I had been building my reef for about 8 months now...started with live rock, live sand and a few fish like damsels. after getting the feel for caring for just a few fish (coral friendly) and cleanup crew...i added a mushroom coral. he is purplish with green tips on the little short tentacles reaching off the surface. anyway, i placed him in the center depth of my 55gal with a moderate current and some began to bleach out and a few smaller ones desintegrated. now i noticed a bubble/gel like substance covering a couple pieces and it looks like it is loosening from the rock. one piece also has shrunken up and is more of a deep purple color (this one's not bleached out). what the heck is the problem? i am taking a water sample in to my local fish place for testing...(it was tested prior to putting in the coral and levels were great - this was just less than 1 week ago).
HELP - desintegrating coral!
- Thread starter newreefer
- Start date
55 gallon -
water parameters unknown...local place does for free and i take a sample every couple days...they say all is fine..(again, i am going to take another sample in a couple hours)
lighting is:130 watts...fluorescent
yesterday i had read in several places to take out of strong current and high levels of light...so i moved it lower in my tank and now seems worse... i don't want to keep moving the poor thing and messing it up more...
i have the protein skimmer running too!
water parameters unknown...local place does for free and i take a sample every couple days...they say all is fine..(again, i am going to take another sample in a couple hours)
lighting is:130 watts...fluorescent
yesterday i had read in several places to take out of strong current and high levels of light...so i moved it lower in my tank and now seems worse... i don't want to keep moving the poor thing and messing it up more...
i have the protein skimmer running too!
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should i move him into a bit more current to help get the gunk off or wait to do anything till water test...
i have to say that over the last 8 months i have read and gained info from books and on-line and so many contradictions are found...this is my first blog joined...i appreciate any personal experience shared with me. the owner at the fish place i go to has MANY reefs so i have always taken his advice...glad to be able to be here and get yours too!
i have to say that over the last 8 months i have read and gained info from books and on-line and so many contradictions are found...this is my first blog joined...i appreciate any personal experience shared with me. the owner at the fish place i go to has MANY reefs so i have always taken his advice...glad to be able to be here and get yours too!
my mushrooms like very little current, when i shut the powerheads off they extend fully until i turn them back on then they shrink down so i would just leave it where it is.. the problem is probably not flow at all.. if things are bleaching its more than likely b/c theres not enough light for them.. what kind of skimmer do you use, how much flow do you have in the tank, what other corals do you have?
skimmer is prism hang on style - this is my first coral - i currently have approx 40 lbs of live rock, live sand, 1 goby, 1 scooter blenny, 1 clown, a few hermit crabs, snails, 2 lg. feather duster worms (recently took out the damsel...she was getting quite aggressive)
i have a fluval under the cab filtration system...it's return (which is just above the water level) and the skimmer return - which is in the other end of tank are currently the only flow (there aren't many 'dead' spots - i will be adding more propeller heads soon)
i have a fluval under the cab filtration system...it's return (which is just above the water level) and the skimmer return - which is in the other end of tank are currently the only flow (there aren't many 'dead' spots - i will be adding more propeller heads soon)
theres alot of things wrong with your system so it doesnt suprise me that thing arent going well ..... first you want to start testing your own water that way you know whats going on ... second you need a few powerheads in addition to your return/skimmer for flow... third that skimmer isnt really that effective but with a low bioload and frequent water changes you should be fine (how often and how much of a water change do you normally do?? also you may wanna add a little more liverock .... btw you say 130w flouresents what kind/brand?? 130w isnt nearly enough for a 55g if you want corals your guna have to beef that up a little
OK - on to get my own testing kit and more power heads to pick up flow......too much contradicting info out there, i am so confused.
Ok - looked up red cyano- have a few ideas to start...cyphon some out (i recently did a 10% water change- usually do this every couple weeks). i read elsewhere about 'red lime remover'?? your thoughts? how about any critters that will eat it up? in the mean time i brought the coral to a higher point to get a bit more light and a better current (not too strong).
Also....'life' happened to me recently and my tank was left alone for the most part for about 4-5 weeks(minimal caring). Thinking that during that time...my water quality went down. it had been a couple weeks that i cared for it before adding the shroom coral.
Ok - looked up red cyano- have a few ideas to start...cyphon some out (i recently did a 10% water change- usually do this every couple weeks). i read elsewhere about 'red lime remover'?? your thoughts? how about any critters that will eat it up? in the mean time i brought the coral to a higher point to get a bit more light and a better current (not too strong).
Also....'life' happened to me recently and my tank was left alone for the most part for about 4-5 weeks(minimal caring). Thinking that during that time...my water quality went down. it had been a couple weeks that i cared for it before adding the shroom coral.
for water changes and top offs are u using plain tap water or r/o??? before switching to r/o i had a huge cyano problem.... after making the switch i just scrubed it all off and syphoned out as much as i could and that was the last i saw of that 
oh yea low flow can contribute to the cyano aswell
btw if your water quality went down recently its a good idea to do a larger water change say 15g or more .. if its a lighting issue with your shrooms id try to move it up closer to the light
oh yea low flow can contribute to the cyano aswellbtw if your water quality went down recently its a good idea to do a larger water change say 15g or more .. if its a lighting issue with your shrooms id try to move it up closer to the light
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you are right...i have never read those things are a bad idea...all that i have read didn't necessarily express that it was necessary. point being...in general many sources on all saltwater reef topics that i have encountered have been different from one another - that's why i am confused.
as far as the water change...what is r/o?? (not good with all the texty shorthand and abbrev's yet) i usually use tap water out for a couple days with several drops of the conditioner stuff (can't remember what it's called)
while i am cleaning it all out...am i better off moving all my live stock to another container?? i have a spare 10 gal.
thanks for the welcome....I hope to get better at all this...lesson of the day...take in all the info you can...then go with the advice of those who have it working for them!
as far as the water change...what is r/o?? (not good with all the texty shorthand and abbrev's yet) i usually use tap water out for a couple days with several drops of the conditioner stuff (can't remember what it's called)
while i am cleaning it all out...am i better off moving all my live stock to another container?? i have a spare 10 gal.
thanks for the welcome....I hope to get better at all this...lesson of the day...take in all the info you can...then go with the advice of those who have it working for them!
R/O water is "Reverse Osmosis" It's accomplished with a specific type of water filter. Most fish stores will sell you R/O water by the gallon if needed.
You will also encounter RO/DI references that is "Reverse Osmosis & De ionization" water" it's viewed by many to be the best type you can use.
If you have access to neither, then using tap water with your conditioner is certainly better than not doing water changes at all
Just make sure you conditioner removes Chlorine & Chloramines
You will also encounter RO/DI references that is "Reverse Osmosis & De ionization" water" it's viewed by many to be the best type you can use.
If you have access to neither, then using tap water with your conditioner is certainly better than not doing water changes at all
Just make sure you conditioner removes Chlorine & Chloramines
Thanks for all suggestions....I do have several problems...there is in fact an unhealthy bacterial issue*SICK* - treating that tonight at lights down. Also...with the warm weather the last couple days that we've had my temp went up in tank a bit to 80 degrees...opened lid and turning fan on should help - i am thinking that i have a coral bleaching issue mainly due to temp.
I re-read my earlier posts....sorry if i came off phsyco...stress in life and the one thing that i find truly peaceful lately is my tank....kinda took it all hard. Thanks for all your help...i'll keep you posted on progress.*SUNSMILE*
I re-read my earlier posts....sorry if i came off phsyco...stress in life and the one thing that i find truly peaceful lately is my tank....kinda took it all hard. Thanks for all your help...i'll keep you posted on progress.*SUNSMILE*