Corals Closed After Tankmate Mortality: Normal or Concerning?

[FossilizedRappy]

This is the kind of post I hate having to make, but sometimes tragedy occurs and you have to figure out a plan of action.

My 75 gallon Florida Keys biotope tank has had corals in it successfully for a while now. A Florida ricordea with a little feather duster worm on its frag since almost the beginning of the year, and three photosynthetic gorgonians for several months.

This status quo changed a little under a week ago.

A flame cardinalfish I had hoped would be a lovely addition to the tank was mismanaged by mail service, and sadly despite my best efforts did not survive. Its death was sad, but after removing the corpse upon discovery (though not before some of my many scavengers had paid their respects in their own way) I had expected I could move on when water tests showed nothing amiss from the routine parameters.

Sadly, I was wrong. My gorgonians and feather duster worm all closed up and have not been open to filter feeding in the days since. The ricordea fared even worse, closing up and dying with distressing rapidity.

What should I do? Should I engage in a heavy water change despite the lack of disturbing parameters in hopes that will destress the gorgonians? Wait and hope? Get a test kit for trace minerals I hadn't anticipated?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Did you test the water for ammonia? I would also perform a water change if I was truly concerned. Can you post some pics of the corals? In my experience, a fish death won't cause corals to close, not when the body is removed.

 

[FossilizedRappy]

The ammonia is indeed negligible. I'm away from home at the moment, but I will provide photographs as soon as I am able.

 

[EnterName]

I'm sorry this has happened to you

I don't know if a single dead fish could decay sufficiently in 12 - 24 hours to produce enough toxic byproducts that would cause trouble in 75gal. Hermit crabs are quite fast in getting rid of a dead fish before it starts rotting badly. They very often start eating before the fish is fully dead...

Just to be safe I would add some activated charcoal, and perform a larger water change. As long as your salt mix and RO/DI is alright this cannot be bad Double check the salinity while you are at it.

Otherwise you can only check the equipment (maybe a temperature spike was the actual issue behind everything), and then observe your corals.

Maybe others can offer more help

 

[FossilizedRappy]

I feel tremendously embarrassed. I figured a week of closure was definitely worry-worthy, but this evening after I got home all three of my gorgonians had their polyps partially back out. None of the other tank residents had any issue I noticed either.

With that said, the ricordea did shrivel and die rapidly, so something clearly happened. That portion of the equation remains a mystery. I'm just relieved it doesn't seem to have affected the other corals after all.

I'm still definitely going to do a water change just in case, and I have changed my RODI canister media to be doubly sure no unexpected material may have gotten through.

 

[EnterName]

I feel tremendously embarrassed. I figured a week of closure was definitely worry-worthy, but this evening after I got home all three of my gorgonians had their polyps partially back out. None of the other tank residents had any issue I noticed either.

With that said, the ricordea did shrivel and die rapidly, so something clearly happened. That portion of the equation remains a mystery. I'm just relieved it doesn't seem to have affected the other corals after all.

I'm still definitely going to do a water change just in case, and I have changed my RODI canister media to be doubly sure no unexpected material may have gotten through.

No need to feel embarrassed. A coral died and another stayed closed for multiple days, that's definitely something to worry about. Good thing it apparently managed to recover, let's hope it stays this way.

You could invest into an ICP-MS test. It won't tell you if there are any dangerous toxic substances in your tank, but you can make sure all essential elements are present for a full recovery and have a way to double check your test kits.