weeks and then one day started to act weird. The lights are 250 watt 12k reflux halides.

Once again, if it is copper, then what could cause some of the corals to be affected more than others? If it isn't copper, then are there any other possible reasons? thanks for your help btw redfishsc...

 

[redfishsc]

hey, I always have time to help a fellow South Carolinian. I was raised in York County and moved to Charleston for 5 years.


As for why the mille would respond to the copper--- (or any other contaminant, since we can't be sure that there is any contaminant until you test it)---- more so than other corals is a mystery to me. There are a lot of things involved that quickly go way above my pay grade .



How far under the halides are the milles? 250W 12K's are pretty intense.

Also, have you added any chemical filter media (carbon, GFO, chemipure, etc..) recently?


Lastly, watch your coral at night, without a flashlight if possible. You might have something at night nipping at the milles. Maybe you have a crab or even fish that likes brightly colored "M&M"'s

 

[nemofish2217]

I am running some phosphate remover (two little fishes brand) in a filter bag in the sump. The loss of color happened sometime around this, but it wasn't the same time. Could this be part of my problem? If so, would it hurt just to remove the bag of GFO?

 

[MarineGirl411]

What is your SG? Have there been large changes lately? May have added too much phosphate remover.

 

[redfishsc]

There's another thread around here where someone put in too much GFO in a 29g, and the water parameters shifted so much that the corals definitely responded.


Try using 1/4 of what you put in it and work your way up....