CORALS NOT LOOKING GOOD

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi Randy. With respect its a good place to start before we start deconstructing elements on a molecular level.

That statement doesn't make literal sense, but my point is his problem may not be solved by water changes since we do not know what the problem is. Maybe its a pathogen. Maybe it is lighting or flow or who knows what else.

 

[Cryptocaryon]

That statement doesn't make literal sense, but my point is his problem may not be solved by water changes since we do not know what the problem is. Maybe its a pathogen. Maybe it is lighting or flow or who knows what else.

Correct on all points. But as I said its a good place to start, its all a process of elimination. Could be any or all of those things. Assuming his ro water is good water changing is a safe place to start.

 

[Cryptocaryon]

That statement doesn't make literal sense, but my point is his problem may not be solved by water changes since we do not know what the problem is. Maybe its a pathogen. Maybe it is lighting or flow or who knows what else.

Correct on all things. But as I said its a good place to start, its all a process of elimination. Could be any or all of those things.

What size of the green killing machine do I get or do I just get a regular uv?

Match the size to the one that suits your tank size as per the manufacturers advice.

 

[ScottB]

@jose hernandez I recall you were in a dino thread or two. Did you get an ID on your dinos? You wrote that this looks different than your original dinos. It is common to get more than one type or even go through a succession of them.

On your glass & rocks... it LOOKS like dinos. Can you blow them off or is that brown hair algae? If that is dinos, you really don't need to look any further for the source of coral irritation. (Although an ICP is always a good idea.)

There are 5 common dino types in aquaria. Four of them swim in the water at lights out. Those four can be managed with proper size/flow through a UV. You would need +-67 watts for dino treatment. Rig it as a temporary setup TO/FROM the display itself with a small pump at 300-400 gph (slow). Much more effective for dinos than running off the return line as that flow is too fast.

Do you or your LFS have a microscope to get an ID?

 

[Luckyduck]

Good, okay. Sorry battery died on my phone. I presume you are using the kit correctly? Make sure the reagent/liquid level in the syringe is at 8.5 and bottom of the black plunger at 0, Its good youve had this verified at your lfs too. If the mg is that high then for sure get yourself some new salt as its obviously a ill prepared batch. Once you have new salt continue with the one week water changes, this needs to be done alongside good basic husbandry, siphoning ,cleaning walls etc, you mentioned a fuge forget that and buy a uv steriliser the green killing machine is cost effective and very effective. Good luck. Keep us updated

I run the Green Killing Machine 3W on my 20 gallon Cube and it works great. I would run it at its fastest speed as that is what is designed to kill algae spores. At least according to BRSTV.

 

[jose hernandez]

I’ve been blowing the rock everyday seems to help a bit but corals still look like they are about to crap out

 

[Luckyduck]

I’ve been blowing the rock everyday seems to help a bit but corals still look like they are about to crap out

You need to remove what you're blowing off the rocks. You're not helping it at all by just blowing off and into the water. That will in fact make it worse!

 

[jose hernandez]

im not gonna take out all the rocks and give them a good cleaning and start over

 

[Luckyduck]

im not gonna take out all the rocks and give them a good cleaning and start over

I assume you meant to say you ARE going to take out all the rocks? If so that's a good idea. I have done that before myself. When I upgraded tanks from a 15 to a 20 I brushed every rock off really well before placing them back into the new tank and completely re-stacked my rock. Just be aware though the algae will most likely come back untill you figure out what is causing it to grow. I would still look into adjusting your light spectrum. Can't hurt as long as you turn your blues and UV up higher and maybe extend from 8 hours to 10. Wish you knew the current percentages you're running at. It is something you should know as it's fairly important.

 

[jose hernandez]

from what i see on the mobius app they are running at 30% as far whats causing this i was reading that pellet food can raise nutrients really up if one is not careful i was feeding chromaboost just recently to try and get phosphates up could that be the cause? but still tha fact that my zoas are closed makes me think otherwise i think i might just do a reboot and stop trying to figure this out

 

[jose hernandez]

As far as cleaning the rocks should it be in saltwater or rodi?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

As far as cleaning the rocks should it be in saltwater or rodi?

Saltwater. I'm not sure what benefit that will be, however.

 

[jose hernandez]

Won’t scrubbing the rocks of all the algae and a water change help?

 

[Cryptocaryon]

from what i see on the mobius app they are running at 30% as far whats causing this i was reading that pellet food can raise nutrients really up if one is not careful i was feeding chromaboost just recently to try and get phosphates up could that be the cause? but still tha fact that my zoas are closed makes me think otherwise i think i might just do a reboot and stop trying to figure this out

Did the pellet feeding or chromaboost coincide with the tank going south?

 

[Cryptocaryon]

As far as cleaning the rocks should it be in saltwater or rodi?

What rock is that? Doesn't look reef rock

 

[Cryptocaryon]

Did you cycle the tank bare bottom? Or remove sand at a later date.

 

[jose hernandez]

It’s dry rock from brs I cycled with live sand first about 2 months ago I started taking out the live sand little by little

 

[jose hernandez]

Chromaboost did raise phosphates but not to a point where it was crazy Lights are only at 30% so don’t think they had anything to do with it

 

[Cryptocaryon]

It’s dry rock from brs I cycled with live sand first about 2 months ago I started taking out the live sand little by little

I've seen this many times before always with the same outcome. Never remove the sand from a tank once it has cycled it will mess with its stability and cause the problems you are seeing now. Why did you decide to go barebottom anyway? I would only recommend that to advanced reefers and even then many of them get it wrong, people often underestimate the stability sand provides. If I were you I would reconsider bare bottom and pretty much start again from scratch, forget taking the rocks out and scrubbing them itll be back in a week.

 

[jose hernandez]

So what do I do?