Reef tank crash

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Pwn

Candiru
MFK Member
May 9, 2008
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Zerker Hut
I made the mistake of buying a Haitian pink tip anemone as one of my first inverts for my 30g reef. He was always moving behind the live rock so I couldn't see him. Well, he ended up dieing behind there and I have no idea how long he was dead. Now my "star polyps" don't open when I turn my lights on, my "leather finger" is flacid (for lack of a better word), one of my large snails is on his back and I lost a bubble anemone. Oddly enough, one of the 2 clowns has finally hosted the "green carpet" anemone.


I do weekly water changes of 25% (50% if I get a high nitrate reading,which happens occasionally-probably from over feeding). My perams have always been good, and this tank has been stellar since I started it a few months ago.
Last night I got a .50 reading of ammonia, and did a 50% water change. Woke up this morning and everything in the tank is in the same condition as last night:( Doing my water check now, and I will post readings when I get them.


PS- coral names are in quotes as I really have no clue what they are...the names I find online always turn out to be called something by my LFS employees. I might try and post pics to get ID'S, but my camera is ****ty.
 
Total drag man! Hope you get your water condition under control. Inverts take time to recover. I know it's hard to see your stuff not looking good. Been there!
 
As a beginner to a reef tank, I'm second guessing my choice to keep anemones. I thought they would go good with the clowns ,and the clowns are what this tank is about. This morning was the first time either of the clowns hosted any anemone in the tank- which I thought would've happened sooner- and It's really bad ass. Just sucks that the other anemones died and seems my corals aren't doing so hot. The corals and marine life around here are very expensive...very frustrating.
 
along with checking nitrates and amonia, are you also testing for calcium and alkalinity?
 
you will want to keep a close eye on phosphate levels as well which can cause an algae problem, which may lead to another problem. Plague algae can die off rapidly and cause ammonia outbreaks so its important to keep up with water changes. Right now, wc's twice weekly is a good idea.
 
patty-pat;1820206; said:
along with checking nitrates and amonia, are you also testing for calcium and alkalinity?
Click to expand...


:headbang2

Like a complete idiot, I haven't been adding the B-IONIC #1 and #2.

This has to be the reason for the deaths. Sadly, I don't have a test kit for those so I will take it into the LFS for testing....and pick up each of those test kits when they get them in stock.

Thanks man. Huge weight off my chest there:D
 
sweeTang21;1820280; said:
you will want to keep a close eye on phosphate levels as well which can cause an algae problem, which may lead to another problem. Plague algae can die off rapidly and cause ammonia outbreaks so its important to keep up with water changes. Right now, wc's twice weekly is a good idea.
Click to expand...


Thanks! I just posted what I think is the reason for the crash. I think I'm gonna stop doing water changes until I can get it in check. I did pick up some bacteria to add...hoping the tank didn't go into a complete re-cycle.
 
just be sure to use proper buffers that control your pH as well is important. A true buffer will halp stabalize both pH and ALK which is crucial IMO. After cycle everthing else falls into place with patience and WC's. good luck
 
What kind of buffer are you talking about? This tank is turning into a money pit :)
 
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