whats wrong with my brain coral?

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hmm looks like it in one spot. It killed about an inch and a half of coral on all sides in a matter of hours from first spotting it. Is that normal?
 
Passinetti2007 said:
is that possible in a nano tank I change my water weekly?
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Its more than possible and necessary if you want to keep the critters your trying to keep.
My suggestion would be to back off a little and take some time learning about basic reefkeeping chemistry. In the long run you'll be happy you did. :)

Don
 
DonW said:
Its more than possible and necessary if you want to keep the critters your trying to keep.
My suggestion would be to back off a little and take some time learning about basic reefkeeping chemistry. In the long run you'll be happy you did. :)

Don
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It's not like I got a 75 gal tank here. I feel I'm doing a pretty good job for my first tank being only 12 gallons and being a lot more difficult to manage then a large tank which from what I hear is a piece of cake compared to what I am dealing with. I've done everything right according to what I've read and what I've got from the owner of my LFS which happens to be a staff on this message board.

I was told I only needed nitrate/nitrite test and that I just needed to do water changes to reduce nitrate and that having such a small tank will be tough. So considering that I feel I havn't been too much of a screw up thank you very much.
 
Passinetti2007 said:
It's not like I got a 75 gal tank here. I feel I'm doing a pretty good job for my first tank being only 12 gallons and being a lot more difficult to manage then a large tank which from what I hear is a piece of cake compared to what I am dealing with. I've done everything right according to what I've read and what I've got from the owner of my LFS which happens to be a staff on this message board.

I was told I only needed nitrate/nitrite test and that I just needed to do water changes to reduce nitrate and that having such a small tank will be tough. So considering that I feel I havn't been too much of a screw up thank you very much.
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Whoa Bronco Don is just trying to help. I am VERY sure he didn't mean to attack your newbieness. We have all went a little too fast in this hobby on one thing or another and we just try and pass that knowledge on.........never attacking. O.K.????:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
BTW
How are things going??
 
I'm sorry I got carried away. I got attacked on another board for being new and therefore took don the wrong way. Trust me though, it's not like I just woke up one day and decided to put a tank together. I've been researching this stuff for about 4 months now and my tank has only had livestock in it for a month, so I'm doing my best. I wish I could afford to get a huge tank. Sooner or later I'll get one, but I'm up for the challenge of setting up this small one and doing what everyone else warns me about and that is an unstable tank that I have to watch religiously. I was told that if I can be successfull with this tank I'll be able to do anything. I just feel I've been misled a few times with my questioning. So I appologize if I came off to strong. I'm just trying not to fail at this.
 
Passinetti2007 said:
I'm sorry I got carried away. I got attacked on another board for being new and therefore took don the wrong way. Trust me though, it's not like I just woke up one day and decided to put a tank together. I've been researching this stuff for about 4 months now and my tank has only had livestock in it for a month, so I'm doing my best. I wish I could afford to get a huge tank. Sooner or later I'll get one, but I'm up for the challenge of setting up this small one and doing what everyone else warns me about and that is an unstable tank that I have to watch religiously. I was told that if I can be successfull with this tank I'll be able to do anything. I just feel I've been misled a few times with my questioning. So I appologize if I came off to strong. I'm just trying not to fail at this.
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No problem at all. Youll find that we like new reefers here thats what keeps the hobby alive. We all want you to succeed. I'm assuming your getting sound advice from Kevin. I'm sure he gave you enough to get you started.
As time goes on I'm sure he's going to give you plenty more. The animals that your having problems with take knowlege to keep alive. By the information that youve given that knowlege isnt there YET. Your comments about having a small tank and how difficult it may be are all the more reason you become very failiar with water chemistry. Wether its a 10g or a 300g it takes exactly the same knowlege.
We are more than happy to step you through the process of learning to keep the animals you wish. Its not going to happen in a few short months. Its definately not going to happen if you continue to skip steps. The Idea is to see you hanging out here a year or two from now helping someone else that will be in exactly the same position that your in now.:)

Don
 
Passinetti2007 said:
I was told I only needed nitrate/nitrite test and that I just needed to do water changes to reduce nitrate and that having such a small tank will be tough. So considering that I feel I haven't been too much of a screw up thank you very much.
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I have to make a comment on this.
First you will never screw up

Your going to live and learn in this AND spend a lot doing it.
These 2 tests that were recommended to you are what is needed to cycle a tank at the MINIMUM.

Now I have read all your posts and starting to add this all up. You will need a lot more tests besides these two. You should see my shelf.. I have 10+ test kits to maintain my tank and its only a total of 135G
It sounds like your tank is relatively new. 1 1/2 months? Its new, and I would not add any more hard coral for a while. Have you checked your PH during the day and night cycles? How about your Alk? (buffers your PH)
Brains don't like swings.
So im sure we will all quite bashing what you have and give you the best advise we can. Ditch the test strips, only good for cycling really (rough numbers) and buy what you can of trinitarian (sp) test kits. (more accurate numbers).
Stick with hardy livestock. I had 1 fish for 6 months till I added my first soft coral.
Dont change too much water at one time. 80% would be bad in a nano IMO.
Maybe 10% every two weeks? The goal I am getting at is to let the water you have balance out before adding new water. You can change a number fast in a smaller tank.
ok and last we need to see what true numbers you have for nitrates, phosphates, any killers.
there Im done peoples.
 
Allright that really helps me out a ton, thanks twilliard. So I'm going to go right now and order salifert test kits, because that is what I've been recommended the most so far. I'm going to get: Nitrate, Nitrite, Calcium, Alkalinity, PH, Magnesium, and Phosphates. Is that all I should get for now or should I drop something?
 
Good starting point. :D glad to hear it.

Now I didnt start with salifert tests. Dont get me wrong they are one of the best. If you want to save a little and learn about all this testing you can get one of those red sea kits or eq. to start with that has all the tests.

People will say NO DONT DO IT *waa waa* but hey learn first before you spend the $20-25 PER TEST KIT how to take accurate tests and TRACK it.

OK all - IMO!
 
wow saltwaterfish.com had a great deal on salifert products. Nitrate, nitrite, calcium, phosphates, alkalinity, a handheld ph meter, and a skimmer only cost me 130 bucks. Yay!
 
Passinetti2007 said:
wow saltwaterfish.com had a great deal on salifert products. Nitrate, nitrite, calcium, phosphates, alkalinity, a handheld ph meter, and a skimmer only cost me 130 bucks. Yay!
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I was going to suggest them for test kits. it is where i purchase mine from.:)
Then get back with some numbers..........we all wanna see that nano take off!!!:D
 
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I have a nano, and it is indeed very possible to keep nitrates at zero. In my case, its a result of a low bioload, good skimmer, and chaeto in my sump.

(Although the chateo was added later, and I don't think its done terribly much, it grows very very slow).

Be careful with the possibility of overfeeding, its more pronounced in a nano.

The big thing about a nano is stability. That's much easier to achieve in a larger tank, but its still vitally important. I've ended up automating a good deal of the tank to deal with that very issue.

-Dylan
 
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