Why is my frogspawn doing this?!?!?

[iamacat]

There is more to bacteria than the nitrifying cycle. The bacteria that do the heavy lifting in mature tank live deep in live rock. They take a longer time to double than your first stage of bacteria. I don’t trust man made rock as it’s not as hospitable to bacteria.

 

[TrevorL]

I would do water changes weekly
How big is your tank?

It’s a 29 gallon Biocube

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Do you know the actual temp of the tank? I noticed with my Biocube with the hood down my temp got high pretty quick. May want to look into a inkbird controller for your heater.

 

[TrevorL]

There is more to bacteria than the nitrifying cycle. The bacteria that do the heavy lifting in mature tank live deep in live rock. They take a longer time to double than your first stage of bacteria. I don’t trust man made rock as it’s not as hospitable to bacteria.

Yes I have started to realize that. I’m and going to order actual live rock soon where they go and harvest it out of the Gulf of Mexico and ship it same day in water. I was planning on doing that as soon as holiday shipping was fully over so there wouldn’t be any delays

 

[TrevorL]

Do you know the actual temp of the tank? I noticed with my Biocube with the hood down my temp got high pretty quick. May want to look into a inkbird controller for your heater.

Last I checked it was sitting around 78 but the new hood and led lights have probably made it jump. I am going to be going to the store later today as well and will most likely get a thermometer and bring a water sample up there as well

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Yes I have started to realize that. I’m and going to order actual live rock soon where they go and harvest it out of the Gulf of Mexico and ship it same day in water. I was planning on doing that as soon as holiday shipping was fully over so there wouldn’t be any delays

Ok just add the rock and give it time before you take out your other rock otherwise you might cause a cycle to occurs. Your tank has been running since June so you definitely have enough bacteria

 

[TrevorL]

Ok just add the rock and give it time before you take out your other rock otherwise you might cause a cycle to occurs. Your tank has been running since June so you definitely have enough bacteria

Yeah I made a previous forum post about adding the rock and have come to the conclusion to add it to the tank after looking for harmful pests and all that and then slowly take my old rock out

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Last I checked it was sitting around 78 but the new hood and led lights have probably made it jump. I am going to be going to the store later today as well and will most likely get a thermometer and bring a water sample up there as well

Don’t trust the heater by itself. Definitely get a thermometer to see what your tank is at. I use to prop my hood up and blow a fan across the water to make sure the temp stayed in check. I highly recommend an inkbird controller.
Inkbird ITC-308S Aquarium Heating and Cooling Dual Stage Temperature Controller Freshwater Saltwater Aquarium Tropical Fish Ornamental Shrimp

 

[Tyler Bullock]

I would just get your N03 and P04 down, your rock is fine. Unless you really want live rock.

 

[TrevorL]

Don’t trust the heater by itself. Definitely get a thermometer to see what your tank is at. I use to prop my hood up and blow a fan across the water to make sure the temp stayed in check. I highly recommend an inkbird controller.
Inkbird ITC-308S Aquarium Heating and Cooling Dual Stage Temperature Controller Freshwater Saltwater Aquarium Tropical Fish Ornamental Shrimp

I will look into it. This is really getting to me as I have just joined the hobby about 7 months ago but I instantly fell in love with it and am trying my best to do whatever it takes to be a good reef keeper. I know there will always be ups and downs in the beginning but it’s always about learning from your mistakes and knowing how to prevent it in the future!

 

[TrevorL]

I would just get your N03 and P04 down, your rock is fine. Unless you really want live rock.

I’ve decided to go the live rock route because I am looking to rescape my tank a little because what I have in mind now is not what my beginner reefer self was thinking at first

 

[iamacat]

I will look into it. This is really getting to me as I have just joined the hobby about 7 months ago but I instantly fell in love with it and am trying my best to do whatever it takes to be a good reef keeper. I know there will always be ups and downs in the beginning but it’s always about learning from your mistakes and knowing how to prevent it in the future!

You got the right attitude. You will learn a lot. Unfortunately I’m sure you already learned right after you filled your tank, that you wanted to change something about it. I’ve noticed a lot of posts on here of people restarting systems after not being successful for years, suddenly having a thriving tank because they learned from their mistakes. Most mistakes happen with the first stage, cycling, this sets the stage for your whole system. If you don’t use live rock, which is common, you just have to set to a plan when cycling.

