Frogspawn trouble AGAIN

cocoacf

cocoacf

Member
I bought a frogspawn a bit ago, and two days after it was in my tank I lost a head that was almost split in two. it started with the head that was splitting. It had started to stay retracted along the bottom, then the whole thing stayed retracted, then it finally died. The following day the head it was splitting from died.
Tested my parameters and everything was fine. Had a LFS check them, they found nothing wrong. Temp is 78, flow is just enough to keep it moving. And the lighting is good.
I cut it off and ever since the frogspawn has been doing great, and openeing up very nicely.
Until about three days ago, one of the heads that is splitting three ways is now having trouble. The very bottom head is starting to retract on the bottom, and the inside of the skeleton is visible. The rest of the head is opened slightly. The head its attached to is opened up with no retraction, except it's not open as much as it was prior to the problem. Then the third head that is basically split from it, is opened up nicely.
Checked my water again, and it was FINE!

I'm concerned I might lose all three heads... because when I lost the first two, the head splitting from it was doing fine too... then it died fast.
Whats wrong? I'm really going to be mad if I lose this, because it was $60! I've already lost "two" of the 8 heads it heads. If I lose three more that's ridiculous.
 
tdog7879

tdog7879

Member
Originally Posted by Cocoacf
http:///forum/post/2947624
I bought a frogspawn a bit ago, and two days after it was in my tank I lost a head the was almost split in two. it started with the head the was splitting. It has started to stay retracted along the bottom, then the whole thing stayed retracted, then it finally died. The following day the head it was splitting from died.
Tested my parameters and everything was fine. Had a LFS check them, they found nothing wrong. Temp is 78, flow is just enough to keep it moving. And the lighting is good.
I cut it off and ever since the frogspawn has been doing great, and openeing up very nicely.
Until about three days ago, one of the heads that is splitting three ways is now having trouble. The very bottom head is starting to retract on the bottom, and the inside of the skeleton is visible. The rest of the head is opened slightly. The head its attached to is opened up with no retraction, except it's not open as much as it was prior to the problem. Then the third head that is basically split from it, is opened up nicely.
Checked my water again, and it was FINE!

I'm concerned I might lose all three heads... because when I lost the first two, the head splitting from it was doing fine too... then it died fast.
Whats wrong? I'm really going to be mad if I lose this, because it was $60! I've already lost "two" of the 8 heads it heads. If I lose three more that's ridiculous.
maybe some kinda of critter is killing it or a fish? you should give some more details on your water test results and your light fixture.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Normally you don't want to move corals around a whole lot, but if it's just dieing off, try moving it to a different location.
 
cocoacf

cocoacf

Member
I have not moved the corals at all.
The water parameters are not the problem. I have checked the parameters twice, take my word - the levels all came out fine(close to perfect)!. Whenever there's a problem, all anyone says is levels.. levels... levels... but the levels were fine. Then no one can tell me what else might be the problem.
I have a standard 14g biocube canopy. The frogspawn is half way up the tank, in direct light.
 
cocoacf

cocoacf

Member
This is the best i can get rigt now - with my cell...I don't have the laptop with me that has the camera software to upload pictures... But I'll have some before and after pics when I have access to the laptop...
It looks a lot worse than you can see.. More than have of the half is completely retracted now, with the rest extended as you can see.
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
A little more info on the tank would be helpful. What are the other tank inhabitants? Do you have any leathers or other softies that could be causing some chemical warfare that would be affecting this coral? Do you run carbon? What are the exact water parameters? (I know you said they are fine, but numbers really do help) This information would be helpful to start with and maybe someone can give you a few more ideas on what is going on.
 
