Death of Colt

sandry75 · 01/12/2007, 06:27 PM

Hello all,

I'm having some problems with my small reef setup and ideas would be appreciated:

I just lost my small Colt Coral after about 10 weeks of excellent growth. About 3 days ago it started retracting and shriveling up slowly receding into a small mass. I performed a 20% water change on the second day hoping that would help but no luck.

Now my yellow finger leather is looking pale with small spots on it?????

My tank is 36gal and the parameters are as follows:
SG = 1.025
Temp = 78F
NO3 = 0
PH = 8.2
KH = 10
Ca = 440

Any suggstions??

blacktone · 01/12/2007, 07:23 PM

add anything or do something in the recent week to the tank? are your water changes RO/DI or Tap? Ammonia test?

frederickk · 01/13/2007, 09:37 AM

What's phosphate and nitrite at?

sandry75 · 01/13/2007, 09:45 AM

My water changes are done with RO/DI only. The only change in the tank environment is the addition of a firefish about 3 weeks ago. The fish was held in my Q-tank for a week prior is doing well to-date.

Here is a shot of the Colt from just before the problem. (I hope the pic work - I'm not too good at this??)

[IMG]

[/IMG]

And a couple of before and after shots of the Yellow Leather I'm now concerned about.

BEFORE

AFTER

Tu Ku · 01/13/2007, 10:10 AM

what's your carbonate hardness?

vessxpress1 · 01/13/2007, 10:26 AM

That frogspawn's not doing a thing for it. They can extend some of thier polyps out at night and use them as sweepers if they sense another type of coral nearby. It may not be your only problem but they're way too close in proximity with eachother in the last pics.

Bret61081 · 01/13/2007, 12:39 PM

how is the flow? I lost mine when I moved it and there wasnt enough flow to keep it happy. I now have a small one that almost did the same thing...so I had to move it again...picky little things!

sandry75 · 01/13/2007, 01:16 PM

I think the frogspawn might be the problem. The colt was always worst in the morning. Now the Yellow Leather was right next to the other colony of FS. I relocated it this morning.

How far do the sweepers extend??? I have never seen them.

vessxpress1 · 01/14/2007, 12:10 AM

The sweepers can got out a few inches. Depends on how large the frogspawn is. They aren't what you may expect. All they are is the regular polyps you see on it, and a couple of them can extend a few inches to clear the area. They blow around in the flow and can stick to and sting nearby corals.

kass03 · 01/14/2007, 01:42 AM

My bubble coral got sweepers that were around a foot long. I used to cut them off with a scissors lol. Now I moved it to my 150 and don't see any.

I would also check the pumps/poweheads whatever you have and see if they're clean and maybe the flow got reduced.
Usually when my softies have done that it was a flow issue also.

kass

01/12/2007, 06:27 PM	#1
sandry75 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Hopatcong, New Jersey Posts: 107	Death of Colt Hello all, I'm having some problems with my small reef setup and ideas would be appreciated: I just lost my small Colt Coral after about 10 weeks of excellent growth. About 3 days ago it started retracting and shriveling up slowly receding into a small mass. I performed a 20% water change on the second day hoping that would help but no luck. Now my yellow finger leather is looking pale with small spots on it????? My tank is 36gal and the parameters are as follows: SG = 1.025 Temp = 78F NO3 = 0 PH = 8.2 KH = 10 Ca = 440 Any suggstions?? __________________ All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific! Current Tank Info: 26gal Reef / 80Gal Reef / 30 Gal FOWLR

01/13/2007, 09:45 AM	#4
sandry75 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Hopatcong, New Jersey Posts: 107	Colt Death My water changes are done with RO/DI only. The only change in the tank environment is the addition of a firefish about 3 weeks ago. The fish was held in my Q-tank for a week prior is doing well to-date. Here is a shot of the Colt from just before the problem. (I hope the pic work - I'm not too good at this??) [IMG][/IMG] And a couple of before and after shots of the Yellow Leather I'm now concerned about. BEFORE AFTER __________________ All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific! Current Tank Info: 26gal Reef / 80Gal Reef / 30 Gal FOWLR

01/13/2007, 01:16 PM	#8
sandry75 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Hopatcong, New Jersey Posts: 107	I think the frogspawn might be the problem. The colt was always worst in the morning. Now the Yellow Leather was right next to the other colony of FS. I relocated it this morning. How far do the sweepers extend??? I have never seen them. __________________ All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific! Current Tank Info: 26gal Reef / 80Gal Reef / 30 Gal FOWLR

01/12/2007, 07:23 PM	#2
blacktone Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Crestview FL Posts: 284	add anything or do something in the recent week to the tank? are your water changes RO/DI or Tap? Ammonia test?

01/13/2007, 09:37 AM	#3
frederickk Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 2,712	What's phosphate and nitrite at?

01/13/2007, 10:10 AM	#5
Tu Ku Moved On Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Fort Collins, CO Posts: 353	what's your carbonate hardness?

01/13/2007, 10:26 AM	#6
vessxpress1 Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NW IL Posts: 1,603	That frogspawn's not doing a thing for it. They can extend some of thier polyps out at night and use them as sweepers if they sense another type of coral nearby. It may not be your only problem but they're way too close in proximity with eachother in the last pics.

01/13/2007, 12:39 PM	#7
Bret61081 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts: 2,078	how is the flow? I lost mine when I moved it and there wasnt enough flow to keep it happy. I now have a small one that almost did the same thing...so I had to move it again...picky little things!

01/14/2007, 12:10 AM	#9
vessxpress1 Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NW IL Posts: 1,603	The sweepers can got out a few inches. Depends on how large the frogspawn is. They aren't what you may expect. All they are is the regular polyps you see on it, and a couple of them can extend a few inches to clear the area. They blow around in the flow and can stick to and sting nearby corals.

01/14/2007, 01:42 AM	#10
kass03 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Kaukauna, Wi Posts: 2,937	My bubble coral got sweepers that were around a foot long. I used to cut them off with a scissors lol. Now I moved it to my 150 and don't see any. I would also check the pumps/poweheads whatever you have and see if they're clean and maybe the flow got reduced. Usually when my softies have done that it was a flow issue also. kass