SPS for Dummies

[cgill311]

Ok, so I'm having some issues with my tank. Two days ago I lost most of an acro from RTN. See thread http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13895">here</a>. So now my other corals are looking bad.

My leather is shriveled up. My pink acro is in pieces. My green slimer shows some death at the base. My sunset monti shows some death (closest to the slimer).

First pic is from 2 months ago. All corals were happy albeit tons of coralline. Then I scraped most of the coralline. At the same time I noticed a growth in the flatworm population.

Fast forward to 2 days ago (2nd and 3rd pics). The leather was closed up and the pink acro had RTN. I fragged the acro to save parts of it. Did a 12% water change and replaced my carbon.

Look at the tank today (4th pic) and I see some death on the base of the green slimer and on the sunset (closest to the slimer). The leather opened up, but it doesn't look great.

Someone help me out. What's my problem? I think I probably have a few problems. Death of flatworms could have been releasing toxins in the water. Do green slimers kill neighbors? I'm about to go recalibrate my pH probe. Maybe the yellow colony polyps are killing the smiler?
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[calireefer]

Did you add something to kill the flatworms?

 

[calireefer]

Also where's the mountain biking around here? I have a brand new Santa Cruz Nomad and nowhere to ride.

 

[cgill311]

blackwolfl;156771 wrote: whats your temp at? does it swing alot? the toxins from the flat worms could definitly be a problem

No my temp is very stable at 77F. I didn't add anything to kill the flatworms. I'm thinking about buying a wrasse today to eat the flatworms.

 

[burdundi]

Sorry about your coral losses, I know that's frustrating. Only thing I can see of the top of my head is the Leather playing with some chemical warfare in the small system. Even with water change and carbon, I can see it causing some problems.

My 2 cents,

Andy

 

[cgill311]

CGill311;156773 wrote: No my temp is very stable at 77F. I didn't add anything to kill the flatworms. I'm thinking about buying a wrasse today to eat the flatworms.

Heh...I start calling fish store but no one is open. DUH...EASTER

 

[cgill311]

I'm soaking my pH probe in vinegar right now to remove the CaCO3 buildup. After recalibrating, I'll let you know where my pH is. I used the little test strips, and it was telling me about 7.6. But those things are a PITA to read, so we'll see.

 

[cgill311]

Ok, so after cleaning the pH probe with vinegar and recalibrating, my pH was reading 7.96 (down from 8.03 prior to cleaning). I added a touch of calcium hydroxide and the pH is at 8.18 now. I'll have to get an alkalinity test kit.

I think the problem is either coming from toxins in the water either from coral chemical warfare or dead flatworms. I'm guessing the flatworms are the problem. I'm reducing my feedings (to reduce wastes and algae growth) and buying a wrasse soon. I need to get this under control before the plague sets in.

 

[cgill311]

Big D;156969 wrote: <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">If you've got problems from die off, then you'd have Nitrite and Ammonia. Are you running carbon?... it should help if there was chemical war issues.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">Big D</span>

Yeah, I'm running SeaGel. My ammonia/nitrates are reading nill.

 

[wbholwell]

calireefer;156772 wrote: Also where's the mountain biking around here? I have a brand new Santa Cruz Nomad and nowhere to ride.

I'm guessing you're more into technical / all-mountain riding. You'll want to check out the trails at Chicopee. They're definitely the best close by. Shoot me a PM if you want to ride w/ me sometime.

 

[ralph atl]

When you get a chance, please post all of your parems & the test kits that you used to test them. PH, ALK, Calcium, Mag, Phates, & trates. Although it is very possible that your softies & stonies in chemical warfare are causing problems, & death of many flatworms can also be an issue, you should always look at you parems first. How long have you had the stonies? And how long have they been together with the softies?

 

[ralph atl]

do you have an infestation of flatworms? how many are you seeing? Are any on the corals? can the slimer reach any coral (from it's slime?)