What am I doing wrong here....?

dreams190

dreams190

Reefing newb
I've had my 24 gallon Aquapod set up for about 8 months now, started as fish only and switched over to reef about 2 months ago....


For the past 2 months, I've had a snowflake eel, 2 turbo snails, 2 emerald crabs, a gorgonian branch, and a yellow polyp colony, and quite a bit of liverock.


Hadn't had any problems, and then... today I got a bubbletip anemone and a maroon clown from my local fish store. I also got a small piece of green star polyps from a friend. Floated and acclimated all 3 of them properly. The clown fish is looking VERY stressed out (but he did eat), and the green star polyps wont open. They (the green polyps) did touch the anemone for a couple minutes, could it have been damaged by the anemone? The yellow polyps have been dying off slowly (mainly because the emerald crabs are picking at them) but they don't look too healthy...


Tested the water for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, pH, alkalinity, and salinity. Did a 20% water change. Everything seems ok.... any ideas what am I doing wrong here?! :frustrat:
 
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You can bet the anemone stung the crap out of the GSP(star polyps).So they're hurting.
And I doubt you'd be looking very healthy if you had an emerald crap snacking on you:mrgreen:
Can you give us the actual numbers to your parameters?That would help a lot.
BTW,Welcome to the site.
 
welcome. Unless you have upgraded lights you will likely not have long term success with the nem and it will probably move around a lot and kill most of your inverts would be my guess. As far as the clown, fish usually get really stressed out from the move. you may want to give him up to a week or so to see if it starts eating and feeling better.
 
One thing I'm curious about, because I've gotten pretty varying advice on... is what I'm adding to the water, how much, and how often... MarineSnow, Calcium, Strontium, and Iodine...?


The clown is starting to look a little better, he's swimming around more and looks a little more comfortable.

yote said:
You can bet the anemone stung the crap out of the GSP(star polyps).So they're hurting.
And I doubt you'd be looking very healthy if you had an emerald crap snacking on you:mrgreen:
Can you give us the actual numbers to your parameters?That would help a lot.
BTW,Welcome to the site.
Click to expand...

I figured the anemone probably did sting the GSP :frustrat: Luckily the anemone only touched the very edge of the GSP and only for a minute or two. I did a little more reading and saw that GSP also can take a couple days to open up at first, correct?
I guess the crabs ran out of algae to eat and went for the polyps, lol. I had 3, gave one to a friend today in exchange for the piece of GSP. Hopefully they'll have enough to eat now so they leave the yellow polyps alone!

salinity - 1.025
nitrates - ~10
nitrites - 0
alkalinity - ~200-300
pH - ~8
ammonia - ~0
(using strips, not drops. Gonna get the drops probably tomorrow.)

Oscarsdad608 said:
The eel is to big of a fish for a 24 gallon. The clown is probably streesed because it thinks the eel is going to eat it.
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The eel is just a little guy, maybe ~12" at the absolute most. I've had him from the very beginning. :wink:


Alexander said:
welcome. Unless you have upgraded lights you will likely not have long term success with the nem and it will probably move around a lot and kill most of your inverts would be my guess. As far as the clown, fish usually get really stressed out from the move. you may want to give him up to a week or so to see if it starts eating and feeling better.
Click to expand...

I've heard I might have a rough time with the anemone, but figured I'd give it a try anyway. He seems to be ok with where he is so far. He's about halfway up in the tank on a piece liverock that he refused to leave at the LFS, lol. He's getting very good waterflow where he is, so hopefully he stays happy! The clown did eat a few pieces of a silverside right away so that was a good sign.
 
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The key thing to dosing is not to dose anything that you arent testing your water for. Most trace elements are replenished through water changes, do them regularly weekly or biweekly and you should be A-Ok until you get a high coral load then you will have to dose to keep calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels up.

Light light light is the key to keeping an anenome happy. They need tons of it and feed them regularly but light is the most important
 
RyanG said:
The key thing to dosing is not to dose anything that you arent testing your water for. Most trace elements are replenished through water changes, do them regularly weekly or biweekly and you should be A-Ok until you get a high coral load then you will have to dose to keep calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels up.
Click to expand...

Trace elements are Calcium, Strontium, and Iodine, correct? and I shouldn't have to add any of them right now with just a couple corals? :12: Could overdosing the water with those trace elements be hurting the yellow polyps?

The MarineSnow I do still need to add as food for the corals, right?
 
Trace element's are:
1.Calcium
2.alkalinity
3.magnesium

Anything other than these three you'll get in a water change. And unless you can test for it, you really shouldn't dose it. BTW, the test strip's are not a reliable testing method. Not trying to be rude, just offering info and advise.

The Marinesnow shouldn't be an issue.

The snowflake eel will one day eat the Clown. It's nature just happens that away. Plus I agree he is to big for such a small tank. I'd say 55-90 gallons for him. And the Anemone will need much better light's. T5's or MH to thrive & survive. They may last for a while under PC light's but will end up splitting into a few more and moving all over the tank and then they'll die. And as far as the GSP, I think your ok. GSP is a very hardy coral, you can kill them, but man it takes a lot. They were closed up when the Anemone touched them, I don't think it hurt it at all. Even if it did, they'll bounce right back from that.

And Yes, over dosing the Iodine can harm the Yellow polyps. As well as make your inverts molt well before there new shell has harden, which can cause them damage just by bumping into a rock, and then they'll die. Please don't take me as being rude, I'm not, just trying to give you info :)

Oh and WELCOME to the site :D
 
If you truly want a reef system then get rid of the eel and anemone.C'mon man!..a eel in a 24 gallon tank?I would be stressed too,if I was the clownfish.

