Bubble trouble

[jcm1229]

Last week my bubble coral was thriving. Now it appears as if it on its last legs.

Had the LFS check water.

AM 0
NI 0
NA 10
Calc 465
Alk 2.5 (starting to raise it)
Salinity 1.28 (starting to drop it)
Phosphaet .3
Iodine 0 (starting to raise it a bit)

Everything else is doing fine. Any help, ideas etc ... Any chance to save this guy??

Thanks!

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[Anonymous]

as long as protozoan, or bacterial infection doesn't set in-the bubble can recover-i've seen 'em worse than this, and come back.keep some gentle current on it at all times-to help prevent infection setting in.


fwiw-i'd worry more about finding and eliminating the nitrate and phosphate source before worrying about the iodine-water changes will add enough iodine for the bubbles' needs, and help it recover, too, btw :wink:

hth

 

[KevD1]

The first thing I'd suggest doing is a good water change. Then make sure the coral is placed on the substrate/rocks slightly off vertical.....it's how they're found in the wild. Also make sure you feed it regularly with meaty foods such as krill, etc. Good luck with it!

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Palmetto]

I have had a couple of different ones do this. Some come back from worse, like vitz said.

Sometimes they don't come back at all. I have lost perfectly healthy looking specimens that fade out the next week in a thriving, happy tank with excellent water quality.

I am interested to hear how many others have experienced this.

 

[DEADFISH1]

just last week mine started looking a little poor, it's mouth was wide open so I placed a sliver of shrimp in their, today it is looking great, good color and all.
incase you haven't fed yours before, here's a couple of tips, don't push the food in, just lightly place it in, the bubble will slowly take it in on it's own & if you have any shrimps or other scavengers you may need to keep them at bay until the bubble completely closes it's mouth, if given the chance, my cleaner shrimp will steal food right out of it's mouth.

 

[hossfly]

I agree with the others. first thig is to change out the water. contrary to most opinions , you can't change out too much at one time if it has been prepared in advance. I made TOTAL water changes when moving a tank and the next day things looked better than ever. but change it and you should see a big diference and don't get too much current on it until it recovers... it should, if it's not too late.

 

[Nelliereefster]

Is your alkalinity reading in Meq or dKH? If dKH, it is WAY too low. Calcification starts to be impeded below 6 dKH and will nearly stop at 5 and below in a closed system.

The amount of calcium in the water is irrelevent, when alk is that low. The calcification process doesn't have the right compounds to continue. I'll look up the reaction and post it for you.