Unusual Tank Situation

Live Rock

Live Rock

Reefer
Hi everyone, when I checked my water today it smelled like old fish at the market. I have one hammer coral, one ricordea, 1 mushroom colony, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, 1 trochus and 1 nassarius snail. I set up my reef about a month ago. Plus my hammer coral is not looking very good as there is white skeleton showing when it retracts its polyps. (The hammer was not physically damaged). My mushrooms are thriving, and my shrimp is very active. I have lots of hair algae, and a patch of dark red stuff (cyanobacteria?). I checked my nitrates and they were at 10 ppm. The problem is that I just mixed up a new batch of saltwater and I will have to wait another day before I do a water change. Now, I have several questions.

Why is my hammer coral doing badly when my shrimp and mushrooms are doing well?
How long does Instant Ocean salt take to fully dissolve?
Does trochus snail eat cyanobacteria?
How can I feed my hammer if it won't accept the food?

Thanks for any answers and suggestions. :D
 
Why is my hammer coral doing badly when my shrimp and mushrooms are doing well?

A. could be flow,water quality,salinity, where is it in the tank?

How long does Instant Ocean salt take to fully dissolve?

A. no idea...

Does trochus snail eat cyanobacteria?

A. No idea, from my knowledge its hard to find anything that eats it except macro algae (caulpra sp)


How can I feed my hammer if it won't accept the food?

A. If its not taking food then dont feed it, Corals really dont need food.


You missing a good amount of info we need in order to help you. List all params,lighting ect ect...how much LR on what size tank....
 
Live Rock said:
Hi everyone, when I checked my water today it smelled like old fish at the market. I have one hammer coral, one ricordea, 1 mushroom colony, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, 1 trochus and 1 nassarius snail. I set up my reef about a month ago. Plus my hammer coral is not looking very good as there is white skeleton showing when it retracts its polyps. (The hammer was not physically damaged). My mushrooms are thriving, and my shrimp is very active. I have lots of hair algae, and a patch of dark red stuff (cyanobacteria?). I checked my nitrates and they were at 10 ppm. The problem is that I just mixed up a new batch of saltwater and I will have to wait another day before I do a water change. Now, I have several questions.

Why is my hammer coral doing badly when my shrimp and mushrooms are doing well?
How long does Instant Ocean salt take to fully dissolve?
Does trochus snail eat cyanobacteria?
How can I feed my hammer if it won't accept the food?

Thanks for any answers and suggestions. :D
Click to expand...

I never wait a day I mix and change been doing it that way since day one never had any issues although some say you should wait. To each his own.

What kind of lighting do you have and how long do you leave it on?

I am not aware of anything that eats cyano

You shouldnt need to feed the hammer, just get your water in better shape and make sure you have the right lighthing.

Do a big water change try to remove as much of the cyano and hair algae as you can manually.
 
Tank Size:
Amount of LR:
Filtration:
Lighting:
Flow:
Specific Gravity:
Amm:
Nitrate:
Nitrite:
PH:
Calcium:
Mag:
dkh:
Phos:

Have you dosed anything? have you changed your flow? Have you seen anything bothering it.

Also seems your CUC is reather small IMO but thats a side note. Help us help you.
 
Tank Size: Biocube 29
Amount of LR: 59-60 lbs
Filtration: Biocube protein skimmer and mechanical. (going to add an algae filter soon)
Lighting: Stock lighting
Flow: 500 gph
Specific Gravity: salinity at 1.023
Amm: 0
Nitrate: 10
Nitrite: 0
PH: 8.2
Calcium: 400
dkh: normal range
 
A. COuld be splitting

B. TO much flow

C. not enough/or to much light

D. Somethingis harrassing it.


Got a pic of it as of right now?

IMO
 
1.Why is my hammer coral doing badly when my shrimp and mushrooms are doing well?

A.Well for starters,Inverts & Corals are 2 different classes of animal so one cud be alright while the other is @ deaths door. Second most mushrooms are waaaay more hardy than your average LPS coral. Your water params seem good, but how big is your hammer. If he's big than you shud be dosing with stronium,iodine,calcium & magnesium. Bigger corals can drain these elements out a small tank real fast!!

