Ranger's Tank Journal

[SkiFletch]

Haha, i think it should work. BTW two of the stalks on my coral have completely withdrawn and some brownish stuff (possibly algae) is growing on the tip of the hard stalk. The other 4 stalks are fine. Any ideas? I don't have time to take a pic or get water quality atm. Have to go to work.

Could be whats commonly known as a "Brown Jelly Infection". What you're seeing is the coral's immune response, similar to an inflamation response in humans. Sometimes in the case of the corals its an auto-immune problem, not necessarily a bacterial infection. Meaning, the corals immune system blindly attacks itself when something goes wrong. This can obviously be a big problem and can spread FAST. Usually fragging is a good and perhaps even the only option for a rapidly advancing brown jelly infection. Happened to my favites brain and I almoast lost it. Fragging safed the rest though. Dont jump too quick to a diagnosis though, sometimes soft corals go through a shedding process not to be mistaken for brown jelly. Get a pic up quickly if you can though

 

[Ranger]

Here are the pics. No signs of spreading among the other heads.

 

[Mr Miagi]

That doesnt look like Tissue ressesion to me, but Polyp Bail out. I cant see any tissue left at all. Youd best get your general stats including Calcium and Alkalinity after work to try diagnose the problem. I havnt seen a Euphyllia do that without stress.

 

[Ranger]

Gosh I feel so guilty whenever something goes wrong in one of my fish tanks. Whether its my fault or not.
Heres my stats:

pH: 8.2
Ammonia and Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 15ppm
Alk: 4.9677 meq/L (as far as I can tell, Alk really confuses me)
Calc: 340 mg/L

According to the direction on Alk/Calc, those stats are both off. I know you aren't really supposed to abruptly change these stats. So if they are off, what should I do? And is this whats causing my coral to stress?

 

[SkiFletch]

hummm, those numbers dont add up. At a pH of 8.2 your alk should not be as high as you indicate (thats off the charts nearly impossible high). I could believe a calc of 350 with a pH of 8.2 but even that seems a tad low. Remember, Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium, and CO2 are all in a sort of balance to achieve a pH. Funky things start happening if they start drifting really far from each other. That being said, a course of action: Re-test the alkalinity and then read this

 

[Ranger]

Haha, if you'll recall we went through this before. I'll retest then read that thingy.

 

[Ranger]

If there is one thing I have learned about fishkeeping it is that when it rains... it pours. Haven't had a second of free time recently. Between work and school just starting again, I'm hoping to get a hold on the chaos that is my life atm and get those solutions mixed up and added to my tank. Have seen no change in the coral really aside from the 2 heads that dissappeared. Fish seem fine, there is green algae growing in my tank, which im guessing is due to some nitrates in the water?

 

[SkiFletch]

Depends on the algae. General rule of thumb: If its brown, it eats nitrates, if its green it eats phosphates, if its rusty and slimy it eats anything it can get its grubby hands on

 

[Ranger]

Ok, so I'm about to go get this all these ingredients. Am I going to need to be adjusting the Calc, Alk, and Magnesium simultaneously? Or am I just going to be adjusting the Alk?

 

[SkiFletch]

Ok, so I'm about to go get this all these ingredients. Am I going to need to be adjusting the Calc, Alk, and Magnesium simultaneously? Or am I just going to be adjusting the Alk?

Good question. When you've got a low coral load, dosing amounts will be very low, so keep that in mind. You never want to dose any two suppliments simultaneously for local supersaturations can lead to precepitation and defeat the purpose of dosing. I cheat because my sump has two distinct compartments so I just dose one side with calc and the other with alk. If you lack a sump, dose alkalinity first. Try and pour it in near a skimmer or powerhead inlet. When you dose the alk, your water will get momentarily cloudy, dont worry this is normal and not harmful for fish/corals. Once the cloudiness clears up, then you can dose calcium. Remember magnesium should only be dosed a couple times per month but again, same rule applies, don't dose simultaneously

 

[Ranger]

I couldn't find the Calcium stuff. Calcium chloride dihydrate? In home depot anywhere. What section should it be in? Or where else can I get it?

 

[SkiFletch]

Problem is, you live in Cali where it never snows . Try looking for prestone driveway heat either at HD/Lowes, or an auto parts store. Failing that, get any calcium based salt, most are suitable.

 

[Ranger]

Problem is, you live in Cali where it never snows . Try looking for prestone driveway heat either at HD/Lowes, or an auto parts store. Failing that, get any calcium based salt, most are suitable.

Is that the name of a product? It actually snowed here recently. It melted before it hit the ground though. Lol.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, thats the name of the prodcut. Thats what I use

 

[Ranger]

Ok, I'm going to prepare the alk, concoction now. What should my desired meq/L be? Also, I'm confused by the dosing instruction. On the initial dose, do I dose enough to change it to the desired alk? Or do I slowly dose it to reach the desired alk?