Jestersix

Help! trying to save my corals

Pianotips@hotmail.com

Pianotips@hotmail.com

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Corals are bleaching... and all of the sudden i am having a mass die off >< my water levels are perfect.. no ammonium/nitrates/nitrites/phosphate they are zero.. alkalinity is at 5'ish (im dropping it) .. calcium is at 450ish >< any ideas? Ive done a huge water change.. 50 percent. everything was fine till a week ago..then the xenia starting dying off..
 
Maybe lack of food? (if the corals are filter feeders).
Do you give the tank phytoplankton... ever?

Sometimes xenia will melt due to pH... check again - it won't hurt to check! ;)
 
Salinity was out the roof for some reason before the water change.. we did the huge water change.. its on par now at 1.022
temp is around 79-80
5 meq on alkalinity

ph is at 8.5

Yes on phytoplankton.. but then we stopped because we weren't sure it it was the cause... ? The corals from the frag swap are starting to bleach.. >< i feel terrible ><
how do i check for metal poisoning.. we were using a window screen... but i think it was nylon?
 
Zinc poisoning if it came into contact with the water.

Read TimTen's thread on what he went through a few years back.

http://www.bareefers.org/discussion/index.php?topic=2617.0
 
Salinity and ph at 8.5 does not call for mass die-off and one so rapidly. Xenia don't die that quickly which seemed to be a hint at a cause.
 
Are we talking bleaching or tissue necrosis? Sounds like you are describing RTN.
If so, where is the "death" starting from: base or tip of the corals?

Personally I don't think a high salinity is your culprit since you'd probably see a more slow, steady problem as opposed to a "flip of the switch". Metal poisoning sounds possible since it could be acute and rapid.

I'd start fragging the hell out of my corals and put some of them in "clean" water. Sure, in most cases we want cycled water but right now you just need options. Slam a bunch of carbon in the tank and do consistent water changes. Not much else I can suggest.

Well, one more suggestion:
I have had luck stopping necrosis with superglue. Granted my necrosis was usually due to chemical warfare but it may help some frags. Just a thought.
 
If you have kids, check for pennies or coins inside your sump.This happednto my cousin once.

Other than that, like what Eileen mentioned, Xenia it'll take a lot to kill one of those. I second what she recommend. Water change, add carbon and polypad. Then recheck your parameters again. One more thing, make sure your using filtered water.

good luck
 
OK the screen never changed to white... ? its never chagned color.. but i will take it out... omg im freaked out.. i don't want to lose them.. I don't have GAC on there i guess i rig one... >< But i have had the screen in there forever... for around 5 months now and no trouble...?

OK .. i will do the water changes again.. ill put pads into the catch bag.. or in the feed for the refugium.

Nope no coins or such.. we have a 5 stage 150 gpd ro system..

sigh i am really feeling terrible for the corals.. my stomach is knotting up >< Do i put the carbon into bags and them drop them into the tank? Or should i filter them through an old ro container with a pump?
 
If you can "fluidize" the carbon, that would help. But, you don't want the water going through it too quickly. If you have a phosban reactor sitting around you can put some in there. Basically you want water to hit as much surface area of the carbon as possible but not go through it so quickly that nothing is leached out.

Xenia it'll take a lot to kill one of those.
Click to expand...
Not to go off topic, BUT.....I can barely keep the stuff alive in my tank. Not one stalk left from my old colony. Not that this has anything to do with what's happening here.
 
Carbon in a bag is fine. Poly Pad filters are roughly 3" x 6" and can be cut down if necessary and can be thrown in where water passes through it.

The screen doesn't have to change to white it just has to touch the water at some point in time. If you have a wave maker it could have splashed water onto it. Perhaps if you or someone were feeding the tank and let the edge or a part of it slip in.

Bottom line accidents happen, and it was an accident.

Sometimes even pumps (especially the cheaper pumps) - can for one reason or another crack open and start leaking stuff into the tank. Mind you I am talking about internal pumps now.
 
Where are you located at? I have a phosban reactor that I can let you borrow to run carbon. While carbon bag works but not very effective. Just return the reactor when you are done.
 
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