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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 4/5/2007 2:48:16 PM
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| Hey Anthony... Gotta question for you. Some of my corals tissue is thinning at the tips and/or then receding. I could make this a really long post detailing my parameters but they are definitely not the problem... they're perfect and stable. Flow 50x's in tank. Dual 250w MH 11" over tank 6.5 hrs/day [currently running year old Hamilton 14ks... took my CV Reeflux's 10k's out for now to weaken the lighting a little] Here's my question: I run an ASM G-3 on a total water volume of appx 55g. I have a lot of rock in there as well considering the bioload as well as a DSB fuge with cheato, halimeda, caulerpa, and turtle grass. I have 2 clowns, a wrasse, and a basslet which I feed once a day. Is it possible that my oversized skimmer is just so efficient that the water is too clean? I realize it's debatable how much SPS actually feed versus what they get from light but honestly I'm at a loss to explain my tissue problem. Any thoughts or questions would be welcome  tank [URL="http://photobucket.com"] [/URL] some of the affected [URL="http://photobucket.com"] [/URL] [URL="http://photobucket.com"] [/URL] fuge [just trimmed a lot of the caulerpa] [URL="http://photobucket.com"] [/URL] sump/skimmer [URL="http://photobucket.com"] [/URL]
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Group: Moderators
Last Login: 11/19/2009 1:09:50 PM
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| not only do I not think your skimmer is an issue, but I do see far greater concerns here. The overall density of coral in this tank with a majority of specimens less than 6" from each other (indeed closer for many) does not allow for even 1-2 year short term growth and dramatically amplifies allelopathic aggression between even the mildest/weakest species. To then add so many (larger) Alcyoniid and other soft corals/cnids to the mix (the leathers and zoanthids are especially brutal)... and we have a bona fide case of crowding and toxic soup. Short of doing large weekly water changes (over 50%) and using heavy ozone... I cannot see this tank faring well for even 1-3 years before such problems begain to manifest. Tissue loss aside, you will want/need to have patience and space corals much farther apart even just for short term growth, success and ease of maintenance for you. If anything... you need your skimmer to work harder here my friend. Those leathers are brutal(!). So severe that the sloughed mucus tunic (from growth) off their caps can burn the tissue off of Acropora in mintues/hours if caught from drift! It's really a big deal and so very grossly underestimated by well intended but impatient (crowding/stocking frag menageries) aquarists without a long term vision for the tank and its health once grown in. 
. Anthony Calfo
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 4/5/2007 2:48:16 PM
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| Thanks for your response A... I was under the impression that SPS generally don't pose problems to each other unless they are touching. Maybe the perspective of my pics is a little misleading too because all of the SPS have a pretty good sized buffer area for growth. Most are on their own individual rock as well so I could relocate them if you think it's that big of a factor. Good news: I did trade in the large toadstool leather on the lower left. Bad news: I traded it for a really nice tri-color acro  Do you think I should get rid of the large crown leather on the right and the colt on the left? I've never had an issue with their shed tissue but if you think it's a chemical problem I can yank them. Is the Xenia an issue too? Since I have stopped running my skimmer full time, turned the UV off, and have been overfeeding eric's coral food recipe... the thinning tissue seems to be thickening again. Go figure...?
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 4/5/2007 2:48:16 PM
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| I really appreciate your thoughts on my problem and I'm willing to try whatever you may advise, but I'm a little concerned with the certainty you seem to have. [enough evidently to start another thread BTW: I could point to many tanks that have much larger acros in even closer proximity] The last two water changes I did were appx 30% of the total volume. I made sure the water matched precisely with the tank waters parameters. I'm not sure if it was the increased water clarity but the distressed corals appeared to get a little worse... not better.
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Group: Moderators
Last Login: 11/19/2009 1:09:50 PM
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| while Scleractinia generalyl have (considerably) less noxious exudations than algae or sioft corals... the issue is far bigger than allelopathy. That is to say, allelopathic exudations are not the only means of chemical warfare or site competition. If you have any doubt of this... just let two unrelated sps corals touch (please don't do that). So once you acknowledghe that touching is bad/fatal for one or noth species... and keeping them in seperate species specific aquaria is ideal ... your solution lies somewhere in between. My advice on space and water quality management to reach this solution is as per my above post re: distance and ozone in particular. Indeed... removing the soft corals will be a huge help! And after all that, do one large (50% or larger) water change to get closer back to par. kindly, Anth-
. Anthony Calfo
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 2/20/2009 9:36:01 PM
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| My unasked for two cents: (I'm in an ornery mood today I guess) There can be a lot more wrong with the water than the four of five attributes we test for. No one with a firm grasp of that concept would ever use the word 'perfect' to describe their own water quality. Our tanks are just too small for any sort of free-floating plant or animal community to take hold. The corals or featherdusters will eat anything of that sort to extinction within days. If clean (aka sterile) water was a problem then the whole concept of water changes is upside down. It is not - your local sewage treatment plant (probably) runs running dirty water through a foam fictionalize phase; (probably) a DSB-like phase; (and maybe) ozone. What it discharges is not drinking water - just less-dirty sewer water. Re-circulating this less-dirty sewer water in our tanks is not anywhere near the same as unpolluted ocean water. Take a swig of the output of your local water treatment plant if you're not convinced.
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 4/5/2007 2:48:16 PM
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| Thanks for responding Don Jasper ... I'll take your word for it about drinking wastewater tho :lol: As for "perfect"... That's obviously not possible. I just wanted to save some time and let Anthony know my parameters were good and stable. EDIT** Forgot to address the "sterile" confusion... I guess what I meant to ask is am I skimming too much and not leaving enough food sources for the corals, if that's even possible? to put your mind at rest  NH3 0 NO3 0 NO4 unmeasurable [salifert] CA 440 ALK 9 MG 1280 TEMP 78-79 PH 8.2-8.4 SG 1.026 [refract] Per Anthony's advice I removed [all] the remaining leathers and will do a 50% water change tomorrow. I'll report in again after a few days...
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