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shelley

shelley

Member
Hi! I hope I'm posting in the right place! I'm new to this board and already very impressed! Very active board! I have a 30 gallon saltwater tank that has been set up for almost a year now. I'm learning this hobby very slowly! I have made a few mistakes due to my hard headedness, but thank God nothing very costly. This is a hobby that can break a person very fast! LOL! Anyway, I bought my very first coral the other day and it's already not doing well. Several of the polyps came off, and I have like 3 left and only 1 is opening. I'm not sure what type it is, but I'm posting a pic. I have an idea of what the problem is. My skimmer tilted on its side and some of the water dumped out into my tank! I hope I'm able to save them. I'm afraid to do a partial water change because I don't want to shock them. Any advice and does anyone know what type of polyps these are? Thanks!
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Shelley
Hi! I hope I'm posting in the right place! I'm new to this board and already very impressed! Very active board! I have a 30 gallon saltwater tank that has been set up for almost a year now. I'm learning this hobby very slowly! I have made a few mistakes due to my hard headedness, but thank God nothing very costly. This is a hobby that can break a person very fast! LOL! Anyway, I bought my very first coral the other day and it's already not doing well. Several of the polyps came off, and I have like 3 left and only 1 is opening. I'm not sure what type it is, but I'm posting a pic. I have an idea of what the problem is. My skimmer tilted on its side and some of the water dumped out into my tank! I hope I'm able to save them. I'm afraid to do a partial water change because I don't want to shock them. Any advice and does anyone know what type of polyps these are? Thanks!
Hey!!! Welcom to swf.com!!! first, the problem is not likely the accidental tipping of your skimmer into the tank. Please post your levels. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, ph, kh, salinity, and temp. Also what is your lighting? Welcome to the boards. all of this info is necessary to help.
 
jam1e

jam1e

Active Member
look like yellow polyps to me .. the link below is the yellow polyps .. but anyway .. I wouldn't worry about shocking your coral and I think that you should do a water change
 
sign guy

sign guy

Active Member
hey welcome to swf.com 1st off a 25% water change a mounth is needed to keep corals alive. It will replentish trace elimants to your tank. I do a 10 % a week water change and can really tell a diff. jam1e is right tour skimmer would not couse that much of a prob.
 
shelley

shelley

Member
Well, I haven't checked the other params in two days, but they were as follows:
PH - 8.4-8.8
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 80 ppm (ouch!)
Salinity - between 1.021 and 1.022 as of today. I'm doing a salt slurry to try to bring it up.
Also, one important thing to note...I have NEVER been able to get my nitrates below 20 ppm. I am using a Saltwater Master kit. Yeah, yeah..I know I need a Salifert! LOL!
As far as lighting, I don't have great lighting. I have 192 watts total and all I know is I have two artinic (sp?) blue lights and two white ones. The light kit is Odyssea?? I just didn't have a lot of $ to dump into this tank at first, but do plan to upgrade lighting down the road. I have a Red Sea Skimmer and a Maxi Jet 900 powerhead.
As far as fish I have:
Diamond Goby
False Clown
PJ Cardinal
Royal Gramma
Sally Lightfoot Crab
Emerald Crab
2-3 Scarlett Crabs
Sand Sifting Starfish
2 - Zebra Crabs
Hope this helps!
 
sign guy

sign guy

Active Member
what size tank do you have and do you over feed? I had the same prob with my trates and it was cuz I always over feed
 
jam1e

jam1e

Active Member
oh sorry .. forgot to mention .. I agree with sign guy .. your trates are too high and you may need to check how much your feeding
 
shelley

shelley

Member
I've got a 30 gallon. In my opinion, I don't overfeed. I feed once a day, the marine pellets, about 10 pellets. Once a week I'll feed twice, pellets in the a.m. and bloodworms in the afternoon.
As far as the PH...For some reason I thought I needed to keep it around 8.4?? I think I bought some stuff awhile back that raised it to that level, but of course, I can't find the bottle! LOL! Do you think there's any danger or how can I lower ph??
Thanks to everyone who responded to my post so fast! Geesh, I'm not used to that! You guys are going to spoil me! LOL~ :joy:
 
