Ugh Unprepared and Tank Problems

[Rispa]

Okay apparently I'm holding off on nems until the tank is moved This is driving me nuts. I don't want to wait So during the Unique sale I got some things. The BTA never was willing to stick, but I stuck him in a rock Before I was done with the rest he was face down in the sand again. I figured he needed to be out of flow while he sorted out sticking and he would move to a more optimal location. I left him in a sheltered area tucked away. His bubbles went away and he looked ticked, but I had to leave I come back 2 days later and he's face down in the sand in the same area staring to disintegrate ;Dead

The Pajama Cardinals are doing well. The Elegance my friend told me but to get is open and looks amazing. The zoanthids and symposium are ticked and haven't opened up. On top of that they both appear to have amphipods eating them... ;Facepalm

I'm debating between setting up a nano real fast to try to save them and picking up a dragonette temporarily. I don't have a test kit. I need to get a new one because mine is all expired And I forgot the refractometer... Ugh I feel dumb for those two. I'm going to head to the fish store to at least get a kit. If they have an appropriate wrasse or dragonette I might pick one of those up too.

In the meantime any theories as to why the elegance is doing well?

 

[Rispa]

Pardo. The rock work. I hate it and I know it's not stable. My mom hired a guy to work on the tank and he took out all my established rock and put in new rock without securing it. He also took out my sargasm, gsp, and Kenya tree corals. I'm going to be ticked about this stupidity for a while. Oh also all this rock work was done when we were still planning to put seahorses in... I totally don't get what he was thinking here.

 

[Rispa]

The pods are out of control. Bristle worms only seem to eat the dead things. Plus a few other pics

 

[nfrench2100]

How long has your system been running?

 

[Rispa]

How long has your system been running?

10 years this summer.

 

[Rispa]

I think I know what I did... I forgot to drip acclimate. I only acclimated for temp. ;Facepalm I realized after the fact that I forgot to dip the fish and drop acclimate the anemone. That's what I get for being in a rush.

 

[Rispa]

Okay better prepared now
Nitrite 0
Ph 8.4
Ammonia 0-.25
Nitrate 0-5, I think it's full yellow, but I'm not sure
Salinity unknown

 

[Rispa]

Ammonia and Nitrate darkened up a bit.
My mom also increased how much she is feeding from 1 to 2 cubes of mysis, so that might be part of it.

 

[ReefSlice]

Pods won't eat your coral, unless your coral is dying, then they will eat the dead tissue. If you have any ammonia, do a big water change. Stop adding things to the tank, do a few large water changes over the next few weeks and let the tank settle. Also what lighting are you using? Looks like ordinary fluorescent bulbs but I could be wrong.
The new rock could have very well caused a cycle as well.

 

[Rispa]

Pods won't eat your coral, unless your coral is dying, then they will eat the dead tissue. If you have any ammonia, do a big water change. Stop adding things to the tank, do a few large water changes over the next few weeks and let the tank settle. Also what lighting are you using? Looks like ordinary fluorescent bulbs but I could be wrong.
The new rock could have very well caused a cycle as well.

The rock was added in February, so probably not that. Although I have no doubt that the tank did cycle do to it. He also stirred up the sand. Again I'm more than a little bit ticked at him for doing all that. I did a 10 gallon water change because said the guy has all but two of her water totes. If necessary I can go and do more tomorrow or Sunday. By the way the ammonia test may not have been accurate when I took a picture because it had been sitting for about 20 minutes.

I also have the anemone in a cup with an AirStone stirring the water and aerating it. I'm still hoping that you'll make it come back. I'll see if I can make a trip back tomorrow especially if the water does not stink and he's probably still alive. When I do that I will bring the refractometer.

 

[ReefSlice]

If it's disintegrating, get it out of your tank, it has already passed by the looks of that photo and may very well be the source of your ammonia problem as well as the other potentially dead corals that are being scavenged upon. Dead anemones release a ton of nutrients, you really should get on top of doing a water change asap. Good luck.

 

[Rispa]

If it's disintegrating, get it out of your tank, it has already passed by the looks of that photo and may very well be the source of your ammonia problem as well as the other potentially dead corals that are being scavenged upon. Dead anemones release a ton of nutrients, you really should get on top of doing a water change asap. Good luck.

I took it out as soon as I got there. I have it in a cup elsewhere. The anemone may have been the c problem, but I don't think it disintegrated that much.

I did a 10 gallon water change. I can do more tomorrow, but not tonight. The flesh of the coral is still firm. They were just added to the tank Wednesday.

 

[Rispa]

I can't remember what lights... They are from Coralife if I remember correctly and I got the two with coral in mind. I think one was blue and one purple. I'll see about looking at the bulbs themselves next time I go there.

 

[Rispa]

Sympodium opened up and zoanthid looks no worse. Elegance is happy and ate a mysis in front of me. I picked up a scooter blenny and another pajama the other day and I did remember to dip them. The pajama is conveniently hanging out with the lone one like I hoped and the scooter is at least going after mysis. I'm concerned he doesn't like amphipods though...

I couldn't find my refractometer, so I'm going to go get my water tested. I going to have them do the whole shebang while I'm at it.

Here are the lights I put in.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/t5-ati-blue-plus.html
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/t5-ati-coral-plus.html

I'm really thinking the main thing was probably that I didn't drip acclimate, so I'm kicking myself hard for that.

