Need some help please...! :-(

R

ryana

Joined
11 Jan 2012
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Location
JHB - Midrand
Hi Reefers

I have 3 issues I just can't seem to sort out!!

1) My brain coral that I've tried to move just about everywhere in the tank...not happy and under pressure
2) My bubble tip anemone that is not happy either. Its open 5% of the time and the rest of the time its deflated and looks really unhappy
3) I have an outbreak of red slime algae which I'm trying to control but it just seems to be multiplying like weeds.

I've got some advice from guys on the forum, I've tried doing some internet research, asked a few people but still no joy!
The irony is my fish (2 x small clowns, 1 x blenny, 1 x cardinal, 2 x chromis and 1 x shrimp) and other corals (kenya tree , mushrooms, zoas, star polyps and hammer coral are in perfect condition and happy)

I have a 3ft tank and a 2ft sump so flow and filtartion is good (I think)
2 x T5 39 watts (blue and white) that are on for 6hrs per day (reduced from 9hrs)
My water parameters are stable
Obviously I'm doing something wrong but I'm not sure what it is.

Any experienced Reefers in the Midrand area that are prepared to come over to have a look and or offer some advice please?

Thanks
Ryan
 
nitrates or phosphates, possibly both @clown996 and @dallasg are in your area.
 
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ryana said:
Hi Reefers

I have 3 issues I just can't seem to sort out!!

1) My brain coral that I've tried to move just about everywhere in the tank...not happy and under pressure
2) My bubble tip anemone that is not happy either. Its open 5% of the time and the rest of the time its deflated and looks really unhappy
3) I have an outbreak of red slime algae which I'm trying to control but it just seems to be multiplying like weeds.

I've got some advice from guys on the forum, I've tried doing some internet research, asked a few people but still no joy!
The irony is my fish (2 x small clowns, 1 x blenny, 1 x cardinal, 2 x chromis and 1 x shrimp) and other corals (kenya tree , mushrooms, zoas, star polyps and hammer coral are in perfect condition and happy)

I have a 3ft tank and a 2ft sump so flow and filtartion is good (I think)
2 x T5 39 watts (blue and white) that are on for 6hrs per day (reduced from 9hrs)
My water parameters are stable
Obviously I'm doing something wrong but I'm not sure what it is.

Any experienced Reefers in the Midrand area that are prepared to come over to have a look and or offer some advice please?

Thanks
Ryan
Click to expand...

Always useful to post water parameters.
 
What water do u use? Tap or RO?
Do you know your PO4 reading?
How often do you feed and what do you feed?
How long has the tank been running?
What filtration do you have?
How often do you do waterchanges?
 
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@ chikaboo: I only have 2 x T39.
The tank is only 3ft long and so are the globes. I would need someone elses opinion on light intensity but I think its pretty bright as is. (I'm not the expert...lol)
 
ryana said:
@ chikaboo: I only have 2 x T39.
The tank is only 3ft long and so are the globes. I would need someone elses opinion on light intensity but I think its pretty bright as is. (I'm not the expert...lol)
Click to expand...

He he .... None of us are but plenty of us think we are ..... Nemmies are pretty light hungry organisms and so are brains ... The other softies are a bit forgiving on light intensity
 
@rakabos: I only use RO water for top ups. I use Red Sea salt. Salinity is on 1026. I had it on 1023 before but guy at petshop said corals prefer a higher salnity.
PO4??? Excuse the ignorance, not sure what that is?
Tank has been running since April 2012
Feeding is once a day and its a marine mix I bought from the pet shop
I use Reef Snow for corals every 2nd day
My sump filter has 3 chambers, middle chamber has bio-balls, various filter pads, ceramic rings, I use activated carbon and a protein skimmer. water temp is 24-26
Water top ups are weekly and water changes are every 8-10 days
What's tough to understand is that everything else is healthy and has grown significantly since I started up in April except these two corals which I've had for about 6 weeks now.
 
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if you're battling with red sime, sounds like nitrates and phos, have a look at Orca bio-cubes to control Nitrates as well as Orca GFH to control your phosphates. Post a couple pics of your sump setup as well if you can, also what make are the T5 @ 39w, they should be approx 900mm long?
 
For nennie - need more light. 4 T5's at least. If your tank is wide enough I'll go for 6.

For red slime. Lots of activated carbon, air-rate with air pump and increase magnesium for a while.

What's your alkalinity and magnesium level like? What skimmer do you have?
 
Another thing, nennie's should in my opinion only be put in stable systems (for several mnths) with high water quality. Bubble tips are the easiest nennies to keep, but that does not mean they easy to keep.
 
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There goes another poor nennie it seems. @ryana are you aware you need to quickly change the way you care for it or it wont make it ?
 
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@ryana there is a lot of advice above on ways to fix the phos issue like adding bio cubes etc. This is all good but it wont solve the cause which in my opinion is a combination of a new tank and overfeeding. Although you are only feeding once a day, a smallish tank can't handle frozen food being fed every day as well as Marine snow and the like every second day.

Cut down on the meaty foods, rather only give meaty foods once a week at this stage and rather feed a combination of different marine flakes and pellets as a daily food.
 
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ryana said:
2 x T5 39 watts
Click to expand...
Not enough.

Do the bubble tip still have its colour, or is it already bleached?

Is the clowns hosting in it?

I'm trying to safe a bubble tip for somebody else. In separate tank. Feeding it fish roe. If you want some roe, I got way more than enough to last me 10 years. Can pick up some from me.
 
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