seannmelly

seannmelly

Active Member
Welcome to SWF.COM! I hope you find your experience here as pleasureable as I did when I was new here! There is alot of good information here, and alot of people ready and willing to help. If you ever have a question just ask!!
Melly
 
mandarin w

mandarin w

Member
I agree, your nitrates and ph are High, Do a good water change.
Some times in smaller tanks it is hard to get the nitrate down to zero. but that means more water changes. Probly every week. You may change out your filters and carbon every other week instead of every month. And lastly cut down on the feeding. Maybe go to every other day. Those fish will find enough stuff in the rocks to eat.
As far as lights. I believe what you have some be enough.
 
shelley

shelley

Member
Thanks so much (again!) I'm so glad I found you guys! I will do the water changes. I have a couple more questions, and I'm probably going to get yelled at! For top off water I've been using Distilled. I know, I know...but I live about 60 miles round trip from the LFS and it's really inconvenient for me to go there for RO/DI, BUT if you guys really think that's what I need to go back to doing, I will. I've used Distilled for about a month now with no known problems. Ok, secondly...I'm going so slow to add new things to my tank, right? I go to the LFS the other day. They KNOW all I have is a 30 gallon. They sell me a Sailfin about the size of a quarter. Well, they tested my water and said it was fine. I brought home the Sailfin and the yellow polyps, did a partial water change the third day I had the Sailfin, the next day he croaked. I have no clue what happened. This is only the second fish I've lost in a year! They tested my water, they told me for nitrates too and said everything was fine. Well, I went up there the other day and asked them how they got a good nitrate reading (and what it was) and how it was possible for my nitrates to spike to 80 ppm overnight if their reading was correct?? I was a little miffed as I paid $50 for this fish that of course has no warranty. Anyway..I'm rambling, but just wanted to share that info for more feedback! I've got to turn in for the night, but will be back here tomorrow! Thanks, again, to all!
 
sign guy

sign guy

Active Member
50$!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow you need to find a new lfs fast. pref one closer. I use the same kind of test kit you use and my traits are always off. I would check what kit your lfs uses. distilled is ok but rodi is better Back to the sailfin, it could be two things one your traits or two the tang did not eat. Always ask to see the fish eat before you buy it. And last never be afraid to ask on this post there is always one of us losers on here just ready to post.
 
sign guy

sign guy

Active Member
Originally Posted by Shelley
Sign guy....I haven't fed them! I didn't think I had to feed them. Do I???
ah ha yes you have to feed them dt's or they will starve. how long have you had them?
 
mandarin w

mandarin w

Member
For having to travel that far to the LFS to get RO/DI. It would be cheaper to buy a good RO/DI unit. Heck you probley spent close to that in gas on the last two trips.
I got my 75gal a day 6 stage for 80 bucks. It is great.
No one needs anything bigger than a 75 gal per day. Heck a 50 gal per day would be even better. But this was a desent price.
Your LFS should have a 2x4 taken upside his head. I believe he knew your water had issues. But he just wanted to sell you a fish. And to sell you a Sailfin Tang for your 30 gal is down right wrong. Any one that has been in this hobby for any amount of time knows this. Appearantly he is in this just for the $$$. Not for the love of the Hobby. I would suggest you stay clear. No telling what other bad advice he gave you for the sake of lining his pockets. If no other LFS is in your area, Then it would probley be best to order on line.
 
shelley

shelley

Member
Holy crud! I've had them since 9/11...No wonder....I just threw some bloodworms in there....do I need to spot feed them? The LFS said they catch whatever through the water, that they didn't need to be fed. I need a new LFS!
 
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