cocoacf

cocoacf

Member
I've got two false percs, a cherub pygmy angel, some snails, and a hermit.
The only other coral I have is a Xenia, which has been doing great ever since I got it.
Don't run carbon.
I've had a fire shrimp that "died in its molt", and a cleaner shrimp that died for some unknown reason.
Other than that, nothing has had any problems except the torch corals I've put in it.
I had a green tip, and a white tip torch coral (both were small, 1 head, and 3 heads) that started to do something of a similar manner, so I took it to a dif. LFS. They are still taking care of one, the white tip died. It's been a couple weeks now and the other still has one head hanging on (of three that were alive when I brought it in)... After I figured both were gone I decided to get the frogspawn, since I had been looking for a purple tip for awhile.
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
Could the angel be picking at it? I ask because when I first started putting corals in my tank I had an eibli angel in it. I got a rock with a toadstool and some zoas on it and I noticed that the eibli was picking at the zoas, but I never noticed him picking at anything else.
Well I had to choose whether I wanted to keep the fish and not keep zoas or get rid of him. He lost. The interesting thing was that as soon as I got rid of him all the corals in the tank at the time (toadstool, candycanes, star polyps) started doing much better, opening bigger and more consistently and finally growing. Even though I never saw him pick on anything but the zoas he was obviously picking at everything some.
I hope this is not the case with your angel, but it may be something to consider.
 
tdog7879

tdog7879

Member
Originally Posted by Cocoacf
http:///forum/post/2947878
I've got two false percs, a cherub pygmy angel, some snails, and a hermit.
The only other coral I have is a Xenia, which has been doing great ever since I got it.
Don't run carbon.
I've had a fire shrimp that "died in its molt", and a cleaner shrimp that died for some unknown reason.
Other than that, nothing has had any problems except the torch corals I've put in it.
I had a green tip, and a white tip torch coral (both were small, 1 head, and 3 heads) that started to do something of a similar manner, so I took it to a dif. LFS. They are still taking care of one, the white tip died. It's been a couple weeks now and the other still has one head hanging on (of three that were alive when I brought it in)... After I figured both were gone I decided to get the frogspawn, since I had been looking for a purple tip for awhile.
can you post you Ca levels ,ALK,and Phosphates ...how often do you do water changes?
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
Also maybe try running some carbon. Sometimes the polishing affect of the carbon on the water will help everything out.
 
tdog7879

tdog7879

Member
Originally Posted by cmaxwell39
http:///forum/post/2947888
Could the angel be picking at it? I ask because when I first started putting corals in my tank I had an eibli angel in it. I got a rock with a toadstool and some zoas on it and I noticed that the eibli was picking at the zoas, but I never noticed him picking at anything else.
Well I had to choose whether I wanted to keep the fish and not keep zoas or get rid of him. He lost. The interesting thing was that as soon as I got rid of him all the corals in the tank at the time (toadstool, candycanes, star polyps) started doing much better, opening bigger and more consistently and finally growing. Even though I never saw him pick on anything but the zoas he was obviously picking at everything some.
I hope this is not the case with your angel, but it may be something to consider.
If that was the case there would be little pieaces of frogspawn floating around.....Also he drew a pic which looks as there is a dead spot on the coral. I wounder if he had bought it like this?
 
cocoacf

cocoacf

Member
I havn't seen the angel pick at anything except algae on the LR. He keeps to himself.
I do at least 10% water changes every weekend. When my cleaner shrimp died last weekend, the ammonia went up a bit, so I did about a 30% water change..
I'll try running some carbon.. How do I do that, and what's the stuff called?
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
I just throw mine in a media bag (a small mesh bag) and put it in the return chamber of my sump. You could do the same thing for a HOB filter. A lot of canister filters you can put carbon right in the media trays.
Look for activated carbon. There are many different brands all do about the same thing.
 
tdog7879

tdog7879

Member
Originally Posted by Cocoacf
http:///forum/post/2947902
I havn't seen the angel pick at anything except algae on the LR. He keeps to himself.
I do at least 10% water changes every weekend. When my cleaner shrimp died last weekend, the ammonia went up a bit, so I did about a 30% water change..
I'll try running some carbon.. How do I do that, and what's the stuff called?
If you got alage on LR the you have phosphates which in not good for LPS or SPS coral. High phosphates can cause problems with coral growth.
 
cocoacf

cocoacf

Member
It's not much on the LR. It's more brown stuff on the LS. It looks like a second diatom bloom but I couldn't be sure. And It's almost gone now. I changed my lighting schedule and it has been dyeing off. Along with the fact that the angel eats it.
Lights were on from 11-7, but now from 2-8.
It seems as if the head started having problems the day after I changed the lighting schedule ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top