If anyone has any advice to help me heal my dying tank I would greatly appreciate it.
I have had my 29 gallon marine fish tank now for about four years. (But I have about 8 years of experience with saltwater tanks) My tank has had its ups and downs through cycling and algal blooms, but has been healthy. I have only two small fish, a Royal Gramma and an Ocellaris clown. I have a ton of high quality live rock and a Scolomia species coral as well as a few colonies of mushrooms and some unidentified small polps that grew on their own. I have about five tiny reef hermit crabs and a few turbo snails. Until recently, I have had flourishing corals that were both growing and reproducing, vibrant coralline algae and at least three species of macroalgae. My tank was doing wonderful! My fish have always been very healthy.
I had planned a move when we realized we were relocating to another town. When I tore down my tank I realized it would take awhile to recover, I had moved it once before and it took a few months to get back in shape. I removed all my live rock and corals and placed them in five gallon buckets full of my tanks water. I netted the fish and placed them in another bucket. I saved about half of my tanks water and reused it when I relocated the tank, filling the rest with fresh saltwater that I had aged a week. I rinsed out most of the detritus from the crushed coral substrate. I set my tank back up how it was before the move.
As expected within a few weeks my tank was starting to have minor die off while it restarted the cycling process. This was followed by a severe algal die off a few weeks later. Then everything else started dying off. I did everything as i had always done successfully before i.e. water changes and maintenance. My Scolomia coral has lost all of its zooanthelle and is badly receded from its skeleton. Most of my mushrooms have died or are diminishing in health. My macroalage is slowly making a come back. I thought my light was diminished, so I repalced the compact flourescent bulbs. I also started adding Iodine and stronium weekly. I kicked up the water changes, moved the corals around to diffent depths and light and water flow areas, all to no avail. My corals are all on their last leg now. The fish are still healthy as can be. It has been eight months of unhealthy tank syndrome.
I have had my 29 gallon marine fish tank now for about four years. (But I have about 8 years of experience with saltwater tanks) My tank has had its ups and downs through cycling and algal blooms, but has been healthy. I have only two small fish, a Royal Gramma and an Ocellaris clown. I have a ton of high quality live rock and a Scolomia species coral as well as a few colonies of mushrooms and some unidentified small polps that grew on their own. I have about five tiny reef hermit crabs and a few turbo snails. Until recently, I have had flourishing corals that were both growing and reproducing, vibrant coralline algae and at least three species of macroalgae. My tank was doing wonderful! My fish have always been very healthy.
I had planned a move when we realized we were relocating to another town. When I tore down my tank I realized it would take awhile to recover, I had moved it once before and it took a few months to get back in shape. I removed all my live rock and corals and placed them in five gallon buckets full of my tanks water. I netted the fish and placed them in another bucket. I saved about half of my tanks water and reused it when I relocated the tank, filling the rest with fresh saltwater that I had aged a week. I rinsed out most of the detritus from the crushed coral substrate. I set my tank back up how it was before the move.
As expected within a few weeks my tank was starting to have minor die off while it restarted the cycling process. This was followed by a severe algal die off a few weeks later. Then everything else started dying off. I did everything as i had always done successfully before i.e. water changes and maintenance. My Scolomia coral has lost all of its zooanthelle and is badly receded from its skeleton. Most of my mushrooms have died or are diminishing in health. My macroalage is slowly making a come back. I thought my light was diminished, so I repalced the compact flourescent bulbs. I also started adding Iodine and stronium weekly. I kicked up the water changes, moved the corals around to diffent depths and light and water flow areas, all to no avail. My corals are all on their last leg now. The fish are still healthy as can be. It has been eight months of unhealthy tank syndrome.