2.How long does Instant Ocean salt take to fully dissolve?

A.Instant Ocean can fully dissolve in a matter of hours [2-6], but you shud wait for no less than 12 hrs. This gives the water a chance to be fully airated. Thats something that your inverts will appreciate because most of them don't like sudden changes in oxygen.

3.Does trochus snail eat cyanobacteria?

A.No.The only thing that I've ever actually seen eat it was an acropora crab. I've always used fresh water maracyn to destroy cyano. In your tank, I wud just use half a pouch. I guarantee that you will see results after 3 or 4 days unless you're using old bulbs. Old bulbs tend to shift towards a reddish colour on the color spectrum which encourages cyano growth

4.How can I feed my hammer if it won't accept the food?

A.You don't need to target feed this coral, but I dont think it wud hurt to have some Phyto/Zooplankton floating around in the tank
 
Hi here are some pics of the hammer. The one with the shrunken hammer is when the power went out yesterday, and the expanded one is it as of right now.

I can still see salt in my mixing vat. What happened?

After putting my hand in the water, I could faintly smell the aroma of old market fish. Why is it that my supposedly sensitive shrimp is behaving normally in such smelly water?

What is the texture of cyano bacteria? I felt the substance that looks like cyanobacteria, but it seemed calcareous like coralline, except when I scraped it a tiny amount came off.

My trochus snail is staying in one spot but not moving (it moved a little bit last night), and its foot is firmly attached to the rock. Is this normal?

The brisleworms that came out at night are sort of "bi colored". They are half grey and half pink. Are these normal bristleworms, or something else.

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I don't know what's happening. Advice is appreciated.
:D:D
 

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I can still see salt in my mixing vat. What happened?

Is it salt or just calcium deposits on the side of the bucket?

After putting my hand in the water, I could faintly smell the aroma of old market fish. Why is it that my supposedly sensitive shrimp is behaving normally in such smelly water?

Depends why it smells. Running organic carbon can help clear up any smell.

What is the texture of cyano bacteria? I felt the substance that looks like cyanobacteria, but it seemed calcareous like coralline, except when I scraped it a tiny amount came off.

Sorta Slimy

My trochus snail is staying in one spot but not moving (it moved a little bit last night), and its foot is firmly attached to the rock. Is this normal?

Yeah, although I don't have any tochus snails its not uncommon for a snail to stay in one place for quite some time. If its firmly attached its not dead.

The brisleworms that came out at night are sort of "bi colored". They are half grey and half pink. Are these normal bristleworms, or something else.

Yep, the pink is normal the grey is where its full of food.

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I don't know what's happening. Advice is appreciated.
 
I can see actual small white grains in the water when I test the salinity, even though I mixed the water like 2 days ago with a powerhead and heater. Plus there is some shiny stuff on the water surface of the mixing vat, even though there is a lid and no organic material.

Also, why does my salt smell like ketchup?

Thanks for any answers or suggestions :D
 
How old is this tank? Your experience is from March 2010 but you stated you set up your reef about a month ago.

Also, how long was your power off yesterday?
 
My tank is about a month and a half old.
The power went out for about 3 hrs.
I actually researched for a year and then make my first reef. :D
 
Hooray for you, I think it's awesome you took your time to research! I was confused if maybe your were starting a second tank is why I asked. I haven't used the salt you are using but I usually just mix mine one evening and use it the next afternoon. Is the salt getting old or maybe have hard clumps? That has happened to me before and it was harder to get it to dissolve. I'm sorry I can't offer anymore help but maybe the info you gave me will help some of the others come up with a solution to your problems. Good Luck
 
I've had the same issues with my salt. Dana is exactly right. In humidity it gets clumpy and then some of it just won't dissolve. I haven't had any issues though. I try not to get the un-dissolved stuff in the tank. Are you keeping your salt in a closed container? Get some new salt and make sure you seal it. Don't get water in the salt container/bag either.
 

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