New guy here with a few questions

Aquage · 05/29/2009, 02:56 PM

Greetings RC new guy here. I have been in the hobby for almost a year now and I seem to be stuck in a loop. Hair algae constantly coming back after i pull rocks and scrub it off. cut lighting, scrubbed more etc etc, considered dosing vodka but that seem out of my league after all the reading i did, and the only corals I can seem to keep alive are zoa's. every time i try to add a new coral friend, anything else! it dies slowly. Frog spawns, brains, I stopped buying cause I'm killing them, or something else is. I noticed in the center of every coral or where its mouth would be as it dies is this squiggley white stuff. I do regular water changes rodi, dose kalk, My phosphates show zero"people tell me cause the algae is eating it up" test after test after water change, it just keeps coming back. I do not have any algae eating fish. I think my tank may be to small for a tang. Here's the get up:
60gal tall display, 20gal sump, 108w's of t5's. I had 250w mh but pulled it cause it was overkill for what i want to keep."i only want to keep soft stuff" Mushrooms,Zoas, maybe a leather.
the kids:
1 perc
2 clarks
1 orange tail damsel
1 coral beauty
1 tiny black and white damsel aka "squirt"

every snail I buy except for the sand sifting ones, die in a few months. blue leg hermits seem to do ok, but I have noticed there numbers have shrunk also. I was thinking I may have some pest. maybe mantis shrimp? would I see cracked shells if that was the case? I don't know!
any thoughts?
thanks Aquage

KarlBob · 05/29/2009, 03:02 PM

The first thing people are going to ask for is water test results. Please list your latest results for Salinity/Specific Gravity, pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Alkalinity, and Calcium. If you're routinely testing anything else, please list it, too.

One possibility is that the hermits are eating the snails. A mantis shrimp is a possibility, or a pistol shrimp. If it's a pistol, that could explain the lack of broken shells - they could be used inside the shrimp's burrow to shore up the walls.

thegrun · 05/29/2009, 03:23 PM

That's a tough question, it looks like you have thought of all the usual suspects. On a side note, your coral beauty could be the cause of your coral problems, they are hit and miss as far as being safe with corals, I had to remove mine. A 60 gallon tank is on the boarder line of acceptable for a tang. I used to have a 60 and my yellow tang seemed fine although I doubt the Tang Police would agree. Back to the algae, how long are you running your lights? Are you getting much natural light on the tank?

Aquage · 05/29/2009, 03:37 PM

no outside light touches the tank. the beauty was a new addition so he cant be to blame for the old coral deaths i have added none since he was introduced. lights on for about 6-8 but i cut back to 4 and still nothing. The 60 I have Is taller than your typical 75gallon.
parameters are as follows
ph:8.3
amm

Trate

Trite

grav:1.023
phos:0

snorvich · 05/29/2009, 03:46 PM

What are you measuring specific gravity with? In any case, it should be closer to 1.0264

Aquage · 05/29/2009, 03:50 PM

refractometer, the kind ya look into like a microscope, mind my spelling =)

GreatReefs · 05/29/2009, 03:55 PM

I would have to suspect the hermit crab. They are crafty hungry little buggers.

Aquage · 05/29/2009, 03:59 PM

these are tiny blue legs. no bigger than your pinky nail, and the snails i had, where pingpong ball size plus.

ChrisKirkland · 05/29/2009, 04:07 PM

Whats your calcium and alkalinity readings?

WaterKeeper · 05/29/2009, 04:19 PM

I tend to doubt it is the Coral Beauty's fault as they, and most angels, don't really like leathers. I'm wondering if their is some sort of small critter, like flatworms, attacking the coral. You probably have some phosphate or there wouldn't be a problem with hair algae. Soft corals are not impacted by phosphate as they don't use much in the way of calcium. Try running an iron based phosphate removal product for a few weeks and see if things improve with the algae. Also look closely at the corals for small swarms of tiny "bugs" hovering on or around the coral. They could be flatworms and then you can use a flatworm removal product.

Snail deaths are common and many are just due to natural causes. Same goes for hermits.

