whats wrong with this brain?

[theJ]

When I got home from work this afternoon, I came to the tank to gaze and the brain's skeleton was showing with chunks of flesh flapping in the wind. Brains are LPS right? RTN only affect SPS yea? What the heck is going on?




I feed the tank last night, some mushed up mysis+phyto feast, all mixed/melted in some tank water. I turned the pumps off for about 15 mins during this time, but no pumps were moved/bumped.

I did a 15g water change about 4 days ago, and that was also the last time I fed the tank, same mixed food. The water was mixing for 2 nights prior to the change, and for the first time I dosed some kent marine supperbuffer dKH, about a tablespoon in the 14g of change water.

Before the waterchange, params were:

sal/sg: 33/1.024 (hydrometer)
no2/no3: 0/0-5 or undetectable (quickdip)
temp: 81F
kh/alk: 7.4/2.63 (salifert)
CA: 450-470 (salifert), seems high, i dont dose, but it could be the test

WC params:
sal/sg 36/1.024 (hydrometer)
no2/no3: 0/0-5 or undetectable (quickdip)
temp: 81f

currently:
sal/sg: 33/1.024-1.025 (hydromiter)
no2/no3: 0-5 or undetectable (quickdip)
temp: 82F
kh/alk: 7.4/2.63 (salifert)
CA: 460 (salifert)
ph: 7.4 (quickdip)

There are some blank spots above, I know :/
So any ideas on how to help this brain? I dont have a qt to put it in, but I do have a 5gal tank i could put some NSW in.. help!!

 

[dailydriven911]

ph 7.4? That is way too low you want to bump that up to 8.0-8.3.

Jayson

 

[theJ]

I think its the test, even bought nsw is measuring that low. but im not sure, i need to take a sample elsewhere to get tested. thanks for replying though, ive been lurking for the past few hours

so far, it doesnt look like its spread much more, so its less than rapid. Should I pull it out of the tank and qt it?

 

[morgan]

i would qt it chances are the best conditons u can provied is in ur display ur ph is rather low
0
i have only seen the sort of thing on my platygyra and that was because it had sum sand on it which caused a recession like that is but not as much
i think ur coral might be a platygyra also and dose enjoy good current so i cant think that to strong flow has caused this how long have u had this coral and have u moved it at all lately?

also this thread would be better in the calfos section he always been able to help me and very patient to

best of luck morgan

 

[NaH2O]

ph 7.4? That is way too low you want to bump that up to 8.0-8.3.

Jayson

I believe the dKH/alkalinity is 7.4 and not the pH, based on the post. TheJ - do you have a pH test kit or monitor? I agree the calcium is on the high side and is probably that way from your salt mix, since you mentioned you don't dose. Have you checked your freshly made saltwater? Other than the foods and the buffer you added, do you add any other supplements (even if you think they aren't important)? Have you made any other changes to the tank recently? How long have you had the coral? It appears alittle on the "bleached out" side to me. Has it always been this color, or is it just the picture?

I'll move to Anthony's forum for his input....

 

[525]

I thing if you measure the SG with refractometer .. you will see it over 1.030

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
I'm sure your PH is higher I would raise your alkalinity to about 3.0 - 3.5 meq/L (8.3 - 9.0 dkH). This will also drop your calcium a little.
I would leave the coral alone but if it looks like a brown jelly starts forming on it you need to dip it right away in a coral dip. Seachem and Kent both make one that are very effective in stopping brown jelly infections.
Be sure to take a look at the coral a few hours after the lights are out to be certain you don't have a predator eating it. The coral is quite tolerant of a wide range of lighting and water flow conditions and are typically quite hardy.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[jsmkmavity]

also make sure no anemone or other coral with sweeper tentacles is close enough to do damage by stinging.

 

[sihaya]

I agree with what these fine posters are saying. Get a refractometer (or a brand new hydrometer) and make sure your salinity is about 1.025 to 1.027. Get your parameters (pH, alk, etc) right.

