Torch (hammer?) Coral Dying

[Anonymous]

Poked around here a bit, first time actually posting . . .

My problem is Short Tentacle Plate died last week, Torch Coral 1 of four stalks dead 1 dying.

My tank is 6 months old. Green Star Polyp (growing), Sebae Clown, Copperband Butterfly, Yellowtail Blue Damsel (nicknamed Jeffrey as in Dahmer) . . .

Nitrate Nitrite Ammonia all near 0 pH 8.4. Calcium 540 (trying to correct but it seems to want to stay there despite no supplements other than Reef Plus for 2 weeks)

Water has been changed twice this month thanks to a sudden bloom of red slime.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[4angel]

Cal. seems pretty high. whats your ALK and lighting like.?
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Mercedes 430

 

[MarkO1]

Calcium reading looks wrong... wouldn't it precipitate out at that level?
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Mercedes MB100

 

[Anonymous]

Alk is high 6-7 and yes it does precipitate out. Started the tank with filtered tap water but tap in my area has extremely high alk (>10). Has taken me this long to get it down to 6-7.

 

[Anonymous]

Lighting is PC 55Wx4 : 1 @ 10k, 1 @ 6,500 2 @ actinic

 

[4angel]

My opinion is that Alk over 3.6 is extremely high for corals. I would also say that the same could be said for the high calc. reading. I don't know if this would help but if I were in your shoes I would do a 50 percent water change. My reason would be in trying to get my H2O to safe parameters for the pieces. If you don't have an RO or DI unit for your water changes I would think about doing the major H2O change using distilled. I would try and stay away from that tap.
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recession us

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I have been changing it out slowly using RO from my lfs. Id been using my filtered tap for makeup but Im going to switch that too.

 

[Osama]

Please specify the units of Alk. Alk levels at 3 - 3.5 meg.per liter are Ok so is 10 dkh of Alkalinity. So if your reading is 6meg/l then it is quite high if it is 6 dKh it is low. Calcium at about 400-450ppm is good with the correct Alk level of 10-11 dKh.
If you have not done so check out the FAQ "http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6037" for detailed discussion on this subject

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry my Alk was in meq/L not dKh which is admittedly very high. Im relatively new to this and thought maybe something was eating the coral and didnt think of the Alk level. You can read alot but experience is the best teacher. Hopefully I'll get it right before I kill too many innocents or before I go broke.

 

[Osama]

Robbo;
Consider stopping all addatives for a while till you get all your water parameters in order. You want to get a steady pH that varies .2-.3 over 24 hrs.. (8.1-8.4)You want Alk to be at 2.5-3 & calcium @ 400-450. lower values are NOT harmful. Higher imbalances can cause calc to precipitate. After the parameters are stable even at lower values then start the addatives very slowly and with daily measurements till you are satisfied that the daily addatives are consumed and are not building up and causing imbalances. All this is easier said than done. But none has to be exact on the money as long as it is done gradually. Watch your animals' behavior if they are happy you know you got it right. You may have something else going on causing the red slime bloom. Watch your feeding and organics from decaying & dying specimen... Again water change and a good running skimmer. I would consider putting charcoal in the sump. I do not like keeping charcoal all the time maybe for one week then take it out. Any sponges or filter media should be cleaned very very frequently IF used at all. Reefs work better without one IMO.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I picked up distilled on the way home. I'm going to mix it tonight and add it tomorrow. I like the charcoal idea. I read someone's web site a while ago who said he puts a charcoal bag in his sump for one weekend a month. I'll try that next.

Thanks so much.

 

[DrGrotto]

Any sponges or filter media should be cleaned very very frequently IF used at all. Reefs work better without one IMO.

Do you use any sponges in your tank or sump at all? I have some sponges on my powerheads in my sump...Is this what is causing my Nitrate levels to be so high?

DrGrotto

 

[Anonymous]

I have no sponges on my powerheads or in my sump. Actually the only thing in my sump is my heater cuz I still haven't upgraded my skimmer. Although the homemade in tank skimmer I have does quite a good job IMHO.