HELP ME TOO!!

by **blueshoes2208** » Thu May 14, 2009 5:36 pm

i posted this on my newely aquired lubbockreefclub forum too so maybe i can figure this out.....
ok to all my knowledge i cannot figure out what is going on. I do not know if i have for say some sort of predator in my tank, even though i inspected every posssible rock thouroughly or if i am just missing some chemical level here.....
Basic numbers are temp stays around 78, tops at 81 on days like yesterday when it got like 100 degrees outside. I run a 380 watt MH/ PC combo, 5.5 watts per gal, i turn it on around 11 and turn it off around10 pm or so, i dont have a timer to set so thats the reasoning behind the photoperiod. Ammonia is at .05, cal- 340, nitrite-0, nitrate 20-25 ( mr.A said it was fine but didnt give me an exact reading when i took a sample up there last week??) i am fixing to add some buffer- my ph is 8.1 to 8.2 right now. Up until the past month everything i had was thriving, i even had some random button polyps start growing on a piece of live rock. Now, i mysterously lost ( completely) my strawberry pseudochromis about a month ago, no body remains or anything to be seen, and now my anthias is gone. I woudlnt think that my clean up crew could completely demolish a corpse over night, especially if it was swimming around fine during the day. i only have 12 turbos, about 20 blue leg hermits and 15 red leg hermits, and a sand sifting star. I just recently realized that my broken hydrometer caused me to get a sg of over 1.030, which i have since gotten it back down to 1.023. The last of my xenias are not only dead, but they look like they have become lunch to something, my coral beauty could be the culprit but i dont see him picking at it.
Last my BTA was THRIVING..... i mean the biggest thing ive ever seen in my life....... when i bought it, it was maybe 4 inches, after a month in my tank it was easily over a foot in diameter. Now its moved itsself numerous times, has become a PALE white color an is only about 4 to 5 inches in diameter, its "tenticles" arent extended either. I have noticed that i think i have a baby nem growing, it isnt aiptasia, this one has like little bubbles on its "tenticles", looks kind of cool.
The point being is i feel like my tank is dying.......... and i cant seem to stop it.............. help????????????????????????????????????????????

Michael

by **saltwaterpimp** » Thu May 14, 2009 10:10 pm

First i would say waterchange for amonia and nitrate....also did you mention alkalinity..Raise the calcium...What test kits are you using ? also that high of a SG is dangerous...There is a study on high SG for certian periods of time and how leathal it may or may not be.
You need timers man..i will give you some pay for shipping...That will stress fish out and make em jumpy...on and off of the light a difrent times... for the BTA i would spot feed him every day with a few diffrent foods..Mysis/cyclopezz/and red worms, till he gets better... and for the baby NEM its not likley man..BTAs split in half so you would have 2 equals...i would say that is a manjeo anemone...and those suck...if its a green/brownish color i would say thats what it is...

Good luck man..
SWP

by **fihsboy** » Fri May 15, 2009 12:53 am

if its a manjeo anemone.......you can get pickling lime......and inject it with a needle that you can get at a nursing supply store. It will kill it and disingrate it within 30 seconds. crazy strong stuff. Its basically pure calcium...or limewater...or kalkwasser. But if you juts concentrate it and inject the anemone with it.....it will kill it quick.

as far as your tank. Something is in there......theres got to be something we are missing. Have you tested copper? Have you tried another fish store to test your water? and like pimp said......the salt content that high is lethal.......lower is no big deal......but higher is. I like to run my water a little lower....like 1.020. just incase. Homedepot has timers for cheap. And everything is easier with timers. The more constant your tank has the more stable it will become. I hope your tank stabilizes a little.

by **blueshoes2208** » Fri May 15, 2009 2:09 am

ill look into the timer, the manjeo nem you guys said ill also look into that, it really looks cool id hate to lose it, but my nem def didnt split in half, they reproduce by mitosis which is where a diploid cell splits into two diploid cells right?? I got my sg back to 1.023, checked it again a few mins ago, i think that might have had something to do with it but i still dont feel why my tank is jus dead right now. Im fixing to look into what fostersmith and marinedepot have as far as ammonia stuff, there is no other lfs to test my water. I guess zoo's and my clove polyps are more hardy than the xenia, they are both doing fine. What about my disappearing anthia, which is the 2nd anthia to disappear as well as my strawberry pseudochromis, which was PERFECTLY healthy before it disappeared?????? Did my nem eat them????

by **newbie916** » Fri May 15, 2009 2:42 pm

I would probably do some water changes like pimp said. I've been doing 25 gallon water changes on my 95 gallon with 35 gallon fuge every two weeks. After I lost my Xenia's and button polyps for no apparent reason. I think it was because my phosphate reactor went out and was turned off for two weeks. I heard that Xenia's are very sensitive in changes in water perameters. The yellow button polyps were eaten by killer pods, but they have since stopped chewing on my corals since I started feeding them more phytofeast.

It's possible that your nem ate your fish. I had a bicolor blenny that also vanished without a trace. He was healthy one day and disappeared the next. I even looked for him after I upgraded my tank. Still MIA. oh well. He was a pain in the ass anyways, kept nipping my clams.

I keep my SG between 1.024-1.025 and I use Red Sea Pro Coral Salt. I also dose my tank with Essential elements, Coral-Vite, Magnesium, Iodide, Strontium, Calcium, and Purple up everyday in small quanitities. I also add PH buffer once a week to maintain my PH at 8.3. My tank temp stays between 80-82 right now because it's heating up. I've seen a huge difference in the health and growth of my corals and macro algae since I started dosing all the trace elements. Also, my green hair algae is gone out of my display tank because the macro algae is absorbing the excess nutrients. So far I haven't lost any corals for a while and I'm starting to test out SPS.

I would definitely utilize a timer. I have a Coralife power center and it's pretty good. The down side is that I'll come home every great once and a while and my lights didn't alternate. I haven't lost any corals due to it though. Timers reduce the stress on the fish and corals. Here's my lighting schedule

Actinics: 8:30am-6:30pm
MH's: 9:00am-6:00pm
Moonlights :Turn on when every the actinics are off.
Refugium: 6:30pm--8:30am

I have my fuge and main tank on alternating light schedules to maintain PH and water temp.

Good luck Blue

by **fihsboy** » Sat May 16, 2009 2:47 am

Blue check out the Prodibio products as well. They work extremly well. Couple of guys here locally swear by them. I tried two vials of bioclean....DAMN. its good stuff. I dont know why.....but its good stuff!

by **blueshoes2208** » Sat May 16, 2009 4:23 am

what is prodiblio?

by **Snowboss4492** » Sat May 16, 2009 11:09 am

25 small hermits will eat a pseudo in about 15 minutes without a doubt - - -so yeah your cleaner crew is doing its job...............unfortunately

by **fihsboy** » Sat May 16, 2009 2:18 pm

It just a supplement that you add to your tank. The prodibio has different bacteria than what your tank is used to, so it helps out a lot.

by **blueshoes2208** » Sat May 16, 2009 3:43 pm

ok well i have been posting on the lubbock reef club and they seem to think that ammonia is causing my problems. They suggested doing larger water changes, up to 25% every once in a while, using carbon filtration, in which i am doing, and adding amquel. Do you guys know how deep of shit i would b standing in if it werent for people like yall?

HELP ME TOO!!

11 posts • Page 1 of 2

HELP ME TOO!!

HELP ME TOO!!

11 posts • Page 1 of 2