my reef tank's newest inhabitants

[newbie094523]

i just bought some Xenia, a Button Polyp, and a Polyp Colony about 2 weeks ago. i noticed my water suddenly today turned WHITISH YELLOW totally out of the blue!!! so i just did a 20% water change, and didnt help much, so i did yet another 20% water change. after about 2 hours the water finally looks clear again. all of my corals seem to be alright and my hawiian tang and mandarin are doing better now too. one thing i did notice was that my green caulerpa plant was WHITE, so i threw that out immediately.

my concern here is this: i noticed that there are like little white spherical shaped spots scattered all throughout my live rock (about 2-3 spots per rock). they are about 5mm in diameter i would guess and they kinda remind me of the zits on humans. theres a little hole in the center that is open and i am quite worried. could this have been the reason for the sudden color change of my water?? i am new to corals, but ive had my 55 gall tank setup for almost a year now.

please help me!!! any ideas or comments is much appreciated, as i am clueless of what to think or do about this situation.

 

[Len]

Heya,

I'm going to move this to the New Reefkeepers forum (with a shadow left behind in the AAOLM Reefkeeping Basics Forum) so you can get more exposure. FYI: AAOLM forums are designed for discussion on AAOLM articles and you're probably get more help in the Reefs.org forums.

 

[tazdevil]

The white dots may be the beginning of those tiny tube worms that will colonize everywhere. They shouldn't be the culprit.

Sounds like something (caulerpa would be my guess) went "sexual" on you, and that's what caused the cloudiness. The water changes would help this, just be careful you don't overdo it and cause shock to your fish/corals.

FWIW, a month ago I bought a green star polyp colony, that immediately responded by retracting all its polyps, and emitting a whiteish "smoke". Now their all returning back to their normal state, I was quite unamused at first though.

 

[newbie094523]

i think it actually might be tube worms :x :x what kinds of inhabitants eat those darn things because i got about 50 of these little suckers scattered througout my tank

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about the tube worms, I've never heard of any difficulty with them. IMO they are an interesting part of a varied tank ecology.

I think taz is right, the caulerpa that turned clear on you is probably responsible for the cloudiness you had.

 

[Kara]

I would agree with the 'Caulerpa going Sexual' theory. Caulerpa is nasty stuff. Don't put it in your tank or refugium. There are much safer, cleaner tupes of macroalgae that are readily available. In addition to the watch changes, I would run some carbon. That should clear it up nicely.

The white dots could be tube worms or even sponges. Either way it doesn't sound like something to be alarmed about. They are both good filter feeders and will help filter particulate matter from the water. Just watch the dots and see what happens with them.

 

[DOGMAI]

Wait on those tube worms. If your mad over fifty wait till there are millions. I have absolutly millions of those things in my tank.

Shane

 

[newbie094523]

what is a surefire way to cleanfully get rid of apstaisia? i got one small polyp growin on a new rock i got a Cabbage Coral on today. i would just hate to see this aptaisia crap spread - ive seem it ruin my friends' tank before

better yet, what are some reef-safe inhabitants that are good at preventing aptaisia from even starting?? as in something, that can live w/o aptaisia (not those naudibranch's or whatever).

also, what is a compirable plant that i could replace that darn caulerpa with that wont do that kind of "turning sexual" crap on me???

thanks for your help guys, your SUCH a big help!

 

[Anonymous]

what is a surefire way to cleanfully get rid of apstaisia?

Spend about 20 buck and dump in Peppermint shrimp. DOnt just dump one in dump like 5 in. By themselves they dont do much but in smalll groupd your aptasia and any other aptasia that shoulod sprout up will be gone in a matter of days

 

[Kara]

...what are some reef-safe inhabitants that are good at preventing aptaisia from even starting??....

also, what is a compirable plant that i could replace that darn caulerpa with that wont do that kind of "turning sexual" crap on me???

thanks for your help guys, your SUCH a big help!

Peppermint Shrimp are good for keeping Aptasia at bay.


Are you looking for a decorative macroalgae or one specifically for nutrient export? If you want the macroalgae for nutrient export, I would suggest Chaetomorpha (spaghetti or brillo algae) and Gracillaria.

For more decorative algae Shaving Brush and Halimeda, Cymopolia barbata, Amphiroa, Padina..

Best thing for you to do is forum searches on macroalgae and read up on what other people are using and start doing some research macroalgaes. Remember to research everything before you put it in your tank!!

 

[newbie094523]

cool... i already got a bunch of peppermints... its just they all hide underneath my cavern rock every second of their lives even when feedings... they just have the food flow into the cavern. i can tell they dont miss any cuz nothing flows out the other end - hehehe

 

[Kara]

Peppermint shrimp are nocturnal, so you won't see them really doing much while the tank lights are on. When you turn out the lights wait about an hour then take a flashlight and examine the tank. You'll be surprised at all the critters in your tank, even stuff that you didn't even know you had!