 

[Born2beblack]

What about alk, cal, mag
If it swang it can be an issue to

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello;

So reading the thread, there is maybe more. I have a frogspawn in my 240 gallon. It sits on the lower right hand side for the last 4 years. Now the bottom heads are always open and love life. The top four barley come out, and this is the same spot they have always been. My clown fish has hosted them, and I assumed he was damaging them. So I left the good ones alone and moved the stressed ones. They have come out a little more but nothing like the bottom ones. They are not as green as the others either.

so what’s my point? Well if he has some frogspawn heads acting normal no issues, then it’s not tank issue. I have three heads that are amazing looking and three that just suck and barley come out.

maybe try feeding the frog spawn with an eye dropper. Blue green hammers and frogspawn are like bubble tip anemonies they like the water a little dirty. Having a 40ppm for those is safe and should be an issue. I have had great success at 5ppm and .40ppm (when my tank is a brat). But something else is going on here. Everything you try is going to be a risk. It could make it better or kill it, (gosh what great options we have). Not to mention it may take a couple days to weeks to months to see changes. What other worries do you have? Have you tried adding carbon media to get rid of any chemical warfare?

 

[TrevorL]

What about alk, cal, mag
If it swang it can be an issue to

I currently do not have those testers. I am taking my water to a lfs later today and will get them to test it and see what I need to do

 

[TrevorL]

Hello;

So reading the thread, there is maybe more. I have a frogspawn in my 240 gallon. It sits on the lower right hand side for the last 4 years. Now the bottom heads are always open and love life. The top four barley come out, and this is the same spot they have always been. My clown fish has hosted them, and I assumed he was damaging them. So I left the good ones alone and moved the stressed ones. They have come out a little more but nothing like the bottom ones. They are not as green as the others either.

so what’s my point? Well if he has some frogspawn heads acting normal no issues, then it’s not tank issue. I have three heads that are amazing looking and three that just suck and barley come out.

maybe try feeding the frog spawn with an eye dropper. Blue green hammers and frogspawn are like bubble tip anemonies they like the water a little dirty. Having a 40ppm for those is safe and should be an issue. I have had great success at 5ppm and .40ppm (when my tank is a brat). But something else is going on here. Everything you try is going to be a risk. It could make it better or kill it, (gosh what great options we have). Not to mention it may take a couple days to weeks to months to see changes. What other worries do you have? Have you tried adding carbon media to get rid of any chemical warfare?

So I have a chemipure blue bag in my filteration to help with chemical warfare. I have a little plastic syringe that I used to feed and it’s been going great. It just started to do this within the week so I feel now it’s either the new lighting or something else may be wrong

 

[redeyejedi]

I’ve had my fish and zoas for about 4 months and they’ve all been doing fine. This frogspawn is the first thing that is giving me a problem. I cycled my tank for 2 months before adding anything and took my water to my lfs and got them to test it and asked if it was ok before adding and they said it was.

Sounds like a nitrate and phos problem to me, zoas love it, lps dont.

 

[NatureHold]

How’s his coral doing? Young tank, inexperienced, used man made rock. I doubt there is a sufficient bacterial population to allow coral to be successful. Ca, Alk, pH, PO4, NO3 are all balanced by the work bacteria does.

His tank isn't ready for coral because of husbandry practices. Not because of the age of the tank. I think that is where the disagreement is coming from.

 

[TrevorL]

Sounds like a nitrate and phos problem to me, zoas love it, lps dont.

That’s what I’m starting to think. I’m definitely taking my water to a lfs to get tested to see what the real problem is.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes I dose with reef complete, reef carbonate, and reef plus when I do water changes and that’s around every two weeks as I’m trying to get my nitrates down

Is it safe to say this started happening right after you changed the light? I don’t believe water is onset and the powerhead is not one that would typically blast the tank . An ammonia/nitrite spike will do this however. A lack of nutrients will also trigger this. Low phosphate would be an example.
Recommended:
Salinity. 1.025
Temp 77-79
Ph 8.1-8.3
Ammonia < .03
Nitrate < .04
Phosphate < .04
Alk 8/9
Mag 1300
Ca 440