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justinstank 
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Joined: January 23 2011
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 Topic: This might be a Stupid Question
Posted: March 30 2011 at 12:56pm |
Ok so i have a 45 gallon cube tank and have had a couple very hardy frags that i bought a few weeks ago, mainly Xenia die off and start wilting away. Not sure what the cause of this is, but if my amonia is a little high, will that kill coral as well? also is it possible for coral to feel too crowded by others and die off? i might have went a bit coral frag happy and have too much in my tank and want to know if this could cause some of my coral to die off. I have most of my coral doing really well, but a few have wilted away.
Thanks for your Help
Sincerely
Justin
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justin williams
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bfessler
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Posted: March 30 2011 at 2:10pm |
Ammonia can definitely be a problem for both fish and coral alike. you shouldn't have any reading of ammonia in your tank and if you do cut back on the feeding and take anything that is dead or dieing out of the tank. If you don't have any macro growing in the tank or sump add some cheato or calurpa to help decrease the available nutrients and watch the tank closely. In new tanks you need to add livestock slowly to allow the bio filter to mature after each addition.
Xenia can die off for no apparent reason. Usually this happens in tanks that are deficient in nutrients not so much with excessive nutrients unless the ammonia and nitrite levels are too high. Many use xenia as an indicator of the tank's health as it will often show signs of stress and melt away before other corals.
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Burt
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I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping.
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ptronsp
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Posted: March 30 2011 at 4:34pm |
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Troy and I cannot grow Xenia in our large tank, it wont stay alive but everything else does great. We were told one theory was the tank was too clean? I have no idea.
I grow xenia in my Biocube and RSM with no problem. Like Burt said ammonia of any sort is not good. Also Justin make sure your corals have plenty of room for them to spread and feel comfortable otherwise, they will start to sting one another.
Do you have a sump?
Pam
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justinstank
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Posted: March 30 2011 at 5:02pm |
Thank you so much for the suggestions. no i use 2 over hang filters and a UV filter. my tank is very clean but the growth on the rocks and all my sponge is doing very well. i had a bit of an amonia spike because i feed daily . Is it possible to have too much nutrients?? i dose the "fuel" product and vitamins and Magnesium almost daily. should i not do this? my fish and coral are doing really well, but just my xenias and another soft coral died and started wilting.
Justin
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justin williams
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justinstank
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Posted: March 30 2011 at 5:03pm |
also what is the best way to treat ich??? a UV Filter light?
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ksmart
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Posted: March 30 2011 at 6:00pm |
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Sounds like you dose quite a bit. I have a 40 breeder full of sps, lps other corals and I hardly dose anything. Just a 5 gal wc monthly.
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bfessler
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Posted: March 30 2011 at 6:12pm |
Can you remind me how long the tank has been set up? I notice when I dose fuel daily I get increased algae and cyano growth in the tank so I only dose fuel a couple days a week. It is possible to have too many nutrients in the tank but it usually manifests itself by an algae or diatom bloom. Feeding once daily isn't a problem as long as you're not overfeeding every day. The main thing to remember is that your filtration needs to remove as many nutrients as you are adding or you'll start having issues.
Are you testing the Magnesium Level before dosing? High Mag levels can have a detrimental effect on some soft corals and excessively high levels (1700+) have been known to kill montipora and some other SPS. When I was raising the Mag level to treat a bryopsis outbreak for some reason it affected all my zoanthids with blue and red color in them. The Greens were fine but they weren't as bright as when the levels were around 1350. If your Mag level is over 1400 I wouldn't dose magnesium. Anything betwee 1300 and 1500 is fine for magnesium.
A UV filter can be affective in the treatment of Ich along with feeding foods soaked in garlic oil. The parasite that causes Ich goes through several fases in it's life cycle an the UV helps kill it in the free swimming stage. I believe the only sure cure for ridding Ich from your tank is to move the fish to a QT and treat with hypo salinity. You have to keep the display free of fish for 6 weeks or so to break the life cycle of the parasite before reintroducing fish. Do a search on Ich treatments. I haven't had an issue with Ich yet so I don't have much practical experience with it.
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Burt
An equal opportunity reefer,
I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping.
[email protected]
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justinstank
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Posted: March 30 2011 at 7:18pm |
Thanks so much for the suggestions, ya my tank has been up for 3 months almost.... i have not tested my Mag. but need to. Ill do that and see where it is.
Thanks a bunch!
Justin
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: March 31 2011 at 11:30am |
Burt made some good comments that I agree with, except for the idea of trying to completely eliminate Ich. It may be possible but it's completely impractical. There are things that can be done to keep Ich from coming back. Feel free to ask.  Sounds to me like you think the tank must be fed and that has resulted in overfeeding. I'd cut back on everything, even stop feeding Fuel. In a 3 month old tank none of that stuff is necessary. In the first 12 months of a new tanks life, or even a moved tank, there is still a lot of change going on in the biofiltration. This causes things to come and go, including coral and fish, especially when too much is added too fast. The only way we can help with knowing what is too much or too fast is to describe the tank in words and pics, or have an experienced hobbyist visit. I'm always open to making an evaluation. Feel free to call and schedule it.
Edited by Mark Peterson - March 31 2011 at 11:30am
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