[c'mon man stolen from ESPN-Keyshawn Johnson]

For a reef system,test for calcium,magnesium in addition to the basic-pH,akalinity,nitrates.Only dose if there is a need.Everything else like iodine will be replenish with regular waterchanges.I find that yellow polyps need to eat,not with Marine Snow,more like cyclopeeze or small mysis.

Welcome.
 
Stupidsreef said:
Trace element's are:
1.Calcium
2.alkalinity
3.magnesium

Anything other than these three you'll get in a water change. And unless you can test for it, you really shouldn't dose it. BTW, the test strip's are not a reliable testing method. Not trying to be rude, just offering info and advise.

The Marinesnow shouldn't be an issue.

The snowflake eel will one day eat the Clown. It's nature just happens that away. Plus I agree he is to big for such a small tank. I'd say 55-90 gallons for him. And the Anemone will need much better light's. T5's or MH to thrive & survive. They may last for a while under PC light's but will end up splitting into a few more and moving all over the tank and then they'll die. And as far as the GSP, I think your ok. GSP is a very hardy coral, you can kill them, but man it takes a lot. They were closed up when the Anemone touched them, I don't think it hurt it at all. Even if it did, they'll bounce right back from that.

And Yes, over dosing the Iodine can harm the Yellow polyps. As well as make your inverts molt well before there new shell has harden, which can cause them damage just by bumping into a rock, and then they'll die. Please don't take me as being rude, I'm not, just trying to give you info :)

Oh and WELCOME to the site :D
Click to expand...

Didn't find you to come off rude at all! In fact, I appreciate the advice! :beerchug:

I don't really like the test strips too much, I'm definitely going to end up getting the drops. I'm going to stop adding anything until I can test for it and determine if I really need to dose it or not. How much of the MarineSnow should I be adding and how often? I've been doing 1 cap full twice a week...

I'm feeling MUCH better after reading about the GSP, and yes it was closed when it touched the anemone.

The eel hasn't really grown at all for a few months and the clown is pretty good size. The eel has tried to eat much smaller things and failed, lol.
 
With the Marinesnow I don't really know, I've never used it. I'd follow whatever the dirrections claim. Marinesnow is really food for corals, so I'd base that on the corals. Maybe once a week or twice like you said your doing.

For now the eel may not have been succeful, but that's how they learn to be ;). One day he'll take take the clown out.

:D
 
Weather or not you need the marine snow,depends on the corals you have.Soft corals dont need to be fed.SPS and LPS would be the ones to use it.But Even at that,I would feed but a 1/2 cap every 2 weeks at the most.
 
yote said:
Weather or not you need the marine snow,depends on the corals you have.Soft corals dont need to be fed.SPS and LPS would be the ones to use it.But Even at that,I would feed but a 1/2 cap every 2 weeks at the most.
Click to expand...


What are SPS and LPS?


I bought a much better test kit tonight, but I don't see anything about iodine, or strontium... The guy at my LFS told me when I started with the corals to be dosing all of this stuff, but now I'm second guessing all that...




BTW, the clown has found a nice home in the anemone! :)
 
LPS= large polyp stonies and SPS= small polyp stonies. they are both coral types, and you dont wanna dose anything unless you actively test for it
 
Hi and welcome! I'm a newbie here too and I can tell you that you won't find a nicer group of "reefers" on the web! I added a GSP to my tank a couple of weeks ago. She did great. Friday and Saturday I made lots of changes to my tank and the GSP closed up tight. I was sure I killed her. Today, she opened most of the way and stayed that way for the whole day. I hear some corals get pissy if they don't like whats going on around them. I also added a cute little maroon clown on Friday and the anemone on Saturday. I immediately regretted the anemone purchase. Luckily, my fish guy at the local fish place took him back and he gave me full credit! After reading horror stories about anemone's wiping out a whole tank full of corals, I didn't need something that toxic in my life! My clown swam in circles like a caged lion for the first two days. Today, he's relaxed and seems like he's having fun. you can read about it all on my blog: www.catherinethereefkeeper.blogspot.com. It's easy to forget that these critters are living beings and can get stressed for all kinds of reasons. Also, I give a multi-vitamine to my corals. It is my understanding (I could be very wrong here) I understand that some corals use photosynthesis more than others. The GSP, Zoos and mushrooms I have in my tank have been identified as corals that don't need feedings but do need vitamines. I use this: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4245+4888&pcatid=4888 I also use the same brand's calcium supplement. It says twice a week but I don't have the test kits yet so I've only done it once a week for the past two weeks. I've got the test kits ordered. Like I said, I'm a newbie and I might be doing things wrong but so far everything seems happy.

Good luck on your new reef!

Catherine
 
Catherine, you're right, this has been a very welcoming group! :D



The vitamin supplement you linked is the same companys stuff that I have (the calcium, iodine, and strontium). I'm still very unsure of the iodine as I didn't see anything to test it at my LFS tonight. I've also heard that it will make my xenias grow very well but could actually hurt my yellow polyps and invertebrates. :frustrat:


I'm praying that the anemone stays under control and doesnt wipe everything out. If it does, or if it dies, I probably won't get another one, lol.
 
Iodine is one of those elements that is used in minute ammounts by invert and corals.Too much iodine and the algae uses it as a food source.
I never add it to my tank.However I do use use it to dip all new corals before they go in the tank.
Water changes will keep it at close to the proper levels.
 

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