Aquage · 05/29/2009, 05:01 PM

Calcium @ 470 I have neglected the alk test cause the one i have is difficult to get an accurate reading. "red sea" Thanks for the feedback and the warm welcome = )

05/29/2009, 02:56 PM	#1
Aquage Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bowie Md Posts: 5	New guy here with a few questions Greetings RC new guy here. I have been in the hobby for almost a year now and I seem to be stuck in a loop. Hair algae constantly coming back after i pull rocks and scrub it off. cut lighting, scrubbed more etc etc, considered dosing vodka but that seem out of my league after all the reading i did, and the only corals I can seem to keep alive are zoa's. every time i try to add a new coral friend, anything else! it dies slowly. Frog spawns, brains, I stopped buying cause I'm killing them, or something else is. I noticed in the center of every coral or where its mouth would be as it dies is this squiggley white stuff. I do regular water changes rodi, dose kalk, My phosphates show zero"people tell me cause the algae is eating it up" test after test after water change, it just keeps coming back. I do not have any algae eating fish. I think my tank may be to small for a tang. Here's the get up: 60gal tall display, 20gal sump, 108w's of t5's. I had 250w mh but pulled it cause it was overkill for what i want to keep."i only want to keep soft stuff" Mushrooms,Zoas, maybe a leather. the kids: 1 perc 2 clarks 1 orange tail damsel 1 coral beauty 1 tiny black and white damsel aka "squirt" every snail I buy except for the sand sifting ones, die in a few months. blue leg hermits seem to do ok, but I have noticed there numbers have shrunk also. I was thinking I may have some pest. maybe mantis shrimp? would I see cracked shells if that was the case? I don't know! any thoughts? thanks Aquage

05/29/2009, 03:02 PM	#2
KarlBob Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Laveen, AZ Posts: 2,309	The first thing people are going to ask for is water test results. Please list your latest results for Salinity/Specific Gravity, pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Alkalinity, and Calcium. If you're routinely testing anything else, please list it, too. One possibility is that the hermits are eating the snails. A mantis shrimp is a possibility, or a pistol shrimp. If it's a pistol, that could explain the lack of broken shells - they could be used inside the shrimp's burrow to shore up the walls. __________________ Later, KarlBob Current Tank Info: No tanks for now. Starting over in Austin sometime next year.

05/29/2009, 03:46 PM	#5
snorvich Team RC member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Outlander Posts: 40,953 Blog Entries: 46	What are you measuring specific gravity with? In any case, it should be closer to 1.0264 __________________ Warmest regards, ~Steve~

05/29/2009, 04:07 PM	#9
ChrisKirkland Reef and Coral Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Lexington, Ky. Posts: 1,739	Whats your calcium and alkalinity readings? __________________ Chris Kirkland Reef Nerd. Current Tank Info: Getting back into the hobby.

05/29/2009, 04:19 PM	#10
WaterKeeper Bogus Information Expert Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 16,147	I tend to doubt it is the Coral Beauty's fault as they, and most angels, don't really like leathers. I'm wondering if their is some sort of small critter, like flatworms, attacking the coral. You probably have some phosphate or there wouldn't be a problem with hair algae. Soft corals are not impacted by phosphate as they don't use much in the way of calcium. Try running an iron based phosphate removal product for a few weeks and see if things improve with the algae. Also look closely at the corals for small swarms of tiny "bugs" hovering on or around the coral. They could be flatworms and then you can use a flatworm removal product. Snail deaths are common and many are just due to natural causes. Same goes for hermits. __________________ "Leading the information hungry reefer down the road to starvation" Tom Current Tank Info: 130 Now out of service and a 29

05/29/2009, 03:23 PM	#3
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	That's a tough question, it looks like you have thought of all the usual suspects. On a side note, your coral beauty could be the cause of your coral problems, they are hit and miss as far as being safe with corals, I had to remove mine. A 60 gallon tank is on the boarder line of acceptable for a tang. I used to have a 60 and my yellow tang seemed fine although I doubt the Tang Police would agree. Back to the algae, how long are you running your lights? Are you getting much natural light on the tank?

05/29/2009, 03:37 PM	#4
Aquage Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bowie Md Posts: 5	no outside light touches the tank. the beauty was a new addition so he cant be to blame for the old coral deaths i have added none since he was introduced. lights on for about 6-8 but i cut back to 4 and still nothing. The 60 I have Is taller than your typical 75gallon. parameters are as follows ph:8.3 amm Trate Trite grav:1.023 phos:0

05/29/2009, 03:50 PM	#6
Aquage Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bowie Md Posts: 5	refractometer, the kind ya look into like a microscope, mind my spelling =)

05/29/2009, 03:55 PM	#7
GreatReefs Moved On Join Date: May 2008 Location: in the reef Posts: 232	I would have to suspect the hermit crab. They are crafty hungry little buggers.

05/29/2009, 03:59 PM	#8
Aquage Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bowie Md Posts: 5	these are tiny blue legs. no bigger than your pinky nail, and the snails i had, where pingpong ball size plus.

05/29/2009, 05:01 PM	#11
Aquage Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Bowie Md Posts: 5	Calcium @ 470 I have neglected the alk test cause the one i have is difficult to get an accurate reading. "red sea" Thanks for the feedback and the warm welcome = )