Do you believe in chemical warefare with softies?

[cwegescheide]

Hey there. Its been a while since I've posted on here. OK well here's the situation. I've had a mysterious problem with my SPS corals all of the sudden. I've lost several corals that gradually started STNing and never stopped until there was nothing left. I'd say the process from beginning to end is about a month maybe on the effected corals.

A little about my tank:
90 gallon dimensions
6200 and 6100 on a 7095 @ 85% max alternating 15 sec each
Ca Reactor with Schuran media
temp 80 - 80.3 (Aquacontroller)
Ca 400
Alk 3.3 meq/l All salfert kits
PH 8.05 - 8.4
salinity 1.026 refracto
MG 1300
N03 - 10ppm approx
no2 - none
All test performed today

Euroreef RS80
250HQI Giesemann Eco 48" fixture running 10K Ushio bulbs. Just switched back to 14K Pheonix bulbs. Halides on 6hrs/day. T5's on 9hrs/day

So I have an SPS dominated tank BUT I still have a few of my favorite softies in there. I've got a Palau Sinularia thats about the size of a softball now and a Tyree green polyped Sarcophyton thats about 5" tall and about the size of a saucer. I admit I've sortof slacked the last month or two on the maintanance so I'd say I've done 3 20% changes with Tropic Marin salt in the last two weeks and changed the carbon etc.

I do have several sps that have never looked better and I'm really happy with that. My blue millie is growing like crazy and interestingly enough is located right in the middle of my tank being blasted pretty good with flow. The ones that I lost were more on the sides in the back and honestly not getting the best flow. I also think the ones that are doing great are getting bigger and starting to disrupt flow.

Some people have mentioned the chemical warefare thing going on in my tank since some of my softies are getting bigger. I recently moved my sarcophyton because it was touching my orange cap (which was looking like hell btw and since I've moved it does sortof seems like its getting a little better) So what do you all think? You think there is something to this chemical warefare thing? How often do you change your carbon and how much would you use in a 90 gallon tank with a 20 gal sump?

Sorry for such a long post. I'm sortof beside myself on this one. For the last couple years I've had pretty good luck and many compliments on my tank and then all of the sudden I feel somebody yanked the rug out from under me!!

Thanks again,
Chris

 

[kevinpo]

Hello Chris,
Sinularia sp. are particularly toxic corals to many SPS and LPS species of corals. Sarcophyton sp. are only slightly less so. Carbon can help reduce the effect. For your tank I would run 2 cups of carbon 10 days a month discarding it afterwards. Something to keep in mind; as the soft corals become larger their capacity to produce terpenes increases and some corals will not tolerate very high levels.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[returnofsid]

You've got 2 of the most toxic softies in there...and YES, I do believe in chemical warfare with softies... I believe it's more prevalent with softies than LPS or SPS. As Kevin said, and he knows his stuff!!!, run carbon on a continuous basis and along with his knowledge of softies getting more toxic as they grow, I'd frag them as they grow to keep the size down. Make sure you frag OUTSIDE of the display tank though.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

"Do you believe in chemical warefare with softies? "

No i believe in make love not war.

Seriously though, I am of mixed opinion. Best to keep them seperate if at all possible. I am a very big fan of Anthony Calfo and he is quite against mixing them. If you keep everything in great shape, it should not be a problem. If there is a chance of less than ideal conditions causing any stress or any get injured: they WILL go to war.

I have a mixed tank and the many many different SPS are growing gang-busters but can only imagine how much better they would be doing if it was free of softys.

 

[brandyrb]

I used to have a large toad stool in the middle of an sps tank, that is until it killed more than 3/4 of my sps. This was my second most devestating loss.

The first was a complete loss caused by a RIO pump that burst and leaked oil. I no longer use RIO's.

I do have a rose bubble tip anemone in the sps tank and I don't think it is capable of chemical war fare, but it will sting any sps in its way when it decides to move, which only happens when it wants to split.

I do have some mushrooms and green star polyps in the sps tank and from what I've heard the star polyps can be toxic too.

 

[NanoReefer411]

Kevin informed me at his store that the GSP are one of the worst if not the worst for Chemical warfare. The Small GSP patch was about the size of a half dollar. It was about 6+in away from my Hammer. When I removed it, the hammer fully expanded. So I can only imagine that if you don't have a large system, what it must be like with SPS.

 

[cwegescheide]

OH man!!! I've got GSP as well. I'm trying to eliminate it or atleast keep them from spreading all over the place. I mix up kalk paste and apply around the edges of the GSP to keep them from spreading too much.

Well I think I found a major issue with my tank recently. I found that one of my 6100's had become overgrown with coraline to the point where it degraded flow from the pump a lot. I've been doing a lot of water changes recently and watching my parameters closely and am changing carbon (2 cups as Kevin reccomended) every two weeks.

I think eventually I will set up a softie tank, I just can't part with them. They are some of my favorite pieces.

Thanks everybody,

Chris

 

[Damsel13]

Please remind me what does GSP stand for?

 

[NanoReefer411]

Green Star Polyps. They are really pretty. I love the way they move in a tank. If I had a very large tank, I might get them. In a small tank, no. As soon as I took them out though, my hammer was so happy.