Corals Haven't Opened Up For 2 Days

[Vin7250]

ive been using IO for years with no ill effects

[w16227]

Originally Posted by Spudzeric

The Coco Worm has been in for about five months and has been fine until about four days ago.
The Zooanthids have been in for about six months and have been opened fine until yesterday.
The Leather Corals have been in for about a month and a half and have been fine until yesterday.
The Flowerpot and Brain Corals have been in for about a month and have been fine until today.
The Clam has been in for about a week and has been fine until today.

As for lighting I have two T-5s and one T-8. The T-5s are Hagen's Power-Glo and Life-Flo and the T-8 is Hagen's Marine-Glo.

I do have a snail population problem that I have been fighting for about six months. Over the last six months I estimate that I have removed about a thousand Cerith snails. My suggestion for anyone is to stay away from the Cerith snails if at all possible. Yesterday I saw a snail that wouldn't leave the clam alone. The clam kept shutting trying to get it off.

I am using an AquaC Remora skimmer with a MJ1200. I was using an Aqua-Tech 30-60 filter (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Tech-...-1-ct/10291977) until this past weekend I changed over to a homemade canister filter with a blend of Phosguard and PhosPure plus Zeolite & Carbon.

As for rock - I have 40 lbs of live rock. And I have about an inch and a half of sand in my 48 x 12 x 16 tank

The only things I have added in the past two months are the corals.

I will check tonight and see if anything is bothering them. The only things I could think of that would bother them would be either my Pepperment Shrimp, my Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp, or the abundance of snails that I am trying to get rid of.

I haven't checked for copper... Ever.... Do I need to?

For the Calcium test kit I use Salifert. For Alkalinity, Phosphate, Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonia I use Instant Ocean. As for Salinity and PH I use this (http://www.myronl.com/products/ultrameter_II.htm). To convert the conductivity to salinity I use this online converter: http://www.fivecreeks.org/monitor/sal.html


The clam is about an inch and a half to two inches long.

I was planning on taking the yellow tang back to the LFS. It is getting very large for my tank, but the yellow eyed tang seems to be doing fine in it. If I see any problems after the yellow tang has been removed I may consider removing the yellow eyed tang.

Great info ---- and I realize that I misread something earlier. It though that you had FRESHWATER for a while- then a SW tank for like the last 2 months. Though you were really rushing - but now reread and know more about the tank life.

Lighting - might be ok (others may chime in). Usually with T5 - you want to get as many bulbs across the top as you can (though if you have a pre-built fixture you might not be able to add anything). This would affect the SPS and clam the most - but with a clam, you would most likely see it trying to overextend the mantle (reaching for more light) than receding. Plus- other less light intensive corals are affected so we can probably eliminate this from the areas of concern list.

Snails - there are some that go after clams. If the snail(s) are only on the shell - probably not a big issue (I have seen this on my maxima with no ill affects). If the snail is going after the mantle, then you could have some of the "bad" variety. This would be limited to your clam.

Copper - no worries unless you start seeing the other inverts go downhill. I misread your OP and thought that this might have been a converted FW tank. Most FW tanks have had to treat ich at some time with (of course) copper. If you have never added copper to the tank - then no real need to test at this point.

Test kits - good that you test yourself. I was not sure from the other posts. Salifert are top notch. IO= I have zero experience. If you are getting different readings than the LFS - I would check to see if any of the kits expired. Worst thing is to be diligent about testing and have expired kits in use.

Salt mix - good for reference. I do not think that this is the cause. I would hold off changing until you get the latest issue under control. Corals are much less tolerant of changes in the tank than fish. Change a lower % of water when starting the switch.

The tangs - I did not want to be all tang police on you. Just something that could sneak up on you. Good to see you are observant.

So - unless I have read incorrectly - the timing of the corals showing stress appears to be 1-2 days after the addition of the new reactor?

Most people here do not run anything other than a skimmer and possibly some reactors with media. Canister filters tend to accumulate a lot of detritus- and need to be cleaned often.

I would say that the timing indicated that this changeover is potentially part of your issues. Several things could be happening - first, the new filter may be doing too good of a job. If your water clarity changes quickly- you could have a lot "more" light hitting everything and causing shock. You could also have introduced some new concentrations of chemicals (or rapidly depleted others) with the new filter. If nothing is toxic - then you can wait things out for the corals to adjust to the different conditions. If things get progressive worse - then remove the filter, change 20% of the water and observe.

I am particularly concerned with the Zeolite, though. This looks like more of a FW and pond material. If you are trying to get a neo-zeo or zeovit type system going ---- that is above my knowledge base. One decent article -

http://www.worldfishcenter.org/naga/...uabyte%204.pdf

seems to indicate that the level of salinity in a saltwater tank would inhibit the usefulness of zeolite.

At a minimum, I would pull the zeolite and observe.

[Spudzeric]

Originally Posted by w16227

I would say that the timing indicated that this changeover is potentially part of your issues. Several things could be happening - first, the new filter may be doing too good of a job. If your water clarity changes quickly- you could have a lot "more" light hitting everything and causing shock. You could also have introduced some new concentrations of chemicals (or rapidly depleted others) with the new filter. If nothing is toxic - then you can wait things out for the corals to adjust to the different conditions. If things get progressive worse - then remove the filter, change 20% of the water and observe.

I am particularly concerned with the Zeolite, though. This looks like more of a FW and pond material. If you are trying to get a neo-zeo or zeovit type system going ---- that is above my knowledge base. One decent article -

http://www.worldfishcenter.org/naga/...uabyte%204.pdf

seems to indicate that the level of salinity in a saltwater tank would inhibit the usefulness of zeolite.

At a minimum, I would pull the zeolite and observe.

The problems did start when I changed over to the homemade filter and I'm starting to wonder if the Zeolite could have been a part of the problem. The first time I started to use it was when I changed over to that filter. I'm afraid I may have shocked my system when I did that.

By the way the homemade filter and all filter media has been removed for about 24 hours now. Most everything looks to be on the uphill slope. The only things I haven't seen any improvement is the clam, and coco worm.

[Spudzeric]

Hey Everyone! My clam opened this morning and it looks healthy. Also my leather tree coral is at its shedding stage, so I expect it to open in a couple days. My flowerpot coral is trying to open... I see a little change with it every day now. Still no sign of my cocoworm yet.

[w16227]

Originally Posted by Spudzeric

Hey Everyone! My clam opened this morning and it looks healthy. Also my leather tree coral is at its shedding stage, so I expect it to open in a couple days. My flowerpot coral is trying to open... I see a little change with it every day now. Still no sign of my cocoworm yet.

SWEET

Hey - even if coco does not come back, the rest seem to be pulling through.

[Spudzeric]

Originally Posted by w16227

SWEET

Hey - even if coco does not come back, the rest seem to be pulling through.

Your right.... and by the way my coco worm popped out for about a minute today, so I'm thinking he may pull through as well.

[Chiefsurfer]

if he popped out for a bit, and still his crown in-tact, I would bet some pretty big money that he would make it.