 

[Rispa]

Salinity 1.024

 

[CalebWBrink2000]

I remember you from the live sale, lol. Your tank seems to have a massive microfauna population, which gives you an excellent base. If I were you, the first thing I would do is rescape the tank. Go and clean your glass and your filter- it looks like a standard HOB filter. The prevalence of algae seems like you might have a slight nutrient issue; what are you running in the filter? Carbon, purigen, GFO?

Reduce your feeding; two cubes of mysis is way too much for two small cardinals. Cut it down to maybe half a cube or less. How long do your lights run? I have mine on for roughly 8 hours.

Also, what do you do for flow? Lastly, slowly raise your salinity to 1.025 or 26.

Once you get your tank to where you want it, leave it alone for awhile and let it settle and stabilize. I've learned that the less you mess with it, the better. Issues tend to correct themselves when left alone for awhile- I used to have a cyano issue and tried everything under the sun, including Vibrant. Vibrant only made it worse, lol. After a few weeks of dosing I gave up and just let it do its thing- after three months, all traces were gone.

 

[Rispa]

Friend says it's closer to 1.022. I shall add a little salt

 

[CalebWBrink2000]

Friend says it's closer to 1.022. I shall add a little salt

Raise it gradually with your water changes; sudden big shocks are bad and will make things worse.

 

[Rispa]

I remember you from the live sale, lol. Your tank seems to have a massive microfauna population, which gives you an excellent base. If I were you, the first thing I would do is rescape the tank. Go and clean your glass and your filter- it looks like a standard HOB filter. The prevalence of algae seems like you might have a slight nutrient issue; what are you running in the filter? Carbon, purigen, GFO?

Reduce your feeding; two cubes of mysis is way too much for two small cardinals. Cut it down to maybe half a cube or less. How long do your lights run? I have mine on for roughly 8 hours.

Also, what do you do for flow? Lastly, slowly raise your salinity to 1.025 or 26.

Once you get your tank to where you want it, leave it alone for awhile and let it settle and stabilize. I've learned that the less you mess with it, the better. Issues tend to correct themselves when left alone for awhile- I used to have a cyano issue and tried everything under the sun, including Vibrant. Vibrant only made it worse, lol. After a few weeks of dosing I gave up and just let it do its thing- after three months, all traces were gone.

The algae just came up when a pipe fish died. I think the arrow crab killed it because it was eating for me. I honestly don't mind it except on the glass.

There are 5 pj cardinals, 1 yellow watchman, a scooter blenny, an arrow crab, and some other little inverters in there at the moment. But yeah I'm thinking one cube a day will be plenty.

The filters have the standard filters in them. When I did the tanks I would sometimes run extra carbon, but mostly we rely on biological filtration. I'm actually quite partial to calurpa normally.

I think she has them on a timer for 8 hours of light.

The filters actually provide enough flow throughout the tank to at least slightly stir everything.

As for the rock scape I was putting off redoing it until I move the tank, so it only gets really stirred up once. As soon as I move it I will overhaul it.

Step 1 though is increase the salinity a bit. Can I cheat and just add a little salt to one of the filters behind the pad, so it should mix as it comes out? How much should I add? We got the red sea commercial pack of salt.

 

[CalebWBrink2000]

The algae just came up when a pipe fish died. I think the arrow crab killed it because it was eating for me. I honestly don't mind it except on the glass.

There are 5 pj cardinals, 1 yellow watchman, a scooter blenny, an arrow crab, and some other little inverters in there at the moment. But yeah I'm thinking one cube a day will be plenty.

The filters have the standard filters in them. When I did the tanks I would sometimes run extra carbon, but mostly we rely on biological filtration. I'm actually quite partial to calurpa normally.

I think she has them on a timer for 8 hours of light.

The filters actually provide enough flow throughout the tank to at least slightly stir everything.

As for the rock scape I was putting off redoing it until I move the tank, so it only gets really stirred up once. As soon as I move it I will overhaul it.

Step 1 though is increase the salinity a bit. Can I cheat and just add a little salt to one of the filters behind the pad, so it should mix as it comes out? How much should I add? We got the red sea commercial pack of salt.

Definitely don't add it behind the filter pad; it won't work- I've tried it before a long time ago during my earlier ventures here. If you really don't want to wait until the next water change, I would go and get a small tub/big jug, put some freshwater (bottled or RODI) and add a load of salt in it. This is what I do when I want to raise my salinity up a point- just add a ton of salt to a small amount of freshwater and pour it into the filters. I can't really tell you how much; I don't know your tank well enough to eyeball it and I use Reef Crystals. Check your salt level in a few mins and go slow. Salt, if it lands on coral, will burn them, so you want to make sure it's fully dissolved.

On that note, if you're using tap water, don't. Use RODI or distilled/bottled.

I would highly recommend some wave makers or pumps; you can get one or two jebao wavemakers for not much money and it'd be fine. Flow is extremely important in reefs- I like running as much flow as my corals can tolerate without being upset. This prevents detritus buildup and keeps algae low.

I hear you on macros in your display- I have some red gracilaria in my nano that doubles as a phosphate remover and a pod haven.

Carbon is good- whenever I have an upset coral, I always replace my carbon first if it's been awhile (as in a month or two). If that doesn't work, I dose a little bit. Since I run an LPS/softy dominant reef, Purple Up and some trace elements is all I do. 99% of the time that takes care of it.