Help! My Yellow Fiji Leather & Green Star Polyp Aren't Ope

[viet658]

I was wondering if anyone knew if this is normal for leathers and polyps. I have had my tank for almost 3 months. I noticed recently that the water smelled kind of fishy or like dead shellfish. I can't find any dead animals. I tested my parameters: salinity 1.023, pH 8.2, Ammonia 0 ppm, Nitrite 0 ppm, Nitrate 20 ppm. I was worried so I did a 20% water change. The yellow fiji and green star polyp haven't been open for 4 days now. Should I be worried?

 

[steelhealr]

I have a Yellow Fiji leather and they are very sensitive to water conditions, ie, they are great barometers. 20ppm nitrates are high for my liking and your corals are probably not liking it. Both corals can stay closed for awhile without a problem but the longer they stayed closed, the more ominous the situation appears.

Marine aquariums should, well, smell like the ocean. They should have an odor similar to being near the beach. If you tank has a foul or fishy smell, something is awry. Something may have died in your tank, or, conditions in the sandbed have deteriorated.

I would continue to do frequent water changes to get your nitrates down (what volume is your tank?). Are you overfeeding? What livestock do you have? If so, reduce it. Skimming may help..but..again..what is your tank volume.

FYI....it's specific gravity, not salinity. SH

 

[viet658]

I have a Yellow Fiji leather and they are very sensitive to water conditions, ie, they are great barometers. 20ppm nitrates are high for my liking and your corals are probably not liking it. Both corals can stay closed for awhile without a problem but the longer they stayed closed, the more ominous the situation appears.

Marine aquariums should, well, smell like the ocean. They should have an odor similar to being near the beach. If you tank has a foul or fishy smell, something is awry. Something may have died in your tank, or, conditions in the sandbed have deteriorated.

I would continue to do frequent water changes to get your nitrates down (what volume is your tank?). Are you overfeeding? What livestock do you have? If so, reduce it. Skimming may help..but..again..what is your tank volume.

FYI....it's specific gravity, not salinity. SH

SH, thank you for your response. I just wanted say that it was your thread that got me started in the nano world, you have a great thread. Your exactly right about the yellow fiji being a good barometer, prior to all this happening my nitrates were always at 0 ppm or 10 pppm at the most. I have JBJ 24gal Nano Cube with a mini refugium in the middle chamber of the filter. My livestock consist of two percula clowns, two yellow tail damsels, one royal gramma, and one yellow clown goby. I only feed the fish every other day. How long would say before things start turning bad for the coral, is four days being closed too long?

 

[steelhealr]

Corals can be more resilient than you think, but, you'd better get the nitrates down. Do you gravel vac the substrate or the fuge (do you have LR rubble?
are you running sponges, ceramics or bioballs?
how large is your chaeto ball? sometimes it needs rinsing.
Six fish is pushing the limits in a 24G.

SH

 

[viet658]

Corals can be more resilient than you think, but, you'd better get the nitrates down. Do you gravel vac the substrate or the fuge (do you have LR rubble?
are you running sponges, ceramics or bioballs?
how large is your chaeto ball? sometimes it needs rinsing.
Six fish is pushing the limits in a 24G.

SH

I only have chemipure and the refuge in my filter system. I removed the sponges, ceramics, and bioballs. I will try gravel vaccing the substrate and the fuge to see if that helps. Is it okay to rinse the macro algae in fresh water or should I use aquarium water? Thanks

 

[steelhealr]

AQUARIUM WATER!!!!. I would add a phosphate binder to your system as well. When you gravel vac the substrate, you can push the vac down into it, then, as the sand rises, you can pinch off the tubing slighting and the water will continue up with yuck and the sand will fall back down. This way you want suck up that much sand.

If you have problems with nitrates, you can try Algone. Some people swear by it and others think it's completely BS. I keep a packet in my tank and change it very month or so. Reportedly, it helps to reduce nitrates. SH