Food question? Marinesnow, zooplex, phyto, reef roids

[katsafados]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3168096
Coral Frenzy, Cyclpos, Cyclopeeze, and the detritus that I blow up off the rockwork with the turkey baster. And of course anything that is growing and alive in the tank that the coral grabs on its own.

But do you have any corals that need micro food? If so how are they doing, without anything as small as phyto i ntheir diet?

 

[spanko]

You can take a look at my coral here.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/332430/spankos-bio-cube-what-in-posidens-name-is-he-up-to-now/80

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by Katsafados
http:///forum/post/3168105
But do you have any corals that need micro food? If so how are they doing, without anything as small as phyto i ntheir diet?
Most corals do not eat phyto.There's a couple, like gorgs, but the rest don't eat it directly.

 

[katsafados]

Yeah I know that part lol. I need the mirco foods because of the gorg I have.
Which at the moment, soemthing wierd id going on with it. It has red hair/furr at the tips of the sticks. It looks like hair algae but its the same colour as the gorg, and it acctually seems to be apart of the gorg.

anyone know hwat it is? It never did they before?

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by Katsafados
http:///forum/post/3168556
Yeah I know that part lol. I need the mirco foods because of the gorg I have.
Which at the moment, soemthing wierd id going on with it. It has red hair/furr at the tips of the sticks. It looks like hair algae but its the same colour as the gorg, and it acctually seems to be apart of the gorg.

anyone know hwat it is? It never did they before?
PIC?

 

[cranberry]

It could be a turf algae.
Does it look anything like this.

 

[katsafados]

Wouldnt be able to see it lol..
I wipped it off.. it almost looked like it was shedding its skin.

 

[cranberry]

It probably is shedding it's skin... that's a sign it's dying.
Non-photosynthetic gorgs are hard to get to survive long term. Especially feeding it marinesnow and dead phytoplankton. They really need to be bathed in food items.

 

[katsafados]

It didnt look like that.. lol
It looked like maroon/purple hair algae on the tips. I dont think its dying, because the skin underneath is intact.. it coul dhave been some algae blowing around in my tank from the fuge that landed on the gorg tips. I cant see algae growing on it since it has a PH pointed right at it from the start.
It still looks healthy... and when I wipped the "stuff" off it felt slimmy. (the algae, not the gorg)
Mine doesnt seem to mind the marine snow and dead plankton.. I have new tips growing lol..

 

[cranberry]

Slimy algae = cyano. That is also maroon in colour.
Have you had in longer than 6 months?

 

[katsafados]

but isnt cyano more of a powder kinda thing, since its single celled bacteria?
This was hair like blowing in my current. I also doubt its cyano also. Just because it was slimy, doesnt necessarly mean its cyano, most algaes are slimy lol. I also would think I would see cyano on my sand or traces of it around way before it gets up onto a tip of my highest coral.
I have some purple (colour of the coraline) slime algae growing on the surface of my cheatto in my refugium.. It looks like gum kind of.. havent touched it though.
Its one of those mysteries I guess... I'm just going to brush the gorg with a tooth brush when I start cleanning my tank today so I know theres no more of that stuff on it.

 

[katsafados]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3168600
Have you had in longer than 6 months?
I dont think so.. my tanks only 7 months old itself. I'm pretty sure the gorg was one of my last corals I got also. So I'd say maybe 2.5 months at the most.

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by Katsafados
http:///forum/post/3168605
I also would think I would see cyano on my sand or traces of it around way before it gets up onto a tip of my highest coral.
Nope, not true. I have cyano in single spots in high up weird places. Cyano can also show as blowing strands like fuzz or hair. One spot in out my inlet... the only place.
Don't brush him with a toothbrush.

 

[katsafados]

Why shouldnt I brush it lol?
Also I find that wierd that, the only sign of cyano in my tank popped up on a tip of my red gorg which is not near anything at all.
I also hope it isnt cyano, since when I took it off the gorg. I lost it in the tank.. lol My clown went for it, but spit it out.

 

[rlablan]

Hate to say it Kats but that sounds like cyano. Mine actually started on my yellow gorgonian. A real bummer too because I just kept thinking "what if it's just shedding or releasing something."
I know it sucks but I would say that due to all of that stuff you're dosing, like marine snow and dead phyto, there is a good chance there is alot of extra, useless nutrients in your system and that the corals aren't eating it, and it is just decaying and recirculating in the system, over and over again, leading to a cyano outbreak.
My suggestion, to be on the safe side... stop dosing that stuff for a while and then do a few water changes over the course of like a week and then if you must dose that stuff, do it like 2 a month, tops, or like a little right after your water changes.
dillute that crap before your whole tank ends up with cyano in it and you are pulling it out, your hair out... and spending lots of money on things that are better spent on corals and fishies!

 

[katsafados]

Yeah, I'm about to do a w/c now..
I do W/C regularly so I dont know if theres that much of a build up, but there could be I guess.
I do more then a 10% W/C every week (maybe like a 15-20%) and I swap out my carbon, phosphate, and filter floss every 2 weeks. Also I'm not sure if your fimiliar with my set up, but I have overkill filtration on it. 18" HOB refuge (cheatto, and LR) and then a Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, 720 Filstar XP1 Filter 45G. 4 times the amount of filtration I need.. since my tanks only a 10g. I also have 8lbs of LR in the DT for natural filtration, and a massive CUC (might be less now) 7 nassarius, 7 cerith, 7 astrea(think most are dead), 3 turbo snails, 3 blue legg hermits, 3 holloween hermits, 1 green emerald, 1 scarlet, 1 coco worm(filtering my water colum), plus tons of the dwarf tube worms(hitchhickers), I also got those spiral snails growing on my glass in multiple numbers (more filter feeders).
I doubt a lot of the marine snow and phyto arent getting used up. I'm sure some isnt, but my filter kicks in to take out the rest.

 

[rlablan]

That's good then that you have so much filtration.
I just battled with this junk and I don't want anyone else to have to deal with it. Hopefully that is not the case and all of that stuff is getting used, but just be very careful. If you have an outbreak, it can be seriously bad news and really annoying.

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by Katsafados
http:///forum/post/3168612
Why shouldnt I brush it lol?
You can damage the skin of the gorg with a toothbrush... it you damage the skin it is extremely hard to get them to recover and is usually the start of the downward spiral.

 

[katsafados]

Yep I know. I'll keep an eye out though!
I believe I have some growin in my fuge.. its all at the bottom in the last chamber. Its more of a purple red though. I guess when I take my g.fs camera again I'll take a pic of the fuge.
Whats so bad about the bacteria? Does it feed off corals or something?

 

[cranberry]

Cyano can come in many many different colours. It can smother corals, but it's more of an indication of water quality. Heavily fed or minimally maintained tanks will show signs of nuisance algae/cyano.