I would also use a turkey baster or power head to blow off the dead tissue.

Additionally, if it's a slow and steady tissue recession, it might be starving to death (in which case you might want to try target feeding it at night). Also, you might want to think about putting some eggcrate under it to keep the sand from rubbing up against its sides on the bottom. Just my $0.02

Good luck

 

[theJ]

man you guys are the best, thank you so much for replying. to address everyone's statements:

Morgan, Interesting you mention the sand, there was some sand on that side a few days ago which I blew away, but the coral looked ok still after that time. I have had this coral for about 20 days

NaH2O, The PH was correct, at least thats what the quick dip test that I used to test with said. I dont dose anythign else at all whatsoever, just started the buffer with that last waterchange. I did see the ph swing to 8.0 and back however, during the first 24 hours of dosing. It has gotten a little lighter in color since I have had it, but I was attributing that to acclimation. I cranked the white balance up a smidge in the pic also, to see the skeleton a little better. It came out of Kevin's tank with halides, but it was in the corner, not directly under the halides. No other tank changes have been made outside of my first post

525, Its on the wish list

Kevin, slowly but surely I will be increasing alk as the week continues. Is it still ok to do this while this coral is going through these issues? So far no brown jelly at all, it looks like a 'clean' recession of tissue, some flapping in the wind that I sucked off with a baster. I watched it all night last night and I saw a nessarius roll over the area, as well as the conch sniffing around it, but well away from the live tissue and only poking around the chunks of tissue flapping around

jsm, no anenomes in the tank, and all other corals are down stream, closest one is a ricordia about 8-10 inches away

sihaya, working on the params, i'll be trying to accuire a refractometer, but I think getting a new hydrometer untill then is a good idea. Turkey baster is working so far at getting rid of the dead tissue, ive been sucking it out instead of letting it roll around in the tank. I think the eggcrate idea is a good plan, to keep it off the sand, I will give that a shot

Thanks again for the input everyone!!

 

[caseyb21]

A new hydrometer huh? The tank has only been set up for about 4 months and it cant be much older than that. Is that something that should be replaced regularly?

 

[sihaya]

Do a search for Steven Pro's thread on hydrometers. They need diligent maintenance to stay accurate... else they become quite inaccurate very quickly.

 

[caseyb21]

thats good to know! ill be sure to do that - thanks!!

 

[Anthony Calfo]

additionally... you have a coral collected from hard substrates and placed on soft sand... they do not adapt well to this in many circumstances.

 

[returnofsid]

J, you're welcome to borrow my refractometer if you need one before you're able to buy one. You know where I live...lol.

 

[caseyb21]

Anthony, egg crate sound like a good idea?

Mike, we might have to take you up on that, but we dont know where you live!

 

[kevinpo]

You can always bring in a water sample for me to check when you come by. Be sure to check it with your hydometer just before you come so we can see if it is off by much.

An overnight soak in distilled white vinegar every 90 days should keep it in good working order. Be sure not to drop it as that can knock the arm out of adjustment. An atc refractometer is about $69.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[theJ]

Kevin, I might do that tomorrow, is it ok to bring a sample in around 6pm?

 

[sihaya]

Anthony, egg crate sound like a good idea?

I can't speak for Anthony, but the issue he mentions in his post is the reason I suggested the egg create. I know it can be hard to position these things on the rocks without having them constantly falling over. I have a few of these types of corals in my tank and if I can't place them on the rocks, I "glue" them to small rock before I place them on the sand. This keeps the edges of them off the sand. The egg crate is more a temporary solution (since it's not always aesthetic in the long run). Plus, once your coral is really healthy, it will start growing over the egg crate.

Btw, you should visit the Tropicorium some time. They put some of their Faviids on a tuberware container years ago and now the coral has grow over all the edges of the container to form a very odd shaped coral. It's pretty funny...

 

[Damsel13]

sihaya but I really don't like plastic, egg crate or tuperware. Will glass work?

Thanks in advance,