coral cleaning?

[ChefCoralDan125]

Hi my name is danny and i have a 12gal aquapod reef tank and well its been running about three months now and well today i noticed that my green metalic frogspawn was shooting out some brown hair looking slim, hwen i past my hand near it simulating a wave it then broke off and i was woundering weather this is due to the fact its cleaning its self? what can this be?

 

[KahluaZzZ]

he's taking a dump

 

[Katie217]

HAHA Kahlua couldnt of said it better

 

[ChefCoralDan125]

that really makes me feel better i thought it was dieing or something i was reading up about it and well thats what i thought it was at first and well just today my whole reef has been acting wierd, I just added a new leather coral into my tank about a week ago and it open up the first day and it did for the past few days since i've intraduced it to my nano reef and well today i put everything on and well he hasnt open up at all today and well they were telling me that they clean them selfs, do you happen to know anyhing about this about leather coral staying closed for number of days?

 

[Lotus]

Yes, leathers will do that. They'll close up for a few days, produce a slime that then falls off, then they'll reopen.

If you've been adding corals, make sure to check your alkalinity and calcium. Leathers in particular need the alkalinity to be right. Leathers and LPS corals can produce chemicals to harm other corals, so it's a good idea to run carbon in a mixed coral tank.

 

[ChefCoralDan125]

oh ok yeah that i've heard it really scared the crap out of me though, yeah but my water is perfect and the temp is good and i add calcium and alkaline every morning when i put the lights on its a 12gal aquapod and well its been doing great but just found out my frogspawn was taking a crap and well the leather coral was closed all day long still closed and i was woundering, and other advice?

 

[KahluaZzZ]

if your water is perfect why do you add calcium or a buffer ?
It can be dangerous...quick variations can mess up your tank and it happens faster on tiny tank
If you don't have many corals, adding Ca is not necessary..and too much Ca can lead to a crash.
SW mix have every elements needed in it.

 

[ChefCoralDan125]

well its a reef tank and i have a total of ten coral in there and as i am told you supose to add this tings for your coral to promote grouth and keep them heatlhy its ocean blend part one and two supose to add it every day

 

[KahluaZzZ]

do you test your Ca level and alk ? What are your scores

 

[Lotus]

Are you measuring your calcium? It's probably not a good idea to add both without regular testing. Too much of either calcium or alkalinity could cause a problem. Also, are all the other corals in there LPS or SPS? Soft corals use hardly any calcium.

 

[ChefCoralDan125]

well i have a 12gal and so i use the ocean blend and i put in 5ml of each in the water before i turn the lights on, and no i havent tested my water for both levels of cal, and alk and i will do so tomorrow and get back to you on that

 

[ChefCoralDan125]

Well, i add 5ml of cal, and akl everyday before i turn the lights on but i have not yet done a test to see at what level i'm at its a 12gal and well the bottle says to add 5ml for every 10gal and really a 12gal with the live rock in there its about 10gal of water so yeah i do need to do a test to see what level they are at , i got two kinds of frogspawn and metalic green and bobble tip. i got two leather coral, i got some pylops in there along with some sea grassi'm still learning all the names in there but as far as hard coral i got three hard coral and eight soft corals in my tank i will post some pics later on during the day its a nice set up i got a blenny and six line wrasse pair of false percs, pair of skunk cleaner shrip 11 hermit crabs, and five snails and a bunch of pods in there.

 

[TRe]

ive had a leather stay closed for a whole month before

 

[ChefCoralDan125]

wow thats crazy i really hope he doesnt stay closed that longs he really is a nice peace of coral but yeah these corals have a mind of their own who knows

 

[Lorna]

I would quit adding any additives that I don't test for. CA and ALk included. Instead up your water changes......on a 12g a 3g water change every week should keep your CA/ALK levels where they should be. You should be testing for alk regardless.......I am not sure how you can say your water is perfect if you don't test for these elements. Without a lot of sps and other hard corals you don't need to be adding CA...there is enough in the salt mix to keep it up. Your alk should be around 3.5 meq/l with the CA at about 400, but as low as 380 high as 420. Check the alk and ca of your change water along with it's ph before you do a water change to make sure you aren't adjusting your parameters unintentionally.

Leathers and their chemical allelopathy shouldn't be taken lightly.....most recommed placement at least 8 inches or more from other corals.....in a 12g you are probably closer than that. Running carbon or chemi pure may help but no guarantees.....

 

[ChefCoralDan125]

my leather coral is 8inhes away from the other coral. i have carbon i the filter its a aquapod it comes with the set up i change my carbn every monthi'm not sure what you are guaranting for as coral they are doing just fine they are growing but today i am going to stop at the store and check for my levels i check my levels every week far as for ni and na and my salt level and ph but i will check for my ca and alk level

 

[Lorna]

You don't say what kind of leather you have. Some are more dangerous to other corals than others. Sinularias are especially hard on neighbours. What kind of carbon are you using as some may leach phosphates back into the tank. I would run it only for a couple of days every week or so and do big water changes weekly. oh and the guarantee was only a figure of speech.....

maybe put up a picture of your tank....

 

[ChefCoralDan125]

you are right I will have a pic this weekend i just got a new computher and it doesnt have a floppy drive so its harder for me to get pics but i will this weekend, I just tested my ca, and alk levels i bought a test kit for it here is the reading my alk was 4.0 and my ca was 485 i did do a 10% water change and i will then re test tomorrow so i'll keep you guys posted, i believe that the leather coral i have is a brown toadstool, and far as carbon that i am using is black diamond premium activated carbon.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

485 ? woo that's high man. Alk = 4 meq/l right ?

 

[ChefCoralDan125]

my cal was 458 and my alk was 4.0