Help! Not sure what is happening

Newreefer125 · 04/27/2017, 01:31 PM

Hello. After finishing the cycle of my 125 two weeks ago I added 2 clown fish. Two days ago I realized that one of the clowns was missing. I searched everywhere and can not find him. My guess is he jumped out and my cat got to him. But I'm not sure. My pulsing xenia that I added a week ago disintegrated. And my candy cane coral has a white mucus over it. Also if I wasn't already freaked out, about 50 bristle worms are laying dead on the sand. Ammonia, nitirite, and nitrate are all at 0. Salinity is 1.023 and ph is 8.4. I really do not know what is happening and any help would be great.

scooter31707 · 04/27/2017, 01:37 PM

Was something sprayed or some toxic put into the tank. Salinity is low, but that won't cause deaths like that. Have you checked Alk, Ca, and Mg. What's the temp? You may have had an ammonia spike from the missing clown.

mcgyvr · 04/27/2017, 02:18 PM

Personally I wouldn't put corals into a 2 week old tank.. You probably haven't even gotten through the ugly stages yet..

How long did you cycle the tank?
Did you use live rock/live sand? or what?

Is everything submerged plugged into a GFCI device?

Newreefer125 · 04/27/2017, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Personally I wouldn't put corals into a 2 week old tank.. You probably haven't even gotten through the ugly stages yet..

How long did you cycle the tank?
Did you use live rock/live sand? or what?

Is everything submerged plugged into a GFCI device?

Gfci?
Yes I used live rock and sand. The is also the white mucus over the live rock
And I cycled the tank for 5 weeks

billdogg · 04/27/2017, 02:46 PM

The white stuff is almost certainly a bacteria bloom. Bristle worms are hard to kill, so I would think that there is some sort of toxin in the water. Copper would be my first guess, but without test results there are many other possibilities.

Newreefer125 · 04/27/2017, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billdogg

The white stuff is almost certainly a bacteria bloom. Bristle worms are hard to kill, so I would think that there is some sort of toxin in the water. Copper would be my first guess, but without test results there are many other possibilities.

The light above my sump is rusting and I noticed some on the sump. Could this position the water. It is weird because the other clown is perfectly fine. I just redid all the tests and tomorrow I am going to buy a phosphate test kit

mcgyvr · 04/27/2017, 03:22 PM

You've done something right if you are registering 0 nitrates already.. lots of water changes I'd guess...

Pick up a polyfilter and see if it turns colors.. like this..
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=4335

and run some carbon..

and read this for GFCI..
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...php?p=25044862

TokiHacker · 04/27/2017, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newreefer125

The light above my sump is rusting and I noticed some on the sump. Could this position the water. It is weird because the other clown is perfectly fine. I just redid all the tests and tomorrow I am going to buy a phosphate test kit

Fish will normally not be affected by copper. But coral and inverts will.

outssider · 04/27/2017, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newreefer125

The light above my sump is rusting and I noticed some on the sump. Could this position the water. It is weird because the other clown is perfectly fine. I just redid all the tests and tomorrow I am going to buy a phosphate test kit

rust is not a good thing to have going into the tank....in general metals (especially copper/brass and zinc) can be a problem....only thing safe is good quality stainless and titanium.

Newreefer125 · 04/27/2017, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

You've done something right if you are registering 0 nitrates already.. lots of water changes I'd guess...

Yes and I'm running a sulfur denitrator.

Tripod1404 · 04/28/2017, 12:58 AM

For one thing most corals do not like 0 nitrate. Especially corals like Xenia. Even SPS corals that prefer low nutrition systems prefer nitrate around 2ppm. You can acclimate most sps to ultra low nutrition systems but that is another story and it cannot be done with soft corals and most lps.

By the way, how deep is your sand bed. If sulfur is leaching from the media it might be feeding anaerobic surfer reducing bacteria that produce highly toxic hydrogen sulfide.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Newreefer125 · 04/28/2017, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tripod1404

For one thing most corals do not like 0 nitrate. Especially corals like Xenia. Even SPS corals that prefer low nutrition systems prefer nitrate around 2ppm. You can acclimate most sps to ultra low nutrition systems but that is another story and it cannot be done with soft corals and most lps.

By the way, how deep is your sand bed. If sulfur is leaching from the media it might be feeding anaerobic surfer reducing bacteria that produce highly toxic hydrogen sulfide.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My sand bed is only about 1-2 inches

sde1500 · 04/28/2017, 07:34 AM

Did you buy the light new? obviously shouldnt be rusting already.

Newreefer125 · 04/28/2017, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sde1500

Did you buy the light new? obviously shouldnt be rusting already.

No it is used

anbosu · 04/28/2017, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newreefer125

Yes and I'm running a sulfur denitrator.

How is flow controlled?

Newreefer125 · 04/28/2017, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anbosu

How is flow controlled?

What? If u mean the power heads they just run constantly

04/27/2017, 02:18 PM	#3
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Personally I wouldn't put corals into a 2 week old tank.. You probably haven't even gotten through the ugly stages yet.. How long did you cycle the tank? Did you use live rock/live sand? or what? Is everything submerged plugged into a GFCI device? __________________ Who me?

04/27/2017, 02:46 PM	#5
billdogg Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Grove City, Ohio Posts: 10,806	The white stuff is almost certainly a bacteria bloom. Bristle worms are hard to kill, so I would think that there is some sort of toxin in the water. Copper would be my first guess, but without test results there are many other possibilities. __________________ I'll try to be nice if you try to be smarter! I can't help that I grow older, but you can't make me grow up! Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef with 40b sump, RO 150 skimmer, AI Sol Blue x 2, and a 60g Frag Tank with 100g rubbermaid sump. 2 x Kessil A360w lights, BM curve 5 skimmer

04/27/2017, 03:22 PM	#7
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	You've done something right if you are registering 0 nitrates already.. lots of water changes I'd guess... Pick up a polyfilter and see if it turns colors.. like this.. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=4335 and run some carbon.. and read this for GFCI.. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...php?p=25044862 __________________ Who me?

04/28/2017, 12:58 AM	#11
Tripod1404 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 1,821	Help! Not sure what is happening For one thing most corals do not like 0 nitrate. Especially corals like Xenia. Even SPS corals that prefer low nutrition systems prefer nitrate around 2ppm. You can acclimate most sps to ultra low nutrition systems but that is another story and it cannot be done with soft corals and most lps. By the way, how deep is your sand bed. If sulfur is leaching from the media it might be feeding anaerobic surfer reducing bacteria that produce highly toxic hydrogen sulfide. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

04/28/2017, 07:34 AM	#13
sde1500 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Glocester, RI Posts: 3,336	Did you buy the light new? obviously shouldnt be rusting already. __________________ My build thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2548422 Current Tank Info: 65 gallon mixed reef, Eshopps sump and HOB overflow, RO-110int skimmer, Reefbreeder 32" photons V1.

04/27/2017, 01:37 PM	#2
scooter31707 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Virginia Posts: 4,971	Was something sprayed or some toxic put into the tank. Salinity is low, but that won't cause deaths like that. Have you checked Alk, Ca, and Mg. What's the temp? You may have had an ammonia spike from the missing clown.